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Knut Andreas Grimstad

Professor
Image of Knut Andreas Grimstad
Phone +47 22 85 67 94
Mobile phone +47 48 12 63 03
Room NT 1107
Available hours Thursday 14-16
Username
Visiting address Niels Treschows hus Niels Henrik Abels vei 36
Postal address ILOS P.O.Box 1003 Blindern 0315 Oslo Norway

Research and teaching

  • Comparative literature
  • Polish literature and culture
  • Russian literature and culture
  • Literary translation studies
  • Literary memory studies

Background

  • 2014-: Professor of Polish, Department of literature, area studies and European languages, University of Oslo
  • 2020-21: Professor II of Russian literature and culture, Department of language and culture, University of Tromsø
  • 2005-14: Associate professor of Polish, Department of literature, area studies and European languages, University of Oslo
  • 2002: Associate professor of comparative literature, Department of nordic studies and comparative literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (substitute) 
  • 2001-04: postdoctoral research fellow, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Project: Imagining the West. Perceptions of the Western Other in Modern and Contemporary Eastern Europe and Turkey
  • 2001: PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Specialization: Comparative literature
  • 1993-94: BA, MA School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University College London. Specialization: Polish and Russian, literature
  • 1985-88: Diploma, Jagiellonian University, Kraków. Specialization: Polish language and literature
Tags: Polish, Polish literature, Polish culture, Russian literature, Russian culture, East European Studies, Comparative literature, Literary translation studies

Publications

Selected articles

"En «jødebolsjevik» rapporterer fra Ukraina: Babels mangfoldige minoritets (A ‘Commie Jew’ Reports from Ukraine: Babel’s Diverse Minority Idiom),” Norsk litteraturvitenskapelig tidskrift, 1, 2023, 23-38.

”Making Sense of Trans-Atlantyk: The Reception of Witold Gombrowicz’s Exile Novel in Norway,” The Routledge World Companion to Polish Literature, eds. Tomasz Bilczewski et al, London, 2021, 292-304.

“Niemożliwa autentyczność i bycie ‘pomiędzy.’ Wygnańcza powieść Gombrowicza w Norwegii,” Światowa historia literatury polskiej. Interpretacje (The World History of Polish literature. Interpretations), eds. M. Popiel et al., Jagiellonian University Press: Kraków, 2020, 433-450.

“What Jews Meant to Gombrowicz, or: Philo-Semitism as a Strategy for Identity Formation,” Slavonic and East European Review, 95 (4), 2017, 625-647.

“Shmontses,” Enzyklopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur, ed. D. Diner, vol. 5, Stuttgart, 2014, 468-472.

“Polish Holocaust after testimony, or the relevance of Piotr Paziński’s The Boarding House,” Polish literature and transformation 1989-2011, ed. U. Phillips, Berlin, 2013, 189-202.

“Widziane z podwójnego oddalenia, czyli odzyskiwanie pamięci w powieści Piotra Pazińskiego Pensjonat,” Po zaborach, po wojnie, po PRL: polski dyskurs postzależnościowy dawniej i dziś, eds. H. Gosk & E. Kraskowska, Cracow, 2013, 219-235.

“What Europe means for Poland. The front-page coverage of Independence Day in Gazeta Wyborcza 1989-2009”, Transforming National Holidays: Identity Discourse in the West and South Slavic countries, 1985-2010, eds. L. Šarić et al, Amsterdam, 2012,  271–296.

“Polsko-żydowskie gry kabaretowe, czyli próba akulturacji Juliana Tuwima”, Polonistyka bez granic. Wiedza o literaturze i kulturze, eds. Ryszard Nycz et al, Cracow, 2010, 515-526.

“The Rhetoric of Absence: Representing Jewishness in Post-Totalitarian Poland,” Contesting Europe’s Rim. Cultural Identities in Public Discourse (Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 29), eds. L. Saric et al. London, 2010, 203-217.

“Transcending the East-West? The Jewish Part in Polish Cabaret in the Interwar-Period,” Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instiuts (Simon Dubnow Institute Yearbook) 7, Ruprecht, 2008, pp. 161-188.
UiO

“Gombrowicz mellom fjord og fjell: Umodenhetsproblematikken sett med norske øyne,” Röster om Gombrowicz, eds. A. Bodegård et al, Stockholm, 2010, 85-100.

