Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

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Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (photograph from 1901)

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson (born December 8, 1832 in Kvikne (fylke Hedmark ), † April 26, 1910 in Paris ) was a Norwegian poet , Nobel Prize winner for literature and politician . Bjørnson wrote, among other things, the Norwegian national anthem Ja, vi elsker dette lands and was the founder of the Riksmålsforbundet .

Life

The poet

Bjørnson was born on Bjørgan Farm near Kvikne, a remote village in the Østerdalen countryside , where his father Peder Bjørnson was a pastor. In 1837 the father was transferred to the parish of Nesset , not far from Molde in the province of Møre og Romsdal .

Bjørnson attended school in Molde and from 1850 to 1852 a private high school in Christiania (now Oslo ). After dropping out of college, he worked as a journalist for some time . During this time he also met Henrik Ibsen .

Main house in Aulestad

Between 1857 and 1859 he worked as director of the theater in Bergen . In 1859 he joined the editorial team at Aftenbladet . But because of the opposition in public opinion, he had to leave the editorial office again. A year later he toured Germany and Italy for three years . After his return in 1865 he got a job at the royal theater in Christiania. He held this office until 1867 and later for another two years, between 1870 and 1872. He then lived in Germany and Italy again until 1875. Before leaving, he bought the Aulestad estate in 1874 . Over time, this country estate developed into a spiritual center of Norway.

Bjørnson toured the United States from 1880 to 1881 . After his return in 1882 he lived in Paris until 1887. Even when he retired to his estate, he remained the spiritual center of Norway. Influenced by the French realists , but also by Georg Brandes , Bjørnson found his realism and became the innovator of Norwegian literature.

In 1903 Bjørnson was the first Scandinavian to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature “as proof of recognition for his noble, magnificent and versatile work as a poet, who was always distinguished by a unique freshness of inspiration and a rare purity of soul” .

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

The politician

Bjørnson was always very involved in politics and promoted his views in speeches throughout Norway. His ideal form of government was the republic. “For my part, I don't believe in Scandinavia until we have a republic,” he wrote to Hilmar Finsen in 1864.

He stood up for international arbitration courts to settle interstate conflicts, was a member of the committee responsible for the Nobel Peace Prize , interfered in the Dreyfus affair and took a position on the nationality conflict in the Habsburg monarchy .

He campaigned for universal suffrage in Norway, attacked the state church as a biblical critic and discussed premarital sexual relations. He criticized the double standard and advocated strict sexual morals for both sexes. In word and writing he campaigned for the independence of his country. He also promoted the folk high school movement and the renewal of Norwegian theater from abroad. Among all his patriotic poems and songs , the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette lands (Yes, we love this country), created by him in 1859 , should be mentioned first. Bjørnson thought the dogma of the balance of power was a lie: “No, a single sword, a decision and the deed in one, that is the solution of the time.” He also represented Pan-Germanism .

In Norway, his domestic political views met with little approval. The cause was initially his pride and arrogance. The Norwegian politician Evald Rygh wrote to his brother Karl: “You have to admit that Bjærnson is doing everything in his power to ruin himself. His unbridled arrogance and self-idolatry is growing steadily, and the desperate story with Folkebladet must have done him great harm. Unfortunately, he has surrounded himself with a small clique of fanatical admirers (others can certainly not stand him), who constantly feed him admiration and drive him more and more into a delusional state. ”This assessment can be found in many contemporary testimonies. Contemporary historian Michael Birkeland wrote in a letter: “Björnson continues in a political frenzy that is almost inexplicable. ... His idol is power in all its forms. His political insight is so infinitely small that even in our day it is an exception. Everything should go with the help of exaltation and enthusiasm. Here in the city [Christiania] there is a general resentment and disdain for his political effectiveness. ”His republican ideas, which meant the abolition of the monarchy, and his Pan-Germanism also damaged his political reputation.

In 1906 he gave the keynote address on the occasion of the presentation of the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize to Bertha von Suttner .

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson died on April 26, 1910 at the age of 77 in Paris.

bibliography

Epics, short stories, novels

  • Synnøve Solbakken , story 1857 (German Synnøve Solbakken , 1859)
  • Halt-Hulda , 1858
  • Arne , story 1859 (German Arne , 1860)
  • Et farlig frieri , story 1860 (German: dangerous wooing )
  • En glad gut , story 1860 (German a fresh boy , 1870)
  • Smaastykker , 1860
  • Fiskerjenten , Roman 1868 (German: The fisher girl , 1877)
  • Digte og Sange , 1870
  • Arnljot Gelline , Epic 1870 (German Arnljot Gelline , 1904)
  • Fortællinger I-II , 1872
  • Brudeslaatten , story 1872 (German The Bride March , 1881)
  • Magnhild , 1877
  • Kaptejn Mansana , 1879 (German Captain Mansana , 1888)
  • Støv , 1882 (German dust )
  • Det flager i Byen og paa Havnen , Roman 1884 (German flags over the city and port , 1904 or udT Thomas Rendalen , 1886 and Das Haus Kurt , 1904 and Es flags city and port , 1911)
  • Paa Guds Veje , Roman 1889 (German: On God's Ways , 1903)
  • Nye Fortællinger , 1893 (German New Stories , 1895)
  • Lyset , 1895
  • To Fortællinger , 1901
  • Mary , Roman 1906 (German Mary 1907)
  • Collected works in 5 volumes , 1910

