The Triumph of the Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novel in Central and Eastern Europe

The Triumph Yvonne Leffer (ed.) of the of The reception of Swedish nineteenth-century novels by The Triumph women writers is a success story. Two Swedish top-selling novelists in Central and Eastern Europe were Emilie Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novel Flygare-Carlén (1807–1892) and Marie Sophie Schwartz of the Swedish (1819–1894). In the mid- and late nineteenth century, their novels were widely circulated in German translations Nineteenth-Century but also translated into other local languages within the Austrian Empire, such as Hungarian, Czech, and Polish. Novel in Central In this pioneering volume, six scholars with expertise in Scandinavian literature and the local Central and Eastern and Eastern European languages and cultures, explore the remarkable reception of Flygare-Carlén and Schwartz in German, Europe Hungarian, Czech and Polish culture. These studies ofer a thorough mapping of the transcultural transmission 60°N of Flygare-Carlén’s and Schwartz’ works in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as an expanded discussion on their introduction, reception and literary status in the Czech, Hungarian and Polish literary systems. in N W Central Contributors: Yvonne Lefer (ed.), Ildikó Annus, Péter E Mádl, Ondřej Vimr, Ursula Stohler, and Magdalena S Wasilewska-Chumura. and 50°N Eastern Europe DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE, HISTORY OF IDEAS, AND RELIGION 40 °N 9 789188 348937 10°W 0° 10°E 20°E 30°E LIR.skrifter Yvonne Leffler (ed.) the triumph of the swedish nineteenth-century novel in central and eastern europe LIR.skrifter.9 Yvonne Lefer (ed.) The Triumph of the Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novel in Central and Eastern Europe LIR.skrifter.9 © LIR skrifter & författarna 2019 Tryck: BrandFactory AB, Kållered 2019 isbn: 978-91-88348-93-7 innehåll Yvonne Lefer: Transcultural Transmission: Emilie Flygare-Carlén and Marie Sophie Schwartz in Central and Eastern Europe 7 Ursula Stohler: The Best-Selling Woman Question: German and Czech Transcultural Translations of Marie Sophie Schwartz 33 Ondřej Vimr: Despised and Popular: Swedish Women Writers in Nineteenth Century Czech National and Gender Emancipation 87 Péter Mádl & Ildikó Annus: The Significance of Swedish Literature in Ninetenth Century Hungary 125 Magdalena Wasilewska-Chmura: Marie Sophie Schwartz in Translation: Exporting Swedish Women’s Literature to Poland 151 Bibliography 189 Contributors 201 Yvonne Leffler transcultural transmission Emilie Flygare-Carlén and Marie Sophie Schwartz in Central and Eastern Europe the dissemination and reception of Swedish novels by female writers in the late nineteenth century can be described as an international success story. While Swedish male novelists, such as Carl Jonas Love Almqvist (1793–1866) and Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895), were only randomly translated and circulated outside their country, the most transmitted Swedish novelists in translation were Emilie Flygare- Carlén (1807–1892), Fredrika Bremer (1801–1865), and Marie Sophie Schwartz (1819–1894). While bestselling writer Flygare-Carlén’s works were extensively disseminated all over Europe (fig. 1), the circulation of Bremer’s and Schwartz’s works exemplifies more directed distribution strategies. Most of Schwartz’s novels were translated into German and became popular in Central and Eastern Europe (fig. 2). They were thereby also translated into several vernacular languages within the German-dominated Austrian Empire, such as Polish, Hungarian, and Czech. Bremer’s works, however, were largely translated into three major European languages: German, French, and English (fig. 3). Un- like what happened with Flygare-Carlén and Schwartz, the translation of her works into German did not result in much further translation into other local languages within the German-speaking empire. Thus, Bremer’s works were mainly circulated in Western Europe. Her popularity in English translation also made her extremely popular in the United States. Her later travels in America established her even further as a literary celebrity across the Atlantic. 7 Polish Norwegian Russian Spanish 1% Bulgarian Latvian 1% 0% 0% 0% Italian 1% 1% Hungarian 3% Czech 17% German 33% Danish 16% Dutch 4% French English 9% 12% Finnish 2% Figure 1. Emilie Flygare-Carlén. Distribution of the most frequent non- Swedish publication languages until 2017. Norwegian Latvian 3% 1% Polish Czech 8% 10% Icelandic 4% Hungarian 5% Danish 31% German 27% Dutch English 4% 5% French 1% Finnish 1% Figure 2. Marie Sophie Schwartz. Distribution of the most frequent non- Swedish publication languages until 2017. 