The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature ( no, Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a

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 ...

learned body on matters pertaining to the modern

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

in its

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian (Danish and no, dansk-norsk) was a koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536/1537–1814). It is from this ...

variety, now commonly known as

Riksmål (, also , ) is a written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as . Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from the Danish wri ...

and

Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is the preferred written standard of Norwegian for 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. Unlike, for instance, the Italian language, there ...

. The academy was established in the Norwegian government's honorary residence

Grotten Grotten (Norwegian: ''Grotto'') is a nineteenth-century building (1823) located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo, Norway. Grotten is an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state. History The house is situat ...

in 1953 based on the model of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

and the

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, but the idea was originally conceived by

Bjørn Bjørnson Bjørn Bjørnson (15 November 1859 – 14 May 1942) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. Biography He was born in Christiania, the son of author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and his wife Karoline Bjørnson. In 1876, he was admitte ...

in 1913. Its members are elected for life on the basis of scholarly, literary or artistic merits. The academy publishes the main dictionary of Norwegian, ''

Det Norske Akademis ordbok ''Det Norske Akademis ordbok'' (literally 'Dictionary of the Norwegian Academy'), abbreviated NAOB, is one of the largest dictionaries of the Norwegian language and covers its most widely used written variety, Bokmål/Riksmål, which is used by aro ...

'' ("Dictionary of the Norwegian Academy"
www.naob.no
, is responsible for regulating the written standard known as

("National Language") and has a literary and cultural purpose. The academy awards the

Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl The Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (''Det Norske Akademis Pris til minne om Thorleif Dahl'') is awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (''Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur''). The prize is ...

History

The academy was founded in 1953 by several notable

authors and poets, among them

Arnulf Øverland Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (27 April 1889 – 25 March 1968) was a Norwegian poet and artist. He is principally known for his poetry which served to inspire the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway during World ...

Sigurd Hoel Sigurd Hoel (December 14, 1890 – October 14, 1960) was a Norwegian author and publishing consultant, born in Nord-Odal. He debuted with the collection of short stories (The Way We Go) in 1922. His breakthrough came with (Sinners in Summertim ...

, A.H. Winsnes,

Cora Sandel Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius (20 December 1880 – 3 April 1974), better known by her pen name Cora Sandel, was a Norwegian writer and painter who lived most of her adult life abroad. Her best-known works are the novels now known as the ''Alb ...

and

Francis Bull Francis Bull (4 October 1887–4 July 1974) was a Norwegian literary historian, professor at the University of Oslo for more than thirty years, essayist and speaker, and magazine editor. Early and personal life Bull was born in Kristiania, so ...

. They disagreed with the official

language policy Language policy is an interdisciplinary academic field. Some scholars such as Joshua Fishman and Ofelia García consider it as part of sociolinguistics. On the other hand, other scholars such as Bernard SpolskyRobert B. Kaplanand Joseph Lo Bianco ...

aiming to merge ''

'' with ''

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

'' and protested against what they called state discrimination against the dominant Norwegian written standard ''Riksmål''. This was Norway's ''de facto'' written language, used by most large newspapers and by the majority of the population as a written standard (although not necessarily a spoken one). The Academy was modelled after the

and the

. In addition to regulating

, the most conservative and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

-near form of Norwegian, the academy publishes dictionaries and supports the publishing of literature in Riksmål. To-day, after several reforms worth in the official Bokmål and in the traditional Riksmål, Bokmål in its "moderate" version and modern Riksmål more or less coincide with some deviations. The Academy has 51 members (2021), each of whom is a specialist in miscellaneous areas of analysis, investigation and expertise. These include Nordic studies, German, English and French languages and literature, history, philosophy, law, political science, poetry et cetera. The President of the Academy is John Ole Askedal. The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature was represented, along with other non-governmental language organisations, in the

Norwegian Language Council The Language Council of Norway ( no, Språkrådet, ) is the consultative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Language Council (, ) which existed from 1974 to 2005. It is a subsidiar ...

, which regulates the official ''Bokmål'' and ''Nynorsk'' languages, since its establishment in 1972 until it was reorganized in 2005. In 1981, the Academy merged with Riksmålsvernet, founded in 1919.

Members

The following are current members of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature: *

Nils August Andresen Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player *Nils Björk (1898–1989), ...

* John Ole Askedal *

Bodil Aurstad Bodil may refer to: * Bodil Awards, Danish film awards * Bodil (given name), a feminine given name * Cyclone Bodil Cyclone Xaver (or Storm Xaver), also known as the North Sea flood or tidal surge of 2013, was a winter storm that affected nor ...

Kjetil Bang-Hansen Kjetil Bang-Hansen (born 16 May 1940) is a Norwegian actor, dancer, stage producer and theatre director. Early and personal life Bang-Hansen was born in Oslo as the son of writer Odd Bang-Hansen and physician Elise Aas. He married dancer and cho ...

Trond Berg Eriksen Trond Berg Eriksen (born 3 October 1945) is a Norwegian historian of ideas, non-fiction writer and magazine editor. He was born in Øvre Eiker in Buskerud. His thesis, from 1975, was on the ethics of Aristoteles. He was appointed professor at the U ...

Liv Bliksrud Liv Bliksrud (born 12 March 1945) is a Norwegian philologist. She took the cand.philol. degree in 1973 and the dr.philos. degree in 1987. She is a professor at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo ...

