Norwegian: free practice, theory and problems

1. Literary history

What is it about?

Literature reflects the time it is written in. When society changes – Christianity, Enlightenment, nation-building, industrialisation, war – writing changes too. That is why literary history is divided into periods.

In short

• Old Norse period (c. 800–1350): Eddic poems, skaldic verse and sagas. Snorri Sturluson wrote the kings' sagas (Heimskringla) around 1230.
• Folk literature: fairy tales, legends and ballads passed on orally. Asbjørnsen and Moe collected the fairy tales in the 1840s.
• The Baroque (1600s): religious, image-rich writing, e.g. Petter Dass' 'The Trumpet of Nordland'.
• The Enlightenment (1700s): faith in reason. Ludvig Holberg wrote comedies like 'Jeppe on the Hill' (1722).
• Romanticism (c. 1800–1850): feelings, nature and the nation. Henrik Wergeland is the great Norwegian Romantic.
• Realism (c. 1870–1890): literature should 'put problems up for debate' (Georg Brandes). Ibsen, Bjørnson, Kielland and Lie – 'the four greats'.
• Naturalism (1880s): people are governed by heredity and environment. Amalie Skram and Hans Jæger.
• Neo-romanticism (1890s): the inner life and the irrational. Knut Hamsun's 'Hunger' (1890).
• Modernism (1900s): breaks with traditional forms, e.g. free verse and interior monologue. Tarjei Vesaas.
• Contemporary literature: many genres, non-fiction and autobiographical writing. Jon Fosse won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023.

Why study literary history?

When you know when a text was written and what shaped its time, you understand why it is written as it is. The periods aren't watertight – many writers worked in several styles – but they give a map.

Old Norse period and folk literature

The Eddic poems are about the gods (Völuspá, Hávamál) and heroes. The skalds composed elaborate poems about kings, full of circumlocutions (kennings: 'horse of the sea' = ship). The sagas – like Snorri's kings' sagas and the Icelandic sagas – are sober prose narratives where action and dialogue reveal what characters feel. After the Middle Ages folk literature lived on orally: fairy tales (fixed patterns like threes and the youngest who wins), legends (tied to places and people) and ballads (like 'Draumkvedet').

The Danish period: Baroque and Enlightenment

• The Baroque (1600s) was marked by religion, contrasts (life–death, earth–heaven) and rich, ornate language. Petter Dass depicted the people and nature of northern Norway in 'The Trumpet of Nordland'. Dorothe Engelbretsdatter was Norway's first known woman writer.
• The Enlightenment (1700s) believed in reason and wanted to educate the reader. Ludvig Holberg, born in Bergen, wrote comedies like 'Jeppe on the Hill' and 'Erasmus Montanus', mocking folly, superstition and pretension.

Romanticism (c. 1800–1850)

The Romantics reacted against Enlightenment rationalism and put feeling, imagination, nature and the nation at the centre. After 1814 national romanticism became important: people looked for the 'truly Norwegian' in peasant culture, mountains and folk literature. Henrik Wergeland wrote great philosophical poetry and freedom lyrics and fought for popular education and for Jews' right to enter Norway. His opponent Johan Sebastian Welhaven stood for a stricter, more classical ideal. Asbjørnsen and Moe collected fairy tales, and Ivar Aasen created Landsmål.

Realism and naturalism (c. 1870–1890)

The Danish critic Georg Brandes demanded that literature 'put problems up for debate'. The realists wrote about the present: women's position, the Church, poverty and double standards.

• Henrik Ibsen: contemporary dramas such as 'A Doll's House' (1879), 'Ghosts' and 'An Enemy of the People'. Earlier he had written 'Peer Gynt' and 'Brand'.
• Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Alexander Kielland and Jonas Lie – with Ibsen called 'the four greats'.
• Camilla Collett ('The District Governor's Daughters') was a forerunner of both realism and the women's movement.

Naturalism went further: people were seen as products of heredity and environment, depicted soberly and often bleakly. Amalie Skram wrote about women's lives and marriage ('Constance Ring', 'The People of Hellemyr'), and Hans Jæger ('From the Kristiania Bohemia') challenged morality so strongly that the book was confiscated.

