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The Norway Model: How the Scandinavian country became a literary powerhouse
- pallas_athena 3y agokinda related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokklubben_World_Library https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokklubben_World_Library (by brain pinged with the intersection of "Norway" and "books")
- widenrun 3y agoI never paid attention to the degree translation can shape our literary landscapes... Fascinating! > At the conference, NORLA also underlined that translators are its most important talent scouts, not agents, making passion rather than profit the driving force of the literary export machinery. A month after the conference, NORLA gathered 150 translators from across the world at a retreat in the countryside. The application process for participating in the gathering had been open to anyone with a love for translation, and I assume NORLA encouraged all the attendees to like what they liked in the pool of Norwegian books and then to take it from there.
- karaterobot 3y agoWhat does it even mean to be a literary powerhouse in 2023? Of the Norwegian authors they listed, the only name I recognized was Knausgård. His most famous books came out like 10 years ago, and while they were a sensation for a while, I believe they still sold best in Norway. And I think that even the most successful literary novelists of today are selling fewer copies than the moderately successful literary novelists of 30 years ago. Their novels are surely enjoyed by far fewer people than an only-relatively successful niche Youtube or TikTok content creator. Literary novels don't make money, and don't shape the culture, so what does it even mean to be a 'powerhouse'?
- mhb 3y agoJon Fosse won the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature. It's not nothing.
- karaterobot 3y agoDefinitely not nothing, but do you read authors because they win the Nobel prize? Probably some people do, but how many? A million people in the world would be my (extremely) generous estimate. And that's literally the highest lifetime honor a literary novelist can receive. Not to disparage these authors, but to put the state of the literary novel in context: that's not a hell of a lot of cultural cache. Again, the question is: what does it mean to be a literary powerhouse in 2023? The stakes seem rather small.
- Emma_Goldman 3y agoI do think this is a crudely banausic perspective. > Their novels are surely enjoyed by far fewer people than an only-relatively successful niche Youtube or TikTok content creator. Literary novels don't make money, and don't shape the culture, so what does it even mean to be a 'powerhouse'? Mere numerical impressions is a poor standard of influence or staying power. Very many great works of culture, philosophy and history are little read by the standards of social media. I have no idea why you think that means they 'don't shape the culture'. I doubt that, each year, Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is read even one hundredth the number of times that Mr Beast's videos are watched. I very much doubt that the future historian will take the Philosophical Investigations - by consensus the most influential work of philosophy in the twentieth century, whose effects on our intellectual culture are deep and pervasive - to be an incidental footnote when compared to Mr Beast. But cultural value isn't just a function of influence, clearly. Knausgaard's books are to many people, myself included, simply great works of art, and should be celebrated for that fact. They show a level of cultural excellence, ingenuity and craft that the average trending YouTube video doesn't, whatever merit it might have besides.
- AlbertCory 3y agoI liked this. Good analysis. > Norwegian novels are toned down, rarely noticeably conceptual, rarely in direct conversation with theory or tradition. Here, you find page after page of plot driven middle-class angst, minimalism and melancholy, closeness to nature, mellowness, humility, and what presents itself as stripped-down honesty. Here and there a funny novel does appear, but when it does, it’s usually funny in a purely observational and demonstratively folksy way. A Man Called Ove was excellent while the American remake A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks was garbage.
- wenc 3y agoA Man Called Ove was written by Fredrik Backman, who is Swedish. Not to be confused with Karl-Ove Knausgaard.
- AlbertCory 3y agoI did take a cursory look at the IMDb page, but should have looked more. I'd been thinking all this time it was Norwegian, d'oh.
- mkl 3y agoI liked A Man Called Otto. It wasn't phenomenal, but it definitely wasn't garbage. I haven't seen A Man Called Ove, though.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hilux 3y agoThis feels like over-analysis. Norway, with 0.07% of the world's population, has the world's best chess player ever. Two of the top ten bridge players. One of the very best soccer players under 25. And so on. Basically, it's a very oil-rich country that uses its wealth to invest in its people. And we see the results in every field of endeavor. Many other "rich" countries, whatever the source of their wealth, do not have the same people-investment attitude. Funny: I learned recently that Norway's Ekofisk oil field almost ended up with Denmark. It came down to a negotiation that went Norway's way - against a drunk Danish minister.
- hahahahahomgbro 3y ago[flagged]
- aurareturn 3y agoBasically, it's a very oil-rich country that uses its wealth to invest in its people Agreed. It's done good for its people with its oil money - but the first thing it needed was oil. I think a more impressive country is Singapore, which has no natural resources, but projects well above its weight.
- hilux 3y agoMy comment points out that Norway has done something amazing that other countries have not come close to doing. Look at what the US (I am American) has done with our wealth: highest healthcare expenditure per capita (50% more than #2), 47th in life expectancy, fifth-highest incarceration rate. What is served by reflexively trying to diminish Norway's accomplishments with a "BUT Singapore is more impressive"? Why not instead try to learn from Norway?
- outside1234 3y agoThe Norway model is not very replicable - we all can’t pump a huge amount of future CO2 out of the ground for almost nothing and sell it for a lot while destroying the climate such that we can invest in our tiny population
- theyoungfarmers 3y ago[flagged]
- BramLovesYams 3y agoNorway, the mitochondria of European Literature.
- roschdal 3y agoNorway is a nightmare to live in as a male. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-72837/Norway/Oslo/Oslo/Oslo https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-72837/Norway/Osl...
- hilux 3y agoBecause ... cold causes shrinkage?!
- fxtentacle 3y agoExercise is difficult, lack of sunlight increases depression, and very few bikini beach parties ;)
- roschdal 3y agoThis! I need to escape. Where is the promised land of opportunities these days?
- fxtentacle 3y agoMaybe Singapore? There are lots of English-speaking employers, the weather is great, and the better apartments come with rooftop tennis, gym, and pool. MRT is amazing and allows you to quickly go to free parks like the botanical garden if you feel like walking around outside. That will surely help with the winter blues. Lots of university students, too. But alcohol and/or parties are extremely expensive and dorms are typically gender-separated with security guards.
- altacc 3y ago> Exercise is difficult Which is why they invented skiing! Norwegians do quite a lot of physical exercise but it has to vary over the year. Cross country skiing is a good way to get into nature and is great full body workout. But yes, the bikini beach party season seems to be so short that I've missed it every year, unless you're talking about the quick run from the sauna to the icy sea.
- DeathArrow 3y agoIs Norway still the number 1 in number of suicided per capita and depression?
- dagw 3y agoNorway has never been number 1 and has lower suicide rates than the US.
- defrost 3y agoWhen was it ever No. 1? It's a bit above the global mean but there's 50+ countries with a higher per capita rate. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-r... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_r... Norway, Congo, and Australia have similar per capita rates, the USofA has a greater per capita rate.
- workfromspace 3y agohttps://archive.is/Gv5Mg https://archive.is/Gv5Mg (original URL requires JS)