Jon Fosse, Nobel Prize for Literature 2023: In his work “The Mystery of Faith” tells his conversion to Catholicism
In “The mystery of faith” Fossand Reflect on your spiritual life. The book, written next to the Catholic theologian Eskil Skjeldal. He addresses his personal search and the connection between art and belief, exploring the “mystery” of the divine.
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Drafting (01/27/2025, Gaudium Press) Jon Fosse HE gave to know throughout the world when the Nobel Prize for literature won in 2023. His art is not only his, but has influenced and is decisively influencing contemporary writers. But the Norwegian Fosse is not only famous for his art, but also by his spiritual path.
A book of his authorship has just come out On this subject, “the mystery of faith.” PUblized in December in Italian and co -written with Catholic theologian Eskil Skjeldal, where It offers a deep vision of its spiritual career.
Fosse, nibeither In 1959 in the coastal city of Haugesund, Norway. His style Minimalist literary, called “fosse-minimalismus”, seeks to give voice to “YoNexpresable ”. His ability to capture the mystery of existence in his novels and plays was one of the reasons why the Swedish academy granted him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2023.
A Way with Curves
Fosse’s spiritual path has not been linear. In his youth, he had a distant relationship with faith, describing his experience in the Lutheran state church as unsatisfactory and full of “endless preaching” that contrasted with his subsequent discovery of “charm” and the “spirit” of the Catholic liturgy. Before becoming Catholicism, he explored various spiritual traditions, from the Christian mysticism to the community of the Quakers, whose simplicity and silence left their mark on it.
As he recounts in his book, it was in a Catholic Mass, in a mountainous environment in Norway, where he felt a special connection. This liturgy, with its ritual repetition of words, seemed like a form of concentrated prayer that resonated with its own writing. “Everything I write is a kind of prayer,” says Fosse, highlighting that for him, art and faith are inseparable.
The writer considers that talking about God is a difficult task, since “God is on the other side of things.”
What does it mean with that?
In his words: “We cannot say what was before birth or where we go after dying. Everything else is on the other side. ” This perspective is reflected in his literary work, which often explores the limit of the understandable and the inexpressible.
Fosse also emphasizes the importance of preserving “amazement” in the spiritual field. For him, this astonishment is the key to both his faith and his literature. In the book with Skjeldal, remember how tax experiences during his childhood generated rejection, and warns against imposing beliefs, especially children. “Without astonishment, the word God has no meaning,” he concludes.
With information from Katolisch / Infocatolic
