SMALL TOWN

Thus, the small town also has its greats, its solid houses with fine sons and daughters, its constancy and authority. And the small town is concerned with its greats and follows them with interest, the good small town people basically look after their own well-being thereby, they live under the shelter of power and thrive under it, that is how it should be. (The Women at the Fountain, 1920)

The small town appears frequently in Hamsun's writings. It is central to both Mysteries (1892), The Women at the Water Fountain (1920) and The Ring is Complete (1936).

The depiction of the small town is often negative, and in The Women at the Water Pump it is compared to an anthill.

A variant of the small town is the trading post, which appears in Hamsun's Nordic novels. It is smaller than the small town and more clearly characterized by a strong patriarchal structure, while at the same time sharing the small town's transparency and layered organization.