Sven Wernström

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Sven Gunnar Wernström (born April 3, 1925 in Stockholm ; † September 6, 2018 in Östra Husby , Östergötland County ) was a Swedish author for children and young people.

Life

Wernström attended eight-year-old Swedish Folkskola and grew up in a literarily ambitious working class. This included writers from the “Klaraboheme”. In Stockholm's Klaraquartier they sat in the beer cafés where his father as a printer and Sven as an apprentice printer frequented. In 1944/45 Wernström attended a community college course for authors for half a year. During this time he wrote his first book for young people, Falkar på jakt (Falcons on the Hunt), which was published in 1945 by Wallström in Stockholm. In the years that followed, he first wrote conventional books for girls and boys, many of them under pseudonyms . From the mid-1960s he wrote literature that was ambitious in socialist terms. What all his books have in common is the class perspective of their storytelling. From 1970 Wernström lived in Vikbolandet , east of Norrköping . He died in September 2018 at the age of 93.

Work and meaning

Along with Harry Kullman , Inger Brattström , Stig Malmberg and Siv Widerberg, Wernström was one of the small number of Swedish authors of young books who appeared in German in the 1960s. In 1988 he received the Heinrich Wolgast Prize for the story Malin von Hejpytten ( Knechte , vol. 8, 18th century) . Modern youth literature in Sweden , like its authors, is a “child of the welfare state” ( Folkhemmet ). Wernström is considered a classic working-class writer . He was the only Swedish author of books for young people who took up socialist positions at the time of his writing . From 1973 ff. Wernström and his servants renewed the historical youth novel . His perspective was directed towards the everyday world of ordinary people. The genre of the socially critical historical youth novel developed by him was only continued in the 1980s by authors such as Mats Wahl .

Wernström's development as an author was strongly influenced by the reflection of his experiences in what he considered to be an "educationally hostile" Swedish elementary school and in rigid youth work . His transformation to the author of emancipatory literature began as early as 1958 with the story Gården (The Youth Center), a decade before the emancipatory turn in children's and youth literature during the protest movements from the mid-1960s. He had worked in youth centers in his spare time in the 1950s and traveled to Mexico in 1962 and Cuba in 1966 and 1968 after reading B. Travens' novels . Since then, Wernström has been writing on a wide variety of socio-critical topics, making use of very different genres: In detective novels , robinsonads , utopias , fairy tales , science fiction , realistic, sometimes semi-documentary stories and novels, he wrote about the worlds of young people , their rebellion against school and society in Peer groups , from the oppression and exploitation of the poor and disenfranchised, to freedom struggles from guerrilla movements and literacy in Latin America and much more. He often processed research results from libraries, archives and interviews.

Already in Gården (1958; The farm; a youth center) and later in Rebellerna (1964; The rebels) and Mannen i det låsta rummet (1966; The man in the closed room), in the play Spelet om plugget (1969; The game about the Penne) and in Mannen på gallret (1969; The man on the grid) he expressed criticism of the Swedish social democracy and of the educational institutions. The Cuban Revolution described Wernström in Upproret (1968; Eng .: They came from the mountains , 1974), his first book, in which a girl takes on the active role - and an example of his narrative style is. The plot is based on research in Cuba, is fictional , but based on facts. In Skatten i de fattigas by (1970; German: The treasure in the village of the poor , 1973), Swedish children experience the revolutionary mood in Guatemala .

In his most extensive work, the volumes of Trälarna (1973–1981; Eng .: Knechte , 1978 ff.), On which he worked for over ten years, Wernström looked at the everyday life of the people in Norrköping, Sweden, in different epochs , beginning in the 11th century until the early 1980s, come alive. The stories were published in German from the 11th to the 18th centuries. One after the other, Wernström brought each century to life in the magnifying glass of a story. He took time for the special things about people, technical innovations , human weaknesses and strengths, joys and sorrows.

In the trilogy Den underbara resan (1985–1987; The Wonderful Journey) the main character goes on a journey like Nils Holgersson and discovers Sweden's environmental problems. Since then, Wernström's books have been variations on the themes and narrative styles he developed in previous phases, shaped by his pessimistic view of society . He addressed increasing social violence in Tuffingarna (1988; Harte Kerle). In Dags att do. En framtidsberättelse (2000; Time to die. A future story) and Den galna planeten (2001; The crazy planet), the belief in a “better future” that exists beyond all ideological differences becomes a feeling of exposure, even hopelessness.

In the short story Kalle Finkel och Makten (2005; Kalle Fusel und die Macht) the author articulated a late Enlightenment pessimism with a tendency towards romantic escapism and a misanthropic view of the world. A pessimistic, apocalyptic worldview can be found in his last fiction work, in the short novel Tusen år efteråt (2012; a thousand years later).

Awards (selection)

