Suchergebnisse

Norway was going through important changes in the 19th century. It was a time of disruption, when the old rural society was transformed by the growing industrialisation, by the development of transportation and the expansion of free trade, when internal migration reached its peak as farmers struggled to survive using the old ways of living that had been passed on from generations and that no longer seemed to work in the modernized world. This paper argues that, although the need for change of the old habits was at the basis of the mass exodus to the New World, migration facilitated the emergence of modernity in Norway. America letters played an important role, as they both convinced the families and friends of the emigrants to embark for America, but they also helped increase the literacy rate in the homeland. Further on, the discussion will focus on the American experience of Knut Hamsun and Sigbjørn Obstfelder, which helped them gain recognition as forerunners of modernism in Norway

Language has both a social and a cultural significance for a community of speakers. It inevitably undergoes constant changes in order to adapt to the requirements of a particular discursive practice (spoken or written communication, face-to-face or online communication, specialized language, etc.). In addition to this, language is externally influenced by the borrowing of loanwords. Focusing on anglicisms in Norwegian, this paper analyses the use of borrowings and of code-switching in the informal speech of teenagers as it is depicted in the Norwegian teen drama web series 'Skam'. The gradual acknowledgment of English as an international language paved the way in Norway for the acceptance of this foreign language in various domains, especially in the academia, as a tool for increasing exposure and for internationalization practices. Due to the constant exposure to English both in the academic environment and in informal settings, younger generations in Norway tend to engage more often in language mixing and regard this international language as an essential part of their daily lives. The findings of this paper concluded that in addition to the use of anglicisms, two types of code-switching – inter-sentential and intra-sentential code-switching) – were identified in episodes 9 and 10, season 4, of 'Skam'. In this line of thought, the use of anglicisms in 'Skam' and the code-switching performed are iconic for today's teenagers, as it testifies for the dominance of the western culture in their daily lives, and explains, at least partly, the wide success of this drama series.

America Letters as Witnesses and Agents of Change. Norwegian-American Immigrant Epistles. The letters written by immigrants to their family and friends in the homeland are pieces of a mosaic that provides a wider picture of the personal stories of migration. The analysis of migration has too often focused on statistics, on the mass of people who have emigrated to the New World. However, America letters represent genuine and simple stories of individuals and reflect, in a personal manner, the way immigrants experienced the migration, as well as the way they tried to adapt to a new culture. America letters reveal the enthusiasm, courage and sense of adventure of the immigrants, but also the difficulties, disillusionment, their struggle to belong, even the despair they went through. This paper argues that America letters are witnesses of change, since the immigrants described the challenges of adjustment and acculturation in the letters they sent home, but also agents of change, as they greatly influenced the Norwegian emigration to America. Norway's coast and valleys were teeming in the nineteenth century with accounts of the conditions in the New World as they were described in the letters sent home by the immigrants. These immigrant letters contain the testimonials of those who had chosen to emigrate and were passed on from family to family, parish to parish, village to village, convincing more and more people to leave the homeland for America. Keywords: Norwegian emigration to America, Norwegian-American, immigrant letters, America letters, immigrant experience, evolution of mass migration, personal stories of migration