“Performing Bolshevism” or, The Diverse Minority Idiom of Isaak Babel,” Landslide of the Norm: Language Culture in Post-Soviet Russia, eds. I. Lunde & T Roesen, Bergen, 2008, pp. 235-262

“L'homoérotisme sublimé, ou comment maîtriser le passé polonais,” Gombrowicz – une gueule de classique?, ed. Małgorzata Smorąg-Goldberg, Paris, 2007, pp. 231-41.

“Gombrowicz’s “Gender Trouble” or, the Problem of Intimacy in Possessed,” Gender and Sexuality in Ethical Context: Ten Essays on Polish Prose (Slavica Bergensia 5), eds. K. A. Grimstad & U. Phillips, Bergen, 2005, pp. 222-253.

“A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other”: On Gendered Sensibility in the Poetry of Wisława Szymborska, Wisława Szymborska. A Stockholm Conference. May 23-2, 2003, eds. L. Neuger & R. Wennerholm, Stockholm, 2006, pp. 93-106.

Books

Ed. assistant (to Ursula Phillips), Polish literature and transformation 1989-2011 (Polonistik im Kontext 2), Berlin, 2013, 320 pp.

Styling Russia: Multiculture in the Prose of Nikolai Leskov (Slavica Bergensia 7), Bergen, 2007, 256 pp.

Ed. (with Ursula Phillips), Gender and Sexuality in Ethical Context: Ten Essays on Polish Prose, (Slavica Bergensia 5), Bergen, 2005, 287 pp.

Ed. (with Ingunn Lunde), Celebrating creativity: essays in Honour of Jostein Børtnes, Bergen, 1997, 350 pp.

 

