Heroes and Nomads in Norwegian Polar Explorer Literature

Jørgen Alnæs

doi:10.7557/13.1160

Authors

Jørgen Alnæs Oslo University College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.1160

Keywords:

Litteratur, På ski over Grønland, The first crossing of Greenland, On ski towards the North Pole, reiseskildring, travel literature,

Abstract

In 1888 six Norwegians crossed the Greenland-ice on skis. Two years after, the expedition leader Fridtjof Nansen published the book På ski over Grønland (English title: The First Crossing of Greenland) about the expedition. In Norway, this book has had an enormous influence and for modern Norwegian travel authors, it has become a kind of centre from which they organise their travels and their writing. This paper will focus on how På ski over Grønland has been read and its impact on the travel genre. Also, I will look briefly at another book published by the Norwegian Bjørn Staib, about 85 years after Nansen's. This book too is importatant in the Norwegian polar explorer discourse.

Author Biography

Jørgen Alnæs, Oslo University College

Jørgen Alnæs is literature- and theatre critic and teaches Journalism and Media and Communication at Oslo University College. His first book, I eventyret. Norske reiseskildringer fra
Astrup til Aasheim, about Norwegian travel- and expeditionliterature, was published in May 2008.