Monika Zagar discusses "Knut Hamsun: The Dark Side of Literary Brilliance"

Monika Zagar, author and University of Minnesota associate professor of Scandinavian studies, will discuss her book, Knut Hamsun: The Dark Side of Literary Brilliance, on Wednesday, December 2 at 4:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Bookstore in Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. S.E. Minneapolis.

Zagar refuses to separate Knut Hamsun’s political and cultural ideas from his highly regarded writing in her analysis of this Nobel Prize-winning writer and Nazi sympathizer. Zagar’s work reveals the ways messages of racism and sexism appear in plays, fiction and none-too-subtle nonfiction produced by Hamsun over his long career. By focusing on selected masterpieces, Zagar shows that Hamsun’s support of Nazi political ideals was a natural outgrowth of his reactionary aversion to modernity. Knut Hamsun serves as a corrective to scholarship treating Hamsun’s Nazi ties as unpleasant but peripheral details in a life of literary achievement.

Zagar will sign copies of her book following the discussion. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, or to order a signed copy visit www.bookstore.umn.edu/genref/authors.html.