swedishPublished culture by the Swedish Institute August 2004 FS 114 c Modern Literature A whole century of Swedish literature necessarily encompasses numerous literary currents: folk romanticism, fl âneur literature, expressionism, bourgeois novels, surrealistic poetry, urbane portraits, social criticism, social realism, and accounts of the disintegration of the welfare state and the fragility of the individual. Some writers belonging to this literary scene have only one role to play, but a major one. Others reappear in several guises. Different voices from different epochs speak to us, loudly or softly, from “their” particular Sweden. 2 SWEDISH CULTURE MODERN LITERATURE TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY CURRENTS Hjalmar Bergman (1883–1931), one of Another social rebel was Ivar Lo- Two giants dominated Swedish literature the truly great storytellers of Swedish lit- Johansson (1901–1990) who became the at the turn of the 20th century: Selma La- erature, was both a novelist and a drama- dominant fi gure among Swedish proletari- gerlöf (1858–1940) and August Strindberg tist. One of his specialties was portraying an writers. He portrayed the cotters — poor (1849–1912), whose infl uence on narrative the evils of contemporary life in a carniva- farm laborers who were paid mainly in kind and drama has been felt ever since. Strind- lesque, entertaining way, as in his 1919 nov- — in such novels as Godnatt, jord (Break- berg’s Röda Rummet (The Red Room), 1879, el about small-town life, Markurells i Wad- ing Free), 1933, and he captured the big-city and Lagerlöf’s Gösta Berlings saga (Gösta köping (God’s Orchid). Farmor och vår herre mentality in novels like Kungsgatan (King’s Berling’s Saga), 1891, are considered the fi rst (Thy Rod and Thy Staff), 1921, and Clownen Street), 1935. The latter was a subversive modern Swedish novels. Jac (Jac the Clown), 1930, are other outstand- novel that in the midst of the book burnings Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom ing novels. of the thirties depicted prostitution and ve- Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils), Elin Wägner (1882–1949) depicted the nereal disease. 1906–1907, by Lagerlöf, a book which sev- lives of modern working women and the vi- Moa Martinson (1890–1964) wrote twen- eral generations of schoolchildren knew cissitudes of the Swedish women’s suffrage ty novels, focusing on the daily drudgery of by heart, is a playful introduction to Swe- movement. Her most noteworthy novels are women factory workers and farm laborers. den’s geography. Two years later came Sven- Norrtullsligan (The Norrtull Gang), 1908, The volumes in her autobiographical trilogy skarna och deras hövdingar (The Swedes and Pennskaftet (The Penholder) and Åsa-Hanna — Mor gifter sig (My Mother Gets Married), Their Chieftains), a children’s history read- (Åsa-Hanna), 1917. 1936, Kyrkbröllop (Church Wedding) and er by Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940). Kungens rosor (The King’s Roses), 1939, — Because Strindberg was constantly at odds THE INTERWAR YEARS are constantly in demand at Swedish public with the Swedish establishment, early in this Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974) was one of the libraries. century Heidenstam was the author who en- fi rst modernist poets in Sweden. His expres- Meanwhile novels about the bourgeoi- joyed the status of Sweden’s unoffi cial poet sionist poem, Ångest (Anguish), 1916, in- sie were being written by Agnes von Kru- laureate. His oeuvre was imbued with ro- troduced modernist lyricism to Sweden. senstjerna, Olle Hedberg and Fritiof Nilsson mantic nationalism and themes from Swed- Lagerkvist’s prose and poetry addressed Piraten. Agnes von Krusenstjerna (1894– ish history, beginning with his debut col- the great existential questions of the exist- 1940) portrayed “the poor nobility,” a class lection of poetry, Vallfart och vandringsår ence of God and the meaning of life. He of- from which she drew characters affl icted by (Pilgrimage and Wandering-Years), 1888. ten chose the ancient world for his settings. a nervous hysteria with sexual overtones in Nya dikter (New Poems), 1915, was his last He was also a playwright. Himlens hemlighet her three Tony (Tony) books, 1922–1926, major work. (The Secret of Heaven), 1919, his best known and in her von Pahlen (von Pahlen) series, During this period, symbolism was the drama, echoes Strindberg’s Ett drömspel. 