Then Swänska Argus

First edition Then Swänska Argus ( The Swedish Argus ).

Then Swänska Argus (Old Swedish for The Swedish Argus ) was a weekly magazine published by the writer and historian Olof von Dalin .

history

The first edition appeared anonymously on December 13, 1732. Then Swänska Argus was based on the two English magazines The Tatler and The Spectator . Some of the articles were translations of certain texts from these papers. Each issue comprised six to ten pages and dealt with moral, religious, political and economic issues in short stories, poems and articles, often paired with witty satire . Characteristic for this form was on the one hand the entertaining manner of presentation and on the other hand the effort to educate the readers. The magazine was a result of the growing bourgeois public culture. In contrast to the newspapers, it was the individual and not the secular and spiritual authorities who had their say. The ideal was the enlightened citizen and the rulers were mocked.

The magazine was of great importance for the development of the Swedish language due to its wide distribution and modern usage. Dalin preferred a simpler style of speech than is common. For example, he wrote the Swedish word for “church” not “Kyrkhia” but “kyrka”. The influence was so great that the editions are now viewed as the dividing line between the older and modern New Swedish languages.

The last issue of the magazine appeared in 1734. Because of its great popularity, Then Swänska Argus was completely reissued in 1754. The paper had many imitators, but most could not match the quality of the original.

literature

• Lena Moberg and Margarita Westman, Svenskan i tusen år , Norstedts förelag, 1996
• Jan Melin and Alf W. Johansson Hedenborg, Sveriges historia , Prisma, 2003
• Martin Lamm, Olof Dalin: en litteraturhistorisk undersökning af hans Verk , Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksell, 1908
• Ingemar Carlsson, Olof von Dalin: samhällsdebattör, historiker, språkförnyare , Olof-von-Dalin-Gesellschaft, Varberg, CAL-Verlag 1997.

Web links

• Olof von Dalin - mångsidig författare och lysande stilist. Olof von Dalinsällskapet, accessed January 18, 2016 (Swedish). 
• Then Swänska Argus: Digitized edition No. 1. Librarianship banks, accessed January 18, 2016 (Swedish). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Claes-Göran Holmberg: Tidskriften i Sverige = The magazine in Sweden (Swedish; PDF; 141 kB)