Plays

  • Mellem Slagene , 1857 (German between the battles , 1876)
  • Kong Sverre , 1861
  • Sigurd Slembe , Dram Trilogy 1862 (German Sigurd Slembe , 1903)
  • Maria Stuart i Skottland , 1864 (German Maria Stuart in Scotland , 1866)
  • De Nygifte , 1865
  • Sigurd Jorsalfar , drama 1872 (German Sigurd Jorsalfar , 1901)
  • Kong Eystejn , 1873
  • En fallit , Schauspiel 1875 (German bankruptcy , 1875)
  • Redaktøren , drama 1875 ( Eng . The wheel actor , 1875)
  • Kongen , Drama 1877 (German The King , 1896)
  • Leonarda , drama 1879 (German Leonarda , 1879)
  • Det nye System , Schauspiel 1879 (German: The New System , 1901)
  • Over Ævne . Første Stykke, drama 1883 ( about strength , 1886)
  • En Hanske , drama 1883 (German a glove , 1888)
  • Geografi og Kærlighed , Comedy 1885 (German Geography and Love , 1893)
  • Over Ævne . Andre Stykke, Schauspiel 1895 (German about our strength , 1896)
  • Paul Lange og Tora Parsberg , drama 1898 (German Paul Lange and Dora Parsberg , 1899)
  • Laboremus , Drama 1901 (German Laboremus , 1901)
  • På Storhove , Drama 1902 ( Ger . Auf Storhove , 1903)
  • Daglannet , 1904
  • Når den ny vin blomstrer , comedy 1909 (Eng. When the young wine blooms , 1909)

Secondary literature

  • Per Amdam: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Kunstneren og samfunnsmennesket 1832–1880 . Gyldendal Norsk, Oslo 1993. ISBN 82-05-20598-1
  • Walter Baumgartner : Triumph of Irrealism. Reception of Scandinavian literature in the aesthetic context Germany 1860–1910 . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1979. (= Scandinavian Studies; 10) ISBN 3-529-03310-3
  • Bjørnson in Germany. A volume of materials , ed. v. Aldo Keel. Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1985. (= texts and studies on German and Scandinavian studies; 14) ISBN 3-8204-8915-0
  • Fredrik Engelstad: Kjaerlighetens errganger. Meaning and samfunn in Bjørnsons and Ibsen's dictation . Gyldensal, Oslo 1992. ISBN 82-05-20947-2
  • Barbara Gentikow : Scandinavia as a pre-capitalist idyll. Reception of socially critical literature in German magazines 1870–1914 . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1978. (= Scandinavian Studies; 9) ISBN 3-529-03309-X
  • Wolfgang Pasche: Scandinavian Drama in Germany. Björnstjerne Björnson, Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg on the German stage 1867–1932 . Helbing et al. Lichtenhahn, Basel a. a. 1979. (= contributions to Nordic philology; 9) ISBN 3-7190-0750-2
  • Øystein Sørensen : Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson . Oslo, Cappelen, 1997, ISBN 82-02-16240-8

Bjørnson Prize

In 2003, the Norwegian writer Knut Ødegård founded the Bjørnson Prize, which the Norwegian Academy for Literature and Freedom of Expression ( Molde ) awards.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fr. Ording: Det lærde Holland . Oslo 1927. p. 86.
  2. ↑ a b Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 184.
  3. ↑ quoted in Fr. Ording: Det lærde Holland . Oslo 1927. p. 205.
  4. ↑ a b quoted in Fr. Ording: Det lærde Holland . Oslo 1927. p. 203.
  5. ↑ "Nei et eneste sværd, beslutning og ett handling, det er Tidens loose". quoted in Fr. Ording: Det lærde Holland . Oslo 1927. p. 205.
  6. ↑ Ording, p. 163.
  7. ↑ quoted in Fr. Ording: Det lærde Holland . Oslo 1927. p. 143.
  8. ↑ http://blogg.bjornsonakademiet.no/about/

Web links

Commons : Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson  - sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne Martinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian poet and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Kvikne , Østerdalen , Norway
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1910
Place of death Paris , France