''Kallocain'' is a 1940

dystopian novel Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to ...

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 ...

novelist

Karin Boye Karin Maria Boye (; 26 October 1900 – 24 April 1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist. In Sweden she is acclaimed as a poet, but internationally she is best known for the dystopian science fiction novel '' Kallocain'' (1940). Career Boye wa ...

that envisions a future of drab terror. Seen through the eyes of the idealistic scientist Leo Kall, ''Kallocain'' is a depiction of a

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

world state World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. A world gove ...

. An important aspect of the novel is the relationships and connections between the various characters, such as the marriage of the main character and his wife, Linda Kall, and the feelings of jealousy and suspicion that may arise in a society with heavy surveillance and legal uncertainty. One of the novel's central ideas coincides with contemporary rumors of

truth drug Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, ...

s that ensured the subordination of every citizen to the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. Both

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

's ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hiera ...

'' (1932) and Boye's ''Kallocain'' are drug dystopias, or societies in which pharmacology is used to suppress opposition to authority. However, unlike ''Brave New World'' in which a drug is used to suppress the urge to nonconformity generally, a drug in ''Kallocain'' is used to detect individual acts and thoughts of rebellion. ''Kallocain'' has been translated into more than 10 languages; English-language translations include those by Gustaf Lannestock (2002, University of Wisconsin Press) and David McDuff (2019, Penguin Classics). It was adapted into a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

miniseries in 1981 by

Hans Abramson Hans Abramson (5 May 1930 – 9 June 2012) was a Swedish film director. He directed more than 40 films between 1957 and 1991. Selected filmography * '' Ormen'' (1966) * '' Stimulantia'' (1967) * '' Roseanna'' (1967) * '' Tintomara'' (1970) ...

. In 2016, the novel was nominated for the

Retro-Hugo The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

award for the best science fiction novel of 1941.

Plot

The plot centers on Leo Kall and is written in the form of a diary or memoir. Kall lives with his wife, Linda Kall, in a city intended for chemical industry. Leo is a scientist, who is initially very loyal to the government and develops the truth drug Kallocain. It has the effect that anyone who takes it will reveal anything, even things of which they were not consciously aware. Major themes include the notion of the self in a totalitarian state, the meaning of life, and the power of

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

. Another central theme is the criminalization of thoughts. Oneself is not an individual, rather a part of the state. And through the effects of Kallocain, the last sanctuary of self is invaded. Apart from the laboratory work and testing by Leo Kall, much of the novel takes place in the home of Leo and Linda.

References

External links

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Full text English translation
from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections {{Authority control 1940 Swedish novels Dystopian novels 1940 science fiction novels Swedish science fiction novels Fictional diaries Swedish novels adapted into films Swedish-language novels Totalitarianism in fiction

Plot

References

Further reading

External links