Norway is a Scandinavian country of fjords, mountains, and long winters. Its literary tradition, from the sagas to modern fiction, reflects a culture shaped by nature, isolation, and the struggle for independence.
Norwegian literature pioneered psychological modernism through Knut Hamsun, whose Hunger used stream-of-consciousness technique decades before Joyce. The Norwegian literary tradition values interiority, the individual consciousness confronting a vast and indifferent natural world.