The Literary Miracle: The Transcultural Success of Swedish Nineteenth Century Novels
The international breakthrough for Scandinavian literature did not take place at the fin-de-siècle with Ibsen and Strindberg but several decades earlier. From the 1840s and onwards there was a massive dissemination of Swedish novels. Their international success has been demonstrated by my research team “Swedish Women Writers on Export in the 19th Century”(2014–17).
The aim of this project is to conclude and expand my earlier mapping and analyses of the transcultural dissemination of Swedish female novelists in the19th-century. Based on data from the project database, SWED, the dissemination of female and male authors (Bremer, Flygare-Carlén, Schwartz, Almqvist, Rydberg, Topelius) will now be compared. The aim is to demonstrate how Swedish novels travelled along specific routes in Europe and the USA and that translation into German was essential for dissemination of Scandinavian and Swedish literature into other European languages. In addition, this will show that besides London and Paris as literary dissemination hubs, Leipzig/Stuttgart was essential for the distribution of Swedish language literature until the early 20th century.
Through close study of the transcultural reception of some of the most bestselling Swedish novels of the time and how the reception changes over time, the power of the national canonisation process will be investigated in order to show its impact on which literary works are assigned international literary significance to present readers.
Final report
Background
In June 2018 my Sabbatical project “The Literary Miracle: The Transcultural Success of Swedish Nineteenth Century Novels” (SAB18-0031:1) was approved funding for twelve months for budget year 2019. Funding was also approved for two visits as a guest researcher at Turku University in Finland and at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
The aim of the project was to conclude and expand my earlier mapping and analyses of the transnational dissemination of Swedish female novelists in the nineteenth century. The object was to include and compare the dissemination of works by male novelists and to do a close reading and an in-depth analysis of the international reception of some of the most popular Swedish writers from the mid-nineteenth century until today.
Published results
The project has been carried out according to the plan and resulted in a monograph titled "Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novels as World Literature: Transnational Success and Literary History", Göteborg: Lir.skrifter 11, 2020. In it, the investigation of the distribution of the most transnational disseminated of Swedish nineteenth-century novels is presented. Drawing on statistics from the project database SWED, the monograph include close studies of the dissemination and reception of novels by Fredrika Bremer, Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Marie Sophie Schwartz, C.J.L Almqvist, Viktor Rydberg, and Zacharias Topelius. The reception of these writers is also compared to the dissemination of internationally less successful Swedish writers, such as Sophie von Knorring and August Blanche. The object of the empirical study is to demonstrate in what way Swedish literature travelled along certain routes in Europe and in the USA, in what way the translation into the target language German was vital for Scandinavian and Swedish literature, and to what extent the translation into German triggered translation into other European languages. In a chapter on the transnational reception of some of the most bestselling Swedish novelists, I presents the results of my close readings of reviews, articles, advertisements and interviews in international press. Drawing on these results, I examine the international status of Swedish literature and in what way the reception of nineteenth-century novels have changed over time from the mid-nineteenth century until today. Based on the results of the study, the monograph concludes with a chapter on the concept of literary value, the power of the national canonisation process and its significance for the reception of Swedish literature translated into other languages and distributed outside the country.
Besides the monograph – published open access and as a printed version – and SWED Database (to be published online), two articles about the reception of two male novelists have been published in anthologies available on line: “Viktor Rydberg i världen: Skönlitteratur i översättning” and ”Zacharias Topelius i världen – verken i översättning”. A short version of the first one was presented as a paper at a conference at Södertörns högskola, Sweden, in spring 2019.
The bibliographical project database, SWED, which was constructed during my former project “Swedish Women’s Writing on Export”, has been further developed and expanded. A first version of the database is to be published in winter 2020/2021.
Research visits at Turku University and at Humboldt University
In spring 2019, I spent one month as a guest researcher at Turku University, School of History, Literature and Arts Studies, Finland (host: Professor Päivi Lappalainen). My aim was to examine the reception of Swedish novel in Finnish press and to conclude my investigation of the dissemination of the Swedish-language Finnish writer Topelius.
