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Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910) |
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Norwegian writer, editor, and theatre director, known with Henrik Ibsen, Alexander Kielland and Jonas Lie as one of the "four great ones" of 19th-century Norwegian literature. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson campaigned widely for liberal and progressive ideals, and became an extremely popular national figure. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1903. A friend and rival of Ibsen, he also wrote plays of social realism. However, his fame since his death has diminished in relation to Ibsen. The board of supervisors assembled: there was presented for approval a respectful petition, that the old churchyard might be appropriated as the route of the railroad. This was unanimously adopted; there was even mention of giving Lars a vote of thanks and a coffee-pot in the form of a locomotive. But it was finally thought best to wait until the whole plan was carried into execution. The petition came back from the diocese council, with a demand for a list of all bodies that would have to be removed. The priest made out such a list, but instead of sending it direct, he had his own reasons for sending it through the parish board. One of the members carried it to the next meeting. Here it fell to the lot of Lars, as chairman, to open the envelope and read the list. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was born in Kvikne, in northern Hedmark, the
son of Peder Bjørnson, a Lutheran pastor, and Elise Nordraak, a
merchant's daughter. In 1849 he went to Christiania (now Oslo) to
prepare for the university's entrance exams. He entered the university
in 1852 and joined the cultural scene. While a student, he became a theatre and literary critic for the Christiania daily Morgenbladet. When other critics in Christiania attacked Henrik Ibsen's play The Feast at Solhoug
(1856), Bjørnson wrote enthusiastically that Ibsen's verse was among
the most beautiful, the most melodious ever written in Norwegian. Full of energy, Bjørnson also founded the Illustreret Folkeblad and began his own career as a playwright with the historical drama Mellem slagene (1857, Between the Battles), which dealt with the times of King Sverre (1150-1202). He supported the Norwegianizing of the Danish Christiania Theatre, arguing in Morgonbladet that "the Norwegian talents here are damned to meaningless and hermaphroditism. The highest goal they can possibly achieve is that of not standing out too much from the Danes." In 1857, Bjørnson succeeded Ibsen as director of the Norske Theatre
in Bergen. He had an affair with an servant, which resulted in
pregnancy; she lost the child shortly after birth. While the company
was on tour in Trondheim,Bjørnson proposed Karoline Reimers, an actress; they married in 1858. Their son
Bjørn became an actor, Bjørnson's daughter named Bergljot married Ibsen's son
Sigurd. Bjørnson returned in 1859 to Oslo, where worked for the radical newspaper Aftenbladet. After gaining too many political enemies with his editorials, he was eventually forced to resign. Bjørnson's poem from this period, 'Ja, vi elsker dette landet' (1859, Yes, We Love This Land ) was later set to music by Rikard Nordraak (1842-1866) as the national anthem of Norway. To promote new theater and to safeguard its interests, Ibsen and Bjørnson organized in 1859 the 'Norwegian Society for Theater, Music, and Language.' His first noteworthy stories Bjørnson wrote in the late 1850s. They were often set in the idyllic rural milieu, in which the sun shines in a bright midsummer sky. Although he romantically idealized peasants, he also depicted their everyday work and festivities. His best works from this period include the short novel Arne, written in 1859. Its young protagonist, a poet, expressed much of Bjørnson’s own longing for faraway places. In the short story 'Railway and Churchyard' two friends are separated by their different views of progress. Knut Aakre belongs to an old and influential family. He is chairman of the parish commissioners, but also protects his family interests. Contrary to his secret wishes his neighbour Lars Hogstad supports a proposal to establish a savings bank. The decision turn out to be far-sighted and it brings prosperity to the parish. Years later Lars realizes that