When we open up for a less homogeneous approach to Hamsun, we find new perspectives', says Nesby.Įxamples of topics covered in the journal are Hamsun's ecocriticism and depictions of the Sami.

'The conference showed how canon research has a relevance today and can be used to examine exciting and current societal issues by using classical literature. The issue is based on the seventh international Hamsun conference, which was held at UiT in September 2019, with the theme Hamsun and Borders.Ģ2 articles place Hamsun's work in a new light in different ways. Together with associate professor Linda Nesby and doctoral fellow Ingri Løkholm Ramberg, Johnsson is the editor of the latest issue of the journal Nordlit, which is published by the Department of Language and Culture at UiT. It is an important point that gay readers of Hamsun have not previously been able to identify with his characters, but now they can relate to Hamsun’s fiction in a new way', says Johnsson. Why have Hamsun researchers not seen this? It is quite obvious that Hamsun writes about same-sex desire, which makes him part of the history of gay literature. 'We highlight something that has been explicit, but invisible. Thus, it is perhaps more a matter of more modern times not wanting to read Hamsun's texts in retrospect with a so-called «queer theory» focus, he believes.

In the 1890s, there was more openness about homosexuality than one would think, according to Johnsson. This does not mean that he himself was gay, but that he writes about something that was frequently discussed at the time, by for instance August Strindberg”, says associate professor at the Department of Language and Culture at UiT, Henrik Johnsson. “Hamsun writes clearly about sexual desire between two men in the short story «Secret Suffering».

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