Professor Emeritus
Fields of Interest
Biography
Ph.D. Harvard University, 1979
Curriculum Vitae
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Jan Sjåvik combines the study of critical theory with that of Scandinavian and especially Norwegian literature. He has been particularly interested in such theorists as Stanley Fish, Richard Rorty and Donald Davidson, and has written about the Norwegian authors Arne Garborg, Knut Hamsun, Ole E. Rølvaag, and others. His book Reading for the Truth, a study of works by Hamsun, Garborg, Rølvaag, and others, was published in 2004. His most recent book is Historical Dictionary of Norway (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2008).
Teaching:
- An Introduction to Norwegian Literary and Cultural History
- The Plays of Henrik Ibsen
- Masterpieces of Scandinavian Literature
- Literary Theory
- The Norwegian Short Story
- Kierkegaard
- Knut Hamsun
Research
Selected Research
- Terje Leiren and Jan Sjåvik, Historical Dictionary of Norway. Second Edition. Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019.
- Jan Sjåvik. Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2006.
- Jan Sjåvik. Reading for the Truth: Rhetorical Constructions in Norwegian Fiction. Christchurch, New Zealand: Cybereditions, 2004.
- Jan Sjåvik. "Reading Arne Garborg's Irony: Bondestudentar, Trætte mænd, Fred." Scandinavian Studies 27 (2000).
- Jan Sjåvik. "Between Two Worlds: The Emigrant Novels of Ole E. Rølvaag." Places Within, Places Beyond: Norwegian Regionalism in Literature (ed. by Wendy Griswold and Fredrik Engelstad). Oslo: Institute for Social Research, 1996. 77-91.
- Jan Sjåvik. "Rhetorical Manipulation in Maurits Hansen’s ‘Luren’." Scandinavian Studies 66 (1994): 521-32.
Research Advised
- Osterberg, Renessa. "Literary Anxiety in Contemporary Norwegian Metafiction: Hanne Ørstavik, Lars Saabye Christenen, and Dag Solstad." PhD Dissertation. University of Washington, 2012.
- Korynta, Kyle. "Jon Fosse in the Light and Shadow of Ibsen: Writing Styles, Affect, and Reception." PhD Dissertation. University of Washington, 2012.
Affiliations
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