PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER

In this article, I discuss Knut Hamsun’s last book On Overgrown Paths [På gjengrodde Stier] (1949) from the perspective of a pathography, meaning an autobiography that focuses on a person’s illness and its consequences. Due to his actions during WWII, Hamsun was subjected to a psychiatric examinatio...

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Main Author: Linda Hamrin Nesby
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 2016-04-01
Series:Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur
Subjects:
Online Access:https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3761
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author Linda Hamrin Nesby
author_facet Linda Hamrin Nesby
author_sort Linda Hamrin Nesby
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description In this article, I discuss Knut Hamsun’s last book On Overgrown Paths [På gjengrodde Stier] (1949) from the perspective of a pathography, meaning an autobiography that focuses on a person’s illness and its consequences. Due to his actions during WWII, Hamsun was subjected to a psychiatric examination in 1947 and diagnosed as having permanently impaired mental faculties. Hamsun opposed this diagnosis, and the book both aims at demonstrating his mental ability and depicting his experience of being an unwilling patient. This article looks at how the autobiographical narrator reflects upon his experiences as a patient, and how the text contains a certain critique of the clinic and the patient-doctor relationship. It sheds light on how the motif of travel and quest is important for the narrator’s experience of being ill, and it concludes with a brief discussion of how medicine and literature are disciplines that may benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to studying both fiction and autobiographical literature.
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spelling doaj.art-890fef3c986c4b35a3f77270f80492d02024-02-02T07:43:36ZengSeptentrio Academic PublishingNordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur0809-16681503-20862016-04-013810.7557/13.37613493PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLERLinda Hamrin Nesby0UiT Norges arktiske universitetIn this article, I discuss Knut Hamsun’s last book On Overgrown Paths [På gjengrodde Stier] (1949) from the perspective of a pathography, meaning an autobiography that focuses on a person’s illness and its consequences. Due to his actions during WWII, Hamsun was subjected to a psychiatric examination in 1947 and diagnosed as having permanently impaired mental faculties. Hamsun opposed this diagnosis, and the book both aims at demonstrating his mental ability and depicting his experience of being an unwilling patient. This article looks at how the autobiographical narrator reflects upon his experiences as a patient, and how the text contains a certain critique of the clinic and the patient-doctor relationship. It sheds light on how the motif of travel and quest is important for the narrator’s experience of being ill, and it concludes with a brief discussion of how medicine and literature are disciplines that may benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to studying both fiction and autobiographical literature.https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3761HamsunPå gjengrodde stierpatografipsykiatripasientsykdom
spellingShingle Linda Hamrin Nesby
PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER
Nordlit: Tidsskrift i litteratur og kultur
Hamsun
På gjengrodde stier
patografi
psykiatri
pasient
sykdom
title PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER
title_full PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER
title_fullStr PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER
title_full_unstemmed PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER
title_short PÅ GJENGRODDE STIER (1949): PASIENTEN SOM FORTELLER
title_sort pa gjengrodde stier 1949 pasienten som forteller
topic Hamsun
På gjengrodde stier
patografi
psykiatri
pasient
sykdom
url https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/view/3761
work_keys_str_mv AT lindahamrinnesby pagjengroddestier1949pasientensomforteller