The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature ( no, Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and region ...

in its

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian ( Danish and no, dansk-norsk) was a koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536/1537–1814). It is from thi ...

variety, now commonly known as

Riksmål (, also , ) is a written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as . Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from the Danish wri ...

and

Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is the preferred written standard of Norwegian for 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. Unlike, for instance, the Italian language, there ...

. The academy was established in the Norwegian government's honorary residence

Grotten Grotten ( Norwegian: ''Grotto'') is a nineteenth-century building (1823) located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo, Norway. Grotten is an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state. History The house is situ ...

in 1953 based on the model of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

and the

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, but the idea was originally conceived by

Bjørn Bjørnson Bjørn Bjørnson (15 November 1859 – 14 May 1942) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. Biography He was born in Christiania, the son of author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and his wife Karoline Bjørnson. In 1876, he was admitted ...

in 1913. Its members are elected for life on the basis of scholarly, literary or artistic merits. The academy publishes the main dictionary of Norwegian, ''

Det Norske Akademis ordbok ''Det Norske Akademis ordbok'' (literally 'Dictionary of the Norwegian Academy'), abbreviated NAOB, is one of the largest dictionaries of the Norwegian language and covers its most widely used written variety, Bokmål/Riksmål, which is used by aro ...

'' ("Dictionary of the Norwegian Academy"
www.naob.no
, is responsible for regulating the written standard known as

("National Language") and has a literary and cultural purpose. The academy awards the Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl.

History

The academy was founded in 1953 by several notable Norwegian authors and poets, among them

Arnulf Øverland Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (27 April 1889 – 25 March 1968) was a Norwegian poet and artist. He is principally known for his poetry which served to inspire the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway during Worl ...

, Sigurd Hoel, A.H. Winsnes,

Cora Sandel Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius (20 December 1880 – 3 April 1974), better known by her pen name Cora Sandel, was a Norwegian writer and painter who lived most of her adult life abroad. Her best-known works are the novels now known as the ''Alb ...

and Francis Bull. They disagreed with the official

language policy Language policy is an interdisciplinary academic field. Some scholars such as Joshua Fishman and Ofelia García consider it as part of sociolinguistics. On the other hand, other scholars such as Bernard SpolskyRobert B. Kaplanand Joseph Lo Bianc ...

aiming to merge ''

'' with ''

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-No ...

'' and protested against what they called state discrimination against the dominant Norwegian written standard ''Riksmål''. This was Norway's ''de facto'' written language, used by most large newspapers and by the majority of the population as a written standard (although not necessarily a spoken one). The Academy was modelled after the

and the

. In addition to regulating

, the most conservative and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

-near form of Norwegian, the academy publishes dictionaries and supports the publishing of literature in Riksmål. To-day, after several reforms worth in the official Bokmål and in the traditional Riksmål, Bokmål in its "moderate" version and modern Riksmål more or less coincide with some deviations. The Academy has 51 members (2021), each of whom is a specialist in miscellaneous areas of analysis, investigation and expertise. These include Nordic studies, German, English and French languages and literature, history, philosophy, law, political science, poetry et cetera. The President of the Academy is John Ole Askedal. The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature was represented, along with other non-governmental language organisations, in the

Norwegian Language Council The Language Council of Norway ( no, Språkrådet, ) is the consultative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Language Council (, ) which existed from 1974 to 2005. It is a subsidiar ...

, which regulates the official ''Bokmål'' and ''Nynorsk'' languages, since its establishment in 1972 until it was reorganized in 2005. In 1981, the Academy merged with Riksmålsvernet, founded in 1919.

Members

The following are current members of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature: * Nils August Andresen * John Ole Askedal * Bodil Aurstad * Kjetil Bang-Hansen * Trond Berg Eriksen * Liv Bliksrud * Tor Bomann-Larsen * Fredrik Bull-Hansen * Bentein Baardson *

Lars Saabye Christensen Lars Saabye Christensen (born 21 September 1953 in Oslo) is a Norwegian/Danish author. Saabye Christensen was raised in the Skillebekk neighbourhood of Oslo, but lived for many years in Sortland in northern Norway; both places play a major ro ...

* Arnold Eidslott * Thor Falkanger * Ivo de Figueiredo *

Lise Fjeldstad Lise Barbra Skappel Fjeldstad (born 17 June 1939) is a Norwegian actress, and daughter of the conductor and violinist Øivin Fjeldstad. A graduate of the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre in 1963, she started working at Det Norske Teatret ...

Dagfinn Føllesdal Dagfinn Føllesdal (born 22 June 1932) is a Norwegian-American philosopher. He is the Clarence Irving Lewis Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University, and professor emeritus at the University of Oslo. Biography and career Følle ...

* Karin Gundersen * Tor Guttu * Cathrine Grøndahl * Erik Fosnes Hansen * Håkon Harket * Per Egil Hegge * Nils Heyerdahl * Roy Jacobsen * Christian Janss * Egil Kraggerud * Sissel Lange-Nielsen * Hanne Lauvstad * Mari Lending * Tom Lotherington * Jørn Lund (korresponderende) * Carina Nilstun * Helge Nordahl *

William Nygaard William Nygaard (born 16 March 1943) is the retired head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug. He was also chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He has two children. Business career From 1974 to 2010, he was the chief pub ...

* Kjell Arild Pollestad * Per Qvale * Hilde Sejersted * Ole Michael Selberg *

Rune Slagstad Rune Slagstad (born 22 February 1945) is a Norwegian historian, philosopher, legal theorist, professor and journal editor. In addition to professional work, he has since the late 1960s contributed actively to public debate on a variety of issues ...

* Arild Stubhaug * Henrik Syse * Jan Jakob Tønseth *

Helene Uri Helene Uri (born 11 December 1964, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Norwegian linguist, novelist and children's writer. Among her novels are ''Dyp rød 315'' from 2001 and ''Honningtunger'' from 2002. Her novel ''De beste blant oss'' from 2006, which d ...

* Trond Vernegg * Finn-Erik Vinje * Peter Normann Waage * Egil A. Wyller * Vigdis Ystad * Knut Ødegård

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Language organisations of Norway Language regulators National academies Norwegian language Norwegian literature Organizations established in 1953

History

Members

See also

References

External links