Hamsun (English spelling) Knut Hamsun

Norwegian novelist. Born to a poor farmer in Gudbrandsdal, his family emigrated to the Lofoten Islands when he was three years old. In the desolate and mysterious wilderness of the far north, he worked in many jobs, including as a shepherd, a shoemaker's apprentice, and a traveling merchant, while aspiring to become a writer. At the age of 17, he self-published a novel about his upbringing, "Berger," but it was not accepted. He was so desperate that he traveled to America twice, one after the other. After returning to the United States, he published a pamphlet that scathingly criticized American civilization, which attracted some attention, and when he published "Hunger" (1890), he astonished all of Europe and became an instant leader of neo-romanticism. It tells the story of a poor, young man of letters who becomes so hungry that he hallucinates, but does not lose his solitary spirit, wandering the streets of Oslo until he finally runs out of options and becomes a stoker on a cargo ship, abandoning his homeland. Its thoroughly autobiographical subject matter and strikingly beautiful style made it a sharp contrast to previous naturalism and novels on social issues. In subsequent works such as "Mysteries" (1892), "Pan" (1894), "Victoria" (1898), "Under the Autumn Stars" (1906), and "The Last Joy" (1912), he depicted the joys and sorrows of a lonely wanderer in a dignified, poetic style, but from "Children of the Time" (1913) and "Segerfoss" (1917) onwards, he began to sharply criticize modern society. In his masterpiece, "The Blessings of the Earth" (1917), he took a complete turn and depicted in a magnificent, epic style the life of a farmer who ventures alone into the wilderness to start a farm. It was greeted like a new gospel throughout Europe during World War I, and in 1920 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. During World War II, he sympathized with Hitler due to his hatred of Anglo-American democracy, and after the war he was imprisoned for a long time as a war criminal. A record of that time is "Once Again on the Grass-Blanked Road" (1949). Today, he is once again regarded as a national treasure of 20th century Norway.

[Yamamuro Shizuka]

"Hamson Anatole France Raymont" translated by Shizuka Yamamuro et al. (included in "The Complete Works of the Nobel Prize in Literature 4", 1971, Shufu no Tomosha)" ▽ "The Blessings of the Earth" translated by Koichiro Miyahara, all three volumes (Shincho Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ノルウェーの小説家。グドブランスダールの貧農の子として生まれたが、3歳のときにロフォーテン諸島近くに一家は移住、極北の荒涼、神秘的な大自然のなかで、牧童、靴屋の見習い、行商人など多くの職につきながら文学を志す。17歳で生い立ちを描いた小説『ベルゲル』を自費出版したが認められず、食い詰めて前後2回アメリカに渡航、帰国後、痛烈にアメリカ文明を批判したパンフレットを出してやや注目をひき、『飢え』（1890）を出すに及んで全ヨーロッパを驚倒させ、一躍新ロマン主義の旗手になった。貧しい文学青年が飢えて幻覚をおこすほどの状態に陥りながら、孤高を失わず、オスロの町を彷徨(ほうこう)、最後には万策尽きて貨物船の火夫となって故国を見捨てるまでを描いた作品で、その徹底的に私小説的な題材、強烈な文体美によって、それまでの自然主義や社会問題小説と鋭く対立するものであった。以後『神秘』（1892）、『牧神(パーン)』（1894）、『ビクトリア』（1898）、『秋の星の下で』（1906）、『最後の喜び』（1912）などには孤独な放浪者の哀歓を格調高い詩的な文体で描いたが、『時代の子ら』（1913）、『セーゲルフォス町』（1917）あたりから近代社会を痛烈に批判するようになった。大作『土の恵み』（1917）では一転して、ただ1人荒野に踏み入って農場を開く農夫の生活を、壮麗な叙事詩的筆致で描いて、第一次世界大戦下の全ヨーロッパに新しい福音(ふくいん)書のように迎えられ、1920年ノーベル文学賞受賞。第二次世界大戦下では英米風のデモクラシー嫌いからヒトラーに共鳴、戦後は戦犯として久しく監禁されていた。そのころの記録が『ふたたび草に埋もれた道の上で』（1949）である。現在ではふたたび20世紀ノルウェーの国宝的作家と評価されている。

［山室　静］

『山室静他訳『ハムスン　アナトール・フランス　レイモント』（『ノーベル文学賞全集4』所収・1971・主婦の友社）』▽『宮原晃一郎訳『土の恵み』全三冊（新潮文庫）』

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