8 Russian 1% Spanish (CasGlian) Polish Norwegian Spanish 0% 2% 0% 1% Czech Italian 0% 1% Danish 6% Dutch 10% German 35% English 29% French 14% Finnish 1% Figure 3. Fredrika Bremer. Distribution of the most frequent non-Swedish publication languages until 2017. The swift and successful distribution of Bremer’s and Flygare-Carlén’s works from the late 1830s and onwards in Europe probably promoted the dissemination and reception of other Swedish writers, such as their younger colleague Schwartz. However, Schwartz did not have the same early and instant breakthrough as her predecessors. Her tentative debut in Sweden in 1851 did not – as was the case for Bremer and Flygare- Carlén – result in immediate recognition in Sweden. Nor did it result in as speedy translations into Danish and German and then into other European languages, such as English, Dutch, and French. It was not until 10 years after her Swedish debut, in the 1860s, that Schwartz was marketed in Danish and German. However, when it eventually happened, it was on a large scale. Together with Flygare-Carlén, she became one of the most popular European novelists. Although Flygare-Carlén and Schwartz were two of the most popular novelists in Central and Eastern Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, there are some interesting similarities and diferences in how their works were circulated. It is hard to prove whether these resem- blances and variations were caused by random coincidences or if they il- lustrate more general trends related to certain contextual factors. Today, it is difcult to examine the actual reception of certain authorships in the past, that is, how specific novels were read and received by readers in general, as well as the status of their mediators and the networks 9 behind their reception, the distribution strategies at certain publishing houses, and the importance of the precise moment at which a work or an authorship was introduced in a certain language. However, certain similarities and diferences between the two Swedish writers and how their works were circulated in diferent languages demonstrate not only the triumph of the Swedish novels in the European market in the mid- and late nineteenth century but also how these novels written in a minor European language were used to encourage readers in other countries to ask for and read fiction in their own native tongue. As David Damrosch points out, an interest in foreign literature is just as much caused by the current needs and interests of the host culture as by an interest in the actual authorship and its source culture.1 At the time, Swedish novels were not only widely read but also launched to inspire writers in other small countries and linguistic areas to write in their own local languages. According to certain documents, Flygare-Carlén’s and Schwartz’s novels were sometimes used by publishers, translators, and critics to encourage their fellow countrymen in their nationalistic endeavours. Sometimes, their novels became so popular and sold so widely that they were used by literary critics and scholars as labels for and examples of popular fiction. In some cases their popularity resulted in changes, allowing their translators and publishers to adapt and “domesticate” their novels in order to fit the assumed taste of the local readers. In certain circumstances, this adaptation probably diminished their literary qualities, moderated the original political dimensions of the texts, and trivialized the content. Before returning to these questions in the following four chapters on the local dissemination and reception of the novels by Flygare-Carlén and Schwartz in Central and Eastern Europe in Czech, Hungarian, and Polish, the two Swedish novelists and their works will be introduced. How their novels travelled from Sweden into the European continent will be demonstrated by mapping the transcultural dissemination of their novels via German into other languages in Europe. Figures on Swedish literature in translation that are presented in this introduction are based on data from the bibliographical digitalized SWED Data- base on the above-mentioned Swedish writers and on other Swedish nineteenth-century writers.2 the bestselling author emilie flygare-carlén in danish and german Emilie Flygare-Carlén was the most popular, prolific, and best-paid Swedish writer of her day. She came from a merchant family from the west coast of Sweden and started to write after she was widowed 10 in order to support her family. After her successful debut in 1838, her Swedish publisher Niklas Hans Thomson persuaded her to move to Stockholm, where she became a central figure in liberal literary circles. She published almost 30 novels, several short stories, and three bio- graphical works. Most of her works were immediately translated into other languages, first into Danish and German and then via German into other European languages. Once her novels were introduced and well received in one language, they were often translated directly from the Swedish into the very same language. In that way Flygare-Carlén’s case demonstrates how Swedish literature reached readers outside Sweden. In the nineteenth century, the literary route for Swedish literature to the European market went via Denmark into the large German-speaking and German-reading part of Europe, that is, most of Central and Eastern Europe. The way her novels travelled across borders and were launched in other languages and cultural contexts confirms how literary stories – especially novels – became commercial articles in the European market.

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