Kritikk av den rene heteronomi : lyrikk og retorikk hos Bjørnson, Gill og Johannesen

Autonomy is a central category in the aesthetics of modernity. It is connected with the historical processes that determines the place of art in society and with the development within particular art forms. As a methodological principle it has been important in the study of art and literature. Autonomy has been interpreted in many ways, and several aspects have been the subject of intense debate. This essay tries to shed some light on the matter by investigating three major figures in Norwegian poetry: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910), Claes Gill (1910–1973) and Georg Johannesen (1931–2005). Together they cover a  period of over 150 years, from poetic realism to postmodernism. In their work we focus on the constellation of poetry and rhetoric. We ask how the tension between the two can take the form of a confrontation between autonomy and heteronomy, and how it makes possible certain dialectical interrelations between the two opposites.