Eros in the Hamsunian Male Figure

Lisa Yamasaki

doi:10.7557/13.5216

Abstract

Using a psychoanalytic perspective, I explore Knut Hamsun’s novels, Sult (1890), Mysterier (1892), Pan (1894), and Victoria (1898) and focus on the power that the women in fantasy have over the different male protagonists, whom I term the Hamsunian male. Within each fantasy, the women either dominate or exert supernatural power over the Hamsunian male. By undertaking such an investigation, I examine how the desired women in fantasy differ from the main female characters, in so far as they portray the Hamsunian male’s desire that ranges from intense eroticism to fear and death. While my focus on the female characters in the Hamsunian male differs from the discussions concerning the main female characters, I note that such women comment on the depiction of the masculine gender in Hamsun’s work. Furthermore, the discussion shows the power of women in fantasy, thus questioning whether they should continue to be disregarded as only superficially feminine.

Highlights

Using a psychoanalytic perspective, I explore Knut Hamsun’s novels, Sult (1890), Mysterier (1892), Pan (1894), and Victoria (1898) and focus on the power that the women in fantasy have over the different male protagonists, whom I term the Hamsunian male
The nature of the different male fantasies, captures the significance of the fantasy women when mapping out the desires in the Hamsunian male figure, a term I use to describe the typical male artistic protagonist by examining four of Hamsun’s male protagonists
By framing the desires of both men as narcissistic, Kittang aptly mentions Jacques Lacan’s Mirror Stage as the origin of the narcissistic object choice, which is followed through secondary narcissism, the subject’s integration into social life (Kittang 1984, 45)

Summary

Introduction

I explore Knut Hamsun’s novels, Sult (1890), Mysterier (1892), Pan (1894), and Victoria (1898) and focus on the power that the women in fantasy have over the different male protagonists, whom I term the Hamsunian male. In a similar way that the Sult hero’s fantasy revealed a desire for acknowledgement, Johannes Møller faces his fears concerning his desire for Victoria and writing through the manifestation of his nightmare.

Results

Conclusion