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Oscar Ivar Levertin (17 July 1862,
In his own short story collections in the 1880s, Levertin first aligned himself with the Naturalist school of fiction of which
Vårnatt
with
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levertin, Oscar 1862 births 1906 deaths People from Norrköping Jewish Swedish writers Writers from Östergötland Swedish-language poets Swedish male writers Stockholm University faculty 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers
Norrköping
Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...
– 22 September 1906) 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
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, critic
A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...
and literary historian. Levertin was a dominant voice of the Swedish cultural scene from 1897, when he started writing influential high-profile essays and reviews in the daily paper Svenska Dagbladet
''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden.
History and profile
The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...
.
From 1899 until his early death in 1906 he also occupied the first Chair of literary history at the University of Stockholm
Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, soci ...
, in which role he published extensive studies, particularly in Swedish 18th century literature.
Overview
In his own short story collections in the 1880s, Levertin first aligned himself with the Naturalist school of fiction of which 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 ...
was the most prominent member. In 1888, however, the previously unheard Swedish romantic poetic voice of Verner von Heidenstam
Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) was a Swedish poet, novelist and laureate of the 1916 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. His poems and prose work are filled with a great joy ...
's ''Vallfart och vandringsår'' changed Levertin's stylistic ideals. Levertin and Heidenstam published together a pamphlet attacking the Naturalist style in 1890, and even though Levertin was never to abandon his scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and materialist
Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...
view of history (something that sets him off from other poets of his generation), his literary energies were thenceforth channelled into poetry of a romantic, exotic and historical character. Together with Heidenstam's work, Levertin's first collection of poetry, ''Legender och visor'' (''Legends and Songs'') (1891), sparked an 1890s Swedish fashion for historical, particularly "medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
", literature. Unlike Heidenstam's and much other Swedish poetry of the 1890s, ''Legender och visor'' is free from Swedish nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
, drawing on many Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an as well as Middle Eastern sources. This volume remains highly regarded today, though no longer widely read. Poems from it, including the ballad "Flores och Blanzeflor", remained set texts in Swedish schools into the 1970s.
In culture
Levertin is depicted as Olof Levini inHjalmar 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 ...
's 1912 novel '' The Serious Game'' (Swedish: ''Den Allvarsamma Leken'').
Bibliography
*''Från Rivieran: skisser från Medelhavskusten'' (1883) *''Småmynt'' (1883) *''Konflikter: nya noveller'' (1885) *''Pepitas bröllop'' (with Verner von Heidenstam) (1890) *''Legender och visor'' (1891) *''Diktare och drömmare'' (1898) *''Rococo-noveller'' (1899) *''Magistrarne i Österås'' (1900) *''Svenska gestalter'' (1903) *''Kung Salomo och Morolf'' (1905)See also
* Flores and BlancheflourReferences
External links
* * Listen to a free MP3 recording of Wilhelm Stenhammars music to Levertins poeVårnatt
with
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levertin, Oscar 1862 births 1906 deaths People from Norrköping Jewish Swedish writers Writers from Östergötland Swedish-language poets Swedish male writers Stockholm University faculty 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers