LITERATURE

Every poet knows that poetry is created under a stronger or weaker pressure of mood. A sound hums within you, colors come to your eyes, you feel something ripple within you. ("Letter to a German Translator", 1908)

Hamsun's thoughts on literature are most clearly expressed in the article "Fra det ubevsste sjeleliv" (1890), and in the lectures on modern literature from 1891. He is particularly harsh on Ibsen's characters, which he refers to as "dramatized pulp". Hamsun advocates greater attention to the characters' inner, spiritual states and less to heritage and environment.

These thoughts found artistic form in Hunger (1890). In his other writings, Hamsun deals with literary themes in several of his articles, including in the poet portraits of Strindberg and Bjørnson. Thoughts about his own literary production are also expressed, as in "Letter to a German Translator" (1908). In På jengrodde stier (1949), the anonymous first-person narrator comments on the artistic process surrounding the book.