  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2023). En «jødebolsjevik» rapporterer fra Ukraina: Isaak Babels mangfoldige minoritetsspråk. Norsk litteraturvitenskapelig tidsskrift. ISSN 0809-2044. 26(1), p. 23–38. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2021). Making Sense of Trans-Atlantyk: The Reception of Witold Gombrowicz’s Exile Novel in Norway. In Bilczewski, Tomasz; Bill, Stanley & Popiel, Magdalena (Ed.), The Routledge World Companion to Polish Literature. Routledge. ISSN 9780367691622. p. 292–305. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2020). Niemożliwa autentyczność i bycie ‘pomiędzy.’ Wygnańcza powieść Gombrowicza w Norwegii. In Popiel, Magdalena; Bilczewski, Michal & Bill, Stanley (Ed.), Światowa historia literatury polskiej. Interpretacje.. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. ISSN 9788323348375. p. 433–450. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2017). What jews meant to Witold Gombrowicz, or: Philosemitism as a strategy for identity formation. Slavonic and East European Review. ISSN 0037-6795. 95(4), p. 625–647. doi: 10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.95.4.0625. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2014). Shmontses. In Diner, D. (Eds.), Enzyklopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur. Bind 5. Verlag J. B. Metzler. ISSN 9783476025005. p. 468–472. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2013). Polish Holocaust after testimony, or the relevance of Piotr Paziński’s The Boarding House. In Phillips, U. (Eds.), Polish literature and transformation 1989-2011. LIT Verlag. ISSN 9783643902894. p. 189–202. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2013). “Widziane z podwójnego oddalenia, czyli odzyskiwanie pamięci w powieści Piotra Pazińskiego Pensjonat,”. In Gosk, Hanna & Kraskowska, Ewa (Ed.), (P)o zaborach, (p)o wojnie, (p)o PRL. Polski dyskurs postzależnościowy dawniej i dziś. Universitas. ISSN 9788324222445. p. 219–235. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2012). What Europe means for Poland. The front-page coverage of Independence Day in Gazeta Qyborcza 1989-2009. In Saric, Ljiljana; Gammelgaard, Karen & Hauge, Kjetil Rå (Ed.), Transforming National Holidays: Identity Discourse in the West and South Slavic Countries, 1985-2010. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISSN 9789027206381. p. 271–296. doi: 10.1075/dapsac.47.17gri. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2010). Gombrowicz mellom fjord og fjell: Umodenhetsproblematikken sett med norske øyne. In Bodegård, A. (Eds.), Röster om Gombrowicz. Stockholms universitets förlag. ISSN 9789187290985. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2010). The Rhetoric of Present Absence: Representing Jewishness in Post-Totalitarian Poland. In Saric, Ljiljana; Musolff, Andreas; Manz, Stefan & Hudabiunigg, Ingrid (Ed.), Contesting Europe's Eastern Rim: Cultural Identities in Public Discourse. Multilingual Matters. ISSN 9781847693242. p. 203–2018. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2010). Polsko-zydowskie gry kabaretowe, czyli proba akulturacji Juliana Tuwima. In Nycz, Ryszard (Eds.), Polonistyka bez granic. Wiedza o literaturze i kulturze. Jagiellonian University Press. ISSN 9788324213764. p. 515–527. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2009). Polsko-żydowskie gry kabaretowe, czyli Juliana Tuwima próba akulturacji. Teksty drugie. ISSN 0867-0633. 3(116), p. 47–63. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Det nærværende fraværs retorikk: Om fremstillingen av jødiskhet i det posttotalitære Polen. In Lunde, Ingunn & Witt, Susanna (Ed.), Terminal Øst. Totalitære og posttotalitære diskurser. Spartacus. ISSN 9788230400340. p. 47–62. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Transcending the East-West? The Jewish Part in Polish Cabaret in the Interwar-Period. In Diner, D. (Eds.), Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instiuts (Simon Dubnow Institute Yearbook) nr 7. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISSN 9783525369340. p. 161–188. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2007). Gombrowicz et ses stratégies transatlantiques. In Tomaszewski, M (Eds.), Witold Gombrowicz entre L’Europe et L’Amérique. Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. ISSN 9782859399450. p. 115–126. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2007). L'homoérotisme sublimé, ou comment maîtriser le passé polonais. In Smorąg-Goldberg, Małgorzata (Eds.), Gombrowicz – une gueule de classique?. Institut d'études slaves. ISSN 9782859399450. p. 231–241. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2006). Rewolucyjny eksperyment Izaaka Babla, czyli dlaczego dwuznaczność jest tak istotna w opowiadanich z tomu 'Armia Konna'. In Bolecki, W. (Eds.), Dzieła – języki – tradycje. IBL. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2006). L'homoérotisme sublimé, ou comment maitriser le passé polonais: Gombrowicz et ses stratégies transatlantiques, Entre L’Europe et L’Amérique. In Tomaszewski, M (Eds.), Witold Gombrowicz et son débat avec la destinée. Lille. p. 231–241. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2006). ‘A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other’: On Gendered Sensibility in the Poetry of Wisława Szymborska. In Neuger, Leonard & Wennerholm, Rikard (Ed.), Wisława Szymborska. A Stockholm Conference. May 23-2, 2003. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. ISSN 9789174023565. p. 93–106. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2006). “Performing Bolshevism” or, The Diverse Minority Idiom of Isaak Babel. In Lunde, I. & Roesen, T (Ed.), Landslide of the Norm: Language Culture in Post-Soviet Russia. Universitetet i Bergen. ISSN 9788290249316. p. 235–262. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2005). Beyond Identity Politics, or the Polish Past Mastered: Transatlantic Strategies in the Writings of Witold Gombrowicz. Slavonica. ISSN 1361-7427. p. 53–68. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas & Phillips, Ursula (2005). Introduction: Entering into Ethics. Slavica Bergensia. ISSN 1501-8954. 5, p. 7–17. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2005). Gombrowicz’s "Gender Trouble" or, the Problem of Intimacy in "Possessed". Slavica Bergensia. ISSN 1501-8954. 5, p. 222–253. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2004). Strategie transatlantyckie w powojennej tworczosci Gombrowicza. In Bolecki, W. & Nycz, R. (Ed.), Narracja i tozsamosc (II). Antropologiczne problemy literatury. Instytut Badań Literackich PAN. p. 401–410. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). Homosexual desire in revolutionary Russia: The regulation of sexual and gender dissent. Slavonic and East European Review. ISSN 0037-6795. 81, p. 758–760. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "Slavic Émigré Writers and the �Nationalist� Function of Homosexuality". Motskrift : tidsskrift for språk og litteratur. ISSN 0800-0727. 2, p. 17–25. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2002). "A Baroque Harbinger of the Polish Novel: Delving into Jan Pasek's Memoirs,". In etternavn], [Mangler fornavn] [Mangler (Eds.), Motskrift. [Mangler utgivernavn]. p. 57–67. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2002). "Co zdarzylo sie na brygu Banbury? Gombrowicz, erotyka i prowokacja kultury,". Teksty drugie (Gombrowicz w tekstach drugich). p. 57–69. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2002). "The Globalization of Biography: On Multilocation in the Transatlantic Writings of Witold Gombrowicz, 1939-1969,". Trondheim Studies on Eastern European Cultures and Societies. ISSN 1501-6684. p. 2–23. Full text in Research Archive

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  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2007). Styling Russia: Multiculture in the Prose of Nikolai Leskov. Russisk institutt, Universitetet i Bergen. ISBN 9788290249323. 256 p. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas & Phillips, Ursula (2005). Gender and Sexuality in Ethical Context: Ten Essays on Polish Prose. Dept. of Russian Studies, IKRR, University of Bergen. ISBN 9788290249309. 286 p. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

