What is Swedish literature?

Swedish literature refers to works written in the Swedish language within Sweden's modern geographic and political borders. For a time, Swedish was the dominant language of Finland's upper class, so the literature of Sweden and Finland are closely linked. Few Swedish authors were known internationally before the 19th century when August Strindberg's writings gained global recognition. Novelist Selma Lagerlöf was the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize in the early 20th century. Other Swedish writers with international reputations include Harry Martinson , Karin Boye , and Tomas Tranströmer .

What language is most Swedish literature written in?

Most Swedish literature is written in the Swedish language , which is the official language of Sweden. Swedish literature and Finnish literature are closely linked because Sweden ruled Finland from the mid-12th century until 1809. Swedish remained the dominant language of the upper classes in Finland until the end of the 19th century. Swedish-language literature is rich and distinguished.

Who are some famous Swedish writers?

Sweden has produced many famous and influential writers. August Strindberg was a playwright, novelist, and short-story writer, who combined psychology and Naturalism in his dramas. Selma Lagerlöf was the first woman and Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Henning Mankell is best known for his crime novels featuring Kurt Wallander. Astrid Lindgren is known for her children’s books, such as Pippi Longstocking . Tomas Tranströmer was a Swedish poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011.

What are common themes in Swedish literature?

Swedish literature explores themes of national identity, social criticism, and the individual's inner world. Early on, ardent nationalism emerged as a characteristic of Swedish Romanticism, as writers reconstructed a bruised national self-image. Later, the adverse position of women in society became a theme, along with regionalism, decadence, and pessimism. Political and social commitment rose in the 1960s, with the Vietnam War and the Swedish welfare state becoming recurrent topics. The themes of loneliness and rootlessness are characteristic. More recent works have focused on power, oppression, the nature of evil, and the lives of seemingly insignificant women. Modern dysfunctional families have also been explored.

How has Swedish literature changed over time?

Swedish literature has undergone significant transformations across centuries. The Reformation in the 16th century saw the translation of the Bible into Swedish, which greatly influenced subsequent poets. The 17th century saw the rise of national pride and culture, with literature addressing social and political issues. The Enlightenment in the 18th century brought new ideas and a focus on science. In the 19th century, August Strindberg 's work brought about a regeneration of Swedish prose style, and Selma Lagerlöf became the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The 20th century saw decadence and pessimism, but also the rise of the proletarian novel and internationally recognized writers such as Pär Lagerkvist and Astrid Lindgren .

How does Swedish literature reflect the culture and history of Sweden?

Swedish literature mirrors the nation's historical trajectory and cultural values. After Sweden lost a third of its territory, including Finland, in 1809, literature played a role in reconstructing the nation's self-image, and ardent nationalism became a characteristic of Swedish Romanticism. In the 20th century, political and social commitment became recurrent themes, with writers like Sara Lidman and Sven Lindqvist addressing the Swedish welfare state and social justice. Similarly, feminist writers such as Kerstin Ekman and Heidi von Born highlighted the lives and significance of women in Swedish society. Authors like P.C. Jersild and Lars Gustafsson offered critical perspectives on civilization and the impact of bureaucracy on individuality.

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History

The Middle Ages

Swedish literature proper began in the late Middle Ages when, after a long period of linguistic change, Old Swedish emerged as a separate language. The foundations of a native literature were established in the 13th century. The oldest extant manuscript in Old Swedish is the Västgötalagan (“Law of West Gotland”), part of a legal code compiled in the 1220s. These legal documents often employ concrete images, alliteration, and a solemn prose rhythm suited to their proclamatory nature.

The poetry of chivalry was first represented in Eufemiavisorna (“The Songs of Euphemia”), written in doggerel between 1303 and 1312, which includes a translation of French poet Chrétien de Troyes’s romance Yvain. Anonymous ballads probably dating from the 14th and 15th centuries also reflect a new interest in the romance genre. These ballads, though mostly derived from foreign sources and combining the imported ideals of courtly love with native pagan themes and historical events, form the most accessible genre of what can be called Swedish medieval literature.

