Alexander Kielland
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Alexander Lange Kielland
(born Feb. 18, 1849, Stavanger, Nor.died April 6, 1906, Bergen) Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, and dramatist. Kielland, who was born into an aristocratic family, took a degree in law in 1871 and was a businessman for almost a decade. After a trip to Paris, he began to write. His first book of short stories was published in 1879, and he soon became dedicated to social reform. His influential novels include Garman and Worse (1880) and Skipper Worse (1882), both of which are set in and around Stavanger. He was perhaps the foremost prose stylist of his day, and, together with Henrik Ibsen, Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson, and Jonas Lie, he is considered one of the big four of 19th-century Norwegian literature.
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Kitty (Lange) Kielland
(b Stavanger, 8 Oct 1843; d Kristiania [now Oslo], 1 Oct 1914). Norwegian painter. She grew up in a rich and cultivated household; her younger brother Alexander L. Kielland became a well-known writer. In Stavanger she received a little training in drawing and painting, but it was not until she was nearly 30 that she was allowed to train to be a professional artist. In 1873 she went to Karlsruhe, where she was for two years a student of Hans Fredrik Gude. Under Gude's supervision she made rapid progress. His realistic style had a decisive and long-lasting influence on her. From 1875 to 1878 Kielland lived in Munich, where she studied for a while with the French-inspired realist Hermann Baisch (1846-94). Her most important teacher at this time, however, was the young Norwegian painter Eilif Peterssen. In 1876 she visited J?ren, in the south of Norway, for the first time and was the first artist to paint this flat landscape. Her view, From J?ren (1877; priv. col.), painted, from sketches, in Munich, marks a new degree of confidence. The landscape, conceived realistically but with a unifying atmospheric effect, marks her out as one of Gude's most outstanding students. In the summer of 1878 she was again at J?ren, and many of her best-known studies came into being at this time (several of them in Oslo, N.G.). From now on her painting is typified by her use of the realistically conceived landscape and by an unsentimental approach to subject-matter.
See the Abbreviations for further details.
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Kitty (Lange) Kielland
Kielland, Alexander Lange (äləksän'dər läng'ə khĕl'län), 1849-1906, Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Two early volumes of short stories-Tales of Two Countries (1879, tr. 1891) and Norse Tales and Sketches (1897)-placed him among the important realists. His witty and ironic novels, written with the purpose of social reform, include Skipper Worse (1881, tr. 1885) and Poison (1883). In 1885 he was recommended for a state author's stipend, but the majority of Parliament rejected the idea. His writing was greatly influenced by George Brandes.
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Alexander Kielland
This article is about the Norwegian writer. For the oil platform, see Alexander L. Kielland (platform).
| Alexander L. Kielland | |
|---|---|
 Kielland in later years |
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| Born | Alexander Lange Kielland 18 February 1849 Stavanger, Norway |
| Died | 6 April 1906 (aged 57) Bergen, Norway |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, businessman, and politician. |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Literary movement | Realism |
Alexander Lange Kielland (Norwegian pronunciation: [ɑlɛksɑndər ˈlɑŋːə ˈçɛlːɑn]) (18 February 1849 – 6 April 1906) was one of the most famous Norwegian realistic writers of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called "The Four Greats" in Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Jonas Lie.
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Background
Born in Stavanger, Norway, he grew up in a rich merchant family. He was the son of Consul Jens Zetlitz Kielland and great-grandson of Gabriel Schanche Kielland (1760–1821). Kielland was the younger brother of Norwegian landscape painter Kitty Lange Kielland, and their mutual interactions were important to shaping both as artists.[1][2]
His family also included his son, Jens Zetlitz Kielland, (1873–1926); uncle Jacob Otto Lange (1833–1902), cousin Axel Christian Zetlitz Kielland (1853–1924), nephew Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland (1866–1926), cousin Anders Lange (1904–1974) and great nephew Jacob Christie Kielland (1897–1972). His great niece Axeliane Christiane Zetlitz Kielland (1916–1995) married Agnar Mykle (1915–1994).
