Cover not available

In:Nordic Literature: A comparative history: Volume II: Figural nodes
Edited by Steven P. Sondrup, Mark B. Sandberg, Nathaniel Kramer, Christopher Oscarson, Linda Haverty Rugg and Karin Sanders
[Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages 38] 2026
► pp. 30–44

Nordic Noir

Insanity and imagination in Melancholy literature

This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Article outline
  • The winged genius
  • Bleak darkness
  • Memento mori
  • Morality, tedium, and fashion
  • The exceptional artist
  • Apocalypse
  • Notes
  • Works cited
References (40)
Works cited
Alighieri, Dante. ‘La Commedia’ seconda l’antica vulgata: Inferno. Ed. Giorgio Petrocchi. Vol. 1. Milan: Mondadori, 1966–67.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. The Divine Comedy: Inferno. Trans. Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970–75.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Andersen, Per Thomas. “Glocalizing the light of Norwg-West: From inner light to the light of labor.” Nordic Literature: A Comparative History. Vol. 1: Spatial Nodes. Eds. Steven P. Sondrup et al. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2017. 348–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Andersen, Tryggve. Mot kveld. Ed. Willy Dahl. Oslo: Aschehoug, 2003.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blixen, Karen [Dinesen, Isak]. “The Deluge at Norderney.” Seven Gothic Tales. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. 1–79.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. “Syndfloden over Norderney.” Syv Fantastiske Fortællinger; Karen Blixen Værker. Vol. 3. København: Gyldendal, 2012. 139–210.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chateaubriand, François-René de. Atala/René. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1952. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Atala-René. Paris: Garnier-Flammarion, 1964.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Deleuze, Gilles. The Logic of Sense. Ed. Constantin V. Boundas. Trans. Mark Lester with Charles Stivale. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Logique du Sens. Paris: Minuit, 1969.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekelöf, Gunnar. “Dürers melankoli.” Skrifter. Vol. 7. Ed. Reidar Ekner. Stockholm: Bonniers, 1992. 87–90.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. “Dürer’s Melancholy.” Modus Vivendi: Selected Prose. Trans. Erik Thygesen. Norwich: Norvik Press, 1996. 224–27.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evensen, Ole Thomas Borud. “Melankoli og apolkalypse: Tryggve Andersens Mot kvæld — mellom Folkeboken om Faust og Johannes’ åpenbaring.” Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, 2004.
Fosse, Jon. Melancholia I. Oslo: Samlaget, 1995.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Melancholia II. Oslo: Samlaget, 1996.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Melancholy. Trans. Grethe Kvernes and Damion Searls. Rochester: Dalkey Archive Press, 2006.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Melancholy II. Trans. Eric Dickens. Champaign: Dalkey Archive Press, 2014.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Freud, Sigmund. “Mourning and Melancholia.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 14. Ed. and Trans. James Strachey. London: The Hogarth Press, 1957.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. “Trauer und Melancholie”; Gesammelte Werke, Chronologisch Geordnet. Vol. 10. London: Imago Publishers, 1946. 428–46.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbjørnsrud, Hans. “Hallgrim Flatin 1966.” Eks og sett: noveller. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1992. 88–151.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holberg, Ludvig. “Libr. III. Epigramm. 6.” Moralske Tanker; Ludvig Holbergs skrifter Version 2.12. [URL]. Accessed 27 October 2021.
. “Om det melankolske temperament. (III,6)” Essays. Ed. Kjell Heggelund. Oslo: Cappelen, 1977. 69–73.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jonassen, Rune. “The Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism in Cognition: Intermediate Phenotypes Associated with Emotion Regulation and Brain Function.” PhD diss. Oslo: University of Oslo, 2012.
Koefoed, Holger. “Lars Hertervig”; Norsk biografisk leksikon. Ed. Jon Gunnar Arntzen. Vol. 4. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 2001. 252–53.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kristeva, Julia. Black Sun: Depression and Melancholia. Trans. Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Soleil noir: Dépression et mélancolie. Paris: Gallimard, 1987.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lie, Erik. “Om Fin-de-siècle-digtningen” Part I. Samtiden 4 (1893): 231–42.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Melancholia. Directed by Lars Von Trier. 2011. Copenhagen: Zentropa, 2011. DVD.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Selboe, Tone. Kunst og erfaring: En studie i Karen Blixens forfatterskap. Odense: Odense universitetsforlag, 1996.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sæterbakken, Stig. “Avsjeling: Om Tor Ulven og romanen Avløsning (1991).” Vagant 25.4 (2012): 18–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Der jeg tenker er det alltid mørkt. Oslo: Flamme, 2012.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Dirty Things: Essays. Oslo: Cappelen Damm, 2010.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Gjennom natten. Oslo: Cappelen Damm, 2011.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Through the Night. Trans. Seán Kinsella. Champaign: Dalkey Archive Press, 2013.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torkildsen, Øivind and Elisabeth Farbu. “Lars Hertervig og Carl Fredrik Hill — kreativitet og psykisk sykdom.” Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening 125.24 (2005): 3450–53.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tranströmer, Tomas. Memories Look at Me: A Memoir. Trans. Robin Fulton Macpherson. New York: New Directions, 2011.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Minnena ser mig; Dikter och Prosa 1954–2004. Stockholm: Bonniers, 2011. 459–503.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ulven, Tor. Det tålmodige: dikt. Oslo: Gyldendal. 1987.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. Gravgaver: Fragmentarium. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1988.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. “Ordlusene: Forsøk på gjenåpning av en lukket bok.” Essays. Ed. Henning Hagerup and Morten Moi. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1997. 113–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue