THE CIVILIZATION CRITIC
From the moment Hamsun appeared on the literary scene around 1890, he was concerned with the complex and sensitive spiritual life of modern man.
The pace of the new era makes man alienated and disharmonious. But the young Hamsun wants neither to reform society nor to preach truths: He wants to depict the whisper of blood and the prayer of bones, the entire unconscious life of the soul.
After 1912, Hamsun began to write more socially oriented, with a larger gallery of characters and clearer epic lines. He was still preoccupied with the themes of modernity: restlessness, progress, the new spirit of the times. Traditional ways of life and values had decayed. People cut their roots, sought the cities and filled their lives with useless knowledge and canned food.
Existential and social issues are brought together in Hamsun's critique of civilization. Behind the illusion of modern life, he seeks a truer, more original way of life. But the critique of modern society is not unambiguous. The novel's characters – like Hamsun himself – are also fascinated by the dynamics of modern life.
