Jan Balbierz

Minnen är vittnesmål från det förflutna och grundstenar för nuet. August Strindberg använde sitt liv som källa för sitt kreativa skapande. Det är ofta svårt att skilja hans liv från hans fiktion. På liknande sätt formas vår förståelse av Strindbergs verk mot bakgrund av våra egna liv. Den tjugoandra internationella Strindbergskonferensen hölls i Kungl. Vitterhetsakademiens lokaler i Stockholm 2023. Tjugo bidrag från konferensen har samlats i denna volym. Några av de frågor som behandlas är historiska influenser i Strindbergs dramatik, minne och melankoli, minne och glömska, faderskap samt Strindbergs betydelse utanför Sverige. Åter visar sig hans liv och verk vara en nästan outtömlig källa för nya perspektiv på författarskapet. * * * The 22nd International Strindberg Conference took place in Stockholm at Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien from 31 May to 1 June 2023, centred around the theme “Strindberg and Memory” (Strindberg och minne). More than 40 scholars and translators hailing from various European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland ), as well as from the USA, participated in the event. Over two intense conference days, 28 papers were presented, of which 20 are included in this volume. The topics covered in the presentations varied, ranging from the analysis of different themes in Strindberg’s work to the significance of translations. Scholars shared their experiences of working with Strindberg’s plays and explored his influence on other authors. Yet again, Strindberg’s work proved to be a remarkable source of inspiration for discussions and reflections encompassing both present and past ideas and concepts.

During the whole of his writing career August Strindberg was a restless canon-maker. In his capacity as writer, librarian, cultural scholar, polemicist and amateur researcher he constantly quoted sources, both historical and contemporary, included and excluded certain authors in his own work, as well as re-evaluated the boundaries of aesthetics and culture around the turn of the twentieth century. At the same time, he was a very active author in his own right, living in self-imposed exile but in close contact with cosmopolitan intellectual circles. All of this raises questions about his relationship with the literary and cultural canon. The dynamics between local and global culture define the whole of his oeuvre and make him one of those European authors who are readily interpreted in the context of Weltliteratur.Strindberg was a multilingual cosmopolitan, an emigrant, theosophist, and reporter. In his capacity as a writer, with his gaze trained upon both East and West, he absorbed impressions from the universalist tendencies of the fin de siècle. His ambition to join the global “Republic of Letters” led him to study French, Hebrew, the Chinese system of logograms, Russian literature, and the history of the Middle East.This volume, edited by Jan Balbierz, gathers contributions from renowned Strindberg scholars and discusses questions, such as: How did Strindberg construct his predecessors and which traditions did he associate himself with? How is a Strindbergian text altered in performative practice in theatre and film? How did Strindberg, whose writings are deeply rooted in Swedish folklore and landscape, relate to foreign cultural values?