Scandinavian Literary History

Literary history is an area of study providing a survey of Norwegian and – to a certain extent – other Nordic literature, in a historical context. By reading a selection of literary texts the students will appreciate these in a historical perspective and as historical phenomena. The students should also appreciate literary historical descriptions considering which view on literature and which understanding of history these rely on.

The aim of the course is to provide students with a historical understanding of the development of Norwegian - and to a certain extent the Nordic literature through a selection of literary texts from the Norse to the contemporary age. It is a study of literary history which also involves skills in determining literary and historical views in accounts of literary history.

Lectures and group instruction including written assignments. Tutoring and feedback. A course in Danish is provided if the department's economic resources allows it.

The students may not expect that the entire curriculum will be covered in the lectures. Student activity (group work, oral presentation, and participation in discussions) is central to the instruction. Collaborating in discussion groups is a helpful supplement to the instruction and the individual studies, and the students are therefore encouraged to participate in the discussion groups arranged by the department (the students will also have training in academic writing in these discussion groups), and to form their own groups.

The final oral test consists of an oral exam based on the curriculum.

Course requirements: One approved written assignment. The assignment should have the extent of up to 5 pages. There will be an oral/written assessment (approved/ not approved)of the assignment.

The students must write one of the assignments in the literature courses on the basic level (i.e. NORD1104 and NORD1103) in "bokmål" and one in "nynorsk".

The students must write one of the three written exams on the basic level (NORD1101, NORD1102 and NORD 1104) in "nynorsk" and one in "bokmål". On the third exam, the student may chose between these two language options.