User:Aqwis/Dag Solstad

Dag Solstad (born July 16, 1941) is a Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, and dramatist whose work has been translated into several languages. He has written nearly 30 books and is the only author to have received the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature three times.

Life

Dag Solstad was born in Sandefjord in Eastern Norway. He received his examen artium in 1960, and went on to work as a teaching assistant at the elementary school in Kabelvåg and to do his military service. After he was discharged, he worked as a journalist and as a teacher, before studying the history of ideas at the University of Oslo in 1966.

In 1966, the literary magazine Profil was taken over by a group of radical modernist writers, among whom was Dag Solstad.

He has married thrice, and is currently married to Eva Therese Bjørneboe, daughter of the writer Jens Bjørneboe.

Literary career

Solstad's first two books were the short-story collection Spiraler (1965) and the short prose collection Svingstol (1967). A number of the short stories of Spiraler deal with lonely and emotionally isolated human beings, estranged from the world by its absurdity, inspired by the works of Albert Camus and Franz Kafka. In Svingstol, he expresses a shift away from literary symbolism towards the Profil group's ideology of "nyenkelhet og konkretisme", where the concrete reality of an object is emphasised. This is expressed in the title of one of the texts in Svingstol: "Vi vil ikke gi kaffekjelen vinger" ("We will not give the coffee pot wings"). His first novel, Irr! Grønt! (1969), is a description of a young teacher's new life in Oslo, on the perimeter of the city's academic life. The novel explores the relationship between identity and role, a theme that is echoed in his contemporary article Nødvendigheten av å leve inautentisk, about the Polish novelist Witold Gombrowicz.

Communist period

Dag Solstad was one of many Norwegian writers who affiliated themselves with the communist movement in the early 1970s. The Workers' Communist Party was founded in 1972 and Solstad joined the party along with Espen Haavardsholm, Jon Michelet, Tor Obrestad, Edvard Hoem, and a number of other writers, many of which had associated themselves with Profil. They turned to writing social realistic political literature that promoted the working class and the communist movement, as opposed to their earlier modernist literature.

His awards include the Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment in 1969, the Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 1989, for Roman 1987 and the Brage Prize in 2006 for Armand V. Solstad is among Norway's top-ranked authors of his generation. His early books were considered somewhat controversial, due to their political emphasis (leaning towards the Marxist-Leninist side of the spectrum). Dag Solstad lives in part time in Berlin and part time in Oslo.

In 16.07.41 (2002), he tells the story in the first-person narrative, of his long and frequent walks through the streets of Berlin. However, the story is at the same time a journey in pursuit of a father-son relationship.

T. Singer (1999) is a story about a 34 year old librarian leaves Oslo in search of a satisfying and anonymous life in a smaller town. He marries a single mother and at first feels contented in his invisible role as husband and stepfather. However, after two years, Singer files for divorce; she is later killed in a car accident. He returns to Oslo with his stepdaughter where they live together but lead separate lives. Singer broods and becomes very alone yet feels content in the fact that he has chosen an enigmatic lifestyle. This book contains philosophical and existential observations of someone seeking to authenticate their identity through chosen isolation rather than social integration.

Medaljens forside (1990) is a book on the history of the industrial construction and engineering company Aker Kværner, but the author insists it should nevertheless be considered as a novel, with the Aker company as its main character.

His 1982 novel Gymnaslærer Pedersens beretning om den store politiske vekkelse som har hjemsøkt vårt land was adapted for the screen in 2006 by Hans Petter Moland as Gymnaslærer Pedersen.

With fellow novelist Jon Michelet, Solstad has published a book after each of the FIFA World Cups in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998. The books blend analytic reporting with political and cultural commentary, and are contributions to genuine literature.

Solstad has also published various essays and articles, both for literary magazines and newspapers, and selections of these have been collected and published in three separate volumes.

Influence

In her Ph.D. thesis Why So Great? A Literary Discourse Analysis of Dag Solstad's Authorship (University of Oslo, 2009), Inger Østenstad argues from different perspectives that Solstad is Norway's greatest contemporary writer, and uses a version of Dominique Maingueneau's discourse theory to analyse the components of oeuvre, reception, para-text and meta-text that in Solstad's case contribute to his established greatness.

Bibliography

Novels

• Irr! Grønt! (1969)
• Arild Asnes, 1970 (1971)
• 25. septemberplassen (197])
• Svik. Førkrigsår (1977)
• Krig. 1940 (1978)
• Brød og våpen (1980)
• Gymnaslærer Pedersens beretning om den store politiske vekkelse som har hjemsøkt vårt land (1982)
• Forsøk på å beskrive det ugjennomtrengelige (1984)
• Roman 1987 (1987)
• Medaljens forside (1990)
• Ellevte roman, bok atten (1992)
• Genanse og verdighet (1994)
• Professor Andersens natt (1996)
• T. Singer (1999)
• 16/07/41 (2002)
• Armand V. Fotnoter til en uutgravd roman - (2006)

Short stories and short prose

• Spiraler (1965)
• Svingstol (1967)

Plays

• Georg: sit du godt? with Einar Økland (1968)
• Kamerat Stalin, eller familien Nordby (1975)

Articles and essays

• Tilbake til Pelle Erobreren (1977)
• Sleng på byen (1983)
• 14 artikler på 12 år (1993)
• 3 essays (1997)
• Artikler 1993-2004 (2004)

Nonfiction

• VM i fotball 1982 with Jon Michelet (1982)
• VM i fotball 1986 with Jon Michelet (1986)
• VM i fotball 1990 with Jon Michelet (1990)
• VM i fotball 1994 with Jon Michelet (1994)
• VM i fotball 1998 with Jon Michelet (1998)

External links

• Dag Solstad's biography and bibliography at Aschehoug Agency