Sigbjørn Obstfelder (21 November 1866 – 29 July 1900) was a 19th-century
Norwegian writer and poet.
Background
Obstfelder was born in
Stavanger
Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
, Norway on November 21, 1866. He was the eighth child in a family of sixteen children, being one of only six siblings to survive to adulthood. His father, Herman Friedrik Obstfelder (1828–1906), was a baker by trade and provided little financial or emotional support. His mother, Serine Obstfelder (née Egelandsdal) (1836–1880) died when he was fourteen. The difficulties he experienced, a threatening male figure, the loss of the mother and the sense of ever-present death, were strong influences on his writing.
He began to study at the
University of Christiania in 1886. Two years later he started studying engineering at Christiania Technical School (now ''Oslo ingeniørhøgskole''). In 1890, he moved to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
where he took a job as a draftsman at a bridge construction company. After only a year, he returned to Norway, where he had a nervous breakdown and was briefly hospitalized in Christiania.
Literary career
His first published work was a contribution to the feminist journal
Nylænde (New Frontiers) on the topic of the chastity of men before marriage. The piece features early shades of a recurring theme in his work, the fear of the erotic woman.
Obstfelder's entry into the Norwegian literary scene comes with his meeting
Jens Thiis in 1892 in Paris. They travelled together in Belgium, where Obstfelder wrote some of his best works and thereafter supported himself on his writing.
Primarily known as a writer of
poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
, Obstfelder's debut collection of poems from 1893, ''Digte'' (''Poems''), is usually credited as one of the earliest examples of
modernism
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
in Norwegian literature. Despite producing a relatively small amount of works during his short lifespan, he is considered one of the most important figures in Norwegian literature of the late 19th century. Strongly influenced by the French poet
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...
, his writings have often been described as the literary equivalent of
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...
's paintings; indeed, Munch made two lithographs of Obstfelder, who in turn wrote an essay in Munch's defense for
Samtiden in 1896. Additionally, Munch was mysteriously in possession of some of Obstfelder's manuscripts. Obstfelder was a source of inspiration for
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...
's work ''
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge
''The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge'', first published as ''The Journal of My Other Self'',Mary D. Herter Norton, M. D. Herter Norton (tr.). New York: W. W. Norton, 1949, 1992. Translator's Foreword, p. 8. is a 1910 novel by Austrian poet Ra ...
''.
Although known more for his poems, Obstfelder also wrote and published prose works. His first published prose were two short stories, which came out in 1895. The following year he published his famous novel ''The Cross''. In 1897, he published a play, ''The Red Drops'', which was listed in the
National Theatre in 1902. Several of his works were published posthumously, including the unfinished ''A Priest's Diary'' (1900). His journals from his stay in the U.S. were also published. In 2000, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Obstfelder's death, a collection of his works was published.
Contribution to Norwegian poetry
Obstfelder is widely regarded as the first Norwegian modernist poet. His poems have left an indelible mark on Norwegian poetry. Choosing to depart from the traditional "rimtvangen" and the rigid structure of typical Norwegian verse, he created his own free verse, which was marked for its musicality. His poems are often tinged with anxiety, loneliness and alienation as well imparting a spiritual inclination. His poetry is considered by many to be the literary counterpart to expressionist art of
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...
.
Personal
Obstfelder lived most of his life as a
pauper, and never stayed in one place for very long. By all accounts he had an unstable mental health, and suffered several nervous breakdowns. In 1898, he married the Danish singer Ingeborg Weeke (1876–1930), but it was a brief and turbulent marriage. He died of tuberculosis at the Municipal Hospital in Copenhagen at 33 years of age. He was buried at
Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård on the same day his only child, Lili, was born.
Memorials
Obstfelder's memory is celebrated in numerous cities in Europe. In 1917, his bust, created by
Gustav Vigeland, was unveiled in the
Stavanger
Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
city park. Another bust has been placed in the Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård at
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...
in Copenhagen. A bust of Obstfelder by
Per Palle Storm is at
NTNU Trondheim's Technology Library with the inscription: "Remember that there are many values in life beyond technology."
Gallery
Image:Obstfelder - Digte.djvu, Cover of Obstfelder's ''Digte''
Image:To novelletter.djvu, Cover of Obstfelder's
''To novelletter''
Image:De røde Dråber.djvu, Cover of Obstfelder's
''De røde Dråber''
Image: Korset.djvu, Cover of Obstfelder's ''Korset''
image:En Præsts Dagbog.djvu, Cover of Obstfelder's
''En Præsts Dagbog''
Selected works
*''Digte'' (''Poems''), 1893
*''To novelletter'' (''Two novellettes''), 1895
*''Korset'' (''The Cross'', novel), 1896
*''De røde dråber'' (''The Red Droplets'', a play), 1897
*''En præsts dagbog'' (''A Priest's Diary'', novel), incomplete, released posthumously 1900
*''Efterladte arbeider'' (''Unfinished works''), 1903
*''Samlede skrifter I-III'' (''Collected Writings''), 1950 contains a lot of previously unreleased material
References
External links
Digitized books by Obstfelderin the
National Library of Norway
The National Library of Norway () was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened in 2005.
Prior to the e ...
English translation of "Høst"by Obstfelder
English translation of "Den Ubekjendte"by Obstfelder
English translation of "Edvard Munch: et forsøg"by Obstfelder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obstfelder, Sigbjoern
1866 births
1900 deaths
Writers from Stavanger
19th-century Norwegian poets
Norwegian male poets
Norwegian modernist poets
Norwegian male novelists
Norwegian dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Norwegian male writers
Norwegian emigrants to Denmark