| |
AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE
Literature written by English-speaking inhabitants of the continent of Australia.
Australian literature has developed certain well-defined qualities: a love of the vast, empty land, with its unique flora and fauna, a compelling sense of the worth of the common people, and freedom from the bondage of European traditions. Although the English language has not been radically transformed in Australia, it has undergone distinctive changes of style with colorful additions to vocabulary, about which Australians were once apologetic but which are now regarded as a dynamic and valuable contribution to the language. Indeed, several studies of Australian transformations of the English language have appeared. Some of these are short vocabulary lists, with a history of the first appearance and subsequent usage of a certain word or phrase; others are studies of the pronunciation or intonation that is peculiarly Australian.
Poetry.
Among the earliest poetry published in Australia was First Fruits of Australian Poetry (1819) by Barron Field (1786–1846), an Englishman serving in the Australian judiciary. Four years later the founder of Australian colonial self-government, William Charles Wentworth, a native-born Australian, published a single poem, “Australasia, an Ode,” which is invariably cited as the first poetic expression of a national spirit.. The first volume of poetry by a native-born Australian was Wild Notes from the Lyre of a Native Minstrel (1826) by Charles Tompson (1806–83), who spent the greater part of his life as a government official. Charles Harpur (1817–68), also a native-born government employee and a farmer as well, was the author of Thoughts: A Series of Sonnets (1845). He continued to publish occasionally during the rest of his life and was the earliest poet of merit. It was not, however, until the time of Henry Clarence Kendall (1841–82), an Australian by birth, and Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–70), an English immigrant, that Australian poetry really became significant. Gordon’s sporting poems and narratives, which had great popularity, are at their best in Sea Spray and Smoke Drift (1867) and Ashtaroth (1867). Kendall, often called the national poet, developed a personal idiom equipped to deal with Australian subjects in Leaves from an Australian Forest (1869) and Songs from the Mountains (1880); he was especially successful in describing the scenery of the wooded valleys along the Pacific coast.
These pioneers prepared the ground for a number of poets whose work shows greater distinction. Bernard (Patrick) O’Dowd (1866–1953), a lawyer by profession, was a didactic poet of wide learning who published verses in pamphlet form after 1903. Little emotion is displayed in his work; he is rather a rhetorician of ideas, notably of the belief that Australia has the opportunity to build a nation free from such evils of European culture as economic, political, and social inequities. The classical scholar Christopher (John) Brennan (1870–1932) was the most learned poet Australia produced at this time. His work, largely in the symbolist tradition, is characterized by depth of feeling and force of imagery. Not popularly known, Brennan’s poetry is esteemed by a small group of discriminating readers. (John) Shaw Neilson (1872–1942), who is considered by some critics to be the best poet of his era, reflects the experience of ordinary people in the simple lyricism of his verse.
C. J. Dennis (1876–1938) was a popular versifier who expressed in dialect the feelings and experiences of the “dinkum Aussie bloke,” or true Australian guy, notably in The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke (1915). The journalist and lawyer Andrew Barton Paterson (1864–1941) gave the greatest literary development to the bush ballad, a kind of popular poem about life in the outback, the scrub country of the interior. His ballad “Waltzing Matilda” (1917), which was sung by Australian troops in both world wars, gained great popularity among all English-speaking people. The Man from Snowy River contains Paterson’s best ballads.
A number of 20th-century Australian poets have written works of the highest distinction. Notable among them were Kenneth Slessor (1901–71) and Robert FitzGerald (1902–87). The work of Slessor, written between 1919 and 1939, ranges from examples of pallid aestheticism to amusing realistic sketches of historical characters done in a variety of forms. FitzGerald’s long, semiphilosophical discourses in verse blend themes of Australian experience with those of more universal interest. Other distinguished poets include A. D. Hope (1907– ); Douglas Stewart (1913–85), the author of verse drama; Judith Wright (1915– ), who established an international reputation; and Les Murray (1938– ), a versatile, inventive writer. A sampling of Australian poetry, beginning with the work of Harpur, is in A Book of Australian Verse (1956; 2d ed. 1968), edited by Wright. More recently, Murray edited The Oxford Book of Australian Verse (1986).
