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Frans G(unnar) Bengtsson (1894-1954) | |
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Swedish essayist, novelist, poet, and biographer. Bengtsson was the first successful practitioner of the informal essay in Sweden, a genre that he virtually introduced to the literature of his own country. His best-known novel is Röde orm (1941-45, The Long Ships), a Viking saga written in an ornate and romantic style. "I själva verket ha i alla högre kulturer talspråk och skriftspråk föga med varandra att göra; de existerar som divergerande grenar från samma rot, i varje fall som två självständiga storheter, där skriftspråket minst av allt är ett talspråkets lydiga epifenomen. Talspråket är en samlig skäligen godtyckliga läten, och dess öden äro av underordnad betydelse; skriftspråket däremot är ett idealt konstverk, motståndskraftig mot tid och förvandling tills barbarer och utvecklingsmakare få hand om det, och dess förvittring och sönderfall är ett med kulturens." (from 'Konsten att stava') Frans G. Bengtsson was born in Tossjö, near Kristianstad, the son of an estate manager. In his childhood in Skåne Bengtsson suffered from poor health – these problems later hindered his plans for an academic career. Such philosophers as Schopenhauer and Hartmann deeply influenced Bengtsson's thinking, a combination of a stoic world view with aestheticism. After graduating from a secondary school in 1912 he entered the University of Lund. Bengtsson did not hurry with his studies. While living in Lund, he read extensively and developed skills as an extemporaneous speaker and chess player. In 1930 he received his Licentiate in Philosophy. In 1939 Bengtsson married Gerda Fineman. During World War II he became known for his attacks on Nazism and the Swedish sympathizers of Germany. Bengtsson died in Ribbingsfors on December 19, 1954. Bengtsson had been considered nearly an atheist by his friends. He often criticized institutionalized Christianity, but on his death bed he read old Swedish psalms. As a side-effect of his long illness he gradually lost interest in books, which had been his dearest friends all his life. "Han kände den demoni som besjälar historien, men han ville inte blamera sig som världsförbättrare eller moralist i vanlig beskäftig mening; han föredrog att tiga. Den som läser hans glada essäer rätt anar, att där bakom finns en allvar som inte alls är oförenligt med ett gott skratt åt tillvarons groteska intermezzon." (Sven Stolpe in 40 svenska författare, 1980) Bengtsson made his debut as a poet in 1923 with Tärningkast. Two years later appeared Legenden om Babel (1925). In these works he revived such old verse forms as the canzone and the sonnet. In the 1920s Bengtsson began publishing historical sketches in the periodical Ord och Bild. His first collection of essays, Litteratörer och militärer, was published in 1929. The collection contained several historical sketches, as well as pieces of literary criticism and literary history. It was followed by Silversköldarna (1931), De långhåriga merovingerna (1933), Sällskap för en eremit (1938), För nöjes skull (1947), and Tankar i gröngräset (1953), a selection of essays. Röde orm was written during the war years, but its tone was light, and it did not have excessive patriotic fervour. Posthumously appeared Folk som sjöng (1955) and Lycklig resa (1960). An English translation of Bengtsson's essays was published in 1950 under the title A Walk to an Ant Hill and Other Essays. Essays brought Bengtsson great success. His broad knowledge of history, large vocabulary, and masterful style were used most effectively in these works. Bengtsson also had a phenomenal memory, and he could quote by heart long passages from books he had read in his youth. The writer Sven Stople, Bengtsson's friend, had told that only the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin had a better memory. Bengtsson's subject matters varied from literary and military figures to historical curiosities and the art of lying. He was especially interested in men of action, such as François Villon, Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon. Bengtsson was a skeptical pessimist who had no illusions about the modern world. Over the years his attitude hardened, and he was seen as a highly anachronist figure in the 20th-century modernist Swedish literature. He once said: "Joan of Arc, Carl XII, and Garibaldi are the persons I would like to meet - for them the truth was more important than intrigues." The two-volume Karl XII:s levnad (1935-36), which won the Swedish Academy’s prize in 1938, was a detailed study of the life of King Charles XII, one of the greatest military leaders in European history who defeated Denmark, Poland, Saxony, and Russia in a series of campaigns. He was killed while fighting in Norway. In his work Bengtsson avoided psychologizing but created an epic character who is admirable for his simplicity. In Röde Orm Bengtsson adopted a narrative technique familiar from the Icelandic sagas. It drew a picture of men whose thoughts and feelings are seen in their action. Colored with humor and irony, the Viking burlesque parodied romantic Viking pageants, in poetry and prose. As a model Bengtsson did not use such great narratives as Njáls saga or Laxdœla saga but turned to the smaller stories called pættir. Röde orm was considered by some critics to have contributed to a reawakening of interest in Viking civilization. It is one of the most widely read Swedish novels. For further reading: Vem är vem i svensk litteratur by Agneta och Lars Erik Blomqvist (1999); Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, vol. 1, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999); 40 svenska författare by Sven Stople (1980); Legenden om Bengtsson by Ivar Harrie (1971); A History of Swedish Literature by A. Gustafson (1961); 'The Sword Does Not Jest' by R.E. Sullivan, in Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly 11 (1960); 'Frans G. Bengtsson, 1894-1954' by L.S. Thompson, in Kentucky Foreign Language Quaterly 2 (1955); 'The Long Ships' by W.W. Gustafson, in Scandinavian Studies 27 (1955); Frans G. Bengtsson by Elof Ehnmark (1946); Frans G. Bengtsson, essayisten by A. Lundkvist (1941) Selected works:
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