Neo-romanticism (1890s)

Towards the end of the century many turned inward, to the inner life, dreams and the unconscious. Knut Hamsun's 'Hunger' (1890) depicts a starving writer's shifting mind, and 'Pan' nature mysticism and love. Hamsun won the Nobel Prize in 1920 but was later convicted of treason for supporting the Nazis.

The 1900s

• Interwar years: Sigrid Undset wrote the medieval novel 'Kristin Lavransdatter' and won the Nobel Prize in 1928. Olav Duun and Cora Sandel portrayed people in change.
• Modernism broke with traditional forms: free verse without rhyme, fragmented narrative, interior monologue and symbols. Tarjei Vesaas ('The Ice Palace', 'The Birds') and poets like Olav H. Hauge and Rolf Jacobsen.
• 1960s and 70s: the Profil generation and political, social-realist literature, such as Dag Solstad.

Contemporary literature

Today there is great diversity: autobiographical writing (Karl Ove Knausgård's 'My Struggle'), crime (Jo Nesbø), children's and young adult books, non-fiction and the minimalist drama and prose of Jon Fosse, Nobel laureate in 2023. Many contemporary writers explore identity, class, minorities, climate and digital lives.

Using the periods in an analysis

Ask: which features of the period do you find in the text (theme, form, language, view of humanity)? How does the text reflect the society it was written in? And what does it say to us today?

Example

Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' (1879) is typical realism: a contemporary drama that puts marriage and women's position up for debate. Nora leaves her husband and children to find out who she is.

Practise literary history in the app →

2. Language history and the language conflict

What is it about?

Why does Norway have two written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk? The answer is historical: Norway was in union with Denmark for over 400 years, and after 1814 Norwegians had to work out what a Norwegian written language should look like.

In short

• Proto-Norse and Old Norse: the oldest runic inscriptions date from c. AD 200. Old Norse was the written language of the Middle Ages.
• The Danish period: after the Black Death and the union with Denmark, Danish became the written language in Norway. The Bible appeared in Danish in 1550.
• Ivar Aasen collected dialects and created Landsmål (today Nynorsk). His grammar came out in 1848.
• Knud Knudsen wanted to Norwegianise Danish gradually – the basis of Riksmål (today Bokmål).
• 1885: the Storting gave Landsmål equal status with the Danish-based written language.
• 1929: the names Bokmål and Nynorsk were introduced.
• Samnorsk: the aim of merging the two (the 1938 reform). The policy was officially abandoned in 2002.
• The Language Act (2021): Norwegian is the main language, with Bokmål and Nynorsk equal. Sami and national minority languages are also protected.
• Sidemål: the written standard that is not your main one.

From Proto-Norse to Old Norse

The oldest traces of our language are runic inscriptions from around AD 200, in Proto-Norse. By the Viking Age the language had developed into Old Norse, written in the Latin alphabet after Christianisation. Old Norse had case endings (like German) and many sounds we have lost. Icelandic still closely resembles Old Norse.

The Danish period

After the Black Death (1349) Norway lost many of those who could write, and in the union with Denmark Danish became the written language. From the Reformation the Bible, hymn books and laws came in Danish, and officials learned Danish at the university in Copenhagen. But most people still spoke Norwegian dialects. An 'educated colloquial' also arose among townspeople – Danish writing read with Norwegian pronunciation.

1814 and the question of a Norwegian written language

After independence many felt a free people needed its own language. Three main views emerged:

1. Keep Danish as a shared language of culture (Welhaven among others).
2. Norwegianise Danish gradually – Henrik Wergeland used Norwegian words in his poems, and Knud Knudsen proposed building on the towns' 'educated colloquial'. This became Riksmål, today Bokmål.
3. Build a new written language on the dialects – Ivar Aasen travelled the country in the 1840s, compared the dialects and created Landsmål (today Nynorsk), with a grammar (1848) and dictionary (1850). Aasmund Olavsson Vinje and later Arne Garborg wrote literature in Landsmål.

