LANGUAGE IN DANGER

"There are many who write about the Norwegian Language and the Retskrivningkomitee now about Dagen, Sakligheten and Spirrevippen, Løvland and Anathon Aal, Stortingsmen and Professors, Editors and Actors. Almost everyone agrees that we should destroy the Language, it is the pace of the Thing they are arguing about."

1918

Language in Danger (1918) was originally published as three articles in Aftenposten on 8, 10 and 11 June 1918. The articles were later collected and published as a brochure. The brochure sold 50,000 copies.

The background to Hamsun's articles was the dispute between the Norwegian Language Association and the Norwegian Language Association. In 1917, a proposal was made that entailed important changes in the spelling rules for both Nynorsk and Riksmål. Hamsun disagreed with the new rules, and wrote, among other things: "The Norwegian Language has nothing to do with accommodating the National Language, it only has to accommodate living Life."