POLICY

Fredrik came into the living room a little paler than usual, a little tired after the recent hard work on the political articles. This work had cost him far more effort than all his scientific theses. He was not a politician, he had never been much interested in politics. When the Left said one thing and the Right another, it could not be otherwise, but it was the Right that was right, he felt that faintly deep down, although he used to say that he also found much justification in the Left's opposition. (Editor Lynge, 1893)

Hamsun was an avid debater and polemicist.

As early as 1889, he published a series of critical articles about the priest, politician and journalist Lars Oftedal. In 1902, Hamsun opposed Bjørnson, whom he otherwise admired highly, when the latter came out and supported the Coalition Party. In 1915, Hamsun took part in an extensive polemic in the so-called "Infant Murder Debate". Sigrid Undset suggested that the reason for the increasing number of infanticides was a social issue. Hamsun, on the other hand, recommends deterrent punishments. In 1936, Hamsun took part in a polemic about whether the German pacifist Carl von Ozzietsky deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, while during the war he wrote a number of political articles in which he agitated in favor of Germany. Parts of this material helped to get him convicted of treason.

Traces of this political engagement can be found in several places in his writing. The novel Ny jord (1893) depicts the division in the Liberal Party. The "barnemorddebatten" can be found in Markens grøde (1917) in the depiction of Inger and Barbro's crimes.