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Odd Lyng
AuthorAlf Martin Jæger
Cover artistMartin Birger
LanguageNorwegian
PublisherNorske forfatteres forlag
Publication date
1924
Publication placeNorway
Pages114

Odd Lyng is a 1924 novel by Norwegian author Alf Martin Jæger, published by Norske forfatteres forlag. It depicts the life of young homosexual man, Odd Lyng, struggling with his sexuality.


Background

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Alf Martin Jæger was a Norwegian journalist and book reviewer for the newspaper Nordlys, starting in 1917.[1]: 166  He was of Kven descent, having moved from Alta to Tromsø to acquire an education in teaching.[2] This took place during the most intense period of the Norwegianisation of the Sámi and Kven; he was likely inspired by the movement[3] and is believed to have given up his Kven heritage.[4] He wrote a variety of material for the newspaper, including comments on contemporary issues, but he never wrote on homosexuality before he released his books.[5] The legality of homosexuality was under debate in the 1920s, with newspapers being rife with sexual scandals.[2] In 1923, he released his debut novel Strengen brast through the newly established Norske forfatteres forlag. The book contained implicit homosexual themes.[5] At the time of writing, sexual intercourse between men was illegal in Norway;[1]: 202  it was not decriminalised in the country until 1972, five years after Lyng had died.[6] He did not write the book pseudonymously, unlike many of his contemporaries.[6] The book did not have much impact.[5]

Plot

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Gud, hvorfor skapte du mig som mand og gav mig en kvindes hjerte?
God, why did you create me as a man and give me a woman's heart?

Alf Martin Jæger, Odd Lyng, page 31

Odd Lyng, a 25-year old landscape artist, moves to the city for work as a secretary at a socialist newspaper house; he has been living apart from his family since he became an adult. Before he moved, he had a nervous and anxious disposition, but this was alleviated in his new place of residence. While eating breakfast at a café before his first day of work, Lyng is captivated by a beautiful young man, which he assures himself is because of his artist's disposition.

Lyng continues to see the man around town and is captivated by his appearance, but only gets acquainted with him later at a concert. After getting intimate with each other, they start meeting frequently, going to cafés and cinemas. Lyng is happy, but also anxious about his feelings and how others might perceive them. After seeming to overhear a conversation in which Ulve insults him, Lyng starts distancing himself from him. Eventually, he quits his job and moves elsewhere.

Lyng finds work at a newspaper printing facility. During his travel, he becomes acquainted with a fat and ugly man named Falk. They are ostensibly forced to room together at a hotel, which Lyng is sceptical of but accepts reluctantly. Falk makes him drink more alcohol than he can handle and they sleep together in the same bed. Lyng is disgusted by the experience, and compares Falk to an animal. Despite this, Lyng is not convinced that he is any different from Falk, a thought that starts to torment him. Lyng writes a letter directed to Ulve detailing his mixed feelings, but he never sends it.

At his new place of employment, he meets an attractive man of Finnish descent, Aino Gagama. They start talking and playing cards together. Gagama's appearance was appealing to him. However, his feelings for Ulve also continue to grow, and they start sending each other letters. During a vacation, Lyng takes a hike in nature to clear his mind of his impure thoughts. After returning to work, the chairman of the labour party says that the paper would likely go under and encourages lyng to seek employment elsewhere. He sends a letter home, telling his family to expect his arrival soon.

He returns to his home town, composed primarily of Sámi and Kven people. His father, step-mother, and three younger half-siblings await him. Their previous maid is sick, which lyng discovers to the result of a pregnancy; the oldest half-brother, Aksel, is to become a father, but the child dies during birth. After this point, Lyng becomes increasingly depressed and paranoid. He no longer finds enjoyment in painting. Lyng sends a self-loathing letter to Ulve, but gets no reply. In the end, Lyng kills himself. The next day, his family receives two letters in the post. In the first one, Ulve reassures Lyng that he is fine the way he is, writing that it is the reason he likes him in the first place. He hopes that they will meet up soon. The second letter, written by the editor of the first paper, invited him back to his position as secretary.

Reception

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Contemporary

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Søndmørsposten described the story as an "easy read" and entertaining, well suited for travels.[7]

Ola Berg of Harstad Tidende called the book as "a nothing", describing the main character as being unable to "interest any living person". He encouraged the author to "send a bullet through the scincipital bone of the creature inside him he mistakenly believed to be a poet".[8]

According to Olaf Hammen in Tiden, Jæger wrote Lyng so vividly that the reader would read from cover to cover "with great excitement", but described the book as too tragic to "give the readers hope and faith in life".[9]

S. T. H., a frequent pseudonymous book reviewer for Nordlys,[1]: 201  described the book's plot and motifs as thin, but praised the portrayal of Lyng's spiritual condition. He characterised Lyng's "perverse inclinations" which he "tries to overcome as best as he can" as the primary motif in the book.[10]

A. E. Haav, writing for Ny Dag, was highly critical of the book's themes of sexuality, describing it as "unusual for a young man from a good home to be predisposed to some such [i.e. perversity and hypermodern sexuality]". He descibed it as unnatural, stating that he believes authors should primarily depict the natural; "it is wrong enough that such perversity and unaturalness occur in reality".[11]

