Olav Duun (November 21, 1876 – September 13, 1939) was a noteworthy author of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature,
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[edit] Background
Duun was born on Jøa an island in the Namsen Fjord in Fosnes municipality, Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway to Johannes Antonius Duun and Ellen (Fossum) Duun. Olav Duun was born Ole Johannesen Raaby. During his years as a boy his family lived at several farms on the island, the last one being Duun. He adopted the last name Duun when he left the island to start his training as a teacher.[1] He attended the state school at Trøndelag. He worked as a teacher in Holmestrand on the Oslo Fjord until 1927. At the age of fifty, he retired in order to devote his time to writing.
[edit] Career
Duun was known as one of the outstanding writers of 20th-century Norwegian fiction. He stands as a remarkable synthesis of the Norwegian folk spirit and the European cultural form. Duun wrote in Landsmål, an amalgam of peasant dialects that developed into Nynorsk, one of the official languages of Norway. Many of his books incorporate the dialects of his subjects: peasants, fishermen and farmers. His novels analyze the psychological and spiritual characteristics of rural, peasant life. He once lacked only one vote to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Duun died in Tønsberg of a stroke at the age of sixty-six.[2]
His six volume work, The People of Juvick, which deals with 4 generations of a family of peasant landowners, was translated into English and published as: The Trough of the Waves (1930), The Blind Man (1931), The Big Wedding (1932), Odin in Fairyland (1932), Odin Grows Up (1934) and Storm (1935).[3]
[edit] Olav and Emma Duun's House
Olav and Emma Duun's House (Norwegian: Olav og Emma Duuns Hus) is the former residence of Olav Duun and his wife Emma. The house is located at 20 Olav Duun Street, Ramberg in the municipality of Holmestrand. There is a library containing manuscripts, letters, and other things related to the writing career of Olav Duun. The first floor is at the disposal of recipients of the Duun Scholarship. In the garden, a memorial park has been constructed containing commemorative rocks with lyrical quotes from Olav Duun’s poems.
[edit] Bibliography
- 1907: Løglege skruvar og anna folk
- 1908: Marjane
- 1909: På tvert
- 1910: Nøkksjøliga
- 1911: Gamal Jord
- 1912: Hilderøya, Storbåten
- 1913: Sigyn, Sommareventyr
- 1914: Tre venner
- 1915: Harald
- 1916: Det gode samvite
- 1917: På Lyngsøya
- 1918-23: Juvikfolket
- 1918: Juvikingar
- 1919: I Blinda
- 1920: Storbybryllope
- 1921: I eventyret
- 1922: I Ungdommen
- 1923: I Stormen
- 1924: Blind-Anders
- 1925: Straumen og evja
- 1927: Olsøygutane
- 1928: Carolus Magnus
- 1929: Medmenneske
- 1930: Vegar og villstig
- 1931: Ragnhild
- 1932: Ettermæle
- 1933: Siste leveåre
- 1935: Gud smiler
- 1936: Samtid
- 1938: Menneske og maktene
[edit] Awards
- 1934 - Gyldendal's Endowment (initial award of this prize)
- 1935 - Henrik Steffens Prize (initial award of this German prize)
[edit] References
- ^ Olav Duun -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia at www.britannica.com
- ^ A History of Norwegian Literature(by Harald Beyer; New York University Press, 1956)[1]
- ^ Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature, (edited by Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1942)
[edit] Other Reading
- Contemporary Authors ( by Gale Reference Team. Thomson Gale. 2007)hngfhgf