Asbjørn Aarseth was a Norwegian literary historian.

He obtained the mag.art. degree (PhD equivalent) at the University of Bergen

University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...

 in 1963, received an academic position in literary studies here in 1967, and became professor of Nordic literature in 1985. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...

.

An important book was Lyriske strukturer ("Lyrical Structures"), written together with Atle Kittang

Atle Kittang

Atle Kittang is a Norwegian literary researcher and literary critic.His doctorate thesis from 1973 was a study on the French poet Arthur Rimbaud. He is professor at the University of Bergen, since 1974. His research includes studies on works by Knut Hamsun and Henrik Ibsen...

, which came to be a standard work in lyrical analysis. He was also an authority on Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

, and was involved in the project Henrik Ibsens skrifter.

He died in August 2009.