Jonas (novel)

Jonas is a novel by Norwegian author Jens Bjørneboe, originally published in 1955 by Aschehoug. It is widely recognised as one of his most important works, and as one of the most significant Norwegian literary works of the post-war era. The novel has a complex narrative taken from several different environments from the 1920s Weimar Republic and the Nazi era to the 1950s Norwegian society.

The novel's title character, "Jonas," is a first grader in Norway, who early in the novel encounters a public school system that according Bjørneboe is increasingly controlled by the "salamanders," a term used metaphorically for the bigoted enemies of culture which Bjørneboe sees in Norway at the time.

Jonas is usually interpreted as a harsh critique of the Norwegian public school system and the social democratic society of the 1950s, and has a warm portrayal of an alternative form of education, which is a thinly veiled reference to Waldorf education. At the time, Bjørneboe and his wife Lisel Bjørneboe both worked as Waldorf teachers in Oslo, and the central character "Johannes Marx" is inspired by Lisel. The novel however has a much broader focus than the education debate, Bjørneboe's intention was to portray the topic of humanity. To this end, he uses four main biographies, which are all ultimately linked, with a particular emphasis on the character of "Jonas."

Moon of Israel (novel)

Moon of Israel is a novel by Rider Haggard, first published in 1918 by John Murray. The novel narrates the events of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt told from the perspective of a scribe named Ana.

Haggard dedicated his novel to Sir Gaston Maspero, a distinguished Egyptologist and director of Cairo Museum.

Adaptation

His novel was the basis of a script by Ladislaus Vajda, for film-director Michael Curtiz in his 1924 Austrian epic known as Die Sklavenkönigin, or "Queen of the Slaves".

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Novel (disambiguation)

A novel is a long prose narrative.

Novel may also refer to:

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1999 in literature

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1999.

Events

New books

Jonas

Jonas or JOnAS may refer to:

In people:

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Jonas (name)

Jonas is a common male name in many Western world countries. It is primarily used as a first name, but also occurs as a surname. It is particularly frequent in Germany and the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden; it is also the most common name in Lithuania, but in Lithuanian it has a different origin. Its widespread use and popularity has roots in its Jewish and Christian origins. As a surname, it is often Jewish, whilst as a first name it is mostly used in countries where Christianity is the main religion. In Turkish, Arabic and the Muslim world the equivalent name is Yunus (یونس) or Younes. In North America the name found popularity among Métis and Aboriginals in the Northwest.

Greek etymology

Jonas possibly originates from the Greek word Ίωνας (Ionas), a member of the Greek tribe (Ιωνες) Iones or Ionians, who colonized western Asia. It is the Greek transliteration of "Jonah" (as in the Old Testament Book of Jonah).

Meaning

The Hebrew version of the name means Dove; That is because word 'jonas' comes from the Greek word οιωνός, (pronounced: e-oh-nos) which means "sign", because in ancient Greece it was believed that birds were sent by gods as a sign to people. From this it is assumed that the name Jonas means a peaceful being. As a variation of Jonah, it can be considered to mean 'accomplishing', and a 'gift from God'.

Jonas (footballer)

Jonas (born 22 September 1972) is an Angolan retired footballer who played for the Angola national team.

National team statistics

References