During my visit I was invited to participate in the international conference “Reading Culture and Libraries in Change” hosted by Turku University. I was also invited to contribute to an ongoing project on transnational reception, “Spatialized intimacy: Literary mapping in writing and reception of the Russian–Finnish cultural mediator, Marie Linder (1840–70)”, with a chapter on ”Marie Linder in dialogue with the Swedish novelist Carl Jonas Love Almqvist and Fredrika Bremer”, which will be published in a coming research report.
During my visit in Turku, I gave two lectures for researches and students: I presented my project on a seminar for senior scholars and PhD-students at Turku University. I was invited to give a lecture at Åbo Academy on their Master- and Ph.D-course “Global/Glocal. Explorations in World Literature”.
In Turku, I also investigated the possibilities to organise an exchange programme for Master-and PhD-students. (Due to the situation of Covid.-19, it has not been possible to start in 2020).
During my visit at Humboldt university in Berlin in autumn 2019, I continued my research on the German reception of Swedish literature by access to databases on German newspapers, as well as got access to material on German publishing houses. During my stay, I was asked to give a public lecture - “ringvorlesung” - about the international reception of Fredrika Bremer och C.J.L. Almqvist for invited guests and undergraduate students at Nordeuropa-institute, Humboldt University.
During my stay, I arranged meetings with other visiting researchers within my field of research, such as Professor Bode, Australian National University, and Professor Janke Kloke, University of Groningen, Netherlands.
Popular presentations
Two popular lectures were to be given in spring 2020. Due to Covid-19, both have been postponed to spring 2020:
“1800-talets svenska romanunder: Fredrika Bremer, Emelie Flygare-Carlén och Marie Sophie Schwartz som världsförfattare i jämförelse med Viktor Rydberg”, Viktor Rydbergs sällskapet in Jönköping, Sweden.
”1800-talets tre svenska succéförfattare internationellt: Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Fredrika Bremer och Marie Sophie Schwartz”, Göteborgs kvinnliga diskussionsklubb in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Invitation to coming conferences
Because of my research done within the project, I have been invited to present papers at two international conferences. Firstly, a paper called “International stars at their time, marginalised novelists today”, will be presented at the Dino conference on “Nordic Literature and Canonisation” in Odense (first planned to October 2020 but postponed to May 2021). Secondly, I have been invited to participate and present a paper on “Swedish Nineteenth-Century Literature as World Literature?” at a Nobel Symposium on “(World) Literature and the Problem of the Universal”, in Stockholm in August 2021.
In June 2018 my Sabbatical project “The Literary Miracle: The Transcultural Success of Swedish Nineteenth Century Novels” (SAB18-0031:1) was approved funding for twelve months for budget year 2019. Funding was also approved for two visits as a guest researcher at Turku University in Finland and at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
The aim of the project was to conclude and expand my earlier mapping and analyses of the transnational dissemination of Swedish female novelists in the nineteenth century. The object was to include and compare the dissemination of works by male novelists and to do a close reading and an in-depth analysis of the international reception of some of the most popular Swedish writers from the mid-nineteenth century until today.
Published results
The project has been carried out according to the plan and resulted in a monograph titled "Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novels as World Literature: Transnational Success and Literary History", Göteborg: Lir.skrifter 11, 2020. In it, the investigation of the distribution of the most transnational disseminated of Swedish nineteenth-century novels is presented. Drawing on statistics from the project database SWED, the monograph include close studies of the dissemination and reception of novels by Fredrika Bremer, Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Marie Sophie Schwartz, C.J.L Almqvist, Viktor Rydberg, and Zacharias Topelius. The reception of these writers is also compared to the dissemination of internationally less successful Swedish writers, such as Sophie von Knorring and August Blanche. The object of the empirical study is to demonstrate in what way Swedish literature travelled along certain routes in Europe and in the USA, in what way the translation into the target language German was vital for Scandinavian and Swedish literature, and to what extent the translation into German triggered translation into other European languages. In a chapter on the transnational reception of some of the most bestselling Swedish novelists, I presents the results of my close readings of reviews, articles, advertisements and interviews in international press. Drawing on these results, I examine the international status of Swedish literature and in what way the reception of nineteenth-century novels have changed over time from the mid-nineteenth century until today. Based on the results of the study, the monograph concludes with a chapter on the concept of literary value, the power of the national canonisation process and its significance for the reception of Swedish literature translated into other languages and distributed outside the country.