his bank will fail if a new railway is not built – railway will raise all real estate prices. Knut opposes in vain his plans to build it through the old, now unused, churchyard, the only place it can go. Lars sees the train working through the valley as a strong force, and remembers his grandfather who raised the family from poverty to comfortable circumstances. " . . . true, a portion of his honor as a citizen was consumed in the act, but he had advanced nevertheless! His faults were the prevailing ones of his time: they were based on the uncertain boundary lines of the moral conceptions of his day. Every age has its uncertain moral distinctions and its victims." ('Railway and Churchyard' by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, translated by Rasmus B. Anderson, in Greatest Short Stories: Volume VI: Foreign, 1915, p. 112) Sparks from the passing locomotive start a fire and burn down Lars's house, but Knut is the first to help him. Lars is again elected the chairman of the parish, but with Knut at his side. In the much anthologized story 'The Father' (1860) Bjørnson again examined
the conflict between the public good and individual commitment. Thord
Overaas is the wealthiest and most influential person in the parish and
proud of his son. He meets the priest only when he is baptised, then
sixteen years later when he is confirmed – and the third time when he
is going to marry the richest girl of the region. When the priest
notices that Thord has not changed over the years he answers: "That is
because I have no troubles." Before the wedding his son drowns. Thord
sells half of his farm and gives the money to the poor. The priest
says: "I think your son has at last brought you a true blessing." (Synnöve Solbakken, Arne, and Early Tales and Sketches by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, translated by Rasmus B. Anderson, 1885, pp. 284-289) Between 1860 and 1863, Bjørnson lived abroad, mostly in Italy, and
after his return was appointed director of the Christiania Theatre
(1865-1867). During this period he transformed the Danish-controlled
theatre into a Norwegian institution, which also made high-quality
productions of foreing masterpieces that contributed to the European
theatrical scene. In a letter to the Swedish critic and director Edvard
Stjernström, Bjørnson proudly claimed that it was part because of the
success of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's play Emilia Galotti the theatre was enjoying the best season in its history. Since 1862, Bjørnson began to receive an annual pension. From 1866 to 1871 he was editor of the Norsk folkeblad, which he made the mouthpiece for his ideas on political and social reform. Bjørnson's involvement in cultural and political battles marked his fiction, in which his urge to teach his readers occasionally guided his pen more than artistic aims. As a playwright Bjørnson first gained notice in the late 1850s with historical dramas. Among the early works were Mellem slagene, Halte-Hulda (1858), Kong Sverre (1861), Sigurd Slembe (1863), and Maria Stuart i Skottland (1864).
One of the central themes in his plays was the cultural continuity
between the pre-Christian Norway and modern day society. In the 1860s
he also published poetry, and from his Digte og Sange many poems were later set to music. Bjørnson's interest in the life of peasants was reflected in his novels Synnøve Solbakken (1857), and En glad gut (1860). While in Rome, he came under the influence of Georg Brandes. "The speak the name of Björnson is like hoisting the colors of Norway," Brandes later said. (A Collection of Short-Stories, edited by L.A. Pittenger, 1914, p. 6) Bjørnson turned from folk themes to social questions and contemporary issues. The most successful of these was En Fallit
(1875), which attacked dishonesty in business. As an active participant
in political and cultural battles, Bjørnson's views about church and
religion were much debated. After reading Hippolyte Taine, Charles
Darwin and others, he made known his rejection of formal religion. This
and his political views brought against him a charge of high treason. In the 1870s and '80s, Bjørnson spent long times abroad and in 1881 he visited the United States. Although only a few of
his works had been translated into English, false rumors spread through many
German and American
journals, that he planned to emigrate to the United States.
