Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson

Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson (born September 26, 1918 in Hlíð , Iceland ; † July 30, 1988 in Reykjavík , Iceland) was an Icelandic writer .

Life

Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson was born as the son of Sigurður Jónsson and Thora Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir on the Hlíð farm , the land of which is now part of Garðabær , a suburb of Reykjavík .

When he was a little boy, his parents moved with the children first to the Litla-Háls farm and later to the Torfastaðir farm , both of which are located between Ingólfsfjall and Þingvallavatn in the south-west of the country. During the winter he was tutored by his father, who was also a primary school teacher, otherwise he acquired his knowledge self-taught. The nature of his homeland fascinated him early on, as is expressed in the poem Sungið við Sog . Suction is the river that flows past his parents near the former farm.

There he made his way as a worker in factories, in road construction, at the harvest, as an errand boy, proofreader, editor and peddling bookseller.

On April 22, 1943 Ólafur Jóhann married Anna Jónsdóttir (* May 31, 1918 - † February 22, 1995). The couple had two sons: the oceanographer Jón Ólafsson (born November 17, 1943) and the writer and entrepreneur Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson (born August 26, 1962).

Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson died in 1988.

Works

At the age of 16 Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson published his first book, the children's book Við Álfatvatn , and soon afterwards Skuggarnir af bænum (English: "Shadow of the City").

In addition to numerous short stories, he mainly wrote novels, but also published poetry. He also translated numerous works, and dedicated himself to the publication of books. In his own texts he liked to address the life of ordinary people, including the rural exodus in Iceland such as B. in his trilogy about the journalist Páll Jónsson (Gangvirkið (German: "The clockwork"), 1977: Seiður og hélog ("Magic and will-o'-the-wisps"), 1983: Drekar og smáfuglar ("Dragons and wrens")). The trilogy is considered one of the outstanding works of realism in Iceland.

After further successful publications, he had sufficient financial means to leave Iceland. In Copenhagen (winter 1936–1937) he got to know the literary trends of his time, and in New York he attended lectures in literary studies at Columbia University from 1943 to 1944 .

He wrote novels, short stories, poems and children's books and translated from English.

His work has been translated into 18 languages, mainly into German by Owe Gustavs and Bruno Kress .

Reception and appreciation

Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson's first works are assigned to socialist realism , which explains that his books were published in German translation in the GDR by Aufbau-Verlag.

His trilogy with the journalist Páll Jónsson became known as a literary figure. He wrote this trilogy over a period of almost 30 years: 1955: Gangvirkið (German: "The clockwork"), 1977: Seiður og hélog ("Magic and will-o'-the-wisps"), 1983: Drekar og smáfuglar ("Dragons and wrens"). These novels are recognized as the pinnacle of realism in 20th century Icelandic literature. Ólafur's texts deal with the dramatic changes that Icelandic society was subject to in the 20th century; the emergence of cities and rural exodus. His style is shaped by precise descriptions and irony.

In 1976 Ólafur Sigurðsson was the first Icelander to receive the Nordic Council's literary prize for his poetry volumes Að Laufferjum (literally: "To the leaf ferries") and Að brunnum (literally: "To the wells").

Catalog raisonné

• Við Álftavatn 1934
• To sumarkvöld 1935
• Skuggarnir af bænum 1936
• Liggur vegurinn þangað? 1940
• Kvistir í altarinu 1940
• Fjallið og draumurinn 1944
• Teningar í tafli 1945
• Speglar and Fiðrildi 1947
• Litbrigði jarðarinnar 1947 ("Earth's play of colors")
• Vorköld jörð 1951
• Nokkrar vísur um veðrið og fleira 1952
• Gangvirkið 1955 ("The clockwork: Adventure of a journalist" from 1982)
• Á vegamótum 1955
• Ljósir dagar 1959
• Leynt og ljóst 1965
• Bréf séra Böðvars 1965 ("Pastor Bödvars")
• Seint á ferð 1972
• Að Laufferjum 1972
• Hreiðrið 1972
• Að brunnum 1974
• Að Laufferjum og brunnum 1976
• Seiður og hélog 1977 ("Magic and will- o'-the-wisps : from the notes of a journalist" from 1987)
• Virki and vötn 1978
• Í gestanauð: sögur 1940-1945 1979
• Margs er að gæta: sögur 1945-1962 1979
• Drekar and smáfuglar. Úr fórum blaðamanns 1983 ("Dragons and wrens: from a journalist's notes" from 1989).
• Að lokum. Kvæði. 1988
• Sagnaúrval 1939-1965 1993
• Kvæði 1995

Web links

• hollvinir (Icelandic)
• Legendary Iceland - Icelandic Literature
• Daisy L. Neijmann: The Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters. Montreal 1997 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jón R. Hjálmarsson: Með þjóðskjáldum við þjóðveginn. Reykjavík 2004, 216.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Jón R. Hjálmarsson: Með þjóðskjáldum við þjóðveginn. Reykjavík 2004, 217.
3. ↑ Þór Vigfússon: Í Árnesþingi vestanverðu. Ferðafélag Íslands, Árbók 2003, 147.
4. ↑ Jón R. Hjalmarsson: Með þjóðskjáldum við þjóðveginn. Reykjavík 2004, 219.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Jón R. Hjálmarsson: Með þjóðskjáldum við þjóðveginn. Reykjavík 2004, 218.
6. ^ ^{A b} Kristján Eiríksson, Sigurborg Hilmarsdóttir: Bókastóð. Ágrip af íslenskri bókmenntasögu. Reykjavík, Íðnú, 1999, 108.
7. ↑ ^{a b} wayback.vefsafn.is Legendary Iceland. Icelandic literature. Authors; Retrieved November 9, 2015.

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .