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Jan Kjærstad

ヤン・ケアスタッド

Jan Kjærstad

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1953-03-06 （Oslo）
Nationality
Norwegian
Languages
Norwegian

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Essayist, Editor
Active Years
1980-
Influenced By
Postmodernism

Education

MF Norwegian School of Theology
Theology
Degree: cand. theol.
Country: Norway
Graduate degree in theology (cand. theol.)
University of Oslo
Theology
Degree: cand. theol.
Country: Norway
Completed theological studies at the University of Oslo (year unspecified)

Awards

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment
1984
Organization: Aschehoug (publisher)
Result: 受賞
Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature
1984
Work: Homo Falsus or the Perfect Murder
Organization: Norwegian Critics (organization)
Result: 受賞
Aschehougprisen
1993
Organization: Aschehoug (publisher)
Result: 受賞
Henrik Steffens Prize
1998
Organization: University system in Hamburg
Result: 受賞
Dobloug Prize
2000
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞
Nordic Council's Literature Prize
2001
Work: The Discoverer (Oppdageren)
Organization: Nordic Council
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Seducer

1993 Novel (part of a perspectivist trilogy)

The first novel in a trilogy about TV personality Jonas Wergeland. It presents multiple perspectives on the protagonist's life and questions narrative truth and the uncertainty of representation.

MultiperspectivityIdentityMedia and reality
Translations
  • Available in English
  • Available in French

The Conqueror

1996 Novel (second part of the perspectivist trilogy)

The second book in the Jonas Wergeland trilogy, reconstructing the protagonist's life from different angles. Changes in narrator and genre unsettle the reader's interpretation.

Fragmentation of narrativeRelativity of truth
Translations
  • Available in German

The Discoverer

1999 Novel (third part of the perspectivist trilogy)

The concluding volume of the trilogy. It portrays the protagonist's life in multiple versions and uses experimental techniques that blur the lines between fiction and biography.

Boundary between biography and fictionReliability of narration
Translations
  • Available in English
  • Available in Hungarian

Mirrors

1982 Novel

An early experimental novel employing mirror-like structures and layers of narration to question the reader's perception.

Experimental styleSelf and other

Bibliography

  • The Earth Turns Quietly (short stories, 1980)
  • Mirrors (novel, 1982)
  • Homo Falsus or the Perfect Murder (novel, 1984)
  • The Great Fairy Tale (novel, 1987)
  • The Matrix of Man (essays, 1989)
  • The Arabian Nights (vols 1 and 2, editor, 1989)
  • The Hunt for the Hidden Waffle Hearts (picture book, 1989)
  • Brink (novel, 1990)
  • The Seducer (novel, 1993)
  • With Sheherazade, Imagination's Queen (picture book, 1995)
  • The Conqueror (novel, 1996)
  • The Human Sphere (essays, 1997)
  • The Discoverer (novel, 1999)
  • Signs for Love (novel, 2002)
  • The King of Europe (novel, 2005)
  • I am the Walker brothers (novel, 2008)
  • The Path of Kins (novel, 2015)
  • Berge (novel, 2017)

Translations of Works

  • The Discoverer — translated into English, French, German and others
  • The Seducer, The Conqueror — translated into English, German, etc.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Encyclopedic, erudite stylePostmodern experimentationPerspectivist technique (reconstruction through multiple viewpoints)
Recurring Motifs
Media and realityMultiplicity of narrativesIdentity and memory

Legacy

Jan Kjærstad is one of the leading figures in contemporary Norwegian literature. His Jonas Wergeland trilogy expanded possibilities for perspectivist long fiction. His experimental style combined with encyclopedic knowledge has earned him acclaim at home and abroad.

Trivia

  • Served as editor of the literary magazine Vinduet.
  • Won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for the Jonas Wergeland trilogy.
  • Works have been translated into English, French, German, Danish, Swedish, Hungarian and other languages.