Equal status and spelling reforms

• 1885: the Storting decided that Landsmål should have equal status with the Danish-based language.
• 1907: Riksmål became more Norwegian, e.g. with hard consonants ('gate', 'bok' instead of 'gade', 'bog').
• 1917: optional forms and more Norwegian words in both standards.
• 1929: the names Bokmål and Nynorsk.
• 1938: the Samnorsk reform – the aim was to merge the two into one, with many 'radical' forms (like 'boka', 'sola').
• 1950s: strong opposition from the Parents' Campaign against Samnorsk, which among other things corrected schoolbooks.
• 1981, 2005 and 2012: reforms giving more freedom of choice. In 2002 the Samnorsk policy was officially abandoned.

The situation today

• About 85–88% of pupils have Bokmål as their main language and about 12% Nynorsk. Nynorsk is strongest in western Norway.
• All pupils learn the other standard, and the state must use both (at least 25% of each in documents).
• The Language Act (2021) states that Norwegian is the main language, that Bokmål and Nynorsk are of equal value, and that Sami, Kven, Romani, Romanes and Norwegian Sign Language are protected.
• The Language Council advises on spelling and works to strengthen Norwegian against English – especially in research, business and technology (domain loss).

Dialects and language attitudes

Norway is known for people using dialect almost everywhere – even in the Storting and on NRK. Dialects are roughly divided into eastern, western, Trøndelag and northern Norwegian, by features such as infinitives ending in -e or -a, the uvular r, and whether people say 'æ', 'eg' or 'jeg' for 'I'. In the cities multiethnolects are emerging, and English words come in as loanwords. Language always changes – and attitudes to language are often about identity and power.

Example

'Eg skriv' is Nynorsk, 'jeg skriver' is Bokmål. Both are correct Norwegian, and public bodies must use both.

Practise language history and the language conflict in the app →

3. Genres and literary devices

What is it about?

Analysing a text means seeing what the writer does, and why. First find the genre, then look at the devices and their effect.

In short

• Epic (narrative): storytelling texts – novel, short story, fairy tale, saga.
• Lyric: poems and song lyrics, often with rhythm, rhyme and images.
• Drama: texts written for the stage, with lines and stage directions.
• Metaphor: an image without 'like' – 'Life is a journey'.
• Simile: an image with 'like' or 'as' – 'Strong as a bear'.
• Personification: something non-living gets human qualities – 'The wind whispered'.
• Alliteration: words starting with the same sound – 'Slowly sank the sun'.
• Repetition and contrast create rhythm and tension.
• Point of view: who sees and tells – first-person or third-person narrator.

How to analyse a literary text

A good analysis moves from observation (what does it say?) to interpretation (what does it mean?). This sequence works well:

1. First impression: what is the text about? What is its mood?
2. Genre: what features does the text have?
3. Structure: how is the text built?
4. Narration and characters: who tells the story, and how are the characters portrayed?
5. Language and devices: which devices are used, and what is their effect?
6. Theme and message: what is the text really about – at a deeper level?
7. Context: what time and period does it belong to?

Genre features

• Short story: short, few characters, often in medias res (starting mid-action), a turning point and an open ending.
• Novel: long, many characters and plot lines, with room for character development.
• Fairy tale: 'Once upon a time', stock characters, threes, good wins.
• Poem: concentrated language, often rhythm, rhyme, stanzas and imagery. Modern poems often have free form.
• Drama: lines and stage directions; the conflict is driven by dialogue. Classic structure: opening, exposition, rising conflict, climax and resolution.

Structure

• Chronological narrative or with flashbacks (analepsis) and foreshadowing (prolepsis).
• Frame narrative: a story within a story.
• Tension curve: how tension builds towards a climax.

Narration

• First-person narrator ('I'): close and personal, but we only see what the 'I' sees – and the narrator may be unreliable.
• Third-person narrator: omniscient (knows everything, including thoughts) or limited (follows one character closely).
• Point of view: whose eyes do we see events through?
• Indirect characterisation: we learn who someone is through actions and dialogue – 'show, don't tell'.

