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Johan Borgen (1902-1979) | |
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Norwegian novelist, essayist, short story writer, journalist, and dramatist, who began his career as a short story writer in the 1920s. Borgen continued with experimental novels and became one of the most important 20th-century short-story writers of Norway. He gained critical success especially with his portrayals of children and young people and explorations of existential problems in modern society. Although he dealt with terrible acts committed by young people, he avoided delivering moral messages. "Det kom inte något tåg. En oerhört trötthet kom över honom - som syrener i blodet; en trötthet som skulle vara livet ut. Det kom inte något tåg. Men förföljarna bakom honom hade stannat vid stängslet. Vägarna... det fanns så många vägar in världen, de delade sig, fulla av möjligheter. Men än sedan? Man valde inte väg, han hade trott det, att han valde vägar till möjligheternas rike. Men man valde inte. Han låg och förblödde på sin väg som var stängd. Han hade valt fel." (from Lillelord, 1955) Johan Borgen was born in Oslo into a well-to-do-family. His father was an attorney and his mother artistic. Balancing between his social background and leftist sympathies, Borgen remained conservative in life-style but did not soften his sharp social criticism. His first book, MOT MORKET, a collection of short stories, appeared in 1925. It did not attract much attention. In the following years Borgen traveled around Europe. His next book, NÅR ALT KOMMER TIL ALT, was published in 1934. It depicted problems of a middle-aged intellectual, a typical product of Scandinavian politeness and aloofness. The protagonist also appeared in his play MENS VI VENTER (1938), which gained a considerable success. It continued Borgen's themes of fear of isolation and escape from everyday life. As a journalist Borgen worked at Dagbladet and became know for his witty, sarcastic columns. They were written under the pseudonym Mumle Gåsägg, taken from Peter Asbjörnsen's (1812-1885) folk tales. He also wrote literary reviews. In the 1930s Borgen was influenced by existentialism, which is seen in his plays. During World War II Borgen was arrested by the Gestapo - mainly because of his writings. He was imprisoned in the domestic concentration camp of Grini. After a year he was released and escaped to Sweden. After the war for many years he supported the Communists. However, in the1960s critical liberalism was a more accurate characterization of his world view. From 1954 to 1959 he was the editor of the literary journal Vinduet. In 1967 Borgen won the Nordic Council's literary prize for NYE NOVELLER, a collection of short stories. Borgen's principal work was the novel trilogy LILLELORD, DE MORKE KILDER, and VI HAR HAM NÅ, all three of which were translated into English under the title Lillelord. Borgen again focused on the significance of childhood experiences, and their effects later in life. The story is set in the years before World War I. It follows the life of a young, talented boy, Wilfred Sagen, Lillelord (The Little Lord), from childhood to puberty, and his slow moral degeneration. His father is dead. He is adored by his mother, who is ready to do anything for her son and clings to the child in him. Although Lillelord seems to be devoted to the fulfillment of his mother's wishes, he is only playing his own game. The stronger the bond becomes, the stronger becomes his need for his own life, marked by a cold egoism. Like Patricia Highsmith's famous hero, Tom Ripley, Lillelord lives a double life: he spends time in the criminal world in Oslo and Copenhagen but keeps up a facade of respectability. The last part is partly based on Borgen's own experiences. In Vi har ham nå Lillelord serves as a border guard for the Nazis. He has betrayed his half-brother but he works as a guide for Jewish refugees escaping to Sweden. Lillelord has no values and no commitments. As the war ends, he is hunted down as a collaborator. The story ends in his death. Another divided personality is Matias Roos from "JEG" (1959), who runs over a child with his motorcycle - or did he? In BLÅTIND (1964) Peter Holmgren tries to escape from his cowardly self, and a Jewish woman, Nathalie, has lost connection with her earlier self. DEN RØDE TÅKEN (1967, The Red Fog) was a monologue novel, in which the nameless protagonist is a murderer, a not very distant relative of Camus's Mersault. In MIN ARM, MIN TARM (1972) a cruel accident starts a psychological healing process, but again in EKSEMPLER (1974) Borgen shows his doubts about the integrity of a personality. For further information: Aftenposten's Johan Borgen page - For further reading: 'The quest for authenticity in three novels by Johan Borgen' by Randi M. Birn, in Mosaic 4:2 (1970); Johan Borgen by R. Birn (1974); 'Metaphor and metonymy in Johan Borgen's Eksempler' by Mischler in Scan 16 (1977); A History of Scandinavian Literature, 1870-1980 by Sven H. Rossell (1982) - Other writers dealing with the experience of occupation and collaboration: Sigurd Evensmo's Englandsfarere (1945, Boat for England) depicted a band of Norwegians who, trying to escape to Britain, were apprehended and executed. Kåre Holt's Det store veiskillet (1949) tells a story, where the protagonist is split into three different identities: a black marketeer, an informer for the Nazis, and a leader of the home front. - Suom.: Borgenilta on myös käännetty novellivalikoima Varikset (suom. Gerda Lindgren, 1968). Selected works:
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