Insomnia...igjen

I have a triple whammy: a hacking cough, and upset stomach, and a mysterious bug bite on the inside of my upper arm that is seriously the size of an orange. I feel and act pathetic. I also keep waking myself up. I've withdrawn to the guest bedroom so as not to keep KE awake.

Work wise, I think I'm very close to wrapping up the old bygdebarn article on the seter as a trope in a couple of Norwegian children's books. Yesterday I finally came up with a conclusion that I can live with, so now I'm just waiting on one article that I need to reference. Not quite sure where to send it. I have asked a colleague in children's literature to read it, and she said she would in a few weeks. I'm going to try to be patient, rather than sending it off in a flurry of impatience like I usually do.

With my decks now almost clear (grading all done, no other articles-in-progress, course prep basically done), that means I get to start on something entirely new--though still within the bounds of the cabin project of course. I'm thinking of cabins in Norwegian horror/thriller films! I'm not usually a fan of the genre, but that is such an outrageous topic with such a rich history that I think it could be a lot of fun.

While I was  at the conference, someone suggested to me that I reconceptualize my cabin book as a collection of articles rather than one master narrative. I'm not quite sure what I think about that. It would certainly make things easier, but on the other hand I have sort of been composing a master narrative in my head along the way, though there's still very little on paper. If I go the article route, I'm not sure that I could present as much evidence for how central the cabin is in the Norwegian cultural imagination, or make all the points I want to make. But if I only need eight articles (a colleague is just finishing up a dissertation that consists of eight articles), then I'm closing in on it and would have time for other things. And I could always write an introduction and conclusion that frame the articles... So far I have completed articles on:

1. Knut Hamsun's Pan
2. Edvard Storm's Døleviser
3. Henrik Ibsen's Når vi døde vågner
4. Hans Aanrud's Sidsel Sidsærk and Marie Hamsun's Bygdebørn hjemme og paa Sæteren

and I have the beginnings or ideas for the following:

5. Peter Christen Asbjørnsen's Norske Huldre-Eventyr og Folkesagn
6. Maurits C. Hansen's "Luren"
7. André Bjerke's De dødes tjern
8. Gunnar Larsen's five cabin novels
9. Per Petterson's Ut og stjæle hester

Plus bunches of half baked ideas on other texts and authors (like the horror film idea). One that came up in my conference paper that I think is really worth pursuing is a comparison of four national dramas, all of which share similar tropes and themes:  Bjerregaard's Fjeldeventyret, Wergeland's Fjeldstuen, Riis' Til Sæters, and Aasen's Ervingen. I guess technically I should start working on that, since I have the Bjerregaard material fresh in my head.

Sigh. I'm staying home today to play with E and tend my ailments. I can't believe he starts first grade on Monday! I'm totally not prepared, and I don't think he is either!