Satirising the Norwegian language conflict: Gabriel Scott's Babels taarn contextually reconsidered

Abstract

Gabriel Scott's comedy Babels taarn (Babel Tower), first performed at the National Theatre in Kristiania in 1911, satirises the language controversy that was raging in Norway at the time. The play is regarded as important in linguistic and literary terms, but has been largely forgotten. This article argues that Scott was disillusioned by the politicisation of the language controversy and regarded the advance of landsmål as an artificial and unwelcome phenomenon in the unfolding of Norwegian culture which failed to understand the complexities of inevitable cultural syncretism. Babels taarn is discussed as a means by which Scott critiqued the defenders of riksmål for their passivity. Finally, it is argued that Babels taarn is a scathing indictment of what Scott perceived as misdirected and shallow nationalism.