KNUT HAMSUN OG MODERNISMEN
KNUT HAMSUN AND MODERNISM

Summary/Abstract: Knut Hamsun and Modernism. The purpose of this written paper is to present the conclusions I reached after investigating in the following topic: the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun as the first modernist novelist in Norway. It is insisted upon the new type of literature he theorised upon in his programmatic article, The Life of the Subconscious. The work required a practical accomplishment, meaning an analysis of some of his novels. Hunger, his breakthrough novel, is the one that is given the most attentive analysis in this particular case. Modernist characteristics such as solitude, estrangement, revolt against the society and against the divinity are concepts that best support its positioning as the first modernist novel in Norway. The analysis on the film made after the book presents it in a different perspective. In order to come with a contribution to an interesting investigation of Hamsun’s world, I have chosen to analyse Pan, another captivating work. The key-conflict of the novel, the one between nature and culture has pretty attentively been described. A comparison between two distinct writings, on the one hand, and modern, on the other hand, pertaining to the same author was the most compressed part of my written paper. This refers to Hunger and to what Pan has in common with it until a certain point of the analysis. The conclusion encompasses a reinforcement of what modernity signifies within the hamsunian universe, together with the sincere hope that an attentive reading will be useful for those interested in Knut Hamsun’s misleading style. This article was presented at the Hamsun 2009 Conference during a workshop organized for young researchers.

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