Besides the monograph – published open access and as a printed version – and SWED Database (to be published online), two articles about the reception of two male novelists have been published in anthologies available on line: “Viktor Rydberg i världen: Skönlitteratur i översättning” and ”Zacharias Topelius i världen – verken i översättning”. A short version of the first one was presented as a paper at a conference at Södertörns högskola, Sweden, in spring 2019.
The bibliographical project database, SWED, which was constructed during my former project “Swedish Women’s Writing on Export”, has been further developed and expanded. A first version of the database is to be published in winter 2020/2021.
Research visits at Turku University and at Humboldt University
In spring 2019, I spent one month as a guest researcher at Turku University, School of History, Literature and Arts Studies, Finland (host: Professor Päivi Lappalainen). My aim was to examine the reception of Swedish novel in Finnish press and to conclude my investigation of the dissemination of the Swedish-language Finnish writer Topelius.
During my visit I was invited to participate in the international conference “Reading Culture and Libraries in Change” hosted by Turku University. I was also invited to contribute to an ongoing project on transnational reception, “Spatialized intimacy: Literary mapping in writing and reception of the Russian–Finnish cultural mediator, Marie Linder (1840–70)”, with a chapter on ”Marie Linder in dialogue with the Swedish novelist Carl Jonas Love Almqvist and Fredrika Bremer”, which will be published in a coming research report.
During my visit in Turku, I gave two lectures for researches and students: I presented my project on a seminar for senior scholars and PhD-students at Turku University. I was invited to give a lecture at Åbo Academy on their Master- and Ph.D-course “Global/Glocal. Explorations in World Literature”.
In Turku, I also investigated the possibilities to organise an exchange programme for Master-and PhD-students. (Due to the situation of Covid.-19, it has not been possible to start in 2020).
During my visit at Humboldt university in Berlin in autumn 2019, I continued my research on the German reception of Swedish literature by access to databases on German newspapers, as well as got access to material on German publishing houses. During my stay, I was asked to give a public lecture - “ringvorlesung” - about the international reception of Fredrika Bremer och C.J.L. Almqvist for invited guests and undergraduate students at Nordeuropa-institute, Humboldt University.
During my stay, I arranged meetings with other visiting researchers within my field of research, such as Professor Bode, Australian National University, and Professor Janke Kloke, University of Groningen, Netherlands.
Popular presentations
Two popular lectures were to be given in spring 2020. Due to Covid-19, both have been postponed to spring 2020:
“1800-talets svenska romanunder: Fredrika Bremer, Emelie Flygare-Carlén och Marie Sophie Schwartz som världsförfattare i jämförelse med Viktor Rydberg”, Viktor Rydbergs sällskapet in Jönköping, Sweden.
”1800-talets tre svenska succéförfattare internationellt: Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Fredrika Bremer och Marie Sophie Schwartz”, Göteborgs kvinnliga diskussionsklubb in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Invitation to coming conferences
Because of my research done within the project, I have been invited to present papers at two international conferences. Firstly, a paper called “International stars at their time, marginalised novelists today”, will be presented at the Dino conference on “Nordic Literature and Canonisation” in Odense (first planned to October 2020 but postponed to May 2021). Secondly, I have been invited to participate and present a paper on “Swedish Nineteenth-Century Literature as World Literature?” at a Nobel Symposium on “(World) Literature and the Problem of the Universal”, in Stockholm in August 2021.