Bo Hjalmar Bergman (6 October 1869 – 17 November 1967) was a Swedish writer,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

, sitting in Seat 12 from 1925 until his death. His works form the inspiration for works by several major Swedish composers, including:

Wilhelm Stenhammar Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Stenhammar was born in Stockholm and was the brother of architect Ernst Stenhammar. He received his first musical e ...

Ture Rangström Anders Johan Ture Rangström (30 November 1884 – 11 May 1947) belonged to a new generation of Swedish composers who, in the first decade of the 20th century, introduced modernism to their compositions. In addition to composing, Rangström was a ...

, and

Karin Rehnqvist Karin Rehnqvist (born 21 August 1957) is a Swedish composer and conductor of classical music. She composes chamber music, orchestral works, music for the stage, and particularly vocal music, incorporating elements of folk music such as the vocal te ...

. Bergman was born and died in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, where he spent his entire working life as a postal official, retiring in 1933. He started writing poetry whilst working for the Swedish postal service, his first poetry anthology, ''Marionettema'', was published in 1903. In addition to his postal duties, Bergman also worked as a literary critic for ''Ord och Bild'' from 1900 until 1904. He worked for the major newspaper, ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ''Da ...

'', and he also served as a theatre critic from 1905 until 1939. Bergman was a close friend of the pre-eminent Swedish novelist of his day,

Hjalmar Söderberg Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg (2 July 1869 – 14 October 1941) was a Swedish novelist, short story writer, playwright and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Sto ...

, with whom he maintained an extensive correspondence extending from 1891 until Söderberg's death in 1941. Like Söderberg, Bergman's writing was heavily influenced by the

decadent movement The Decadent movement (Fr. ''décadence'', “decay”) was a late-19th-century artistic and literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality. The Decadent movement first flourished ...

, in particular the

flâneur () is a French noun referring to a person, literally meaning "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", or "loafer", but with some nuanced additional meanings (including as a loanword into English). is the act of strolling, with all of its acco ...

writings of

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

. Bergman's early poetry is typically decadent and disillusioned, being informed by a

determinist Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and consi ...

view of a changing world in which all value systems and all scientific and metaphysical processes of understanding the universe are meaningless. ''Marionetterna'', which translates as ''The Marionettes'', supposes that the destinies of men are in the hands of a bearded old man in control of their every move. Like Söderberg, Bergman's worldview gave way to a militant brand of humanism in his later works, a reaction against the growing threat of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. Bergman is buried at the

Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Cemetery" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables. Nota ...

Bibliography

Source:

Anthologies

* 1903 - ''Marionetterna'' (The Marionettes) * 1908 - ''En människa'' (One Man) * 1917 - ''Elden'' (The Fire) * 1922 - ''Livets ögon'' (The Eyes of Life) * 1939 - ''Gamla gudar'' (Old Gods) * 1944 - ''Riket'' (The Country) * 1952 - ''Stunder'' (Moments) * 1969 - ''Äventyret'' (The Adventure)

Novels

* 1904 - ''Drömmen och andra noveller'' (The Dream, and Other Stories) * 1915 - ''Skeppet'' (The Ship)

Play

* 1963 - ''Det eviga spelet'' (The Eternal Game)

Autobiography

* 1964 - ''Trasmattan'' (The Rag Carpet)

Letters

* 1969 - ''Kära Hjalle – Kära Bo (Brevväxling med Hjalmar Söderberg)'' (Dear Hjalle, Dear Bo. Correspondence with Hjalmar Söderberg)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Bo 1869 births 1967 deaths Writers from Stockholm Swedish poets Swedish male writers Swedish-language poets Members of the Swedish Academy Postmasters Swedish autobiographers Swedish male poets Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen