History of Bestiality

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The History of Bestiality is a trilogy by the Norwegian writer Jens Bjørneboe. It consists of the three books Moment of Freedom ("Frihetens øyeblikk", 1966), Powderhouse ("Kruttårnet", 1969) and The Silence ("Stillheten", 1973).


Contents

[edit] Moment of Freedom

Moment of Freedom: the Heiligenberg Manuscript.

The narrator is a court usher in a small alp village ("Heiligenberg"). While observing incidents in the court, he occupies himself filling protocols with what he calls "the history of bestiality".

[edit] Powderhouse

Powderhouse: Scientific Postscript and Last Protocol.

The narrator is now houseporter at a hospital for mentally diseased. The staff and patients deliver lectures on themes such as the history of execution, heresy and heretics.

[edit] The Silence

The Silence: Anti-novel and Absolutely Very Last Protocol.

The narrator is situated in an unnamed country in northern Africa. He is now occupied with themes such as the history of colonisation: how the European countries took "possession" of large parts of the world, America, Africa and Asia.

[edit] References

  • Esther Greenleaf Mürer. "Annotated List of Jens Bjørneboe's Works." [1]
  • Aarnes, Sigurd Aa. "The Problem of Evil"—Nazism in Jens Bjørneboe's writing. Translated by John Weinstock . In The Nordic Mind: Current Trends in Scandinavian Literary Criticism, edited by Frank Egholm Andersen and John Weinstock. 223-50. Lanham MD: University Presses of America, 1986. [2]
  • Engelstad, Carl Fredrik. "Jens Bjørneboes Trilogie", Ausblick, Zeitschrift für Deutsch- Skandinavische Beziehungen ( Lübeck) 33 (1983), no. 1-2: 6-8
  • Gary Kern "Bjørneboe's Great Failure: The History of Bestiality" [3]
  • Mussari, Mark. "Farvens klang: Color Spaces in Strindberg, Branner, Dinessen and Bjørneboe." PhD. Dissertation, Univ of Washington, 1999.
  • Longum, Leif. "Jens Bjørneboe and the Laughter of Tuscany." In I rapporti tra Italia e Europa del nord nella letteratura e nell'arte. Giornate scandinavie 3-5 maggio 1989, edited by Randi Langen Moen, 127-136. . Bologna: Universita di Bologna, 1992.
  • Kreutzer, Helmut. "Existentielle Prosa, spiritueller Anarchismus: zum Augenblick der Freiheit von Jens Bjørneboe". In Probleme des Erzahlens in der Weltliteratur: Festschrift fur Kate Hamburger zum 75. Geburtstag, ed. Fritz Martini, 348-64. Stuttgart: Klett, 1971.