His best works from this and later periods include the "problem" plays Redaktøren (1875), exploring journalism, En Hanske (1883), which led to a break between Bjørnson and Brandes, and Over Ævne (1886, Beyond Our Power), an attack on dogmatism. In Kaj Munk's famous miracle play Ordet
(The Word, written 1925, prod. 1932), one of the central characters,
Johannes Borgen, becomes insane due to his studies of Søren Kierkegaard
and Beyond Our Power. Bjørnson
argues that miracle religion is not Christianity, but Munk's play ends
with a powerful scene of resurrection: Johannes raises his brother's
wife Inger from the dead. The novels Det flager i Byen og paa Havnen (1892) and Paa Guds Veje (1889) were concerned with the problems of heredity and education. Paul Lange og Tora Parsberg (1898) was based on the events surrounding the suicide of Ole Richter, one-time friend of the author. In 1888 Bjørnson visited Finland – his first story about peasants
was translated into Finnish as early as in 1862. During this journey he
was received everywhere as a hero, and he met writers such as Juhani Aho, who wrote three long articles about his stay, and Sakari Topelius. On many occasions in the following years Bjørnson also expressed his support of Finland's struggle against Russification. While living in Grez-sur-Loing, on the edge of the
Forest of Fontainebleau, Bjørnson enjoyed being the center of the
attention. He was
called the uncrowned King of Norway. In winter he sat at an open
window, wearing a wolf-skin coat and a Scottish tam-o-shanter.
Other members of the Scandinvian artists' colony included Carl Larson,
Jonas Lie, Karl Nordström, Ville Vallgren, and Anders Zorn. His friendship with August Strindberg,
whom he met in Grez, eventually grew very sour. When Strindberg was
threatened with blasphemy for his collection of short stories entitled Getting Married
(1886),
Bjørnson first adviced him to go into exile and then urged him to return to Sweden and face the charges. (He
tought that the prosecution is the best advertisement for the book.)
Strindberg's letter crushed Bjørnson's hopes that his younger colleague
would be his ally: "Ers Majestät! Ert Kejserliga reskript har jag
mottagit och skall ha ärän att alldeles förbise detsamma. Kärä bror!
Din oförskrämdhet gör dig liten. Behöver du mig för någon politisk
humbug, så har jag andra och större upgifter i livet. . . . Var sann!
Björnson! Du är falsk som en festtalare." (August Strindberg by Olof Lagercrantz, 1982, p. 157) In 1893 Bjørnson settled on a farm, travelling from there to Denmark, France, Germany, and Italy. He wrote of the evils of industrialization, defended oppressed minorities and joined Emile Zola in the famous Dreyfus Affair. Although paralysed on one side, he continued working until his death in Paris on April 26, 1910. Bjørnson's novels in 13 volumes were published in an English translation edited by Edmund Gosse between the years 1895 and 1909. For further reading: Critical Studies of Ibsen and Bjørnson by G. Brandes (1899); Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson hans barndom og ungdom by C.C.D. Collin (1923); Bjørnson: La seconde jeunesse by J. Lescoffier (1932); Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson: A Study in Norwegian Literature by H. Larsen (1944); Bjørnson's dramatiske diktning by H. Noreng (1954); A History of Norwegian Literature by H. Beyer (1956); Henrik Ibsen by Georg Brandes (1964, with a long essay on Bjørnson); Modern Norwegian Literature 1860-1918 by B. Downs (1966); Bjørnson: Land of the Free. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's American Letters 1880-1881, ed. by E.L. and E. Haugen (1978); The Vocabulary of Bjørnson's Literary Works by E. Haugen (1978); Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson by P. Amdam (1978); En mann forut for vår tid: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson og vi by Philip Houm (1982); Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson: en biografi 1880–1910 by Aldo Keel (1999);Villskapens år: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832–1875 by Edvard Hoem (2009); Vennskap i storm: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1875-1892 by Edvard Hoem (2010); Syng mig hjæm: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1890-1899 by Edvard Hoem (2011); Det evige forår: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1899-1912 by Edvard Hoem (2012); Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons samtidsdrama: resepsjon og tolkning by Frode Helmich Pedersen (2017); Verker af denne Art har frivilligt undergivet sig de Fredløses Kaar» Resepsjon og tolkning av Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons (1898) Paul Lange og Tora Parsberg by Marie Magnor (2020) Selected works:
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