The sense of space and Arctic nature in Cora Sandel’s Kranes konditori: interiør med figurer (Krane’s Café: An Interior with Figures)

Abstract

The paper combines the close reading technique of the novel Kranes konditori: Interiør med figurer (Krane’s Café: An Interior with Figures, 1946), written by the classic Norwegian writer Cora Sandel (1880-1974) with a spatial approach which aims to present the past and the present of the novel’s main character, Katinka Stordal. The action takes place in a small town situated in northern Norway, at Krane’s Café. It is worth noting how topography, the seasons of the year, the Arctic climate and nature are gradually reflected in the novel. On the one hand, the novel is placed at the crossroads of a spatial perspective and the literary criticism, which has in its centre Krane’s Café, the place where almost all the characters are brought together and which is the most suggestive and representative interior space of the novel. On the other hand, the subtitle An Interior with Figures strengthens the idea of a mixture of literary genres which includes elements from novel and drama. Moreover, it resembles the title of a work of art, for instance, a painting where all the characters are simply figures animated by the beauty of the Arctic scenery.