The best Swedish writers for children and adults

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Russian readers associate Swedish literature primarily with children's prose. This is explained by the huge popularity of the cheerful "man in the prime of life." This colorful character has been on TV screens throughout the former Soviet Union for more than fifty years. However, it should be remembered that Swedish writers have written and continue to write books for adults. Their contribution to world literature is significant. The small number of Swedish surnames among the names of the Nobel laureates in literature is explained only by the small number of this nation.

The emergence and development of Swedish literature

The history of Swedish literature dates back to the Viking Age, when writing was represented exclusively by runic inscriptions. The runes do not contain literary value - they are rather historical documents. The first information about Swedish literature dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. Many writingsThe Middle Ages were written in Latin, and only after a series of important historical events, as a result of which Sweden turned into a great northern power, did genuine Swedish writers and poets appear who worked exclusively in their native language. Yet the literature of this era was more poetry than prose.

Under the influence of representatives of German romanticism in Swedish literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, authors of fabulous and fantastic works appeared. The famous writer of this period is Selma Lagerlöf, who created many of her works based on folklore materials. She is best known for her novel The Saga of Yeats Beurling. But Lagerlöf devoted most of her writing to young readers.

With the weakening of interest in romantic plots in world culture, a realistic school is developing, among the representatives of which there are Swedish writers of the 19th century: August Blanche, Frederica Bremer, Sophia von Knoring, Emilia Flugaret-Karlen. Away from realism were August Strindberg and Gustav Froeding.

Historical events of the 20th century are also reflected in Swedish literature. The brightest writers of the first half of the century are Per Lagerquist, Harry Martinson, Arthur Lendqvist.

Anti-fascist prose

Swedish writers of the first half of the last century gravitated toward social realism. The artistic style of Lagerkvist cannot be attributed to this literary movement. Characteristic features of his prose are myth and allegory. This author received worldwide recognition withthe release of the poetry collection Tosca. Then a collection of philosophical reflections "The Conquered Life" is published. By the beginning of the Second World War, humanistic prose comes out from under his pen, in which he seeks to prove the need to fight world evil. The coming to power of the Nazis could not but be reflected in the prose of those years. The response to the development of Nazi ideology in Europe was Lagrequist's story "The Executioner". In this work, the author draws a parallel between two time periods in history - the Middle Ages and the 30s of the XX century.

Barabbas, based on a biblical story, instantly attracted the attention of critics. This book became the most famous work of the writer. Among the writers, she was known as the most reliable and powerful in the spiritual sense. A few years later, the novel was made into a film. And in 1952, Per Lagerkvist was awarded the Nobel Prize.

The first poet of the space age

A significant shift took place in the development of Swedish literature in the post-war period. Tragic historical events, the feeling of a new world and the search for a person's place in it - all this has given rise to many talented authors around the globe. One of the brightest personalities of these years is the Swedish writer, Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson.

Aniara became his main work. This work is a cycle of epic poems dedicated to the journey of the space ark. The interplanetary ship "Aniara" saves several thousand inhabitants of the Earth from a nuclear catastrophe. Martinson's poems are permeated with philosophicalsymbolic meaning. The writer won the Nobel Prize in 1974.

Another Nobel laureate - Eivind Jonsson. His most famous works are The Romance of Olaf, Surf, It Was Jens. The author of these novels was awarded the prestigious literary prize with the jury's wording: "For art that serves freedom."

Per Olof Enqvist, Göran Tunström and Sara Lidman were also representatives of Swedish intellectual prose.

Modern Swedish detective

Detective prose has become an undoubted breakthrough in contemporary Swedish literature. Sweden is a small country, and its inhabitants are characterized by Nordic calm. But, despite this, a number of talented authors have created and continue to create works in the criminal genre. Swedish detective writers are the authors of a unique style based on classical canons. But these masters of the pen also boldly borrow elements from other literary genres. Among the representatives of criminal prose one can name such authors as Mai Chevall and Per Vale, Henning Mankell, Oke Edwardson, Johan Teorin and many others.

In Russian literature, the detective genre is of secondary importance. Therefore, due attention is not paid to its study and development. In Sweden it's different. An institute for the study of the detective has been created here, special literature devoted to the criminal genre is being published.

Such works, according to the Swedes, are somewhere between "mass literature" and "high genre".

Interest in the Swedish detective in recent years has been increasing in manycountries. This is primarily due to the quality of the literature. It is not surprising, therefore, that many famous Swedish writers today are the authors of action-packed detective novels. The main features of their works are mystical coloring and social orientation.

Locked Room

May Chewall and Per Vale are modern Swedish writers, authors of a series of novels in the style of social detective. The works "The Locked Room", "The Laughing Policeman", "The Scoundrel from Säfle" became an important phenomenon not only in the literature of Sweden, but also in the world of detective prose. In their novels, Pere Valleux and May Chevalle - using the traditional form of the genre - managed to create something new, different from the works of "mass culture". The reader of The Locked Room already knows the name of the criminal from the first pages. He is on a par with the villain and has all the information that the police are so eager to get in the process of the whole story. This is the main difference between the Swedish detective and the classic English.

The style of Pere Valleux and May Chevalle is characterized by the presence of small details and a quick change of action with a slow investigation, and sometimes even its complete absence. The typical character of detective Vale and Chevall is melancholy, suicidal. He is constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A vivid example is the depressive image of Commissioner Beck. Subsequently, other authors began to actively use this tradition.

Ghosts and Crime

Johan Teorin is also a representativecrime writers. But modern Swedish writers are popular all over the world because they know how to combine classics and original features in their books. In Teorin's novels, the real and otherworldly worlds coexist harmoniously. Ghosts act here on a par with living people. No wonder this writer is called the Swedish Stephen King.

