Published in 1987, ‘Roman 1987’ is a novel by Norwegian author Dag Solstad that won the ‘Nordic Council Literature Prize’ in 1989. Born in Sandefjord in southern Norway, Solstad lives alternately in Oslo and Berlin: his novels are often written in a complex, modernist style with many text levels, with a wealth of essays, discussion articles and literary reports from football World Cups among the more original elements included in his works. He took active part in Marxist-Leninist groupings in his youth, as did many culturally active people of his generation. ‘Roman 1987’ is an internal monologue that depicts typical life in the 1960s and 1970s: the novel looks back upon ardently loyal party work, demonstrations, shop floor agitating, commune living, voluntary work, marriage, divorce, remarriage… all told in a mildly ironic tone. However, Dag Solstad’s ambition was more to present a ‘universal explanation of what happened to an entire generation’, rather than ‘writing the symbolic book of barricade fighting’. According to the Adjudicating Committee, Dag Solstad depicts in a buoyant language with irony, ease and compassion the 1968 generation’s development, mistakes and fate in a small Norwegian town.
