Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work
The work of Per Olov Enquist, one of the most important contemporary Swedish authors, is known far beyond Sweden’s and Europe’s borders, and thus even received in North America. A great many of his fictional documentary works and dramatic plays, the biographies of poets such Hans Christian Ander...
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University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
2014
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-106051 2024-09-09T19:49:07+00:00 Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work Herrmann, Elisabeth 2014 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-106051 https://doi.org/10.36368/jns.v8i1.777 eng eng University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada UmeÃ¥ : UmeÃ¥ University; The Royal Skyttean Society Journal of Northern Studies, 1654-5915, 2014, 8:1, s. 143-167 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-106051 doi:10.36368/jns.v8i1.777 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Per Olov Enquist Norrland Västerbotten Hjoggböle regional literature world literature regional provenance identity cartography and writing as metaphors for the process of self-positioning in the world General Literature Studies Litteraturvetenskap Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2014 ftumeauniv https://doi.org/10.36368/jns.v8i1.777 2024-07-09T23:37:52Z The work of Per Olov Enquist, one of the most important contemporary Swedish authors, is known far beyond Sweden’s and Europe’s borders, and thus even received in North America. A great many of his fictional documentary works and dramatic plays, the biographies of poets such Hans Christian Andersen, Selma Lagerlöf, Knut Hamsun, and August Strindberg, as well as the bestselling novels Lewis Journey, The Royal Physician’s Visit and The Book about Blanche and Marie, have secured a firm position for this Norrland author in the canon of world literature. The continuous transgression of the borders between historical facts and their fictionalization builds the basic characteristic of Enquist’s literature. For Enquist, the goal of writing is to sound out the "innermost space of human existence." He is eager to explore those secrets and ambiguities that underlie certain historical events or individual life stories. How is individual life determined? And how do individuals find their place in the world? In several of his works, the author uses the metaphor of drawing topographical maps to illustrate the search for one’s own identity as an attempt to position oneself in the world. Starting from his memory of lying on the kitchen floor as a young boy and drawing maps of his native village Hjoggböle, the area around BureÃ¥, the Västerbotten and Norrland region as well as of his native country Sweden, Enquist reveals to his readers what it is that he considers literature to be: the compression of real signs into a fictional space which resembles reality, but, at the same time, moves beyond the boundaries of reality. Through an analytical synopsis of those works that use the motif of map-drawing as a central theme and often refer to each other in direct intertextual reference, namely the novel Captain Nemo’s Library, the essay collection Kartritarna [‘The cartographers’], and Enquist’s biography Ett annat liv [‘A different life’], this article examines the metaphorical function and poetological ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Northern Studies Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Blanche ENVELOPE(140.018,140.018,-66.663,-66.663) Strindberg ENVELOPE(15.886,15.886,67.874,67.874) Journal of Northern Studies 8 1 143 167 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Per Olov Enquist Norrland Västerbotten Hjoggböle regional literature world literature regional provenance identity cartography and writing as metaphors for the process of self-positioning in the world General Literature Studies Litteraturvetenskap |
spellingShingle |
Per Olov Enquist Norrland Västerbotten Hjoggböle regional literature world literature regional provenance identity cartography and writing as metaphors for the process of self-positioning in the world General Literature Studies Litteraturvetenskap Herrmann, Elisabeth Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work |
topic_facet |
Per Olov Enquist Norrland Västerbotten Hjoggböle regional literature world literature regional provenance identity cartography and writing as metaphors for the process of self-positioning in the world General Literature Studies Litteraturvetenskap |
description |
The work of Per Olov Enquist, one of the most important contemporary Swedish authors, is known far beyond Sweden’s and Europe’s borders, and thus even received in North America. A great many of his fictional documentary works and dramatic plays, the biographies of poets such Hans Christian Andersen, Selma Lagerlöf, Knut Hamsun, and August Strindberg, as well as the bestselling novels Lewis Journey, The Royal Physician’s Visit and The Book about Blanche and Marie, have secured a firm position for this Norrland author in the canon of world literature. The continuous transgression of the borders between historical facts and their fictionalization builds the basic characteristic of Enquist’s literature. For Enquist, the goal of writing is to sound out the "innermost space of human existence." He is eager to explore those secrets and ambiguities that underlie certain historical events or individual life stories. How is individual life determined? And how do individuals find their place in the world? In several of his works, the author uses the metaphor of drawing topographical maps to illustrate the search for one’s own identity as an attempt to position oneself in the world. Starting from his memory of lying on the kitchen floor as a young boy and drawing maps of his native village Hjoggböle, the area around Bureå, the Västerbotten and Norrland region as well as of his native country Sweden, Enquist reveals to his readers what it is that he considers literature to be: the compression of real signs into a fictional space which resembles reality, but, at the same time, moves beyond the boundaries of reality. Through an analytical synopsis of those works that use the motif of map-drawing as a central theme and often refer to each other in direct intertextual reference, namely the novel Captain Nemo’s Library, the essay collection Kartritarna [‘The cartographers’], and Enquist’s biography Ett annat liv [‘A different life’], this article examines the metaphorical function and poetological ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Herrmann, Elisabeth |
author_facet |
Herrmann, Elisabeth |
author_sort |
Herrmann, Elisabeth |
title |
Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work |
title_short |
Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work |
title_full |
Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work |
title_fullStr |
Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work |
title_full_unstemmed |
Norrland’s Regional Literature as World Literature : Per Olov Enquist’s Literary Work |
title_sort |
norrland’s regional literature as world literature : per olov enquist’s literary work |
publisher |
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-106051 https://doi.org/10.36368/jns.v8i1.777 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.018,140.018,-66.663,-66.663) ENVELOPE(15.886,15.886,67.874,67.874) |
geographic |
Blanche Strindberg |
geographic_facet |
Blanche Strindberg |
genre |
Journal of Northern Studies |
genre_facet |
Journal of Northern Studies |
op_relation |
Journal of Northern Studies, 1654-5915, 2014, 8:1, s. 143-167 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-106051 doi:10.36368/jns.v8i1.777 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.36368/jns.v8i1.777 |
container_title |
Journal of Northern Studies |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
143 |
op_container_end_page |
167 |
_version_ |
1809918516104527872 |