VESAAS, TARJEI

tärˈjā vāˈsŏs, 1897–1970, Norwegian author. In novels, short stories, and lyric poetry, Vesaas combines insight into human psychology with a sensitivity to broader social and political concerns; symbol and allegory are central to his technique. He had been writing seriously for a decade and had published more than 10 books before the appearance of his first widely acclaimed work, The Great Cycle (1934), a novel set in rural Norway. He was among the most important Norwegian authors of his generation to write in landsmål (see Norwegian language). He wrote more than 30 books, including The Birds (1957), which was later adapted for the motion picture directed by Alfred Hitchock.

See study by K. C. Chapman (1970).

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