  • Wiedlocha, Julia; Banach, Agnes-Maria; Grimstad, Knut Andreas & Kaasa, Janicke S. (2026). Å skrive seg fri – En samtale om Wisława Szymborska. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2012). Gombrowicz, Polish Modernism, and the Subversion of Form. Comparative Cultural Studies. Slavonic and East European Review. ISSN 0037-6795. 90(2), p. 334–336. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2011). Josef Grabowski - in memoriam. Foredrag i Det jødiske museet Trondheim,3-4 september 2011. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2011). Revisiting the Other Side: Mnemonic Strategies in Piotr Paziński’s “The Boarding House”. Full text in Research Archive
  • Lothe, Jakob; Grimstad, Knut Andreas & Scherr, Rebecca (2010). Når livsløgner står for fall [samtale om Abi Morgans "Blendverk"]. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2010). “What Jews Mean for Poland, or the Leagacy of Anti-Semitism in ‘the New Polish Press’”. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2010). Commemorating March 1968 or, how Polish Newspapers Grapple with the Legacy of Antisemitism. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2009). Innslag om klassisk musikk og dens betydning for den polske nasjonalfølelsen. [Radio]. Musikkredaksjonen P2, NRK. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2009). Innslag om det jødiske bidrag til polsk populærkultur i mellomkrigstiden. [Radio]. Musikkredaksjonen P2, NRK. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2009). Innslag om Nikolaj Gogol i “Bok i P2”. [Radio]. NRK, P2. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2009). Polish-Jewish intellectuals in interwar popular entertainment: The case of Julian Tuwim. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2009). Polscy intelektualiści żydowskiego pochodzenia w kulturze popularnej okresu międzywojennego. Midrasz. ISSN 1428-121X. 4(144), p. 31–39. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Polish-Jewish intellectuals in interwar popular entertainment. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Meaningful boundary encounters: Representing Jewishness in post-totalitarian Poland. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Polish-Jewish intellectuals in interwar mainstream entertainment,1918-1939: an unfinished adventure? Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Polish-Jewish cabaret games or, Julian Tuwim’s experiment at acculturation. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Polsko-żydowskie gry kabaretowe, czyli próba akulturacji Juliana Tuwima. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Saving Graces or, ambiguous eroticism: transatlantic strategies in Witold Gombrowicz. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2008). Transcending the East-West Divide? Cosmopolitanism in Polish Interwar Cabaret and the Jewish Participation. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2007). “Fraværets retorikk - fremstillingen av ‘jødiskhet’ i det posttotalitære Polen”. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2006). Transcending Westernness? Cosmopolitanism in Polish Interwar Cabaret and the Jewish participation. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). Dan Healey, Homosexual Desire and Revolutionary Russia: The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent. 81, p. 758–760. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). Irmhild Christina Sperrle, The Organic Worldview of Nikolai Leskov (Studies in Russian Literature and Theory ), Evanston IL, Northwestern University Pres. 62. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). ‘A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other’: On Gendered Sensibility in the Poetry of Wisława Szymborska. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "Gendered Sensibility in the Poetry of Wislawa Szymborska.". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "Homosexuality in Two Postwar Slavic Émigré Writers .". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "Queering the Transatlantic Exile: Nabokov, Gombrowicz and the �Nationalist � Function of Homosexuality.". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "�A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other�: On Gendered Sensibility in the Poetry of Wislawa Szymborska.". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "What Happened on the Banbury? On Gombrowicz, Eroticism and the Provocation of Culture". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2003). "Transtalantic Strategies in the Writings of Witold Gombrowicz.". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2002). "The Transatlantic Writings of Witold Gombrowicz.". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2002). "'Ikke noe femi-greier!' -- om kjønn og etnisitet i Gogols roman Taras Bulba.". Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2002). Roar Lishaugen, Den seksuelle forbannelsens dikter. Homoseksuell tematikk i Jiri Karasek ze Lvovics 1890-tallslyrikk,Meddelelser, 1999, 82, Oslo. p. 325–328. Full text in Research Archive
  • Grimstad, Knut Andreas (2001). Styling Russia. Structuring Mechanisms in the Prose Fiction of Nikolai Leskov. Det historisk-filosofiske fakultet, NTNU. ISSN 9788247150436. Full text in Research Archive

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Published Sep. 23, 2010 12:01 PM - Last modified Aug. 10, 2026 3:10 PM

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