Background
McFarlane grew up in Sunderland and attended Bede Grammar School, and then went to Street Catherine"s College, Oxford.
McFarlane grew up in Sunderland and attended Bede Grammar School, and then went to Street Catherine"s College, Oxford.
His Oxford degree in modern languages, interrupted by war while he served in Europe in the Intelligence Corps, was completed in 1947.
During the war he played association football for Sunderland A.F.C. His first appointment was as lecturer at Durham University in 1947, in the department of German and Scandinavian studies at King"s College. (In 1963, this became Newcastle University) Here he encountered the likes of Harald Naess and Ake Leander.
Between 1960 and 1977 he edited the eight volumes of The (OI), consisting of translations of Henrik Ibsen"s works, many of which were his own. Graham Orton is credited as an editor and translation.
Other contributors included Johan Fillinger, Christopher Fry and James Kirkup.
Volumes
1970: Early plays
1962: The Vikings at Helgeland, Love"s Comedy, The Pretenders
1972: Brand. Peer Gynt
1963: The League of Youth, Emperor and Galilean
1961: Pillars of society. A Doll"s House; Ghosts
1960: An Enemy of the People.
The Wild Duck.
Rosmersholm
1966: Lady From the Sea. Hedda Gabler, the Master Builder
1977: Little Eyolf. John Gabriel Borkman.
When We Dead Awaken
McFarlane moved to Norwich, and in 1964 he was appointed Chair of European Literature at the newly established, and founding dean of the school of European studies.
Between 1968 and 1971 he was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor. In 1974 he became the editor of the journal Scandinavica.
In 1982 he retired, however he remained active as a Professorial Fellow until 1986. In his retirement he established and built his Norvik Press to publish translations and commentary of Scandinavian literature, with a bias in publishing translations and other works by its own editorial team
In 1991 he retired from editor of Scandinavica.
They were both active in the community, with James acting as:
Chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation Regional Advisory Board
Chairman of the Wells Arts Centre
Chairman of the Hunsworth Crafts Trust
a director of the Norwich Puppet Theatre.
As a result of this work, McFarlane was also appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav, and made a member of Danish and Norwegian academies. Member of council for the Eastern Arts Association.
