Fredrika Wilhelmina Carstens

Fredrika Wilhelmina Carstens (born June 5, 1808 in Naantali , † April 13, 1888 in Helsinki ), b. Stichaeus, was a Finnish-Swedish writer. In 1840 she wrote Murgrönan ("The Ivy"), the first novel to appear in Finland (in Swedish ).

Life

Origin and youth

Fredrika Wilhelmina Carstens came from a Finnish-Swedish family. She was born on June 5, 1808 as the daughter of Johan Fredrik and Fredrika Eleonora Stichaeus, b. Ekholm, born in Nådendal . At the time of her birth, Finland was part of the Swedish Empire , which was at war with Russia (at the end of the war in 1809, Sweden lost Finland to Russia). Her father was administrator of the province of Tavastland (Finnish: Häme ).

Little is known about the author's childhood, but literature played a major role in her parents' home. She probably spent some time in Sweden.

marriage

At the age of 21, Wilhelmina Stichaeus married Lieutenant Carl Adolf Otto Carstens, with whom she had seven children, a daughter, Hilda, and six sons, Constantin, Alfred, Wilhelm, Fredrik and the twins Sten and Carl. The family lived near Borgå ( Porvoo in Finnish ). In the 1830s, Wilhelmina Carstens began to write for newspapers under the pseudonym "R" . She spoke out about the position of women and defended the right of women to higher education, arguing that an educated woman could better fulfill her duties as a wife and mother. Little is known about the author's personality. Carstens devoted a lot of time to literature, wrote and painted himself, although the household and raising children were very time-consuming.

"Murgrönan" (The ivy)

In 1840 a poor house was founded in Borgå / Porvoo , which Wilhelmina Carstens financially supported. She published the Swedish-language novel Murgrönan with the promise to donate the proceeds to the poor house.

The novel was published anonymously, but it was widely known that Wilhelmina Carstens was the author. The main character of the novel is the young Mathilda Sommer, who describes her experiences in Stockholm in letters to a friend. Carstens' novel mixes different traditions of the genre. The work contains features of the sentimental novel and descriptions of everyday life , on the other hand it is a fictional travel description and - through the ironic descriptions of salon life - a satire. Carstens' novel was received very critically by her contemporaries. Above all in the newspaper Helsingfors Morgonblad, the work was sharply criticized - probably by Fabian Collan - and the portrayal of the characters was described as implausible. He recommended that the author study Swedish grammar, logic and aesthetics, which in his opinion are lacking in her novel. Unlike most other early female writers, Carstens had not sought the advice of influential culturally active people while writing. Another writer, Carstens' future neighbor Fredrika Charlotta Runeberg , thought little of the novel, as a letter to her friend Augusta Lundahl testifies: “By the way - what do you think of the publication with the title 'Murgrönan'? Writers are like singers: those who can do something allow themselves to be asked endlessly and then remain silent, and the worst of all sing unsolicited while they should be quiet. "

The publication of the book brought many problems for Carstens, as the writing was considered unsuitable for women. When Carstens' husband died in 1842, it was rumored that his wife had poisoned him, although there was no evidence of a crime. Carstens continued to write for the Morgonbladet newspaper, including letters to a fictional "Aunt Ulla" signed "Janne" without mentioning the author's name. “Murgrönan” was forgotten for a long time; only towards the end of the 20th century was a feminist -oriented literature on the work carefully.

It was not until 2007 that the novel was translated into Finnish and was published under the title Muratti (The Ivy).

Translations

Carstens, Fredrika Wilhelmina: The ivy. German by Nadine Erler . Publishing house 28 Eichen, Barnstorf 2015.

Web links

• Biography (finnish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ (January 11, 1841)
3. ↑ Grönstrand, Heidi: Naiskirjailija, romaani ja kirjallisuuden merkitys 1840-luvulla , Helsinki: SKS, 2005 Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ http://homepage.univie.ac.at/johanna.laakso/gender03/fi_ee_ge.html