Karl Sjurseth of Haalogaland found the book boring, stating that the author had not "brought any characters to life", despite the book "teeming with them".[12]

Hvepsen editor Hans Østerholt described the book as "unripe", but that it "reveals a poetic talent" and is "captivating" despite its "disgusting subject matter"; he wrote that "it is wrong enough that homosexuality exists in reality".[13]

Analysis

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Jæger's writing, including Odd Lyng, had litle impact on contemporary society.[5] It was mostly forgotten until it was studied and analysed by bibliographer Jan Olav Gatland in the 1980s and 1990s.[5][3] Since then, his life and the themes of his books have been studied more thoroughly, for instance by Per-Esben Myren-Svelstad and Silje Gaupseth in the 2020s.[3]

Homosexuality

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The presence of homosexuality in Norwegian fiction in the early 1900s is characterised by decadence and fall from grace, and authors used it as a device for horror.[5] The prevailing thought at the time was that youth could be made homosexual, which was dangerous and destructive to society.[14] Homosexuality was seen as a curable illness and an affront to nature and God.[15]: 20  The homosexual man was seen as "a parasite, an outcast, [and] a person without the right to life", according to historian Runar Jordåen.[16]

As opposed to Jæger's previous book, Strengen brast, the themes in Odd Lyng are explicitly homosexual.[16] It has been characterised as the first gay novel in Norwegian literary history,[16][17] that is, one where the protagonist's homosexuality is a central motif;[15]: 110  it is the first work of fiction in Norway to use the word "homosexual".[15]: 87 [5] The characters in Odd Lyng are written sympathetically, with their struggles being depicted as being a result of external factors rather than internal ones.[5] In the book, it is not the protagonist who is wrong, but the society he lives in. His depiction as a regular individual with homosexual thoughts was radical, according to literary professor Per Espen Myren-Svelstad.[14] He is nevertheless characterised by his shame and fear of being exposed, reflecting the attitude of his time.[16]

In contemporary representations of homosexuality, suicide was a common device for "confirm[ing] the heteronormative social order". Suicide is also present in Odd Lyng, but the book implies that it is not the only possible outcome.[3] However, it is unlikely for the book to have resolved happily;[5][15]: 115  biographer Jan Olav Gatland writes that "it would have probably been directly provocative and extremly immoral [to have] a book about happy gays and a happy ending!"[15]: 115  Author Kim Friele opines that "there is litle to cause offense" in the book: "The author takes into consideration the principles of propriety, in the sense that he has the protagonist Odd commit suicide."[17]

In the 1800s and 1900s, there was a prevalent prejudice that industrialisation and urbanisation was a contributing factor towards the "degeneration of the human race" and a "flourishing of perversions". Modern cities have been linked with homosexual behaviour between men.[18]: 293 

2024 rerelease

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Odd Lyng was rereleased in 2024 through Kven publisher Ruija Forlag to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the book.[4] The project was announced in 2022.[19] It contains a Norwegian modernisation by Andreas Vik Haugen and a translation into the minority Kven language by Anna-Kaisa Räisänen. The Kven translation was written on the basis of the Alta dialect during Jæger's lifetime.[4] Three forewords written by Per Esben Svelstad, Runar Jordåen and Elisabeth Stubberud were included in the rerelease.[20] Two book launches were held: the first in Alta on 5 March, and the second in Trondheim on 15 March.[4] The first launch was attended by many of his relatives.[21]

