AMERICA

God is forgotten, the dollar proves powerless to replace him, mechanics do not relieve any spiritual distress. The road is closed. Under these conditions, America only increases its speed. America will not be stopped by obstacles at all, it will move forward, it will break through. Should America turn back? Not at all! It only accelerates a hundredfold, plays hurricane on the globe and chases life to white heat. We have the word Americanism in Europe, the ancients had festina lente. ("Festina lente", 1928)

Hamsun had two longer stays in America, first from 1882 to 1884, then in the period 1886–88.

In 1889 he published From the Spiritual Life of Modern America , in which he railed against the nation's politics, language, sensationalist press, illiteracy, literature, art, theater, and women.

Just over 40 years later, he also uses America as a starting point for criticism, but in the article "Festina lente" (1928), the criticism does not only target the nation of America, but a general Western spiritual current.

For Hamsun, the experience of the pace and rhythm of modern life was largely shaped by his years in America. As a contrast, he highlights the values ​​of the Orient. Americanism is synonymous with the modern and forward-looking, while the East is synonymous with a positive reactionary way of being.