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Strindberg the M An STRINDBERG THE M AN GUSTA F UD DGRE N Trans lated from the Swedish HA PP A h L O N U LL P . AXE J V , D Of th e Departm ent of R om ani c L anguages i and Li teratures , Uni ve rs ty of P enns ylvani a BOSTON TH E FOUR S EAS COM PAN Y 1920 INTRODUCTION There are two distinc t ways in which to deal with e ius works e ius : g n and the of g n The old and the new . The old method may be characterized as the descrip tive . It is , generally speaking, negative . It occupies itself mainly with the conscious motives and the external phases of the artist and his life and gives a more or less F literal interpretation of his creation . rom an historical point of view the descriptive method has its own peculiar — value ! from the psycho analytic viewpoint it is less o meritori us , since it adds but little, if anything, to the deeper understanding of the creative mind . The new or interpretative method is based on psychol ’ o . gy It i s positive . It deals exclusively with man s unconscious motivation as the source and main- spring of works of art of whatever kind and independent of time and locality . Thus while the descriptive method accepts u o at its face value the work of geni s , the new or psych analyt ic method penetrates into th e lower strata of the Unconscious in order to find the key to th e cryptic mes sage which is indelibly though always illegibly written r rt in large letters on eve y work of a . ’ Gustaf Uddgren s S trindb erg The M an (En ny b ok om Strindberg) is not a psycho - analytic interpretation of Strindberg in the true sense o f the term . It is rather descriptive with a strong analytic tendency . As a matter of fact, it contains a number of elements of such general 5 6 STRINDBERG THE MA N interest as to justify the translator ’ s ambition of render th e ing the work accessible to English speaking public . It constitutes the unpretentious message in the form of biography and reminiscence o f one of those relatively few and highly favo red individuals who can lay claim to a certain amount of intimate personal contact with the F h . Udd ren great Swedish aut or urthermore, Gustaf g possesses such a clear insight into and so profound an appreciation of the complex problems with which Strind berg wrestled unceasingly all his life , as to be entitled to a hearing abroad as well as at home . The book affo rds an excellent general survey o f the — f ’ many sided, turbulent life and activities o Sweden s foremost author . Here we meet the juvenile poet and indomitable revolter such as he appeared to the people — of the seventies ! the so called misogynist who in the — M arri ed eighties caused a world wide sensation with his , his novels , autobiography and naturalistic plays ! the o— wandering scientist , acid psych analyst , mystic and paranoiac o f the nineties who rises out of his Dantesque P Inferno, like the bird hoenix from his ashes , to produce — over a score of dramas historical , transcendental, social of such unprecedented excellence as to compare favor ably with the greatest dramatic monuments o f all times the Shakespearian . We follow him to his native land after long years' of exile on the Continent only to find hi s . him rej ected, hated and harassed by own And finally we retire with him to the Blue Tower where he spends his declining years like a hermit until death claims 1 Ma 1 12 . him on the 4th of y, 9 INTRODUCTION 7 ’ Udd ren s The chapters containing g straightforward, unadorned account of his several interviews with e F not Strindberg in G rmany, rance and Sweden are only highly interesting from an historical point of view, but shed a great deal of new light upon the complex psychic life and personality of the poet and reformer . ’ Udd ren s g broad, sympathetic views and simplicity of presentation cannot help producing a tonic effect upon th e reader when j uxtaposited with the intolerance and th e depression wrought by the distortion of facts , mali n cio s attacks , meaningless bombast and glittering generalities of some of the self - appointed high priests of Strindberg criticism on both sides of the Atlantic . h L af e Wit the exception of ind Hag by, Hermann Ess wein, Emil Schering and Drs . Schleich and Landquist, the translator knows of no other writer who seems so well qualified to discuss Strindberg’ s extraordinary life and immortal achievements as the author of this little th e o volume . It is to be hoped, therefore , that bo k will be welcomed by all students of Strindberg, and that it may fall into the hands of many of those who se knowl edge of a great and good man is limited to the glaring mis n r t represe tations, wilful or othe wise, of that s ubbornly — narrow minded and vociferous clique of reactionaries who have j ustly been branded with the fitting epithet of e le—eatin m onke s ag g y . A . I . U i P hiladel h a Pa. p , 2 May 19 0. CONTE NTS I NTRODUCTION — STRINDBERG TH E JUVENILE POET AND REVOLTER — STRINDBERG TH E KNIGHT TH E WEAKER S Ex M Y FIRST MEETING WITH STRINDB ERG TH E WANDERING SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATOR INFERNO TH E RESURRECTION OF TH E DRAMATIST TH E POET AND TH E WOLVES TH E ECCENTRIC HERMIT LITTLE CHRISTMAS E VE WITH STRINDB ERG I N THE BLUE TOWER BI BLIOGRAPH Y P CHA TER I . — STRINDB ERG TH E JUVENILE POET AND REVOLTER KNEW Strindberg long before I met him . All of I that generation which was young during the latter part o f the seventies and the beginning of the t M as ter eighties, was carried away by the poet who wro e la Th Re Room O f and who had raged in e d . To us he was the reawakening of th e Swedish spirit of literature and art . We had been terrified at the greatness to which the two No rwegian giants Ibsen and Bj ornson had attained and we felt almost ashamed that Sweden at this time could not show a single great man . n Then Strindberg came . He had bee among us for a long time, although we had not known of his presence . u When he came , all the yo ng blood that had any vitality, the - j oined him . Already, at age of twenty three, he had M as ter Ola the produced such a great work as f, first great masterpiece of Swedish dramatic art- rich in t — you hful fire and turbulent ideas and besides , so Swed ish through and through that we were justified in For commencing to believe in old Sweden once more . in spite of the fact that we were young, we had already had an opportunity to see through th e empty bombast with Which the older writers tried to entice us and thus condemn us to the same in activity into which they them selves had fallen . I 4 STRINDBERG THE MA N We knew something about that school of suffering which Strindberg had passed through in his youth . This s fact made him twice as dear to u . We sent our glowing u hatred p to Stockholm, to its old fogies of the press who had received his youthful but manly words with the scoffs and Sheers of impotence and had refused him that recognition which every promising young poet needs in order to grow big and strong and withstand the storms which are sure to rage about him upon the mountain top . And we placed ourselves wholly on his side when , after — years of insidious persecution during which he had been —he the cheerful, generous giver took up his position of defense and finally was forced to attack in person those n who refused to recog ize him . What ecstasy did he not create in our young hearts when alone he attacked th e generally unsatisfactory conditions round about us ! This was something for a h young generation to behold . To cut down t e enemy that grew like weeds in the midst of our acres and to fight great battles with them, seemed to us. of greater consequence than all the warring expeditions o f the Gustavians on the plains Of Germany or the pursuit o f chimeras in the deserts of Russia . The teacher who believes that the young accept without discrimination all the manipulated historical expositions with which they are to be educated so as to incline ow the t ards one side or other, is thoroughly mistaken . The young on the contrary have a great intuitive ability to see through what is purposely falsified, and when their suspicion has once been awakened, they tear to shreds THE JUVENI LE POET AND REVOLTER 15 the whole fabric of lies with a violence which can be i modified—only in the course of years and wh ch later on on P d develo—ps the part of the hilistine hea of the family into a complete satisfaction with everything that exists . was This Strindberg, the poet, who forced to give up his journey to P arnass us in order to identify himself with t a pioneer movement, we loved .
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