Literary devices

• Imagery: metaphor ('life is a journey'), simile ('strong as a bear'), personification ('the wind whispered') and symbol (an object standing for something more – a closed door may symbolise isolation).
• Sound: rhyme, alliteration ('slowly sank the sun'), rhythm and onomatopoeia ('splash', 'whoosh').
• Repetition and anaphora (the same word opening several lines) give rhythm and emphasis.
• Contrast: light–dark, city–country, young–old.
• Irony: the opposite of what is meant. Humour, exaggeration (hyperbole) and understatement.
• Word choice and sentence length: short sentences give pace and tension; long ones calm or reflection.

Effect – the most important

Finding a device isn't enough. You must explain how it affects the reader and how it supports the theme. A useful formula is PEE: Point (the text uses contrasts), Evidence (a quotation), Explanation (it shows how lonely the main character is).

Example

In 'She was a closed door' the image is a metaphor. The effect is that the reader understands she is unapproachable, without it being said outright.

Practise genres and literary devices in the app →

4. Rhetoric and argumentation

What is it about?

Rhetoric is the study of how we persuade. It goes back to Aristotle but is used every day – in adverts, debates, speeches and on social media.

In short

• Ethos: the speaker's credibility – knowledge, experience and how they come across.
• Pathos: appeal to emotion – images, stories and strong words.
• Logos: appeal to reason – facts, figures and logical reasoning.
• Kairos: the right moment and the right form for the situation.
• The rhetorical situation: sender, audience, issue, situation and medium.
• Fallacies: ad hominem (attacking the person instead of the issue), straw man (attacking a distorted version), false dilemma (only two choices) and slippery slope (one step 'inevitably' leads to disaster).
• Discussion: looking at an issue from several sides, weighing the arguments and reaching a reasoned conclusion.

The rhetorical situation

All communication happens in a situation. Before writing or giving a speech, consider:

• Sender: who are you, and how do you want to come across?
• Audience: who are they, what do they know, and what do they already think?
• Issue/purpose: what do you want to achieve – inform, persuade, entertain?
• Medium and genre: speech, opinion piece, op-ed, video, social media?
• Context: when and where?

The appeals in depth

• Ethos is about credibility. It is built from competence (you know your subject), character (you seem honest with good values) and goodwill (you wish the audience well). Ethos exists both before (what the audience knows about you) and during (how you come across).
• Pathos is about emotions: compassion, fear, anger, hope, pride. Devices: personal stories, strong images, music, loaded language, humour. Pathos can be powerful – and can be abused for manipulation.
• Logos is about reason: facts, statistics, examples, logical inferences and expert statements.
• Kairos: saying the right thing at the right moment and in the right way.

The strongest texts often use all three appeals together.

Argumentation

An argument has a claim (position) and reasons. Link your arguments logically and support them with facts and examples. Also address counter-arguments – showing you've considered other views strengthens your ethos (rebuttal).

Toulmin's model of argument

• Claim: what you think.
• Data: facts supporting the claim.
• Warrant: the (often unstated) assumption linking data to claim.
• Backing: support for the warrant.
• Qualifier: how certain you are ('probably', 'always').
• Rebuttal: exceptions or counter-arguments.

Fallacies and master suppression techniques

• Straw man: attacking a distorted version of the other side.
• Ad hominem: attacking the person instead of the issue.
• False dilemma: pretending there are only two choices.
• Slippery slope: claiming one small step inevitably leads to disaster.
• Hasty generalisation: big conclusions from few examples.
• Misplaced authority: a celebrity speaking on something they know nothing about.
• Master suppression techniques (Berit Ås) such as making invisible, ridiculing and withholding information are used to take power in a conversation.

The discussion text

1. Introduction: present the issue and the question.
2. Main body: arguments for and against, ideally alternating. Weigh how strong they are and whom they apply to.
3. Conclusion: a reasoned answer – what weighs most, and why?

Use source references, and distinguish clearly between facts and your own opinions.

Analysing a non-fiction text

When analysing a speech or advert: describe the rhetorical situation, identify appeals and devices with examples, and judge how well the text reaches its audience – and whether its use of devices is ethical.

Example

A running-shoe advert shows a famous runner (ethos), a cheering finish (pathos) and that the shoe is 20% lighter (logos).

Practise rhetoric and argumentation in the app →