Alfred Hauge

Alfred Hauge (born October 17, 1915 in Finnøy , † October 31, 1986 in Stavanger ) was a Norwegian writer and journalist. He became famous for his trilogy about the life of a Norwegian emigrant to North America at the beginning of the 19th century.

life and work

Alfred Hauge grew up on the small island of Kyrkjøy, which belongs to the southwestern Norwegian archipelago of Sjernarøyane . He studied theology and pedagogy, but dropped out and became a journalist. He worked for newspapers and publishers and for a time also worked as a teacher and adult education center director. Hauge's first publications were realistic prose, Christian and full of religious motifs; some were also translated into German.

Between 1961 and 1965 he wrote his trilogy of novels about Cleng Peerson and Norwegian emigrants: Hundevakt (dog guard) , Landkjenning (land in sight) and anchor festivals (at anchor) . In terms of material, they are comparable to the Swedish emigrant tetralogy by Vilhelm Moberg , but they are constructed differently. In Hauge, the narrator is the main character. He uses the letter as a special stylistic device. For this trilogy he was awarded the Norwegian Critics' Prize in 1965.

Hauge's following novels Mysterium (1967) and Legenden om Svein og Maria (1968) are pure myths, devoid of any realistic representation. While Mystery through Dreams contains enlightenment into the mystery of life and suffering, the legend of Svein and Maria takes place in a bewitched fairy tale world and depicts a strange, symbol-laden pilgrimage. The Norwegian composer Hallvard Johnsen created an opera from the material of this novel , which was premiered by Den Norske Opera & Ballet on September 3, 1973 in Oslo.

Hauge also wrote poetry; he wrote his books in both Nynorsk and Bokmål . He has received numerous awards, apart from the Critics' Prize, the Melsom Prize (1949), the Gyldendal Scholarship (1955), the Sunnmør Prize (1958) and the Nynorsk Literature Prize (1984).

Publications

Original Norwegian editions

• Løland trilogy:
  • 1948: Året har ingen vår
  • 1949: Fossen og bålet
  • 1955: Ingen kjenner dagen
• 1953: Tuntreet blør
• Cleng Peerson Trilogy:
  • 1961: Hundevakt
  • 1961: Landkjenning
  • 1965: Anchor festivals
• 1967: mystery
• 1968: Legends about Svein og Maria
• Autobiography:
  • 1975: Barndom
  • 1977: Ungdom

German-language editions

• Storm over Siglarholm . Translated from the Norwegian by Sophie Angermann. Oncken, Kassel 1951.
• There is no spring in the year . Translated from the Norwegian by Karl Hellwig. Reinhardt, Basel 1952.
• Way of the Cross of Love . Translated from the Norwegian by Karl Hellwig. Reinhardt, Basel 1953.
• A wanderer of God . From the Norwegian by Günther Ruprecht . Brunnen, Giessen 1953.
• The people on Sjötun . Translated from the Norwegian by Karl Hellwig. Oncken, Kassel 1954.

literature

• Philip Houm: Alfred Hauge . In: Nordic literary history . Volume II. Fink, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-7705-2105-6 .
• Alfred Hauge - norsk forfatter and journalist . In: Store norske leksikon , 2009.
• Olav Golf: Alfred Hauge. Ryfylkedikter and bygdemiljø . Kolofon, Oslo 2007, ISBN 978-82-300-0334-3 .
• Jan Inge Sørbø: Angen av bork and a burning bus. Om Alfred Hauges forfattarskap . Gyldendal, Oslo 2001, ISBN 82-05-29137-3 .
• Artur Bethke, Horst Bien u. a .: Northern European literatures . VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, 1980

Web links

• Alfred Hauge in store norske leksikon