Reading Hamsun Through Sámi Counter-Voices

Reading Hamsun through Sámi counter-voices

A recent article in Utrop, published on 8 August 2026, asks an important question: Has the Hamsun Centre begun to read Hamsun through Sámi counter-voices?

The question points to a broader shift in how Hamsun’s literary legacy can be approached. Rather than viewing Sámi perspectives simply as an additional theme or element within a programme, they can also provide critical perspectives through which Hamsun’s works, their historical context, and the landscapes they describe can be reconsidered.

This makes the inclusion of Sámi voices particularly significant, not only for understanding representations of Sámi people in Hamsun’s writing, but also for examining the colonial histories and power structures surrounding literature, language, land, and cultural representation.

BIRGEJUPMI perspectives in the conversation

It was also particularly interesting to see the work of our BIRGEJUPMI project member Britt Kramvig brought into this discussion.

Britt took part in a conversation with author and artist Sigbjørn Skåden about Golden Ája Lapland Casino & Motel, a project exploring Sámi self-representation, decolonial artistic practices, landscape, storytelling, and ownership.

The project offers a compelling example of how contemporary Sámi artistic practices can challenge established ways of representing place, history, and identity. It also raises questions about who has the authority to tell stories about landscapes and communities and whose perspectives have historically been left out.

From addition to critical dialogue

Britt’s contribution was part of a broader programme that suggests something significant may be happening at Hamsundagene. Sámi perspectives are not simply being added to the festival programme; they are increasingly becoming part of the critical conversation about Hamsun, his literary legacy, and the landscapes and communities represented in his work.

This opens up productive questions about how literature is read and remembered. What happens when established literary narratives are encountered through Indigenous perspectives? How might Sámi voices change our understanding of works that have long been part of the Norwegian literary canon? And how can contemporary artistic practices create new conversations with historical texts?

For the BIRGEJUPMI project, these questions resonate strongly with our interest in Sámi knowledge, cultural practices, self-determination, and the ways in which Indigenous perspectives can shape conversations about the past and present.

Hamsundagene offered a thought-provoking space for these discussions—bringing together literature, film, art, colonial histories, and contemporary Sámi perspectives.

Ultimately, it is also a question of who gets to shape the stories we inherit.