Works in German translation

  • Mazir. Whirlwind of the desert , Düsseldorf: Hoch 1960 ( Mazir, den vita kamelen , 1956)
  • Tarpa, the wild stallion , Hanover: N. Jugendschr. 1961 & 1977 ( Tarpa, vildhästen , 1958)
  • Ulli goes on a discovery , Lengerich: Klein 1963 ( Spökhuset , 1959)
  • Zita, the cheetah , Düsseldorf: Hoch 1963 & Berlin: DBG 1965 ( Zita, cheetahs , 1959)
  • Light in the castle ruins , Balve: Engelbert 1965 ( Det spökar , 1960)
  • Sombra, the jaguar , Lengerich: Klein 1963 ( Sombra, jaguaren , 1961)
  • Ini, the mysterious character , Balve: Engelbert-Verl. 1965 ( Mexicans , 1963)
  • Traces in Costa Rica , Hanover: N. Jugendschr. 1970 & 1980 ( Vägen till Costa Rica , 1962)
  • The factory belongs to us , Berlin: Basis [approx. 1971] ( Olle och factories , 1970)
  • The treasure in the village of the poor , Berlin: Basis 1973 & 1976 ( Skatten i de fattigas by , 1970)
  • Flee before sunrise , Zurich, Cologne: Benziger 1974 & Ravensburg: Maier 1986 ( Befriaren , 1965)
  • They came from the mountains , Berlin: Basis 1974 ( Upproret , 1968)
  • Knechte , Berlin: Basis ( Trälarna 1000-1700-talet , 1973-1977; except Dödens skepp, 1000-talet and Drottningens skomakare, 1600-talet ):
    • 1st part: The human sacrifice , 11th century (1000-talet); The wedding of the servant girl , 12th century (1100-talet), 1978
    • Part 2: The Man from Varnhem , 12th century (1100-talet); The Released , 13th Century (1200-talet), 1979
    • 3rd part: fighting games , 13th century (1200-talet); The Black Death , 14th century (1300-talet), 1980
    • 4th part: Elena and Ritter Falkenfuß , 14th century (1300-talet), 1981
    • 5th part: riot and falsehood ; Ringstaholm revolt , 15th century (1400-talet), 1982
    • 6th part: The night watchman ; The girl in darkness , 16th century (1500-talet), 1984
    • Part 7: The Fourth Commandment of the Oppressors, 17th century (1600-talat); Escape from the spinning house, 18th century (1700-talet), 1985
    • Part 8: Malin von Hejpytten , 18th century (1700-talet), 1987 and newly translated: VSB 2003

German-language secondary literature

  • Becker / Oberfeld (Ed.): People are poor because they are poor. The Third World in the mirror of books for children and young people. Frankfurt / M. 1977 (including three essays on Wernström)
  • GEW awards youth literature prize. In: Fundevogel. H. 50. 1988, p. 3
  • Horst Heidtmann: Laudation for the " Heinrich Wolgast Prize " of the GEW 1988. In: Information for young people's literature and media - Jugendschriften-Warte No. 2/1988, pp. 34–38
  • Winfred Kaminski: Sven Wernström. In: Lexicon of children's and youth literature. Volume 3. Weinheim 1979, pp. 791-792
  • Jörg Knobloch: The rise of a starving woman. Wolgast Prize for historical novel. In: Eselsohr No. 7/1988, pp. 17-18
  • Jörg Knobloch: Handout for teaching - Sven Wernström: Knechte 8 - Malin von Hejpytten (18th century). In: Material Jugendliteratur und Medien, No. 18/1988, pp. 11-14.
  • Dirk Röpcke: “I am changing, therefore I am!” The Swedish working-class writer Sven Wernström. In: Röpcke, Dirk: Multicultural Eco Fairy Tales. Literature, education, culture and politics in transition. Hamburg 2002, pp. 80-94
  • Dirk Röpcke: Write excitingly and explain what you don't learn in school. The Swedish author Sven Wernström. In: Contributions to youth literature and the media, No. 4/2005, pp. 261–265
  • Dirk Röpcke: Didactic Subversion. Sven Wernström's work development. Anares, Bremen 2013. ISBN 978-3-935716-76-5
  • Geralde Schmidt-Dumont: On the history of the Heinrich Wolgast Prize. Children's and young people's literature on the world of work. In: Contributions to youth literature and media No. 2/2004, pp. 100-104
  • Hans Weber: GEW awards the H. Wolgast Prize 1988. In: Eselsohr. Vol. 7, H. 6 1988, p. 6
  • Gina Weinkauff: Distances. Foreign perception and cultural transfer in German-language children's and youth literature since 1945. Vol. 1., Foreign perception. On the thematization of cultural alterity in German-language children's and youth literature since 1945. With a foreword v. Ulrich Nassen. Munich 2006 (in it the chapter: "Western" socialist adventure literature: Karl Bruckner and Sven Wernström, pp. 144–162)
  • The Wolgast Prize 1988. In: Material Jugendliteratur und Medien, No. 18/1988, pp. 4–8 (Jury reasons in 1988, i.i. Elfriede Kiefer, Malte Dahrendorf, Horst Heidtmann)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Författaren Sven Wernström är död. Retrieved September 10, 2018 (Swedish).
  2. ↑ Dirk Röpcke: Write excitingly and explain what you don't learn in school. The Swedish author Sven Wernström . In: Contributions to youth literature and the media 4/2005, p. 261 f.
  3. ↑ Dirk Röpcke: Didactic Subversion. Sven Wernström's work development . Bremen 2013, p. 7 f.
  4. ↑ Gina Weinkauff: Ent-Fernungen. Foreign perception and cultural transfer in German-language children's and youth literature since 1945 . Vol. 1., External Perception. On the thematization of cultural alterity in German-language children's and youth literature since 1945 . Munich 2006, p. 150 ff.
  5. ↑ Dirk Röpcke: "I am changing, therefore I am!" The Swedish working-class writer Sven Wernström . In: Dirk Röpcke: Multicultural Eco Fairy Tales. Literature, education, culture and politics in transition . Hamburg 2002, p. 91 f.
  6. ↑ Dirk Röpcke: Multicultural eco fairy tale. Literature, education, culture and politics in transition . Hamburg 2002, p. 93 ff.
  7. ↑ Dirk Röpcke: Didactic Subversion. Sven Wernström's work development . Bremen 2013, p. 281.
  8. ↑ Wernström prisad och kramad av LO on Folkbladet.se from June 25, 2004, accessed on August 14, 2017 (Swedish).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wernström, Sven
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wernström, Sven Gunnar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish author for children and young people
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 2018
Place of death Östra Husby