Bengt Gunnar Ekelöf (15 September 1907, 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 ...
– 16 March 1968, in
Sigtuna
Sigtuna () is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 8,444 inhabitants in 2010. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta.
Sigtuna is for historical reasons often still referr ...
) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
poet and writer. He was a 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 ...
from 1958 and was awarded an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
in philosophy by
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
in 1958. He won a number of prizes for his poetry.
Life and works
Gunnar Ekelöf has been called Sweden's first
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
poet. He made his debut with the collection ''sent på jorden'' ("late on earth") in 1932, written during an extended stay in Paris in 1929–1930, which was too unconventional to become widely appreciated and described by its author as capturing a period of suicidal thoughts and apocalyptic moods.
[''Lundkvist, Martinsson, Ekelöf'', by Espmark & Olsson, in Delblanc, Lönnroth, Göransson, vol 3] It was in a sense an act of literary revolt akin to
Edith Södergran
Edith Irene Södergran (4 April 1892 – 24 June 1923) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet. One of the first modernists within Swedish-language literature, her influences came from French Symbolism, German expressionism, and Russian fu ...
's ''Septemberlyran'' of a dozen years earlier. While not disavowing his debut, Ekelöf moved towards
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
and received better reviews for his second poetry collection, ''Dedikation'' (1934). Both the volumes are influenced by surrealism and show a violent, at times feverish torrent of images, deliberate breakdown of ordered syntax and traditional poetic language and a defiant spirit bordering on anarchism ("cut your belly cut your belly and don't think of any tomorrow" runs the black humorous refrain of a poem called "fanfare" in ''sent på jorden''; a collection that eschews capital letters). This defiant externalism was grounded in his person. Though he came from an upper-class background, Ekelöf had never felt committed to it – his father had been mentally ill and when his mother remarried, Ekelöf strongly disapproved of his stepfather, and by extension of his mother; he had become a loner and a rebel by his teens and would never feel at ease with the mores of the established upper and middle classes or with their inhibitions and what he perceived as their hypocrisy and back-scratching. Swedish critic Anders Olsson described Ekelöf's turn to poetry as a choice of "the only utterance that doesn't expurge the contradictions and empty spaces of language and of the mind."
''Färjesång'' (1941), showed influence from
T.S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...
, whose poem ''
East Coker
East Coker is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. Its nearest town is Yeovil, to the north. The village has a population of 1,667. The parish includes the hamlets and areas of North Coker, Burton, ...
'' Ekelöf had translated to Swedish. It took influence from oriental poetry and the darkness of the ongoing
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
This was followed by the acclaimed works, the prose book ''Promenader'' (1941, "Walks"), the disillusioned
''
Non Serviam
''Non serviam'' is Latin for "I will not serve". The phrase is traditionally attributed to Satan, who is thought to have spoken these words as a refusal to serve God in heaven.
Today "non serviam" is also used or referred to as motto by a nu ...
'' (1945) (its
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
title meaning "I will not serve") and ''Om hösten'' (1951, "In autumn"). This last included the well-known
poem "Röster under jorden" ("Underground voices").
In ''Strountes'' (1955), from Swedish "strunt" ("nonsense"), Ekelöf returned to his attacks on literary conventions, exploring meaninglessness. With his continual wordplay, he demonstrated that meaning can emerge from apparent nonsense.
In April 1958, Ekelöf was elected a 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 ...
, succeeding author
Bertil Malmberg
Bertil Frans Harald Malmberg (13 August 1889 - 11 February 1958) was a Swedish writer, poet, and actor. He
was born in Härnösand to Teodor Malmberg and Hanna Roman. Malmberg is the 1956 winner of the Dobloug Prize, a literature prize awarde ...
on chair 18 in December the same year. ''En Mölna-elegi'' ("A Mölna Elegy", 1960), a lengthy
elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
Ekelöf had already begun composing in the 1930s, was a highly personal collection of free associations, moods and memories featuring
intertextual
Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text, either through deliberate compositional strategies such as quotation, allusion, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche or parody,Gerard Genette (1997) ''Paratexts'p.18/ref>H ...
references to
Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758).
Swedenborg had ...
,
Carl Michael Bellman
Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...
,
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...
,
Edith Södergran
Edith Irene Södergran (4 April 1892 – 24 June 1923) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet. One of the first modernists within Swedish-language literature, her influences came from French Symbolism, German expressionism, and Russian fu ...
, and others. The poems deal with the
Proustian theme of memory and has been called Ekelöf's most
Joycean A text is deemed Joycean when it is reminiscent of the writings of James Joyce, particularly '' Ulysses'' or ''Finnegans Wake''. Joycean fiction exhibits a high degree of verbal play, usually within the framework of stream of consciousness. Works ...
work.
On its publication, the book received strongly positive reviews by contemporary critics.
Ekelöf's last works, ''Dīwān över Fursten av Emgión'' (1965, ``
Diwan on the Prince of Emgion``), ''Sagan om Fatumeh'' (1966, "The Tale of Fatumeh") and ''Vägvisare till underjorden'' (1967, "Guide to the Underworld") was a trilogy with
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
theme.
