Johan Bojer (6 March 1872 – 3 July 1959) was a popular
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
novelist and dramatist. He principally wrote about the lives of the poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States.
He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
five times.
Biography
Bojer was born Johan Kristoffer Hansen in the village of
Ørkedalsøren, now the town of
Orkanger
Orkanger is a town and the administrative centre of Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is also a former municipality which existed from 1920 until 1963. The town sits at the end of the Orkdal Fjord, an arm of the Trondhe ...
,
Sør-Trøndelag
Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...
county. The son of unmarried parents—Hans Christophersen Bojer and Johanna Iversdatter Elgaaen—he grew up as a foster child in a poor family living in
Rissa near Trondheim, Norway. Bojer learned early the realities of poverty. His early years were spent working on a farm and working as a bookkeeper. After the death of his father in 1894, he took the surname Bojer.
His literary work began with the publication of ''Unge tanker'' in 1893, and continued to gather strength through the 1920s. Because of the range of topics he addressed, he won critical acclaim in Norway. He gained international fame after many of his works were published in foreign languages. Critics generally recognize his best work to be his novel, ', (English title: ''The Last of the Vikings''). This novel powerfully and realistically depicts the lives of fishermen from
Trøndelag
Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...
, who spend the winter fishing in the
Lofoten
Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...
island archipelago within the Arctic Circle near the far north coast of Norway.
![Portrait of Johan Bojer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Portrait_of_Johan_Bojer.jpg)
Bojer is best remembered for ''The Emigrants'', a major novel dealing with the motivations and trials of Norwegians emigrated on the plains of
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
. In 1923, Bojer journeyed to
Litchville, North Dakota
Litchville is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States, known for their canoeing and kayaking opportunities. The population was 169 at the 2020 census. Litchville was founded in 1900.
Geography
Litchville is located at (46.653683, ...
, to research the lives of the Norwegian immigrants who had settled there. The result of his visit became a novel originally published in Norway as ''Vor egen stamme''.
''Johan Bojer'' (Read North Dakota - Fiction by North Dakota Authors)
Selected works
*''Unge tanker'' - novel published under the name Johan K. Hansson
*''Et folketog'' – A Procession (1896)
*''Troens magt'' - The Power of a Lie (1903/English 1909)
*''Fangen som sang'' (1913)
*''Den store hunger'' – The Great Hunger (1916/English 1918)
*''Verdens ansigt'' - The Face of the World (1917)
*' - The Last of the Vikings (1921/English 1923)
*''Vor egen stamme'' -The Emigrants (1924/English 1925)
*''Folk ved sjøen'' - The Everlasting Struggle (1929/English 1931)
References
Additional Sources
* Gad, Carl
''Johan Bojer: The Man and His Works ''
(Moffat, Yard and Company, 1920. translated by Elizabeth Jelliffe MacIntire)
* Lödrup, Hans P. ''Johan Bojer'' (The American-Scandinavian Review, Vol. XIV, No. 4, April, 1926)
* Jorgenson, Theodore ''History of Norwegian Literature'' (The Macmillan Company, 1933)
* Downs, Brian W. ''Modern Norwegian Literature, 1860-1918'' (Cambridge University Press, 1966)
External links
* Genealog
* Bojer, Axel Johan, Bojers biografi og forfatterskap (Norwegian language
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojer, Johan
1872 births
1959 deaths
People from Orkdal
19th-century Norwegian novelists
20th-century Norwegian novelists
19th-century Norwegian male writers
20th-century Norwegian male writers