Swedish Romantic literature

Title illustration ofEsaias Tegnér'sFrithiof's Saga(1876 ed.)

Swedish Romantic literaturedenotesSwedish literaturebetween 1809 and 1830.In Europe, the period from circa 1805–1840 is known asRomanticism.It was also strongly featured in Sweden, based on German influences. During this relatively short period, there were so many great Swedish poets, that the era is referred to as theGolden Ageof Swedish poetry.The period started around 1810 when several periodicals were published that contested the literature of the 18th century. An important society was theGothic Society(1811), and their periodicalIduna,a romanticised retrospect toGothicismus.

One significant reason was that several poets for the first time worked towards a common direction. Four of the main romantic poets that made significant contributions to the movements were: the professor of historyErik Gustaf Geijer,the lonerErik Johan Stagnelius,professor of Greek languageEsaias Tegnérand professor of aesthetics and philosophyP.D.A. Atterbom.

Geijer(1783–1847) was one of the earliest and most prominent members of the neo-gothicistGothic Society.As a professor he published two cultural-historical works:Svea rikes hävderandSvenska folkets historia,where he gave support to the idea of theViking Agebeing a cultural height that was suppressed during the Middle Ages.Stagnelius(1793–1823) spent his short adult years living as an outsider in Stockholm. Many of his poems deal with the beauty in nature, encompassing the loneliness of the soul, and it is both for his beauty and his mysticism that Stagnelius's works were to attain recognition.The fame ofAtterbom(1790–1855) comes from his flower poetry:Lycksalighetens ö( "Island of Bliss" ), 1824–1827, and a collection of poetry calledBlommorna.

Esaias Tegnér(1782–1846) has been described as the first modern Swedish man, in the sense that very much is known about both his life and his person, and that he left an extensive correspondence. His greatest success wasFrithiof's Saga(1820–1825), a romanticized version of theIcelandic sagasbut in a modern dress. The work was translated into several languages, put to music in Sweden, where it had status of a national epos until the realism of the 1880s obsoleted it.

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  Atterbom, 1831
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  Geijer
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  Stagnelius, posthumous medallion

Early liberalism

Fredrika Bremer(1801–1865) was the first writer of the Swedish realist novel, in the spirit ofJane Austen,and her most important contribution is that she introduced the novel in Swedish on a large scale. Her most important novel was her last:Hertha,in 1856.Herthais not so much a novel as it is a political debate of women's rights.

Viktor Rydberg(1828–1895) was a key figure in Swedish culture between 1855 and the modern breakthrough in 1879. In the spirit ofDickens,Rydberg wrote adventurous novels and stories that in reality were dealing with the poor and exposed people of society. Several works tried to define a world where Christianity became integrated with humanistic ideals ofancient Greece.Rydberg was also noted for groundbreaking historical and theological works.

When Sweden lostFinlandin 1809,Finnish literaturemoved in its own direction. For the remainder of the 19th century however, it was still the educated Swedish speaking minority in Finland that authored most of Finland's literature. A key figure was the Swedish speakingJohan Ludvig Runeberg(1804–1877), was established himself as Finland's national poet, a distinction he has kept into modern times. His most important work wasThe Tales of Ensign Stål(1848–1860), anepic poemabout theFinnish War(1808–1809), the first verse of which becameFinland's national anthem.After Runeberg, it wasZacharius Topelius(1818–1898) who took the role of national Finnish author. Although he wrote both novels and poetry, his most important contributions were children's books withLäsning för barn(Reading for Children,1865–1896).

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  Almqvist, circa 1835
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  Rydberg, 1876
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  Fredrika Bremer, 1849

Notes and references

• Algulin, Ingemar,A History of Swedish Literature,published by theSwedish Institute,1989.ISBN91-520-0239-X
• Gustafson, AlrikA History of Swedish Literature(2 volumes), 1961.
• Tigerstedt, E.N.,Svensk litteraturhistoria(Tryckindustri AB, Solna, 1971)