The trilogy was inspired by journey to
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
and
Izmir in 1965 that resulted in an outburst of creativity. In his diary, Ekelöf described the visit as a
revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
that would change his life. ''Dīwān över Fursten av Emgión'' tells the story of the fictive Prince of Emgión who participated in the
Battle of Manzikert, was captured, tortured and blinded, and then jailed in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
for ten years. On his way home, the Prince is accompanied by a mysterious woman, assisting him in his blindness. For this book, Ekelöf was awarded the
Nordic Council Literature Prize
The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth ...
in 1966.
Ekelöf died on 16 March 1968. According to his will, his ashes were scattered in the river
Pactolus
Pactolus ( el, Πακτωλός), now named Sart Çayı, is a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. ...
in Turkey.
Legacy
He is remembered as one of the first
Surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
poets of Sweden.
On the 103rd anniversary of his birth, 40 Swedish poetry enthusiasts gathered in
Salihli
Salihli is a large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.
Geography
The city of Salihli, the seat of the district, is located on İzmir-Ankara (E 96) highway and the parallel railway connections. The urban zone is ...
, Turkey. Together with the deputy mayor, they honored Ekelöf's legacy in the city, which he came to admire ardently on a visit in 1965 and portrayed in several poems. In his will, he expressed his wish to be cremated and his ashes spread over the Sard stream in Salihli. A bust of Ekelöf by
Gürdal Duyar
Gürdal Duyar (20 August 1935 – 18 April 2004) was a Turkish people, Turkish sculptor, known especially for his monuments to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Atatürk and Bust (sculpture), busts of famous people. His art is characterized by a Modern scul ...
was to have been placed there, but this was never done, and it now waits in the garden of the Swedish Embassy in Istanbul.
Selected bibliography
In Swedish
* ''Sent på jorden'' "late on earth", poems (1932) (title in lower case lettering; this is retained in all reprints)
* ''Fransk surrealism'' "French Surrealism", translations (1933)
* ''Dedikation'' "Dedication", poems (1934)
* ''Hundra år modern fransk dikt'' "100 Years of Modern French Poetry", translations (1934)
* ''Sorgen och stjärnan'' "The Sorrow and the Star", poems (1936)
* ''Köp den blindes sång'' "Buy the Blind Man's Song", poems (1938)
* ''Färjesång'' "Ferry Song", poems (1941)
* ''Promenader'' "Walks", essays (1941)
* ''Non serviam'' "
Non Serviam
''Non serviam'' is Latin for "I will not serve". The phrase is traditionally attributed to Satan, who is thought to have spoken these words as a refusal to serve God in heaven.
Today "non serviam" is also used or referred to as motto by a nu ...
", poems (1945)
* ''Utflykter'' "Excursions", essays (1947)
* ''Om hösten'' "In Autumn", poems (1951)
* ''Strountes'' "Nonsense", poems (1955)
* ''Blandade kort'' "Shuffled Cards", essays (1957)
* ''Opus incertum'' "Opus Incertum", poems (1959)
* ''En Mölna-elegi'' "A Mölna-Elegy", poem (1960)
* ''Valfrändskaper'' "Elective Affinities", translations (1960)
* ''En natt i Otocac'' "A night in Otocac", poems (1961)
* ''Diwan över fursten av Emgión'' "
Diwan on the Prince of Emgion", poems (1965)
* ''Sagan om Fatumeh'' "The Tale of Fatumeh", poems (1966)
* ''Vägvisare till underjorden'' "Guide to the Underworld", trans.
Rika Lesser
Rika Lesser (born 1953 Brooklyn, New York) is a U.S. poet, and is a translator of Swedish and German literary works.
Life
Lesser earned her bachelor's degree at Yale University in 1974. She studied at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden from 1 ...
, poems (1967)
* ''Partitur'' "Score" (poems and drafts from his final year) (1969)
* ''Lägga patience'' "Solitaire Game", essays (1969)
* ''En självbiografi'' "An Autobiography", miscellaneous (1971)
* ''En röst'' "A Voice", sketches, diary notes, poems (1973)
A collected volume of Ekelöf's poetry, ''Dikter'' ("Poems"), was published by Mån Pocket in 1987.
In English
* ''Selected Poems of Gunnar Ekelöf'', translated by
Muriel Rukeyser
Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "e ...
and Leif Sjöberg, (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1967)
* ''Late Arrival on Earth: Selected Poems'', translated by
Robert Bly
Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ' ...
and Christina Paulston,(London: Rapp & Carroll, 1967)
* ''I Do Best Alone at Night'', translated by Robert Bly and Christina Paulston, (Washington: The Charioteer Press, 1968)
* ''Selected Poems'', translated by
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
and Leif Sjöberg, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1971)
Ekelöf made some substantial re-edits of the text and sequence of poems in later collected editions and anthologies of his work, especially relating to his 1930s books.
References
Sources
*
External links
The Gunnar Ekelöf society homepage(in Swedish)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekelof, Gunnar
1907 births
1968 deaths
Writers from Stockholm
Members of the Swedish Academy
Swedish-language poets
Swedish-language writers
Modernist poets
Dobloug Prize winners
Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
20th-century poets