According to the widely known essay “Frames For World Literature,” David Damrosch looks at the ways works change as they move from national to global contexts. He has also presented world literature not as a canon of texts but as a mode of circulation and of reading. He also proposed that works that thrive as world literature are ones that work well and even gain in various ways in translation. The field of world literature continues to generate debate, with critics such as Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak arguing that too often the study of world literature in translation smooths out both the linguistic richness of the original and the political force a work can have in its original context.
Well-acclaimed by the niche Norwegian audience for its unique blending of pop and biblical themes, Poetenes Evangelium, released in 1993 is more than just the first solo album of Norwegian musician Morten Harket. It is a book anthology consisting of classical 20th-century Norwegian poetry depicting the life and death of Christ. All 12 tracks are in fact, unedited poetry written by Norwegian authors such as Jens Bjørneboe, Inger Hagerup, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Kaj Skagen, Georg Johannesen, Arnold Eidslott and Håvard Rem.
(From Top left) Håvard Rem, Jens Bjørneboe, Inger Hagerup, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Kaj Skagen,Georg Johannesen and Arnold Eidslott – The principal “poets” in Poetenes Evangelium
By analyzing the rich literary content by the poets from different directions. Poetenes Evangelium stands on the horizon between Norwegian culture and the world. The interesting fact about the anthology is the unconventional approach it has taken to Christian texts. Unlike usual Christian music, which evidently promotes respective beliefs to the listeners, Poetenes Evangelium is extremely less of a promoter and more of an ambiguous storyteller. It mostly narrates to the audience. Also, if the listener, as well as the reader, happens to keep aside the religious point of view while analyzing the lyrical content, it becomes more clear that the outlook is a little more philosophical and personal rather than a typical religious text.
Natten inatt er hellig. (Night, tonight is holy)
Noe skal skje. ( Something will happen)
Det som skal komme fra himlen ( That which will come from heaven)
er ikke bare sne. ( isn’t just snow)
Natten i natt er hellig. ( Night , tonight is holy)
Noen skal dø inatt. ( Someone will die tonight)
Nysådd og angst og matt (Newly sown , afraid and feeble)
spirer en himmel i isen ( a sky breaks through the ice)
der gaten er blank og glatt. ( Where the way is clear and smooth)
Natten inatt er hellig. ( Night , tonight is holy)
Noen skal fødes inatt. ( Someone will be born tonight)
Vår mørke, kjølige klode ( This dark, chilly planet)
er ikke helt forlatt.( Isn’t completely abandoned)
Fra hennes lysende søstre ( From her shinning sisters)
kommer der noen inatt. ( There comes someone tonight)
Extract From Poetenes Evangelium: “Natten” which the first track of the album, was written by Jens Ingvald Bjørneboe. He is widely considered to be one of Norway’s most important post-war authors.
The poem is pretty much self-explanatory. It essentially talks about the circle of death and life. The lucid language as seen in the translation was moderately on point. Keeping in mind the ambiguity of the poem, from a religious point of view, it becomes a little more obvious that it’s about the birth of Christ.
( Book Cover Of Poetenes Evangelium)
Talking about the mode of circulation and of reading, the anthology, as well as the album, was moderately successful in Norway. But the same didn’t apply in the context of world music. The anthology was well appreciated in Norway as well but it wasn’t well known to the entire planet, in terms of the mainstream audience. This is mainly due to the language barrier which was created across listeners who do not speak or read Norwegian. However, the album sparked interest to the niche audience who were well aware of Harket’s previous works with a-ha (the band which Harket was a part of), which is seen as Norway’s largest musical exports, in other words, a well-known Norwegian band to the rest of the world. Because of this, the anthology became a subject of interest to this niche audience which was scattered in various parts of the globe. The mainstream audience would have no idea what Poetenes Evangelium is about, but people who knew and adored Morten Harket as an artist would have the C.D as well as the book anthology in their shelves. As the interest in the album grew among the niche audience, the author of the anthology i.e Håvard Rem ‘s reputation grew across Norway. Currently, he’s well known for his lucid expression through lyric poetry. Although it has managed to reach out across the globe due to Harket’s identity as a pop artist in the 1980s, it still remained in the sub-altern position in World Literature as well as music. This is where counter canon comes in to play. This has occurred due to Harket’s image in the music industry.
