Når fuglen flyr: Høyest elsket som eksperimentell utviklingsroman

Abstract

Høyest elsket (2000) by Hilde Hagerup is a complex novel. Its form is both traditional and experimental. This article explores how form consistently underlines and emphasizes content and affects how we understand Elisa, the main character. The analysis focuses on substantial and original formal features and their effects. The literary techniques that disrupt what is traditionally epic, are especially important for our understanding of Elisa. Elisa’s inner chaos is highlighted by linguistic, stylistic and compositional traits, which create a demanding, exhausting text. The open and indeterminate, chaotic and shifting text, contributes to the novel’s literary quality as well as to its (post)modernist character. In that way, the literary text reflects formally Elisa’s challenging reality, and Elisa’s need for peace, calm and harmony is transferred to the reader.

Keywords

• Hilde Hagerup
• identity
• Leerstellen
• intertextuality
• polyphony
• (post)modernism