1930–1935. The candor of these works fashionable literary movement. Strindberg, Inspired by European modernism, Birg- stirred up bad blood and resulted in a furi- in addition to his realistic works, was also a er Sjöberg’s (1885–1929) poem Kriser och ous debate. trailblazing symbolist playwright. Ett dröm- kransar (Crises and Wreaths) caused an out- In 1929, Artur Lundkvist, Harry Mar- spel (A Dream Play), 1902, contains one of cry when it appeared in 1926, both because tinson, Gustav Sandgren, Erik Asklund and his most famous lines: “Humanity is to be of its anxiety-ridden expressionistic form Josef Kjellgren published a poetry anthology pitied.” and because Sjöberg had earlier made his entitled Fem unga (Five Young Men), which The foremost symbolist poet was Vil- name as an idyllist with the popular Fridas became a premonition of things to come in helm Ekelund (1880–1949), one of the fi rst visor (Frida’s Songs), 1922. Lagerkvist’s and the thirties. Inspired by Freudian psycho- modernists in Sweden. He wrote free verse Sjöberg’s poetic rebellion would later be em- analysis, Lundkvist and Martinson viewed but later switched to essays and aphorisms. braced by the poets of the thirties and the the future with optimism. They later became Few authors capture the fi n-de-siècle forties. major fi gures in Swedish literary history. fl âneur atmosphere of disillusioned sophis- During the interwar period a number of Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991), a sur- tication as skillfully as Hjalmar Söderberg writers emerged who had their roots in the realist poet and prose writer, was a prolif- (1869–1941). His protagonists were passive working class, among them Eyvind John- ic author throughout his life and played a and listless, aimlessly roaming the streets of son, Vilhelm Moberg, Moa Martinson and key role in introducing international lit- Stockholm, but the fact that Söderberg did Jan Fridegård. Many of them wrote auto- erature to Swedish readers. Harry Martin- not condemn their often decadent lifestyles biographical novels in the spirit of Maxim son (1904–1978), a former sailor who had was considered somewhat shocking. Den Gorky. During 1934–1937, Eyvind Johnson grown up as an orphan, described his diffi - allvarsamma leken (The Serious Game), (1900–1976) produced Romanen om Olof cult childhood in Nässlorna blomma (Flow- 1912, is perhaps the most widely read of all (The Novel About Olof) in four parts, de- ering Nettle), 1935. In the thirties he became the classic Swedish romance novels, while picting a working-class boy’s path from a one of Sweden’s fi nest nature poets. But he Förvillelser (Aberrations), 1895, and Doktor simple background to self-insight. Johnson also wrote the space epic Aniara (Aniara), Glas (Doctor Glas), 1905, are remembered wrote historical novels as well and took a 1956, in which he described the arms race for their vivid portrayals of Stockholm. stand against the Nazis in his Krilon (Krilon) and galloping technical advances in a spirit trilogy, 1941–1943. of disillusionment. This poetic epic was lat- THE 1910s The widely popular Vilhelm Moberg er turned into an opera. The writers associated with the period (1898–1973) wrote about Swedish rural so- Karin Boye (1900–1941), whose poetry 1910–1920, inspired by Strindberg, of- ciety and its history. Several of his novels many Swedes know by heart, was among the ten turned to social issues. Among the fi rst were turned into motion pictures. Swed- cultural radicals of her age and was inspired working-class authors were Maria Sandel, ish fi lm director Jan Troell’s two-part ad- by modernism and psychoanalysis. Her fu- Ludvig Nordström, Martin Koch and Dan aptation of Moberg’s four novels about 19th turistic novel, Kallocain (Kallocain), 1940, Anderson. Meanwhile such authors as Sig- century Swedish emigration to America — was a critique of Nazi Germany. frid Siwertz, Elin Wägner and Hjalmar Berg- Utvandrarna (The Emigrants), 1949, Invan- The thirties produced such infl uential man portrayed the bourgeoisie in a way that drarna (Unto a Good Land), 1952, Nybyggar- poets as Johannes Edfelt, Hjalmar Gullberg contrasted with the passive fl âneur mental- na (The Settlers), 1956, and Sista brevet hem and Nils Ferlin. In 1932, Sweden’s arguably ity. They wrote accessible descriptions of (The Last Letter Home), 1959, — made cine- greatest poet, Gunnar Ekelöf (1907–1968) Sweden’s transition from an agrarian to an matic history. Moberg was also a controver- made his debut. Sent på jorden (Late Arrival industrial society. sial social critic in the spirit of Strindberg. on Earth), 1932, was called the fi rst Swedish Cover photo: August Strindberg in 1875. Photo: Mathias Hansen/Strindbergsmuseet collection of surrealist poetry. Ekelöf wrote of Lindegren. Vennberg was an analytical in the Swedish literature of that decade. simple, immediate poems as well as experi- skeptic who sought to re-evaluate poet- Lars Forssell (b. 1928) tried different mental ones, often with Oriental infl uences. ic and political truths. He made his debut genres and different identities in his writ- He crushed the letters in order to fi nd a new in 1937 with Hymn och hunger (Hymn and ing, inspired early on by Ezra Pound. Vac- language which better refl ected a shattered Hunger) and continued to write poetry un- illating between simple folksiness and ad- reality. til his death. vanced metaphors, Forssell’s poetry left its One of Vennberg’s disciples was the mark on the literature of the fi fties. Together THE FORTIES modernist poet Werner Aspenström with Pär Rådström (1925–1963), who per- Nineteen forty-fi ve marked a literary di- (1918–1997), who was a successful play- sonifi ed the modern spirit of the fi fties with vide.