Early Fiction.
An early Australian fictional work is Tales of the Colonies (1843) by Charles Rowcroft (1781?–1850); but the most frequently reprinted is Geoffrey Hamlyn (1859) by Henry Kingsley (1830–76), brother of the English novelist Charles Kingsley. Kingsley originated the novel of Australian pastoral life. His main characters are, however, Englishmen who come to Australia for colonial experience and then return to England, as he did. Two fairly prolific early novelists were Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (1846–81) and Thomas Alexander Browne (1826–1915), the latter of whom wrote under the name of Rolf Boldrewood. Clarke is most famous for his classic story of the convict era, For the Term of His Natural Life (1874), which exploits the horrors of convict life in the heightened realistic manner of Charles Dickens. Browne’s reputation rests on Robbery Under Arms (1888), a classic story of bushranging. It may be described as an Australian Western, a narrative full of vivid adventures.
Two important early works on Australian themes, both on the borderline between fiction and reportage, came to notice in the 1950s. These are Ralph Rashleigh (1952), probably written in the early 1840s by James Tucker (1808–66?), but belatedly discovered, and Settlers and Convicts (1852), written under the pen name “An Emigrant Mechanic” by Alexander Harris (1805–74).
Henry Lawson (1867–1922) was a prolific writer of sketches that ranged from sentimental vignettes to strongly realistic studies. Poorly educated, he identified with working people and wrote about them and their attitudes toward Australia. His best writing appeared during the 1880s in the weekly newspaper The Bulletin. Perhaps his most widely read work is While the Billy Boils (1896; reprinted in Traveller’s Library, 1927). Miles Franklin (full name Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin; 1879–1954) is best known for her feminist novel My Brilliant Career (1901); an unsparing portrait of outback life and a woman writer’s beginnings, it was later made into a highly successful film. Franklin also wrote a sequel, The End of My Career, which was not published until 1946. The basic attitudes of 19th century Australians are superbly expressed in Such Is Life (1903) by Joseph Furphy (1843–1912), who used the pen name Tom Collins. Furphy’s life was spent as a farmer and driver of bullock teams before the days of the railroad. His book, written in diary form, is a compound of episodic adventures, philosophic and literary opinions, and homely observations about people and conditions in Australia. Katharine Susannah Prichard (1884–1969) interpreted Australian life in terms of class struggle. Her work began to appear before World War I in such novels as The Pioneers (1915). Her best fiction is contained in Working Bullocks (1926), a story of lumbering in western Australia, and Coonardoo (1930), a study of intermarriage.
Later Fiction.
One of the finest craftsmen of Australian fiction was Frank Dalby Davison (1893–1970), known mainly for his animal stories. The most distinctive, Man-Shy, was published in the U.S. as Red Heifer (1934). It is a subtly conceived story of a maverick on a Queensland cattle station. Davison is as discerning in his character studies, as in his novel of pre-World War II suburban life in Sydney, The White Thorn Tree (1968). Xavier Herbert (1901–84) showed his passionate concern for the plight of the aborigines in such novels as Capricornia (1938). Eleanor Dark (1901–85) wrote excellent historical novels, especially The Timeless Land (1941), which is about the founding of Australia; she also wrote novels of contemporary life. Both types of her fiction are distinguished by psychological perception and brilliant descriptions of the landscape.
The Australian writer of the middle generation who was best known abroad was Henry Handel Richardson, the pen name of Ethel Florence Robertson, née Richardson. Her earliest novel of note was Maurice Guest (1908), an autobiographical story of an Australian studying music in Germany, but her trilogy, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917, 1925, 1929), is by far her most widely appreciated work. The trilogy, based on the life of the author’s father, begins with the gold rushes of the 1850s and then penetratingly describes various aspects of Australian life in later decades. The main character is an unstable Irish-born physician who intensely dislikes Australian life; he is considered one of the major creations of Australian literature. With profound insight, Richardson developed Australian themes in the European tradition of psychological realism. Another novelist who gained a reputation abroad was Kylie Tennant (1912–88), whose first novel, Tiburon (1935), was recognized as a distinguished achievement. Among her other major works are The Joyful Condemned (1953), a novel about working women in the Sydney slums, and The Battlers (1954), a novel of caravan life in southwestern Australia. Tennant’s nonfiction includes Australia: Her Story; Notes on a Nation (1953).
