Swedish Literature Katarina Bernhardsson, Lund University

Swedish Literature Katarina Bernhardsson, Lund University 1. General Following an increased Swedish interest in the concept of World Literature, Svensk litteratur som världslitteratur. En antologi, ed. Johan Svedjedal, SLSU 65[1], 186 pp., attempts to show in what respect Swedish literature belongs to this field. From the huge success of translated contemporary Swedish crime fiction, the volume traces this tendency back to authors such as Tegnér and Lagerlöf. The digital collection Suecana extranea, a database bibliography of translations of Swedish literature into other languages, is explored. Johan Svedjedal, ‘Svensk skönlitteratur i världen. Litteratursociologiska problem och perspektiv’ (9–81), is a thorough survey placing Swedish language and literature in the context of World Literature. Using statistical information, he shows the patterns of literary in- and outflow from a Swedish perspective, and stresses the importance of individuals functioning as nodes in the World Literature system. S.’s aim is to lay the foundation for further inquiries into a hitherto underexplored field. Historical perspectives. Per Rydén, Sveriges nationallitteratur är inte bara historia, Stockholm, Carlsson, 534 pp., offers a wide-ranging history of 20th c. ambitions to collect Swedish literature in a massive standard work, taking as its point of departure the completion in 1912 of a book series on Sweden’s national literature, originally to be edited by Levertin but completed after his death by Schück and Ruben Berg. In 26 volumes, comprising 8000 pages, these volumes formed a kind of canon of Swedish literature. R. analyses the selection and traces the history of its inception and changes over the years, as a new edition was published, and as it was replaced by new forms of collections, such as Levande litteratur (1936–38). Combining historical overview with personal essay, R. continues the discussion into the contemporary world, where attempts to collect a national literature are no longer made, and positions the national project in relation to world literature and to digital initiatives, underlining the importance of continuing to discuss the role of national literature and not only regard it as part of history. Bibi Jonsson, Bruna pennor. Nazistiska motiv i svenska kvinnors litteratur, Stockholm, Carlsson, 451 pp., studies Nazi motifs and tendencies in fiction by Swedish female authors during the 1930s. J. situates the literary works in their historical period, studying the ideological milieu and debate they were part of, and specifically pinpointing female authorship in a misogynous and antifeminist ideology. Including authors who were part of the Nazi movement as well as authors with Nazi sympathies, J. analyses racist, anti-Semitic and fascist tendencies, paying specific attention to Magda Bergquist von Mirbach, Birgit Lange, and Annie Åkerhielm. A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1900–1925, ed. Hubert van den Berg et al., Amsterdam, Rodopi, 680 pp., is an innovative first volume (of four planned) studying the Nordic avant-garde transnationally, in all the Nordic countries, and cross-aesthetically, through a wide range of manifestations in different media. Among the many contributions, some primarily literary articles are Per Stounbjerg (71–80) on Strindberg, Artaud and the avant-garde, Rikard Schönström (435–44) on Pär Lagerkvist, and Julia Tidigs (573–86) on Elmer Diktonius. Other articles cover journals and ‘little magazines’, such as Quosego, Ultra, and flamman. Scandinavia in the First World War. Studies in the War Experience of the Northern Neutrals, Swedish Literature 433 ed. Claes Ahlund, Lund, Nordic Academic Press, 360 pp., is an interdisciplinary collection of articles on the neutral Scandinavia during WWI. Three articles specifically discuss literature: Claes Ahlund (109–27), a study of WWI in the Scandinavian spy novel; Anna Nordlund (157–76), on Lagerlöf and the women’s anti-war movement; and Sofi Qvarnström (177–98) on the Armenian genocide in Scandinavian literature. Lotta Paulin, Den didaktiska fiktionen. Konstruktion av förebilder ur ett barn- och ungdomslitterärt perspektiv 1400–1750, SSBI 116, AUSt, 319 pp, a Stockholm dissertation, studies the construction of role models in literary works with exemplary stories between 1400 and 1750, extracting different gender ideologies presented for young readers in original Swedish works as well as translations from Latin and other languages. Contemporary perspectives. Cristine Sarrimo, Jagets scen. Självframställning i olika medier, Göteborg, Makadam, 287 pp., is a vigorous critical study of contemporary representations of self and subjectivity, scrutinizing the mediatized author in a new type of public sphere, and discussing the cultural logic of autobiographical writings in an individualized ‘market-oriented reality culture’. The genre affiliation of the works is often elusive, combining elements from autobiography, fiction, non-fiction, confession, and autofiction. Authors include Bodil Malmsten, Per Olov Enquist, Lars Norén, Liza Marklund, and Ann Heberlein, as well as popular bloggers. Läsarens marknad, marknadens läsare. En forskningsantologi, ed. Ulla Carlsson and Jenny Johannisson, Göteborg, Nordicom, 344 pp., is a wide-ranging collected volume produced for the state literary commission, but also an excellent survey of literature and the book market. Ann Steiner (23–37) opens the volume with reflections on literature’s material conditions; other articles consider reading habits, reading in the digital era, the value of literature and reading as consumption, literary criticism, translation, the book and the e-book as media, children’s literature, libraries, and the Swedish book market. Litteraturens nätverk. Berättande på internet, ed. Christian Lenemark, Lund, Studentlitteratur, 178 pp., focuses on the impact of internet and the digital media on literature. Topics include digital literary criticism, blogs written by authors, online confessions, and the internet phenomenon of online memorials. Magnus Nilsson, ‘Swedish “Immigrant Literature” and the Ethnic Lens’, ScSt, 84:27–58, discusses two Swedish novels from the 2000s by Jonas Hassen Khemiri and Marjaneh Bakhtiari, focusing on the depiction of cultural diversity, and their critique and parody of the idea that ethnicity could capture every aspect of a person’s identity. Anna Gunder, Garanterade författare. Om biblioteksersättningen och den garanterade författarpenningen 1972–2010, SLSU 63, xvi + 140 pp., gives a detailed account of the so-called individually-rewarded remuneration, a Swedish cultural political measure that has given quality authors a small guaranteed income to support their continuing literary work since its inception in 1972. G. describes the background, the system, and the debate about the system. An appendix lists almost 500 authors who have received the payment, and G. concludes the system has proved a success, whether the list is evaluated with regard to productivity or to literary success in the form of prizes and public lending from libraries. Magdalena Żmuda-Trzebiatowska, ‘Styvbarnen i folkhemmet? Utanförskap i svenska barndomsskildringar’, Folia Scandinavica Posnaniensia 14:157–177, analyses the experience of social exclusion in five contemporary novels on childhood and adolescence. Magnus Persson, Den goda boken, Lund, Studentlitteratur, 230 pp., covers different aspects of the ‘myth’ of literature and reading as something inherently good, problematizing common contemporary assumptions about literature. Themes and genre. Maria Wahlström, Jag är icke heller en. Den svenska dagboksromanen, .

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