Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur) is a private association that promotes Riksmål, an unofficial variant of written Norwegian. The organisation was founded in 1953 by several notable Norwegian authors and poets, among them Arnulf Øverland, Sigurd Hoel, A. H. Winsnes, Cora Sandel and Francis Bull, who disagreed with the official language policy aiming to merge Bokmål with Nynorsk and who protested against what they called state discrimination against the traditional Norwegian standard language Bokmål, which was the de facto standard language of Norway, used by most large newspapers and by the majority of the population.

They regulate what is now the unofficial form Riksmål, a more conservative and Danish-near form of Norwegian than the official Bokmål, and among other things publish dictionaries and support the publishing of literature in Riksmål.

The Academy has 44 members, who are specialists in areas including Nordic studies, German, English and French languages and literature, history, philosophy, law, political science, poetry etc. The President of the Academy is the Conservative Party politician Lars Roar Langslet, a former Norwegian cabinet secretary of culture, and the Presidium also consists of John Ole Askedal, Professor of German, Tor Guttu, Associate Professor of Nordic languages and deputy chairman of the Riksmål Society, as well as Nils Heyerdahl, theatre director.

The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature is represented in the Norwegian Language Council (Språkrådet), which regulates the official Bokmål and Nynorsk languages.

In 1981, the Academy merged with Riksmålsvernet, founded 1919.