Ingrid Mathilda Kruse Malling (Jan 20, 1864 – Mar 21, 1942), known as Mathilda Malling, and even better known by her early pen name, Stella Kleve, was a Swedish novelist born January 20, 1864, on her family's farm, in North Mellby Parish,

Kristianstad County Kristianstad County ( sv, Kristianstads län) was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 31 December 1996 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County. The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad. See also * List of g ...

, Sweden and died in København, Esajas sn, Sjælland,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in 1942. Daughter of Danish estate owner, Frans Oskar Kruse, and Anna Maria Mathilda Borgström, she graduated from Lyceum for Girls in Stockholm, then studied at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Stella Kleve. In 1886, she published the novel ''Pyrrhussegrar'' (''Pyrrhic Victories'') in the progressive feminist publication ''Framåt'' ('Forward') by

Alma Åkermark Alma Mathilda Åkermark (11 June 1853, Forshälla parish – 4 June 1933, Oscar Fredriks parish) was a Swedish editor, feminist, writer, journalist and women's rights activist. She was a co-founder of the radical feminist women's paper '' Framåt ...

. Her contemporaries took note of her sensually colored depictions of young women, but posterity now considers her decadent late-naturalistic depiction of women as the female counterpart of the male breakthrough novels of this time. She had early contact with

Ola Hansson Ola Hansson (12 November 1860, Hönsinge, Sweden – 26 September 1925, Büyükdere, Turkey) was a Swedish poet, prose writer, and critic. Biography Hansson published his first works, ''Dikter'' ("''Poems''") in 1884 and ''Notturno'' in 1 ...

who frequently corresponded with her and also courted and proposed to her. Hansen portrayed, after a difficult break-up with Malling, as a woman of the future. The young poets and the students Emil Kléen and Albert Sahlin wanted to do a small decadent publication (which never came out) in the late 1880s, but failed to persuade her. Anti-Semitism and misogyny in the decadence literary style have been the source of much scholarship.

Fictionalized Portrayal of Molly Brant

Detracting from presumed feminism, Malling's novel, ''Daybreak'', published in 1906 by a respected "magazine of the world's best fiction," depicts entirely real characters and settings, by name, thus promoting the vilification of an early American feminist leader of

native people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. Today, the reader is impressed by its sensational, even slanderous, quality. The very real

Mary Brant Molly Brant ( – April 16, 1796), also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsi'tsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was a Mohawk leader in British New York and Upper Canada in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the co ...

, and her culture, might well have considered such 'fictions' to be but a form of highly influential propaganda, presented with a thin veneer of fiction, and meant to degrade Brant, who was an influential

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

and the consort of Sir William Johnson. A breakthrough female herself, perhaps insight into Malling's motivation, in scandalizing Brant through fiction, is somewhat explained in the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

's and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

's 1918 ''Scandinavian Studies and Notes'': While "a popular writer of considerable talent... it is Mathilda Malling's pride to think that descendants of her own race did something to establish American freedom and they like so many others were resolved not to yield an inch from what they considered right."''Scandinavian Studies and Notes'', Vol. 5, No. 1; Flom, G.T., Editor; Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study; Wisconsin, USA; 1918, pp. 165-166.
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Later works

After a long silence she resumed her writing, but in a very different character, with a novel about the First Consul, which was a huge success thanks to her skillful manipulation of historical material. Her work became hailed as well-done historically and even safe for family reading and included ''Madam Governor of Paris'' (1895, 2nd ed 1898), ''Eremitageidyllen'' (1896), ''Shooting on Munkeboda'' (1897), the play ''Lady Leonora'' (1897), ''Doña Ysabel'' (1898), ''Ladies in Markby'' (1901), ''Daybreak'' (1902), ''Nina'' (1903), ''Little Marica and Her Husband'' (1904), ''Lady Elizabeth Percy'' (1905), ''Her Hero'' (1906), ''Mary Stuart'' (1907), ''Nina's Honeymoon'' (1908), ''Karl Skytles Wife'' (1909), ''Sisters of Ribershus'' (1910) and ''The White House and Red House'' (1911). The later work shows lush, but little original, storytelling imagination and a lot of free floating. The historical novels found a large readership in the early 1900s, but her breakthrough novel ''Berta Funcke'' still arouses interest.

European recognition

Malling's first two novels were heatedly discussed. Swedish feminist

Ellen Key Ellen Karolina Sofia Key (; 11 December 1849 – 25 April 1926) was a Swedish difference feminist writer on many subjects in the fields of family life, ethics and education and was an important figure in the Modern Breakthrough movement. She was ...

was famously connected with her.

American recognition

Malling's first novel was cited by prominent American psychologist

G. Stanley Hall Granville Stanley Hall (February 1, 1846 – April 24, 1924) was a pioneering American psychologist and educator. His interests focused on human life span development and evolutionary theory. Hall was the first president of the American Psy ...

, in his pioneering study of adolescence, as a parallel to the famously frank (and accusedly egotistic) authors

Marie Bashkirtseff Marie Bashkirtseff (born Mariya Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva, russian: Мария Константиновна Башки́рцева; 1858–1884) was a Ukrainian artist from the Russian Empire who worked in Paris, France. She died aged 25. Li ...

Hilma Angered Strandberg Elisabet Kristina Hilma Angered Strandberg (June 10, 1855 in Stockholm - January 23, 1927 in Meran), was a Swedish writer. She mostly wrote under the name Hilma Strandberg of the pseudonym, "Lilian". Life She was the daughter of Justice and mem ...

, and

Mary MacLane Mary MacLane (May 1, 1881 – ''c''. August 6, 1929) was a controversial Canadian-born American writer whose frank memoirs helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing. MacLane was known as the "Wild Woman of Butte".Wa ...

Bibliography

*''An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers, Volume 2'', Katharina M. Wilson (1991)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malling, Mathilda 1864 births 1942 deaths 19th-century Swedish writers Swedish women novelists 20th-century Swedish writers 20th-century Swedish women writers 19th-century Swedish women writers