nasjonalromantikken - romantic nationalism

8/13/2019 Nasjonalromantikken - Romantic Nationalism

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Nasjonalromantikken Norwegian culture in view of political developments

Marcin Mateusz JerzewskiUWC Red Cross Nordic

25th November 2013


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Links to the syllabus

HL Route 2

HL Option 5: Aspects of the history of Europe

and the Middle East

Section 12: Social and Economic Developments

in Europe and the Middle Eastin the 19th or 20th century

Topic 4: Developments in the arts


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Historical background

1523 – Kalmar Union of Norway, Denmark

and Sweden dissolved

1524 – Norway and Denmark enter into

another personal union

1814:• Defeat of Denmark-Norway in Napoleonic Wars

against the Kingdom of Sweden and the U.K.

• Treaty of Kiel – mainland Norway ceded to Sweden

• 17th May – Norwegian independence declared;

constitution signed and dated; Christian Fredrik elected

an independent king

• 26th July – 14th August – Det norske felttoget

• 14th August – Convention of Moss; Union between

Sweden and Norway established

1905 – Oscar II renounces claims to Norway;

Norwegian independence


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Parallel ideas

Enlightenment – present in practicalgovernment of 19th century Norway:

constitution

Romanticism – fostered nation building

process on the ideological level


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What is “norsk”?

• Ideological nation building process during

the union with Sweden

• The challenge to distinguish the

Norwegian from the Danish

• Questionable national identity – only the

farmers were truly ‘Norwegian’

• The written language was Danish

• Intellectuals were educated in Denmark

• Elites had close family ties in Denmark


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Bondekultur• ‘ Norwegianess’ of the peasants

• Freedom of peasants: they owned

the soil they were cultivating

• Important national asset in the

Europe-wide struggle for

democracy

• ‘Folk’ culture of the farming class

• Enlightenment – freedom

• Volkstum


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Revival of written Norwegian• Norwegian and Danish are both

derived from Old Norse

• Written Norwegian died out

• Extinction of medieval

aristocracy by the Black Death

• Lutheran reformation

• Writers of the

Nasjonalromantikken created their

works in Danish

• Henrik Wergeland introduced

words from spoken Norwegian into

his works


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Ivar Aasen and Nynorsk• Nynorsk – New Norwegian

• Assuming that the origins of the

Norwegian language were to be

found in rural Vestlandet, Aasen set

off on a journey in 1840s to study

dialects

• In 1948 and 1850, he published thefirst Norwegian grammar and

dictionary, respectively

• First name of the new language:

Landsmål


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Ivar Aasen’s route


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Literature: Henrik Wergeland


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Literature: Johan S. C. Velhaven


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Literature: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

•

One of ‘De Fire Store ’ • Bonde-fortellinger : peasant stories

• Synnøve Solbakken; 1857

• En glad gut; 1860

• Fiskerjentene; 1868

• Folke-stykker : national dramas

• Mellem Slagene; 1855-57

• Sigurd Slembe; 1862

• Author of the lyrics of Ja, vi elsker

dette landet

nasjonalromantikken - romantic nationalism

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