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Pär Lagerkvist
b. 1891 Växjö, Sweden d. 1974 Stockholm, Sweden The leading Swedish author of the mid-twentienth century, Pär Lagerkvist produced poems, plays, novels, stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his early 20s to his late 70s. Winner of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature, he was an intensely private man about whom not much is known outside his work. The nature of good and evil and the search for religious belief are themes that dominate much of his output. |
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BIOGRAPHY |
The son of a railroad signalman, Pär Fabian Lagerkvist was born in 1891 in the
southern Swedish province of Småland, the youngest of seven children. Raised
in a deeply and traditionally religious household, Lagerkvist decided at an early
age that he wanted to be a writer. While still a schoolboy, he began to publish
poems in local newspapers.
Lagerkvist studied art history at the University of Uppsala in the years 1911-1912 and published his first book, the story collection Människor (People) in 1912. In 1913, following a visit to Paris, he published the essay Ordkonst och bildkonst (Literary Art and Pictorial Art), in which he attacked the "degenerate" literary art of the day and proposed Cubism and Expressionism as models for the development of a modern literary style. During World War I he lived in Denmark, where he wrote Ångest (Anguish, poems, 1916) and began to study the theatre. His 1918 essay Teater (Modern Theatre) argued that the Naturalism exemplified by Ibsen was outmoded for modern stage works. Instead, Lagerkvist promoted the later Expressionistic plays of August Strindberg as models of modern stage works. After visiting Italy in 1919, Lagerkvist wrote Det eviga leendet (The Eternal Smile, 1920), one of his most famous stories. Gäst hos verkligheten (Guest of Reality), a short novel based on Lagerkvist's own childhood in Växjö, appeared in 1925. As close to autobiography as he ever wrote, it is often analyzed for its insight into his youth. After several years of living abroad, Lagerkvist returned to Sweden in 1930, settling near Stockholm. His novella, later adapted for the stage, Bödeln (The Hangman, 1933; play, 1934) shows his growing concern with the totalitarianism that began to sweep across Europe in the years prior to World War II. In 1940, Pär Lagerkvist was elected to the Swedish Academy. His 1944 novel Dvärgen (The Dwarf), a cautionary tale about evil, brought him international attention. Barabbas (novel, 1950) was even more successful. Lagerkvist adapted the book, the story of the thief who was released from crucifixion instead of Jesus, for the stage in 1953. Dino di Laurentiis produced a film version in 1962 starring Anthony Quinn. The 1951 Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Pär Lagerkvist "for the artistic vigor and true independence of mind with which he endeavors in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind." Sixty years old and world famous, he produced one last book of poems, Aftonland (Evening Land) in 1953, before turning to the novel as his preferred form of expression. Sibyllan (The Sibyl), the first in a series of related novels on a religious theme, appeared in 1956, followed by Ahasverus död (The Death of Ahasuerus, 1960), Pilgrim på havet (Pilgrim at Sea, 1962), and Det heliga landet (The Holy Land, 1964). His last novel and last book, the problematic love story Mariamne (Herod and Mariamne) was published in 1967. Pär Lagerkvist died in Stockholm in 1974. |
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY |
Lagerkvist was an extremely versatile writer who made significant contributions to
literature as a poet, essayist, and playwright, though he is known in the USA primarily
as a novelist and short story writer. Barabbas (novel, 1950) and The Dwarf
(Dvärgen, novel, 1944) are probably his best known works in this country.
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WORK IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION |
Lagerkvist's later novels have all been translated into English, although most are
currently out of print in the United States. His earlier work has not fared even that
well. Relatively few of Lagerkvist's writings prior to Dvärgen have been
translated and none of these are currently available in English. The books in the following
list all had USA paperback editions and hence might be found in used book stores or through
an online search service like Bibliofind. Larger
public libraries and most university and college libraries should have at least some of
these books in their collection.
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BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON.COM |
As indicated above, relatively little of Lagerkvist's work is currently available in translation.
The following lists what can currently be ordered from
Amazon.com.
Click on the title to buy the book.
Barabbas Translated by Alan Blair New York: Vintage, 1989 ISBN 067972544X $10.00 Barabbas (1950) is a moral study of a "believer without belief." The thief Barabbas, after being released from execution in favor of Jesus, spends his life in trying to comprehend Christianity. Lagerkvist's most famous novel and the source of the 1962 film starring Anthony Quinn. The Dwarf Translated by Alexandra Dick New York: Noonday, 1998 ISBN 0374521352 $11.00 Dvärgen (1944) is a story about evil. Set in renaissance times, The Dwarf describes court events and intrigues in an unnamed Italianate country from the standpoint of the dwarf, the prince's jester, sometime confidante, and companion. The Marriage Feast Translated by Alan Blair and Carl Eric Lindin New York: Hill & Wang, 1973 ISBN 0809067862 $20.00 A collection of nineteen stories by Lagerkvist, ranging from the single paragraph of "Love and Death" to the novella-length "The Masquerade of Souls." The Sibyl Translated by Naomi Walford New York: Random House, 1963 ISBN 0394702409 $9.00 Sibyllan (1956) is the first novel in a sequence that also includes The Death of Ahasuerus, Pilgrim at Sea, and The Holy Land. |
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OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES |
There just aren't a lot of other internet resources on Lagerkvist -- at least not a lot
that are in English. Check out the following sites and
let me know if you discover any new and/or better
ones.
Pär Lagerkvist A biographical sketch of Lagerkvist and a bibliography from the Kuusankoski Public Library in Finland. Pär Lagerkvist This page, part of the Mehr Lit! site, includes cover images of some of the early American editions of Lagerkvist's books. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1951 The page on Lagerkvist at the official Nobel Foundation site. Includes the Prize presentation address by Anders Österling and Lagerkvist's acceptance speech. This page is mirrored here by the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Literary Art and Pictorial Art The Rainbow Press offers an English translation of Lagerkvist's Ordkonst och bildkonst, his early influential essay on literary and visual art, to the interested reader. Also available here is a downloadable essay (in PDF format) titled "Pär Lagerkvist and Cubism: A Study of His Theory and Practice." The Swedish Horror Association Lagerkvist is represented here along with that other great master of the horror genre, August Strindberg. The Association's Lagerkvist page includes the English text of two short short stories: "The Evil Angel" and "A Hero's Death" (both included in The Marriage Feast). |
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NOTES AND REFERENCES |
The following sources were used in the creation of this page:
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nordland:2 |
bill winter 2001.03.31 (revised 2004.06.28) |