Helene Lunde from Vestby Upper Secondary School earned first prize in the Holberg Prize School Project competition 2020 with the research project “Who do we think we are?”
In this project Lunde examines two literary works: Ludvig Holberg’s Nils Klims reise til den underjordiske verden (Niels Klim’s Journey under the Ground) from 1741 and Anders Malm’s Massemenneske from 2012 (“Mass man”, not translated into English). In her analysis Lunde discusses different answers to the question what it is to be a human being provided by science, philosophy and religion, and how the view of human beings has changed over time.
“Do we today find a monistic view of the human being influenced by Darwin, according to which the human being is biology and consists of matter only?”, Lunde asks in her project. “Or are we still mostly influenced by Christianity, Descartes, and Plato, and hold a dualistic view of the human being, according to which the physical and the mental are explained as two separate substances?”
The Jury’s statement:
This is a brave and far-reaching project that seeks to analyze differences in the view of the human being expressed in a novel from 1741 and one from 2012 respectively. Lunde’s literary analysis is impressive and insightful, and lets the literary works enter into dialogue with each other and provide answers to questions that point beyond the works themselves. The research report exhibits a precise and comprehensive philosophical insight into the question what characterizes a human being. Lunde paints a broad picture of the view of human beings conveyed in the literary works through her analysis, and draws parallels to the development of the view of human beings in society.
Literature may be a window to our thoughts, Lunde suggests, and through her examination of the literary works the pupil succeeds in drawing an insightful picture of the changes in the view of human beings in the historical period she treats of. Considering that this historical period is marked by innumerous changes with respect to religion, economy, and society, it is near impossible to draw final conclusions concerning causal relations. With a solid grasp of the literary genre and an impressive philosophical insight, the pupil nevertheless succeeds in presenting a competent and convincing analysis.
The jury congratulates Lunde with an impressive project and first place in the Holberg Prize School Project competition 2020.
The School Programme
The Holberg School Programme is an annual research competition for students in Norwegian upper secondary schools i the humanities, social sciences law and theology. Each year, around 1,000 students from 20 selected schools participate in the competition.
The Holberg School Programme Jury selects three research projects that are awarded prizes of NOK 30,000, NOK 20,000 and NOK 10,000 respectively.
The finalists are announced in mid May, and the award ceremony is held during the Holberg Week in early June each year.