The book was read aloud from beginning to end in Norwegian and Kven at the art festival Mađđi in Tromsø on 1 June 2024.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Christensen, Pål; Tjelmeland, Hallvard (2003). "Fra gjenerobring og seig kamp for dagsavis til tyskokkupert avishus" [From recapture and slow struggle for daily newspaper to German-occupied printing house]. Flammende budbringer: Nordlys gjennom 100 år [Passionate Messenger: Nordlys Over 100 Years] (in Norwegian Bokmål). pp. 166, 201–202. ISBN 82-91668-19-1 – via National Library of Norway.
  2. ^ a b Hauge, Arne (12 November 2020). "Alf Martin Jæger – kvensk homopioner" [Alf Martin Jæger - Kven Gay Activist]. Ruijan Kaiku.
  3. ^ a b c d Jordåen, Runar (2022). ""Strengen Brast": Alf Martin Jægers liv og forfatterskap" ["The String Broke": The Life and Authorship of Alf Martin Jæger]. Polarhistorie på skeiva [Queering Polar History]. Translated by Tanguay, Gavin. University of Tromsø. pp. 14–17. ISBN 978-82-7142-301-8 – via National Library of Norway.
  4. ^ a b c d Aas, Oskar M. (4 March 2024). "Et stort prosjekt ved veis ende: 100-årig bok i ny utgave" [A Large Project at the End of the Road: 100-Year Old Book in New Edition]. Ságat. Vol. 68, no. 44. pp. 8–9 – via National Library of Norway.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jordåen, Runar (14 June 2017). "Arktisk homokamp" [Arctic Gay Fight]. Morgenbladet (in Norwegian Nynorsk).
  6. ^ a b Knipperud, Tone (22 June 2019). "Nord-Norges ukjente homoforkjemper" [Northern Norway's Unknown Gay Activist]. ABC Nyheter (in Norwegian Bokmål).
  7. ^ "Alf Martin Jæger: "Odd Lyng". Norske forfatteres forlag". Søndmørsposten (in Norwegian Bokmål). Vol. 42, no. 289. 9 December 1924. p. 6 – via National Library of Norwayl.
  8. ^ Berg, Ola (12 December 1924). "Alf Martin Jæger: "Odd Lyng" (Norske forfatteres forlag)". Harstad Tidende (in Norwegian). Vol. 38, no. 143. p. 4 – via National Library of Norway.
  9. ^ Hammen, Olaf (12 December 1924). "Ny bok. Alf Martin Jæger: "Odd Lyng". (Norske forfatteres forlag)". Tiden (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Vol. 19, no. 289. p. 4 – via National Library of Norway.
  10. ^ S. T. H (13 December 1924). "Litteratur | Alf Martin Jæger: Odd Lyng. (Norske forfatteres forlag)". Nordlys (in Norwegian Bokmål). Vol. 23, no. 142. p. 1 – via National Library of Norway.
  11. ^ Haav, A. E. (17 December 1924). "Bøker | Alf, Martin Jæger: "Odd Lyng". Waldemar Carlsen: "Benjamin Hassel". Norske Forfatteres Forlag". Ny Dag (in Norwegian). Vol. 12, no. 269. p. 1 – via National Library of Norway.
  12. ^ Sjurseth, Karl (7 January 1925). "Bøker. | Alf Martin Jæger: Odd Lyng". Haalogaland (in Norwegian Bokmål). Vol. 24, no. 3. p. 1 – via National Library of Norway.
  13. ^ Østerholt, Hans (12 December 1924). "Nye bøker" [New Books.]. Hvepsen (in Norwegian). Vol. 19, no. 49. p. 416 – via National Library of Norway.
  14. ^ a b Guttormsen, Arne (3 May 2022). ""Skal en da ikke ha lov til at følge sin naturs krav?"" ["Ought one not be permitted to follow the demands of one's nature?"]. Vårt Land (in Norwegian Bokmål). Vol. 78, no. 100. pp. 20–21 – via National Library of Norway.
  15. ^ a b c d e Gatland, Jan Olav (1990). Mellom linjene: Homofile tema i norsk litteratur [Between the Lines: Homosexual Themes in Norwegian Literature] (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Aschehoug. ISBN 82-03-16338-6 – via National Library of Norway.
  16. ^ a b c d Jordåen, Runar (2024). "Soga om den kvenske homopioneren Alf Martin Jæger" [The Story of the Kven Gay Pioneer Alf Martin Jæger]. Aftenposten Historie (in Norwegian Nynorsk). No. 1. pp. 92–97 – via National Library of Norway.
  17. ^ a b Friele, Karen-Christine (1985). De forsvant bare...: fragmenter av homofiles historie [They Just Vanished...: Fragments of Homosexual History] (in Norwegian Bokmål). Gyldendal. p. 144. ISBN 82-05-16382-0 – via National Library of Norway.
  18. ^ Myren-Svelstad, Per Esben (2022). "Secundum naturam: Landlege miljø og kjærleik mellom menn i Alf Martin Jægers romanar" [Secundum Naturam: Rural Environments and Love Between Men in Alf Martin Jæger's Novels]. In Hundstad, Dag; Hellesund, Tone; Jordåen, Runar; Munch-Møkker, Marthe Glad (eds.). Skeiv lokalhistorie: Kulturhistoriske perspektiver på sammekjønnsrelasjoner og kjønnsoverskridelser [Queer Local History: Cultural-Historical Perspectives on Same-Sex Relations and Gender Transgressions]. Skrifter fra Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt ved Nasjonalbiblioteket (in Norwegian Nynorsk). National Library of Norway. pp. 291–316. ISBN 978-82-7965-513-8. ISSN 0802-720X – via Issuu.
  19. ^ Hauge, Arne (11 October 2022). "Gammel roman blir som ny – nå også på kvensk" [Old Novel Good as New - Now Also in Kven]. Ruijan Kaiku (in Norwegian Bokmål).
  20. ^ Melå, Veronica (30 May 2024). "Kvensk homopionér feires" [Kven Gay Pioneer Celebrated]. Skussmål.
  21. ^ Hauge, Arne (11 March 2024). "- Sindig og vennlig kar" ["Level-headed and friendly guy"]. Altaposten (in Norwegian Bokmål). Vol. 56, no. 30. p. 6 – via National Library of Norway.
  22. ^ Rantala Eriksen, Nina (29 May 2024). "Leser Norges første homoroman perm-til-perm på kvensk" [Norway's First Gay Novel to be Read Cover-to-Cover in Kven]. NRK Kvensk (in Norwegian Bokmål).
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