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Global Language Literatures

Literature, Film, Couse Assignments in Languages

Norwegian Literature Reference Material

Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature

Covering the literature of the five Nordic countries, this dictionary includes 380 individual entries and lengthier essays on topics ranging from Inuit literature to Scandinavian studies in North America and Britain. Each entry concludes with a list of references and author's works in the original as well as in English translation.

A History of Norwegian Literature

Long under the cultural domination of Denmark and the political hegemony of Sweden, Norway first defined itself through its literature and continues to do so to our day. A History of Norwegian Literature reviews the complex role literature has played in Norway since runic times. Beginning with rock carvings five millennia old, Norwegian literature first came to flower with the Norse poets of the ninth century, who chronicled the heroism of Viking explorers and conquerers.

Historical Dictionary of Norway

The Historical Dictionary of Norway supplies a wealth of information that illuminates Norway's remarkable history, society, and culture. Both past and present political parties are discussed, major economic sectors are described, and basic economic facts are provided.

The Cambridge History of Scandinavia

Contents: Vol. 1: Prehistory to 1520 (3 volumes anticipated).
Description: The various countries and communities that constitute present-day Scandinavia consider themselves as integral parts of that larger region. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Greenland share a common geographic, historic and socio-cultural distinctness that differs from the rest of Europe. This "distinctness" provides the rationale for compiling a comprehensive and comparative history of Scandinavia. The present volume deals with the development of Scandinavian communities up to and including the Middle Ages, here ending in about 1520, which is considered the start of the early Modern Period treated in subsequent volumes.

Select Titles

A Doll's House

One of the best-known, most frequently performed of modern plays, displaying Ibsen's genius for realistic prose drama. A classic expression of women's rights, the play builds to a climax in which the central character, Nora, rejects a smothering marriage and life in "a doll's house."

Growth of the Soil

Hamsun released this novel in 1917, three years before winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. It's the story of Isak, who raises his family deep in Norway's unspoiled country, and the bond the family builds with the land.

The Half Brother

The half brother is a mixture of comedy and intimacy. It relates the lives of four generations of a far from ordinary family, whose roots are at once in the birth of the movies and in the mythic-heroic land of the Nordic sagas, a land of ice and snow.

Hunger

Hunger is the story of a Norwegian artist who wanders the streets, struggling on the edge of starvation. As hunger overtakes him, he slides inexorably into paranoia and despair. The descent into madness is recounted by the unnamed narrator in increasingly urgent and disjointed prose, as he loses his grip on reality.

Out Stealing Horses

Trond Sander, a sixty-seven-year old man has moved from the city to a remote cabin only to have all the turbulence, grief, and overwhelming beauty of his youth com back to him one night while he's out on a walk. From the moment Trond sees a strange figure coming out of the dark behind his home, the reader is immersed in a decades-deep story of searching and loss, and in the precise, irresistible prose of a newly crowned master of fiction.

Internet Resources

Norwegian Films

Films in Norwegian

There are a number of Norwegian language films in the library's collection.The DVD's are on the third floor of the library and can be checked out with your student ID just like books! (Make sure to check out the popular releases when you're there, too!). 

Disclaimer: Make sure to check the Region number of the DVD you are going to check out. When viewing DVDs manufactured outside the U.S./North America ...DVD's produced in other countries are manufactured using a different format than those made in the U.S.  Most computers and modern DVD players can easily accommodate these formats.  Manufacturers also include region codes which prevent DVDs manufactured in one region from being played on computer equipment from another region.  The Chester Fritz Library has dedicated computer equipment which can play those non-US DVDs which have region codes other than 1 (North America) or 0 (no region code--may be played on any equipment).  The settings on your personal computer will be permanently adjusted if you attempt to play DVDs with region codes other than 0 or 1.  Once these codes are reset on your computer (typically automatic after about 5 viewings), you will not be able to adjust it back, nor will you be able to view DVDs made in the U.S., which will likely be your more typical viewing preference.  Please use library equipment only for viewing international DVDs.

Films

The Bothersome Man/Den Brysomme Mannen

Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job and an apartment, but before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. The people around him seem cut off from any real emotion and communicate only in superficialities. He makes an attempt to escape from the city, but he discovers there is no way out. Andreas meets a man who has found a crack in a wall in his cellar. Beautiful music streams out from the crack, but from where?

King of Devil's Island/Kongen av Bastøy

Seventeen-year-old Erling is a rumored murderer and therefore sent to the Bastoy Boys Home correctional facility. Once there he clashes with the island facility's governor who believes manual labor, rigid discipline, and harsh punishment is the only way to turn these boys around. Refusing to accept the constant abuse, Erling leads the boys in a violent uprising that will bring them head to head with no less than the Norwegian Army.

Pioneer

In the early 80s, at the beginning of the Norwegian oil boom. Oil and gas deposits are discovered in the North Sea, authorities aim to bring the oil ashore through a pipeline. Petter, a professional diver, is obsessed with reaching the bottom of the Norwegian Sea. Then a sudden, tragic accident changes everything. Petter is sent on a perilous journey where he loses sight of who is pulling the strings. He then realizes that he is in way over his head and that his life is at stake.

A Somewhat Gentle Man/En Ganske Snill Mann

Ulrik is a somewhat gentle man, as far as gangsters go. Reluctantly back on the streets following a stint in prison, Ulrik's boss greets him with open arms and a plan to settle an old score. With a demented sense of professional pride, Ulrik's boss sets in motion a plan to right the wrong done to his star employee. The problem is, Ulrik would rather go about his own business, however mundane, than get involved with his ragtag colleagues again.

Troubled Water/DeUsynlige

Jan, recently released from prison after serving time for the murder of a child, has always maintained his innocence and is ready to put the past behind him. A gifted organist, he takes a job at an Oslo church under his middle name, Thomas. His talent and gentle manner quickly earn him the respect of his superiors, as well as the love of the pastor, Anna, and her little boy, Jens. But his past catches up with him when Agnes, a local teacher, comes to the church on a school visit and recognizes the organist as Jan, the man who was convicted for the murder of her son's executioner. But soon Goran must make the decision of his life when he is ordered to kill someone from his past.