Nyskapende radioestetikk og pragmatisk leilighets-arbeid – hørespillsjangeren i Inger Hagrups verk

Abstract

This  article  focuses  on  a  frequently  neglected  part  of  the Norwegian author  Inger Hagerup’s (1905-1985) work: her occupation with the popular genre of radio play. Based  upon  Ernst  Cassirer’s dynamic  approach  to formative  cultural  work  and expressive meaning, the article investigates two of Hagerup’s works produced for the Norwegian  Broadcasting Corporation (NRK):  Firstly her own radioplay Hilsen fra Katarina  (1949), secondly  her  translation  of  Ingeborg Bachmann’s  Der  gute  Gott von Manhattan  (1957).  Through  a juxtaposition  of  the  two,  Hagerup’s  own radio play stands out as an innovative contribution to the particular Norwegian development of this genre, and as a modern, far more experimental, work than her poems from the same period. Her translation of Bachmann’s work appears as surprisingly reductive  with  respect  to  the complexity  of  Bachmann’s original  text.  The  article points out how the translation of Bachmann’s play to a Norwegian context can also be viewed as a cultural transfer highlighting different ideas of a popular genre during the first decades after World War II.