NATIONAL ROMANTICISM IN NORWAY

Transcription

1 NATIONAL ROMANTICISM IN NORWAY BY OSCAR J. FALNES AMS PRESS NEW YORK

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 14 PART I GENERAL BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION 17 CHAPTER I CERTAIN ASPECTS OF NORWEGIAN NATIONALISM TO 1870 Nationalism Defined 21 " Patriotism " and " Fatherland " in the Eighteenth Century Norwegian Nationalism During the First Years of Union with Sweden 24 The Wergeland-Welhaven Controversy 20 The Union with Sweden 34 Scandinavianism 36 Unionism 38 Nationalist Manifestations in the 'Fifties and 'Sixties 42 CHAPTER II ROMANTICISM IN NORWAY K Romanticism Defined 45 Some Eighteenth Century Romanticist Tendencies 48 The First Decades of Romanticism 50 --^Norwegian National Romanticism The Nation's Most Adequate Representative: the Peasant The Peasant Failing his Trust 58 y Romanticism at High Intensity 61 CHAPTER III THE ROMANTICIST INTEREST IN NATIONALITX AND CULTURE -^The Romanticist Concept of Nationality 67 Nationality Related to the " Idea " 69 ^Nationality and Culture 74 Concern for a National Culture 77 9

3 IO TABLE OF CONTENTS Some Financial Aspects of this Concern 82 " Scholarship's Re -<ute Crusade " 85 Realism 86 PART II THE HISTORIANS CHAPTER IV A GENERATION OF NON-PROFESSIONAL HISTORIANS Rationalist History 91 Historical Geography 93 Some Early Gathering of Sources 94 The Amateurs Organize 97 A New Interest in the Constitution 100 The Interest in the Saga Period 104 CHAPTER V THE NORWEGIAN HISTORICAL SCHOOL Jakob Rudolf Keyser 106 Peder Andreas Munch icg Intellectual Orientation m Works US Det Norske Folks Historic 119 CHAPTER VI A DISTINCTIVE NATIONAL ORIGIN A Migration from the North 123 The Migration Theory Superseded 133 CHAPTER VII THE Norrfln LITERATURE Parrying Dano-Swedish Usurpations 135 Iceland's Share in the Literature 140 CHAPTER VIII THE ANTIPATHY AGAINST DENMARK AND THE DANES The Obstinacy of the Danes 143 Denmark's Misdeeds 145 Scandinavianism 147

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS II A CHAPTER IX ASSEMBLING AND PRESERVING THE RECORDS Repatriating Records from Abroad 151 P. A. Munch in the Archives 156 Getting the Records into Print 157 Material Remains 165 Trondhjem Cathedral 166 CHAPTER X THE EVIDENCE OF A GREAT MEDIEVAL CULTURE The Norse Empire 171 The Norse Culture at its Height 174 Christianity and the Decline of Norse Culture 178 CHAPTER XI THE ROMANTICISM OF THE NORWEGIAN HISTORICAL SCHOOL The Nature of Nationality 182 The Matter of Methodology. 190 The Patriotism of the Norwegian School 192 PART III THE FOLKLORISTS CHAPTER XII THE FIRST FOLKLORE COLLECTIONS Faye's Norske Sagn 199 A Romanticist Harbinger: Nor 203 J0rgen Moe 205 Moe's Ballad Collection 209 CHAPTER XIII THE FOLK AND FAIRY TALES The First Collection of Folk Tales 214 P. Chr. Asbj0rnsen The Fairy Tales 219 Preparations for a Scholarly Treatment of Folk Tales 222 The Scholarly Introduction 226 The Definitive Edition 231 As'bj0rnsen's Later Editing. 231 The Folklore in the Landsmaal Controversy 233

5 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XIV THE BALLADS M. B. Landstad 237 The Norske Folkeviser 239 Munch's Acclaim 243 Bugge and the Ballads 245 Lindeman and Folk Music 247 CHAPTER XV THE ROMANTICISM OF THE FOLKLORISTS The National Importance of the Folk Traditions 249 The Folklore in Decline. 251 The Need for Haste 254 Fidelity in Collecting 255 Fidelity in Editing 258 A Closing Estimate 261 PART IV THE PHILOLOGISTS AND THE LANGUAGE QUESTION CHAPTER XVI VARIOUS PROPOSALS FOR A NATIONAL LANGUAGE Was Norway's Language National? 265 The Discussion of the 'Thirties 267 X The Interest in the Dialects 271 Knudsen's Program 273 CHAPTER XVII ROMANTICISM IN PHILOLOGY The Nature of Language 278 '~ Language and Nationality 282 * Growing Hostility to the Danish Influence 286 CHAPTER XVIII IVAR AASEN AND THE Landsmaal PROGRAM Ivar Aasen 289 The Evidence of a Norwegian National Language 295 ^The Old Norse Bent of Munch's Influence The Beginnings of the Landsmaal 303

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 CHAPTER XIX CONTROVERSY The Attack on the Knudsen Trend 307 The Second Half of the 'Fifties: Vinje and Dplen 313 The Attack on the Landsmaal 317 CHAPTER XX CLEAVAGE Converts Among the Intelligentsia 323 A Keener Danophobia ;. 327 Irredentism Journalistic Ventures 330 The Forming of Societies 331 Two Languages and Two Nationalities 334 The Cultured on the Defensive 336 The Landsmaal (or New Norwegian) Movement 340 PART V CHAPTER XXI THE HERITAGE Bearers of the Romanticist Heritage 347 Neo-Romanticism 352 Danophobia 356 The East Greenland Issue 358 Irredentism 360 Imperialism 363 The Two National Traditions 365 CONCLUSION 371 BIBLIOGRAPHY 373 INDEX 385