Abstract
<p align="left">Knut Hamsun’s polemic about the Norwegian Nansen cult round 1889 (on the occasion of Fridtjof Nansen’s ski crossing of Greenland), which he published in a newspaper article titled “Meditations on Nansen” (“Nansen-Betragtninger”), was mainly directed against the public enthusiasm for sportive records as a typical modern trend, whose pointless absurdity Hamsun shows in an incisive and specifically provocative way. His critique is primarily aimed at a kind of hero worship that in his opinion is out of all proportion to the uselessness of the expedition’s results. Thus, “a daredevil, well finished adventure, a breakneck act, a sports affair, a lucky strike,” as he outlines Nansen’s venture, becomes the basis for a mass hysteria whose driving forces are invested in the signatures of modernity. The fascination of crossing the line and of extreme forms of progress in “both sports and science”, their entanglement as an example for the “proliferation of hybrids” (Latour 1993), and the contingent dimension of success stories are symptoms of modernity that Hamsun is polemically engaged with. In conclusion, I investigate to what extent Hamsun ironically refers to these symptoms in his novel <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Editor Lynge </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">(</span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Redakteur </span></em></span>Lynge, <em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">1893). My argument is supported by the assumption that Hamsun’s vehement </span></span></em>denunciation of such tendencies is owed to the fact that he himself is embroiled in them.</p>
Highlights
In this article I have tried to show how Hamsun polemically criticizes the conflation of categories in modern polar hero-worship, and to what extent his polemic is a consequence of what Bruno Latour calls the dilemma of modernity: the attempt to maintain sharp divisions and categories that are undermined by an ineluctable formation of hybrids and boundary-crossings
My aim was to illuminate these main points of Hamsun’s irritation – hybridity and contingency – as typical symptoms of modernity, and to examine how they gain enhanced literary value by being reflected in his literary work (exemplified in his novel Editor Lynge)
Summary
This article takes a closer look at Hamsun’s polemical critique of this heroworship and tries to show how athletic and scientific discourses come together in the representation of the new polar hero. “What does it matter that Greenland is a country that still lies in the Ice Age,” Hamsun asks (“Hvad gjør det, om Grønland endnu er et Land, som ligger i Istiden”).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
