Hjalmar Gullberg

Hjalmar Gullberg at his desk, early 1940s.

Hjalmar Gullberg ( pronunciation : [ ˌ ʝalːmaʁ ˈgɵlːbæʁʝ ], born May 30, 1898 in Malmö , † July 19, 1961 near Svedala ) was a Swedish poet.

Life

Hjalmar Gullberg was born out of wedlock and grew up with adoptive parents, which he later always described as traumatic. During his studies at Lund University he was editor of the prestigious student newspaper Lundagård and contributed significantly to its heyday. From 1936 to 1950 he was head of the Swedish radio theater ("Radio Theater ") and from 1940 a member of the Swedish Academy . In 1944 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Lund University. Seriously ill with cancer, Hjalmar Gullberg put an end to his life himself.

meaning

Hjalmar Gullberg is considered one of the most important Swedish poets. His work stands at the transition from traditional to modern poetry. His often elaborate poems are extremely expressive and almost musically powerful. Hjalmar Gullberg often took up biblical and ancient motifs, but also worked on current and contemporary issues. During the Second World War, he demonstratively paid homage to Denmark , which was occupied by German troops, and to its liberal spiritual tradition. Hjalmar Gullberg's poems often deal with philosophical questions and deal with the position of the individual in the world between trust in God and isolation. In addition, Hjalmar Gullberg's poetry also contains humorous, sometimes even parodic traits. By using colloquial and everyday expressions in serious contexts, he often created an ironic distance that enables sober objectivity and protects his poems from any kind of sentimentality or pathos.

Hjalmar Gullberg also distinguished himself with significant translations, especially from ancient Greek, German and French.

Works

• I en främmande stad ("In a strange city", 1927)
• Sonat ("Sonata", 1929)
• Andliga övningar ("Spiritual Exercises", 1932)
• Kärlek i tjugonde seklet ("Love in the Twentieth Century", 1933)
• Ensamstående bildad herre (" Single educated gentleman", 1935)
• Att övervinna världen ("Overcoming the World", 1937)
• Roaster från Skansen ("Voices from Skansen", 1941)
• Fem kornbröd och två fiskar ("Five grain breads and two fish", 1942)
• Dödsmask och lustgård ("Death mask and pleasure garden", 1952)
• Terziner i okonstens tid ("Terzinen in der Zeit der Unkunst", 1958)
• Ögon, läppar ("eyes, lips", 1959)

Web links

• The Swedish Hjalmar Gullberg Society (Swedish)
• Literature by and about Hjalmar Gullberg in the bibliographic database WorldCat