Sara Maria Danius (5 April 1962 – 12 October 2019) was a Swedish literary critic and philosopher, and a scholar of literature and

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

. Danius was professor of aesthetics at

Södertörn University Södertörn University ( sv, Södertörns högskola, abbreviated as SH) is a public university college ( sv, högskola) located in Flemingsberg in Huddinge Municipality, and the larger area called Södertörn, in Stockholm County, Sweden. In 20 ...

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

of literature at

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 ...

and professor in

literary science 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 ...

Stockholm University 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, so ...

. Danius 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 ...

and its first female permanent secretary. She was one of the central figures in the

2018 controversies Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

resulting in the cancellation of the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

that year and the following restructuring of the academy.

Early life and education

Danius was the daughter of author

Anna Wahlgren Anna Martha Sofia Wahlgren ( Karlsson, 6 October 1942 – 7 October 2022) was a Swedish author and public debater. Wahlgren was best known for her book Barnaboken, which was published in 1983. She also wrote novels, short story collections, poe ...

(1942-2022) and Lars Danius (1907–1996).Sara Danius
''Vem är det: Svensk biografisk handbok 1993'', p. 235 She was the oldest of nine full and half siblings. She went to

Åva gymnasium Åva Gymnasium is a public secondary school located in Täby, Sweden, a suburb to the north of the capital, Stockholm. Established in 1970, it teaches most of the Swedish national curriculum programmes, as well as a two-year International Baccalau ...

Täby Täby () was previously a trimunicipal locality, with 66,292 inhabitants in 2013. However, as from 2016, Statistics Sweden has amalgamated this locality with the Stockholm urban area. It is the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Swed ...

, where she studied

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

. She played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

, the highest league in Sweden, and continued to play on a recreational level throughout her life. In 1981–82, she worked as a certified

croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Origin of the word Originally a "croupier" meant ...

and dealer at casinos in Stockholm. Danius graduated from

in 1986. She received her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

in 1989. She lived in the United States for ten years and, in 1997, received a PhD from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. In 1999 she received a PhD from Uppsala University.Sara Danius
profile at

She published on the relationship between literature and society and wrote about

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, and

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Career

Danius was a literary critic for the Swedish daily 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 ...

'' from 1986. In 2008, she became professor of

and

of literature at

. She was an executive member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish royal ...

since 2010, and in 2013 became professor in

at Stockholm University. In March 2013, Danius was elected to the

, succeeding

Knut Ahnlund Knut Emil Ahnlund (24 May 1923 – 28 November 2012) was a Swedish literary historian, writer, and member of the Swedish Academy. Ahnlund, who was born in Stockholm, was an expert on 19th and 20th century Nordic, especially Danish, literatur ...

on chair 7. Danius was formally installed in the academy at a ceremony on 20 December 2013. She took over the post as permanent secretary of the academy from

Peter Englund Peter Mikael Englund (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and historian. Englund writes non-fiction books and essays, often about the Swedish Empire and other historical events. He writes in a very accessible style, providing narrative deta ...

on 1 June 2015. She played a central role in awarding the literature Nobel to Bob Dyla

This was the first time a musician and songwriter won the

br>
The award caused some controversy, particularly among writers arguing that the literary merits of Dylan's work are not equal to those of some of his peers. She was asked to resign from her position and left the academy on 12 April 2018, against the background of critique over the academy's handling of the Me Too movement, Me Too-related

Jean-Claude Arnault Jean-Claude Arnault (; born 15 August 1946), known in Swedish media as ("the cultural personage", but commonly translated literally as "the cultural profile"), is a French-Swedish convicted sex offender. He worked as a photographer and is the f ...

scandal. The scandal evolved into the

resulting in the cancellation of the

that year and the following restructuring of the academy. Two former permanent secretaries, Sture Allén and

Horace Engdahl Horace Oscar Axel Engdahl (born 30 December 1948) is a Swedish literary historian and critic, and has been a member of the Swedish Academy since 1997. He was the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy from 1999 to June 2009, when he was succee ...

, called Danius a weak leader in her handling of the affair. On 26 February 2019 she resigned from her seat at the Swedish Academy. Her move came after several academy members tried to sweep the scandal under the rug, prompting the resignation of three academy members "in disgust."

Personal life

Danius was interested in

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. At the

Nobel Banquet The Nobel Banquet ( sv, Nobelfesten) is an annual banquet held on 10 December in the Blue Hall of Stockholm City Hall, after the Nobel Prize ceremony. At the banquet, for which a formal dress code exists, a multi-course dinner is served and en ...

s she wore specially designed dresses by Pär Engsheden and inspired by three authors she admired:

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

. Her signature garment, a

pussy bow A lavallière, also called a pussycat bow or pussybow, is a style of neckwear worn with women's and girls' blouses and bodices. It is a bow tied at the neck, which has been likened to those sometimes put on "pussy cats". History While bows at th ...

blouse, became a symbol to wear for those who supported her during the Swedish Academy crisis. From 1989 to 2010, she was married to author Stefan Jonsson. They had a son named Leo. Danius died on 12 October 2019, aged 57, after having suffered from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

for several years.

Bibliography

*''Försök om litteratur'', Stockholm: Bonnier, 1998. . *''Prousts motor'', Stockholm: Bonnier, 2000. . *''The senses of modernism: technology, perception, and aesthetics'', Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002. . *''The prose of the world: Flaubert and the art of making things visible'', Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2006. *''Voices: contemporary ceramic art from Sweden'', Stockholm: Carlsson, 2006. . *''Proust-Benjamin : om fotografin'', 2011. . *''Näsa för nyheter : essä om James Joyce'', 2013. . *''Den blå tvålen: Romanen och konsten att göra saker och ting synliga'', 2013. . *''Husmoderns död och andra texter'', Stockholm: Bonnier, 2014. . *''Om Bob Dylan'', 2018. .

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Bibliography

References

Further reading