Tor Bomann-Larsen Tor Bomann-Larsen (born 26 April 1951) is a Norwegian illustrator, children's writer, non-fiction writer, novelist and government scholar. Biography Tor Bomann-Larsen was born in Jevnaker, Oppland, and started his career as a satirical illustr ...

Fredrik Bull-Hansen Fredrik Bull-Hansen (2 August 1927 – 1 March 2018) was a Norwegian military officer, a General in the Norwegian Army. He served as Chief of Defence of Norway from 1984 to 1987. Bull-Hansen was decorated Commander with Star of the Royal Norwe ...

Bentein Baardson Bentein Baardson (born 6 November 1953 in New York City) is Norwegian actor, instructor and theatre director. He was born in New York, and is the son of Brynjolv Baardson. Bentein Baardson graduated from Teaterhøyskolen in 1975. He has set up ...

Lars Saabye Christensen Lars Saabye Christensen (born 21 September 1953 in Oslo) is a Norwegian/Danish author. Saabye Christensen was raised in the Skillebekk neighbourhood of Oslo, but lived for many years in Sortland in northern Norway; both places play a major r ...

* Arnold Eidslott * Thor Falkanger * Ivo de Figueiredo *

Lise Fjeldstad Lise Barbra Skappel Fjeldstad (born 17 June 1939) is a Norwegian actress, and daughter of the conductor and violinist Øivin Fjeldstad. A graduate of the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre in 1963, she started working at Det Norske Teatret (the ...

Dagfinn Føllesdal Dagfinn Føllesdal (born 22 June 1932) is a Norwegian-American philosopher. He is the Clarence Irving Lewis Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University, and professor emeritus at the University of Oslo. Biography and career Følles ...

Karin Gundersen Karin Gundersen (born 1944) is a Norwegian literary scholar and translator. A professor of French literature at the University of Oslo, she is also a translator of French literary works. She was awarded the Bastian Prize in 1993, for her transla ...

* Tor Guttu * Cathrine Grøndahl *

Erik Fosnes Hansen Erik Fosnes Hansen (born 6 June 1965) is a Norwegian writer. Hansen was born in New York and made his debut at age twenty with the novel ''Falketårnet''. His best-known work is his second novel, ''Psalm at Journey's End'', which in separate bu ...

* Håkon Harket *

Per Egil Hegge Per Egil Hegge (born 6 March 1940) is a Norwegian journalist. Hegge was born in Trondheim as a son of two teachers from Skatval. The family moved to Inderøy in 1941. He served his military service at the elite Russian language program of the N ...

* Nils Heyerdahl * Roy Jacobsen * Christian Janss *

Egil Kraggerud Egil Kraggerud (born 7 July 1939) is a Norwegian philologist. He was born in Hemnes as a son of dentist John Kraggerud (1903–1991) and teacher Borghild Johanne Westeren (1904–1988). He took the examen artium at Oslo Cathedral School in 1957, a ...

Sissel Lange-Nielsen Sissel Lange-Nielsen, née Herlofson (born 27 January 1931) is a Norwegian writer, literary critic, and journalist. Born in Kristiansund, she won the Riksmål Society Literature Prize in 1982. She is a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language a ...

* Hanne Lauvstad *

Mari Lending Mari may refer to: Places *Mari, Paraíba, Brazil, a city * Mari, Cyprus, a village *Mari, Greece, a village, site of ancient town of Marius * Mari, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran * Mari, Punjab, a village and a union council in Pakistan ...

* Tom Lotherington * Jørn Lund (korresponderende) * Carina Nilstun * Helge Nordahl *

William Nygaard William Nygaard (born 16 March 1943) is the retired head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug. He was also chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He has two children. Business career From 1974 to 2010, he was the chief publ ...

* Kjell Arild Pollestad *

Per Qvale Per Qvale (born 1946) is a Norwegian translator and literary historian. He was born in Oslo. After studying in Oslo, Bergen and Tübingen, he was an auxiliary teacher of philosophy at the University of Oslo from 1974 to 1977 and took the mag.art. ...

* Hilde Sejersted * Ole Michael Selberg *

Rune Slagstad Rune Slagstad (born 22 February 1945) is a Norwegian historian, philosopher, legal theorist, professor and journal editor. In addition to professional work, he has since the late 1960s contributed actively to public debate on a variety of issues ...

* Arild Stubhaug *

Henrik Syse Henrik Syse (born 19 April 1966) is a Norwegian philosopher, author, and lecturer. He is a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and a part-time Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjørknes College in Oslo. He ...

Jan Jakob Tønseth Jan Jakob Tønseth (1 September 1947 – 12 October 2018) was a Norwegian author, poet and translator. Tønseth debuted as a poet with the poetry collection ''Kimærer'' in 1971, when he was only 24 years of age. He achieved broad recognition as ...

* Helene Uri * Trond Vernegg * Finn-Erik Vinje * Peter Normann Waage * Egil A. Wyller *

Vigdis Ystad Vigdis Ystad (13 January 1942 – 7 December 2019) was a Norwegian literary historian. Biography She was born in Verdal, Norway. In 1974 she became dr.philos. at the University of Oslo. She was a university lecturer at the University of Oslo ...

Knut Ødegård Knut Ødegård (born 6 November 1945) is a Norwegian poet. Biography Born in 1945 in Molde, Norway, Ødegård made his poetic debut in 1967.''(Norwegian)'' http://www.cappelendamm.no/main/katalog.aspx?f=7543 Since then he has published mor ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Language organisations of Norway Language regulators National academies Norwegian language Norwegian literature Organizations established in 1953

History

Members

See also

References

External links