Waking Up with Wittgenstein (Innbundet)

About the frightening and liberating aspects of gaining a new perspective on others and oneself

Author:

Line Norman Hjorth

Norwegian title: Å våkne med Wittgenstein
Norwegian subtitle: Om det skremmende og befriende i å få nytt perspektiv på andre og seg selv
Author:
Binding: Innbundet
Year: 2026
Pages: 112
Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Språk: Bokmål
ISBN/EAN: 9788202920647
Overview Å våkne med Wittgenstein

In this inspired essay, Line Norman Hjorth explores the possibilities and limitations of language. The eponymous protagonist works as a church minister while struggling to write a text about «the topicality of philosophy and the connection between skepticism and the culture of insult, or was it deconstructivism and power criticism? Alas, I hardly knew it myself.»

By chance, she comes into contact with the younger nurse Mari. This meeting and the conversation that occurs between them inspire her in a way that she does not initially understand. But something is happening, a movement is underway.

The dialogues and reflections they make do not yield any clear conclusions, but discuss questions that give Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language a surprising topicality and echo current debates about language and interaction.

«Something in me still believed that it was the offended who had to practice recognition. At the same time, I realized that it could just as well be as she had suggested on the bench, that it was I who was the blind one and who projected my darkness onto the offended.»

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More books by Line Norman Hjorth:

Reviews Å våkne med Wittgenstein

en sjarmerende inngang til Wittgensteins språkfilosofi

«en riktig så sjarmerende bok, som også gir en underholdende og noe gjentagende inngang til Wittgensteins språkfilosofi. I det hele tatt er det et slags muntert opplysningsprosjekt i humanistisk ånd....

[...] Nettopp dette enkle budskapet om fellesskap, som nærmest er på FN-dagen-nivå, gjør boken imponerende: Å kunne få meg til å føle på sannheten i denne typen gjennombelyste og gjentatte ideer krever et overbevisende, narrativt håndverk.»

Eirik Riis Mossefinn, Morgenbladet

­re­­­­vitaliserer opp­­­lysningstidas litterære dialoger for vår egen tid. 29.08.2026

«... gjennom en nitid oppmerksomhet mot språkets funksjoner – kan Hjorth på ekte opplysningsvis, som en annen Diderot, vise hvordan en slik erkjennelsesprosess kan se ut, heller enn å skulle forklare den. Jeg kan ikke annet enn å beundre dette, å fryde meg over at en såpass gammel idé kan få nytt liv i det som må være en av de snålere bøkene bokhøsten har å by på.»

Even Teistung, Klassekampen

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Author Line Norman Hjorth

Line Norman Hjorth is an associate professor in general literature at the University of Bergen. She also holds a master's degree in film studies from the University of Copenhagen. She made her debut as an author in 2021 with the non-fiction book Credibility in the courtroom, and has co-written books with her mother Vigdis Hjorth.

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Foreign rights