Christine Hamm

Position

Professor, Scandinavian literature

Affiliation

Research groups

Short info

I research Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish novels, narratives, and drama written from 1850 to the present. Currently, I work on conceptions of welfare in contemporary Norwegian literature, and participate in a Nordic project on precarisation and precarious life.

Research

In my research I explore mainly novels and theatre plays written in the 19th, 20th and 21th century. I have published articles on Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and German literature. I have a special interest in crime novels/Nordic noir and melodramatic texts. 

My doctoral thesis was devoted to the novels of marriage by the Norwegian author Amalie Skram (1846-1905). A book with the title 'Medlidenhet og melodrama. Amalie Skrams romaner om ekteskap' was published in 2006. Later I wrote a book on mothers and mothering in Sigrid Undset's novels, researching what I with reference to Ludwig Wittgenstein's and Stanley Cavell's ordinary language philosophy called "the grammar of motherhood" (published in 2013).

Over the last years, I have mainly explored three areas:

- The depiciton of mothers in Scandinavian literature

- Working class literature and texts discussing issues of class and gender

- The relationship between ordinary language philosophy and literature/literary theory

I am now leading a project about conceptions of welfare in Scandinavian literature that portrays precarious life.  

Outreach

I like to contribute with public lectures and to participate in debates arranged by literary institutions such as the House of Literature in Bergen, public libraries og the National library in Oslo. 

I have written many reviews and articles in newspapers and journals. Also, I recently published an introduction to literary studies (Å studere litteratur, 2023).

I am responsible for articles published online for snl.no (belonging to the field of genre and working class literature).

 

Teaching

I teach Scandinavian literature on all levels. 

I have been responsible for the introductory courses on "Scandinavian literature after 1900", "Scandinavian literature before 1900", and for the course on literary theory and method. 

With masterstudents I have discussed many different themes. Among courses I have given over the last years, are these:

2021 and 2022: Class, gender and quality in Crime novels/Nordic noir

2015 and 2020: Contemporary Scandinavian literature and Ordinary language philosophy

2020: Taste and class in Scandinavian literature

2018: Amalie Skram and Vigdis Hjorth: Sexuality, class and shame

2011: Gender and aesthetics

Publications

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

See a complete overview of publications in NVA.

Books include:

- Christine Hamm: Å studere litteratur (Fagbokforlaget, 2023)

- Anders M. Gullestad, Christine Hamm, Jørgen M. Sejersted, Eivind Tjønneland and Eirik Vassenden: Dei litterære sjangrane. Ei innføring (Samlaget, 2018) 

- Christine Hamm, Ingrid Nestås Mathisen and Anemari Neple: Hva er arbeiderlitteratur? Begrepsbruk, kartlegging og forskningstradisjon. (Alvheim & Eide, 2017)  

- Christine Hamm: Foreldre i det moderne. Sigrid Undsets forfatterskap og moderskapets grammatikk. (Akademika, 2013)

- Christine Hamm: Medlidenhet og melodrama. Amalie Skrams romaner om ekteskap. (Unipub, 2006)

Kompetanse

Cand. philol. Universitetet i Bergen 1995

Dr. art. Universitetet i Bergen 2002