Harket was famous for his vocal work in “Take On Me”, a-ha’s most successful hit back in 1985. This has lead to an increase in the interest of Norwegian culture from the mainstream audience. However, when the band took a different direction in the 1990s with the Album “East of The Sun West Of The Moon”, which had a sophomore and raw outlook in comparison to mainstream synthpop which is present in “Take On Me”, United States have lost interest in the vocalist as well as the band’s music.
However, they were still popular in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Spain, France, Indonesia, Germany, Austria, and Japan. Even though the band had entered into a subaltern position due to a change of direction in their musical approach, their music was still well known, except that they were ignored by the American and the British audience – thereby pushing them away from the center to the sub-altern position. In January 1991, a-ha wasn’t dominating the charts in the U.S but At the Rock in Rio II festival, A-ha shocked the international entertainment press by drawing an audience of 198,000 at Maracanã stadium for their top-billed evening concert—a Guinness World Record for biggest rock concert attendance.[30] In contrast, the other performers (George Michael, Prince, and Guns N’ Roses) each drew less than a third of that audience. In a 2009 interview from Cody Eide in Musicweek,, the band members revealed that the record-breaking concert and the lack of media attention they received were a devastating blow to the band. The 1991 Rock in Rio festival, which should have been the band’s crowning achievement, was instead a moment of crushing disappointment. “MTV interviewed everybody except us”, remembers Waaktaar-Savoy, the songwriter of the band ” We played to the biggest crowd in the world, and they ignored it.”. In this way, Harket’s image was pushed to the subaltern position, just because it couldn’t fit in with the mainstream criteria of pop music.
Harket in Maracanã stadium, Rock In Rio II, January 26, 1991
Coming to Harket’s fans, which is categorized into niche audience, release of the album has led to increasing in popularity of poets such as Jens Bjørneboe, Inger Hagerup, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Kaj Skagen, Georg Johannesen, Arnold Eidslott and Håvard Rem who were deeply involved in the anthology. Even though it is termed as Christian Pop, fans who are not inclined to religion appreciated the album for its deep philosophical content expressed through lucid language. Havard Rem’s lyrical contribution to the anthology as well as Harket’s succeeding solo works such as Wild Seed and Vogts Villa are further applauded by the fans and music critics. Later, Rem’s reputation rapidly grew across the world for his significant contribution to Harket’s first English Language album Wild Seed ( Harket also contributed to the songwriting process ). Wild Seed charted at number one in Norway and at number 89 in the United Kingdom.
Talking about the translation of Norwegian poems into English, as it was observed in the translation of “Natten”, it is somewhat evident that this anthology has managed to retain its essence after going through translation. Translations of a few poems are minimally bland, but attempts to interpret whether this anthology would fit in with Damscroch’s frames were possible because of its ability to retain its purpose and the meaning it stands for. Therefore, Poetenes Evangelium has somehow gained in various ways in terms of translation. Even though the words executed from the translation was lucid, it indeed stood up to its original meaning rather than bring the readers into a state of skepticism. Therefore, Poetenes Evangelium falls under the frames of World Literature. Although it belongs to the position of the subaltern, it has managed to reach out beyond Norway and across the world, in an unconventional manner. It has crossed the borders of locality due to the singer’s identity in the Global framework. It has also maintained its original identity after translation.
Citations:-
Søndag
https://tv.nrk.no/serie/soendag/1995/FALM03006595/avspiller
88 Norske Lyrikere Skriver Sine Versjoner Av Bibelsitater
Fredrik Wandrup – https://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/88-norske-lyrikere-skriver-sine-versjoner-av-bibelsitater/60176820
Morten Harket – Poetenes Evangelium
https://www.discogs.com/Morten-Harket-Poetenes-Evangelium/release/3057799
(P.S: This is the submission for my World Literature Assignment. Dear Evaluator, if you happen to come across this blog to check whether “37” has plagiarised this content. Sir! I am 37! This is my assignment! I did it! How could I even copy my assignment from my own blog? Sir, please don’t accuse me of plagiarism. I simply decided to post my assignment up here, and not vice versa. Thank You, sir! )
Whispering Heart 