Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Norwegian playwright, novelist, and poet. Born in Kvikne in the eastern mountains as the son of a pastor, he showed exceptional talent from an early age and displayed the character of a leader. He was expelled from middle school for being a strike leader, and moved to the capital, Christiania (now Oslo), to attend a cram school for university entrance exams. By the time he had already become influential among young people, he became acquainted with Ibsen and Vinje, and embarked on a theatrical reform movement, founded a newspaper, and worked to uplift the national spirit. He was a lifelong friend and rival of Ibsen. He graduated from Royal Frederick University in 1852. In 1856, he attended a student conference held in the old capital of Sweden, Uppsala, and was so impressed that he returned to Sweden. He immediately wrote the play Between the Battles (1857), which was based on a medieval Nordic hero, and the novel The Girl from the Sunny Hill the following year, quickly becoming a standard-bearer of new literature. The latter, in particular, depicts the worries and longings of innocent young men and women in the north against the backdrop of magnificent nature, and, along with his subsequent works "Arne" (1858) and "The Lucky One" (1860), was loved the world over as a pure and innocent youth novel and mountain novel. However, as the author rose to the position of national leader through the founding of the Scandinavian Union Movement and the Young Democrats, his early idyllic style became more radical and socially realist. Works such as "Gloves" (1883), which deals with the magic of gold, are social dramas from this middle period, and the two-part masterpiece "More Than Man's Strength" (1883-95) was the apex of his works. Among his novels, "The Flag Flutters Over the Harbor and the Town" (1884) and "Marie" (1906) are representative works from his middle and late periods. In his later years, he entered the international stage, and fought for the Dreyfus Affair and for the oppressed peoples of Finland, Poland, etc., earning him the honor of being called a "warrior for humanity" and receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903. His poem "Yes, We Love This Country" (Our Beloved Mountain Country) became the Norwegian national anthem. When he died in Paris, the government dispatched a warship to retrieve his remains and gave him a state funeral.

[Yamamuro Shizuka]

"Arne" translated by Hideo Kobayashi (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "The Girl from Hinataoka" translated by Shizu Yamamuro (Kadokawa Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ノルウェーの劇作家、小説家、詩人。牧師の子として、東部山地のクビクネに生まれ、幼時から抜群の天分を示して指導者の性格を表す。ストライキの指導者として中学校を追放され、首都クリスティアニア（現オスロ）に出て大学受験のために予備校に通うころには、早くも青年の間に重きをなし、イプセン、ビニエらと知り合い演劇改革運動に乗り出したり、新聞を創刊して国民精神の高揚に努める。イプセンとは終生を通じての友であり、また競争者であった。1852年王立フレデリック大学卒業。56年にスウェーデンの旧都ウプサラで開かれた学生会議に出席して感銘を受けて帰国、直後に中世北欧の英雄に取材した戯曲『戦いの合間』（1857）を、翌年は小説『日向(ひなた)丘の少女』を書いて、早くも新文学の旗手となる。後者はことに北国の初々しい青年男女の悩みとあこがれを雄大な自然を背景に描いて、続く『アルネ』（1858）、『幸運児』（1860）などとともに、清純無比の青春小説、山岳小説として世界中に愛読された。しかし作者がスカンジナビア連合運動や、青年民主党の創立を通じて国民指導者の地位に上るに及び、初期の牧歌的作風はより急進的、社会的なリアリズムとなった。金の魔力を扱った『手袋』（1883）などはこの中期の社会劇で、二部の大作『人力以上』（1883～95）をその頂点とする。小説では『港に町に旗はひるがえる』（1884）、『マリイ』（1906）などが中・後期の代表作。晩年、国際舞台に進出、ドレフュス事件やフィンランド、ポーランドなどの被圧迫民族のために奮闘、「人道の戦士」とたたえられ、1903年にはノーベル文学賞を受賞。彼の詩『しかりわれらはこの国を愛す』（われらが愛する山の国）は、ノルウェー国歌になっている。パリで客死すると、政府は軍艦を派遣して遺骸(いがい)を迎え、国葬をもって遇した。

［山室　静］

『小林英夫訳『アルネ』（岩波文庫）』▽『山室静訳『日向丘の少女』（角川文庫）』

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