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The novels of the Norwegian Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun can be seen as an ongoing discussion with modernity. In some parts his critique is reactionary, in other parts worth listening to. This article deals with his Segelfoss novels, Hamsun’s satirical representation of the commodity trade within the emerging capitalist market and the role of the consumer. The novels may be read as early and thought-provoking contributions to the large amount of literature on consumers and their nature. Is growth always good? What has been lost? Die Romane des norwegischen Nobelpreisträgers Knut Hamsun können als eine ständige Auseinandersetzung mit der Moderne betrachtet werden. In einigen Teilen ist seine Kritik reaktionär, in anderen Teilen hörenswert. In diesem Artikel geht es um seine Segelfoss-Romane, Hamsuns satirische Darstellung des Warenhandels im aufkommenden kapitalistischen Markt und der Rolle des Verbrauchers. Die Romane können als frühe und zum Nachdenken anregende Beiträge zu der großen Menge an Literatur über Verbraucher und ihr Wesen gelesen werden. Ist Wachstum immer gut? Was ist verloren gegangen?

In 1935 Ma armastasin sakslast (I Loved a German) was published. In 1928 Victoria (1898) by Knut Hamsun (1859–1952) was published in Estonian. The first was written and the second translated by A. H. Tammsaare (1878– 1940). Parallels between these two authors have been most often discussed in connection with Pan (1894) and Kõrboja peremees (The Master of Kõrboja, 1922). Both authors have earned their canonical position in literature thanks to the novels Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil) (1917), in the case of Hamsun, and Tõde ja õigus (Truth and Justice, I–V, 1926–1933) in the case of Tammsaare. These novels have been “sorted out” to be included in the canon, while Ma armastasin sakslast and Victoria have not received as much attention. In both novels love is the central theme – in Hamsun’s novel the main characters are the miller’s son Johannes and the landlord’s daughter Victoria, and in Tammsaare’s novel the student Oskar and a baron’s grand daughter, Erika. This article examines the connections between Hamsun and Tammsaare by analysing the novels Victoria and Ma armastasin sakslast, discussing among others the motive that has been widely used in world literature, namely the (archetypical) story of lovers – Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Both novels can be considered as variations on that motive as Tammsaare, for example, adds the social aspect, so that the archetypical love story set in the Republic of Estonia enables him to discuss topics essential to him. In the article the main emphasis is on Tammsaare’s novel.

This article uses as a case study the historical-biographical drama film Hamsun (1996) in order to discuss the complications that arise when considering biographical films as adaptations of biographical and/or autobiographical works of literature. Hamsun by the Swedish director Jan Troell is an adaptation of the Danish author Thorkild Hansen’s documentary novel Processen mod Hamsun (The Trial of Hamsun, 1978), which in turn draws most extensively on the Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun’s own writings, primarily his autobiographical novel Paa gjengrodde Stier (On Overgrown Paths, 1949). Hansen, in telling the story of Hamsun’s life, concentrates on the events surrounding the Second World War and its aftermath in Norway. The focus is set on the court trial of 1945–1948 when Hamsun was accused of being a quisling and his mental state was seriously questioned not only by the court, but also the general public. Hansen in his novel interprets his extensive source material with a very clear intention of rehabilitating Hamsun as a great writer with a brilliant mind instead of considering him a traitor. It is Hamsun’s own perspective in Paa gjengrodde Stier that clearly lays the groundwork for Hansen’s portrait of the writer. However, Hamsun’s account of events is most selective: his often sharp and ironic descriptions of the present are combined with lyrical and philosophical reminiscences of the past, hardly providing the reader with any answers or explanations. The character Hamsun in Paa gjengrodde Stier seems to be a rather carefully constructed figure whose primary intent is to evoke the reader’s sympathy and to remind us of his status as a writer, an artist. The director Troell has said in several interviews that it was very important for him to use Hansen’s book as source material, but that he and his screenwriter Per Olov Enquist have included many other sources, among them Hamsun’s own Paa gjengrodde Stier. Viewing the film as an adaptation of Hansen’s book, one easily recognizes the connections to Hamsun’s own writings. An interesting question is whether or how the main character differs in each above-mentioned text. Naturally, the longer the period of time that separates the source material from the film adaptation, the more significant a role the changes that have occurred over time in social, political and ethical values play in our interpretation of depicted events. Hansen’s portrayal of Hamsun was very original and controversial in its time. However, the release of the film Hamsun to an international audience in 1996 reopened the debate of “Hamsun’s guilt”. Troell chose to focus on the drama of Hamsun’s personal life through the war and its after-effects. The image of an artist instead of a collaborator – similar to what Hamsun created of himself on the pages of Paa gjengrodde Stier – prevails in both the novel and its film adaptation.

Knut Hamsun was a very popular writer between the two world wars in many countries. It was also during this period that the first and only monograph in the Czech language on Hamsun's life and works was written. The book is called Knut Hamsun a soudobá beletrie norská (1933, Knut Hamsun and Contemporary Norwegian Fiction) and was published by the translator, essayist and literary historian Gustav Pallas (1882-1964). The author of this article focuses on two books by Pallas in which he deals with Hamsun. The article argues that Pallas's studies of Hamsun's life and works, despite being quite nuanced, perpetuate some of the common stereotypes in the Czechoslovak reception of Hamsun. Among others, Pallas sees Hamsun's characters as archetypes of Scandinavian people, describing them as an extension of Scandinavian nature.