Career
Despite being born into wealth, he had a sincere affection for the less fortunate, treating his workers well when he was a factory owner.[citation needed] He remained a spokesman for the weak and a critic of society throughout his time as a writer. His best known plays were the satirical comedies Tre Par (1886) and Professoren (1888). He was also well known for his short stories.[3]
Among his most famous works are the novels Gift (1883), Skipper Worse (1882) and Garman & Worse (1880). Gift (published in English as Poison ) is the first in a trilogy including Fortuna (1884) and St. Hans Fest (1887). In this trilogy, Kielland satirizes the hypocrisy of Norway's clergy. In Gift, Kielland debates the hunger for Latin which Norwegian teachers had at this period of time. The story has its peak when a young boy called Marius, is lying on his deathbed, repeating Latin grammar.[4]
It has been debated why Kielland ended his career as a writer so early. Some believe that he was so much of a realist that he could not deal with new-romantic tendencies in Norwegian literature at the end of the 19th century. A more probable reason is that he chose to focus on his political career. The biography of Alexander L. Kielland by Tor Obrestad opens up thoughts about Kielland dying from obesity. Already from the mid-1880s, Kielland had suffered from shortness of breath, and he could not put his full energy into writing. He had several heart-attacks, he constantly gained weight and he couldn't control his great passion for food.[5]
From 1889 to 1890, Kielland worked as a journalist at Stavanger Avis. Kielland virtually stopped writing fiction in 1891 and published only stories which had appeared earlier. In 1891 he was designated the mayor of his hometown, Stavanger, until in 1902 he moved on to Molde as county governor of Møre og Romsdal.[6]
Publications
Short stories
- Novelletter, 1879
- Nye novelletter, 1880
- To Novelletter fra Danmark, 1882
Novels
- Garman & Worse, 1880 - [7]
- Arbeidsfolk, 1881
- Else, 1881
- Skipper Worse, 1882.[8][9]
- Gift, 1883
- Fortuna, 1884
- Sne, 1886
- Sankt Hans Fest, 1887
- Jacob, 1891
Plays
- Paa Hjemvejen, 1878
- Hans Majestæts Foged, 1880
- Det hele er Ingenting, 1880
- Tre par, 1886
- Bettys Formynder, 1887
- Professoren, 1888
Essays
- Forsvarssagen, 1890
- Menneker og Dyr, 1891
- Omkring Napoleon, 1905 [10]
References
- ^ Alexander Lange Kielland (Ancestry.com)
- ^ Kitty Lange Kielland (A Mirror Of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910. Minneapolis Institute of Arts)
- ^ Alexander L. Kielland, utdypning (Store norske leksikon)
- ^ Alexander L. Kielland-ulykken (Store norske leksikon)
- ^ Alexander (Lange) Kielland (Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto)
- ^ Alexander Lange Kielland (Edvard Beyer / Morten Moi. Store norske leksikon)
- ^ Garman & Worse is available in the original Norwegian on Project Runeberg at Garman og Worse (Norwegian)
- ^ Skipper Worse was published in English translation in 1885 and later as one of the Harvard Classic collection. A 2009 translation into English of Skipper Worse by Christopher Fauske is published by Cross-Cultural Communications, Merrick, NY.
- ^ . Skipper Worseis also available in the original Norwegian on Project Runeberg at Skipper Worse
- ^ English translation 1907: Napoleon's Men and Methods
Other sources
- Gran, Gerhard von Lippe Alexander L. Kielland og hans samtid (P.T. Dreyer. 1992)
- Grøndahl, Carl Henrik and Nina Tjomsland (editors) The Literary Masters of Norway, with Samples of Their Works (Tanum-Norli. 1978)
- Hallgren, Bengt Skitt eller kanel: Omkring Alexander L. Kielland, aren 1878-1906 (Alba. 1987)
- Lunde, Johannes Liv og kunst i konflikt: Alexander L. Kielland 1883-1906 : fra Gift til Jacob ; Omkring Napoleon (Gyldendal. 1975)
- Nag, Martin Omkring samfunnsrefseren Alexander L. Kielland: Essays (Kvekerforlaget. 1999)
- Obrestad, Tor To Par: Brevvekslingen Mellom Alexander L. Kielland Og Louise Og Viggo Drewsen (J.W. Cappelen. 1998)
- Risa, Einar O. Mannen i speilet: Alexander L. Kielland i Stavanger 1888-1902 : en nedtur (Tiden Norsk. 1999)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alexander Kielland |
| Preceded by Ludvig Arnoldus Leth |
County Governor of Møre og Romsdal 1902–1906 |
Succeeded by Birger Kildal |
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