The 16th century

Two dates mark the beginning of modern Swedish history: 1523—the breach with Denmark and Gustav I Vasa’s accession as king of Sweden—and 1527—the breach with Rome and the establishment of a national Lutheran Church. The political revolution that eventually brought Sweden to the position of a European power had no considerable effect on literature until a century later, but the Reformation wholly dominated Swedish letters in the 1500s.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

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The most important literary event of this period was the translation of the Bible in 1541, which inaugurated modern Swedish and provided an inexhaustible source for poets of subsequent times. Closely involved in the Bible translation were the apostles of the Swedish Reformation, Olaus Petri and his brother Laurentius Petri. Olaus Petri’s vigorous approach was revealed in his published sermons and in a Swedish chronicle, the first historical Swedish work based on critical research. Olaus Petri may also have written the biblical Tobie comedia (published 1550), the first complete extant Swedish play.

As a consequence of the Reformation, two of Sweden’s most distinguished scholars of the period, Johannes Magnus and his brother Olaus Magnus, were driven into exile. In his history of all the kings of the Goths and Swedes, Johannes Magnus provided Sweden with a number of valiant kings unknown to critical historians. Olaus Magnus wrote the first geographical and ethnographical account of Scandinavia, Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (1555; “History of the Northern Peoples”; Eng. trans. Description of the Northern Peoples: Rome 1555).

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The 17th century

In the first half of the 17th century, Swedish literature remained limited in scope and quantity. A unique contribution, however, was made by Lars Wivallius, whose lyrics revealed a feeling for nature new to Swedish poetry. With its intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, Sweden established itself as a European power; national pride and culture soon began to develop, as revealed in literature of this epoch. The period’s outstanding work was the allegorical epic Hercules (published 1658) by Georg Stiernhielm, which reflected many of the social and political problems of the time. Another poem often attributed to Stiernhielm is Bröllopsbesvärs ihugkommelse (first published 1818; “Recollections of Wedding Troubles”), a masterpiece of humour and realism describing the drunken debauchery of a wedding feast and the joys and sorrows of matrimony. Stiernhielm’s followers included the two brothers Columbus, one of whom, Samuel, wrote Odae sueticae (1674; “Swedish Odes”) as well as a collection of anecdotes that illumine Stiernhielm’s character. A rival to Stiernhielm was the unidentified Skogekär Bärgbo (a pseudonym), whose Wenerid (1680) was the first sonnet cycle in Swedish.

Lars JohanssonLars Johansson, portrait by an unknown artist; in Gripsholm Castle, Sweden

Stiernhielm aimed at an integration of Sweden’s cultural heritage with the accepted ideals of Continental Classicism. His Hercules is full of old Swedish words that he was eager to revive. Samuel Columbus also demanded a more vigorous, flexible language, as did Skogekär Bärgbo in Thet swenska språkets klagemål (1658; “The Lament of the Swedish Language”). National pride and religious feeling are combined in the works of the bishops Haquin Spegel and Jesper Swedberg, the latter the father of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg. Spegel contributed to Swedberg’s new hymnbook of 1695, which became the poetry book of the Swedish people and was of lasting influence. Even the lyric poet Lucidor (pseudonym of Lars Johansson) was represented in it. His poetry was an intense expression of the contrasting moods of the period: in his love songs and, above all, in his drinking songs, he was as pagan and reckless as he was devout in his hymns and funeral poems.

At Uppsala, meanwhile, the scholar Petrus Lagerlöf attempted to impose purer Classical standards on native literature, and Olof Verelius edited and translated Icelandic sagas. It was Olof Rudbeck, however, who became interested in Verelius’s work and developed a theory that Sweden was the lost Atlantis and had been the cradle of Western civilization. He proposed this idea in Atland eller Manheim (1679–1702), which, translated into Latin as Atlantica, attained European fame.

Baroque and Classicist tendencies ran parallel in late 17th-century Swedish literature. Gunno Eurelius (Gunno Dahlstierna) wrote an elaborate epic, Kungaskald (“Hymn to the King”), for King Charles XI’s funeral in 1697. Simpler in style was Johan Runius, who expressed a Christian stoicism of the kind found among Swedes during the disastrous early decades of the 18th century. Jacob Frese was a gentler and more intimate poet; his lyrics and hymns contain some of the emotional pietism that became a feature of 18th-century thought.

Swedish literature

The Middle Ages

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The 16th century

The 17th century