Skriften som kamp- og arbejdsplads

i Sandra Holms roman: Har jeg været her før (1978)

Resumé

This article explores writing as both a place of work and a place of battle in the novel Har jeg været her før (“Have i been here before”, 1978) by Sandra Holm. The novel is not a typical worker’s novel in the sense that the main character is not working in e.g. a factory, her job is writing books. but that job also comes with challenges and indeed a precarious life. The novel presents a different type of woman in the 70’s women's literature, a woman who is not a housewife neither a worker, but an artist, that stages herself as a bohemian/flaneur – a position normally held by male writers. The novel contains parodies of male flaneurs that can drink, travel and write as they like, which is not as easy for the female protagonist. furthermore, the protagonist is alone when she is writing and travelling, and therefore also not a part of the women’s movement. in that sense is Har jeg været her før an interesting work, that can shed new light on the 1970’s nordic women’s literature.