About his novels, the author nevertheless said in an interview: “The heroes of my books often meet with the inhabitants of the other world, but the reader always has the right to decide whether these ghosts are a figment of fantasy, or they actually exist”.

Maria Lang's "Descendants of Alberta" is not without a mystical atmosphere. The action takes place on the estate of a middle-aged lady who dies under strange circumstances. A lot of details, circumstances and minor events from the first pages immerse the reader in a mysterious and bewitching world. The effect is enhanced by the dark time of the day, in which the main actions of the novel unfold.

Henning Mankell

Swedish mystery writers have become popular outside of their own country. One of the most widely read authors is Henning Mankell. The biography of this man is full of adventures, which allowed him to become a multifaceted creative person.

At the age of sixteen he left school and went as a sailor to the navy. He managed to live in France and Japan, worked in one of the theaters in Stockholm. In 1993, he made his debut: the novel "Mountain Exploder" was published. Mankell gained international famethanks to a series of police novels about Kurt Wallander. For the work "Faceless Killers" in 1991, the writer was awarded the Academy of Detective Writers of Sweden. Almost all of Mankell's works have been filmed.

Karin Alvtegel

Karin Alvtegen is the niece of the famous Astrid Lindgren. But, unlike her relative, she does not write literature for children, but action-packed criminal prose. Before publishing her first work, Karin Alvtegen worked for several years as a screenwriter. The most famous novels are "Loss", "Betrayal", "Shadow".

Social themes in crime fiction

Books by Swedish writers are filled with acute social problems: fascism, social phobia, the dominance of emigrants, loneliness, depression and domestic violence. The detective in Sweden has long been out of popular culture. It has become a highly social art brand.

Experts in Old Norse literature believe that the roots of the Swedish detective go back to the Icelandic sagas. As in calm and prosperous Sweden, nothing special happened in medieval Iceland. Life in these parts has always been unusually calm and measured. Therefore, such terrible events as murders, rapes and robberies have always caused insane excitement. For the same reason, the world depicted in the Swedish detective story sometimes appears in the eyes of readers as really monstrous.

For the first time, criticism drew attention to the Swedish detective with the release of Stieg Larsson's trilogy Girl withdragon tattoo. Events in the life of Mikael Blomkvist captured the minds of fans of the detective genre. The image of this character is ambiguous. In a classic detective story, he could well become an outstanding personality. For the Swedish author, this is an ordinary person who is trying to fight the all-powerful state machine.

Modern Swedish detective writers skillfully use mysticism, boldly introduce their heroes to religion and mysterious societies. Their characters suffer from depression and are in a struggle with a cruel state system. These features of the plot, as well as the fact that the action itself takes place in Sweden, a country that is mysterious and incomprehensible to a foreign reader, make the Swedish detective incredibly popular all over the world.

Swedish literature for children

Astrid Lindgret and Selma Lagerloh are the creators of the iconic characters of Soviet cartoons. Fairy tales by Swedish writers for Russian readers are, first of all, stories about Malysh and Carlson.

However, few people know that the character of Astrit Lindgret in his "homeland" has never been particularly popular, rather he was a negative hero. The writer herself claimed that there is a lot of Russian in Carlson. She was also sure that her books in Russia were popular primarily due to high-quality translation. Nevertheless, more than 80 books have been written by this author, most of which have been published in a hundred countries around the world.

Selma Lagerlöf's best work for children is the tale of Niels' journey. This bookwas written at the beginning of the last century. According to legend, the writer planned to create a work that would present information about the history and geography of Sweden in a fascinating way. The best way to engage the young reader, Lagerlöf believed, would be to create a traveling character. They became Nilson. But the work did not turn out to be an educational book, but a wonderful tale came out about the extraordinary wanderings of Niels and his friend, Martin the goose. With the light hand of Soviet animators, these heroes of the Swedish author turned into famous cartoon characters. Few people today know that their creator was Selma Lagerlöf – the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Astrid Lindgreth and Selma Lagrelof are Swedish children's writers who gained popularity in Russia thanks to domestic cartoons and performances. The importunate but handsome Carlson, perhaps, took root on Soviet soil due to the character traits that are inherent in many characters in Russian fairy tales: laziness, boasting, impudence. In the United States, the work was expelled from the school curriculum for the bad temper of this character.

Tales of Maria Gripe

Maria Gripe loved to tell all kinds of stories since childhood. In her youth, she began to write poetry, but, in her opinion, did not succeed in poetry. And only when she became a mother, did she take the writing of mysterious children's stories seriously. In the 70sthe writer created a series of stories about the boy Elvis, who later became a classic character in Swedish children's literature.

Other Swedish writers are less popular outside their homeland. Works by Sven Nurdqvist, Birgitta Hedin, Rosa Lagekrantz, Ulf Stark are also published for children. But these authors are little known in Russia, perhaps because they are not translated into other languages very actively.

21st century literature

However, Swedish literature is not limited to the detective genre and children's prose. Today, Swedish writers, representatives of the so-called social prose, also publish their works. These include Jonas Gardel, Marie Hermanson, Vigdis Yort, Lynn Ullman.

The works of Marie Hermanson are called "fairy tales for adults". "The Secret of the Shell House" is based on a Scandinavian myth where a person is kidnapped by evil trolls. The prisoner can return home, but never be the same again.

The best Swedish writers make up a whole list of talented authors, the most popular of which at the end of the last century and the beginning of 2000 was Stieg Larsson. His famous trilogy has been translated into forty languages. In addition to writing, Larsson made a significant contribution to journalism, becoming the author of numerous articles on acute political topics. The journalistic prose of this Swedish author has an anti-fascist orientation. The novel "Right-wing Extremism" explores the history of the development and spread of racism in modern society.