In 1973 Patrick White became the first Australian to win a Nobel Prize in literature. His novels include Happy Valley (1939), Tree of Man (1954), Voss (1957), and The Eye of the Storm (1973). White wrote with imaginative boldness in a highly individual style; his fiction is often set in the Australian bush country. Among other moderns, Jon Cleary (1917– ), author of The Sundowners (1952), scored notable commercial success. John O’Grady (1907–81), under the pen name Nino Culotta, wrote They’re a Weird Mob (1957), a popular comic novel. Morris West (1916– 99) also won worldwide fame with such popular novels as The Devil’s Advocate (1959) and The Shoes of the Fisherman (1963).
Christina Stead (1902–83) lived abroad (principally in Great Britain) for most of her life. She was relatively unknown in Australia until 1965, when a revised edition of her novel, The Man Who Loved Children (1940), was published there. One of the few novels she wrote with an Australian setting was Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1934). Randolph Stow (1935– ) has written distinguished poetry as well as novels. His works include A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems (1969) and the novels The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea (1965) and Visitants (1979). Thomas Michael Keneally (1935– ) has received acclaim for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1972) and other works; his Schindler’s Ark (1982; U.S. title, Schindler’s List) won the prestigious Booker Prize in England and was made into a highly acclaimed film—the 1993 Academy Award-winning motion picture. Peter Carey is known for his short stories, collected in The Fat Man in History (1974), and for such novels as Bliss (1981), Illywhacker (1985; shortlisted for the Booker Prize that same year), and The Tax Inspector (1991). Carey is only the second author—the South African writer J. M. Coetzee is the other—to have been honored with the Booker Prize twice, winning for his novels Oscar and Lucinda, in 1988, and True History of the Kelly Gang, in 2001. (Oscar and Lucinda was later made into a motion picture, in 1997). The Thorn Birds (1977), a family saga by Colleen McCullough (1937– ), became an international best-seller and a television drama. David Malouf (1934– ) is known for his poetry and his novels. His fiction includes An Imaginary Life (1978), cited by the National Book Council as one of Australia’s Ten Best Books of the Decade, and The Great World (1991), a psychologically probing saga of two war veterans. Barbara Hanrahan (1939– ), a well-known artist, is the author of The Frangipani Gardens (1980) and other novels. Elizabeth Jolley (1923– ) is an Englishwoman who moved to Australia in 1959. Miss Peabody’s Inheritance (1984) is her best known work.
Other Genres.
Although the theater has flourished in Australia since the earliest days and Australian actors have made brilliant stage careers at home, in New York City, and in London, dramatists comparable in outlook and skill to the poets and fiction writers have been scarce. Louis Esson (1882–1943) is usually cited as the Australian writer who most consistently devoted himself to drama, but many others before and since have also helped to build a theatrical tradition. In 1954 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, by Ray Lawler (1921– ), a drama of workers on a sugarcane plantation, with authentic vernacular dialogue, scored a resounding success and was produced in New York City on Broadway (1956) and off-Broadway (1968), and as a film, Season of Passion (1961). Since World War II, important plays by native authors have been produced successfully on the Australian stage; the growing interest in drama paralleled the significant resurgence of Australian filmmaking that began in the late 1970s. Among the important playwrights who came to maturity during this period are Jack Hibberd (1940– ), author of Dimboola (1969) and other plays; David Williamson (1942– ), whose first full-length production was Stork (1970); and Alexander Buzo (1944– ), whose play Rooted was performed in the U.S., in 1972.
The writer A. G. Stephens (1865–1933) had a reputation as a literary critic, and the Scottish-born educator and anthologist Walter Murdoch (1874–1970) was known as an essayist.
Contemporary literary quarterlies include Overland of Melbourne and Southerly of Sydney. A weekly journal of opinion, The Bulletin, has been an important force in Australian literature for more than a century. Australian literature is now a recognized academic subject in educational institutions. The scholarly journal Australian Literary Studies is an adjunct to such courses. In addition, many popular periodicals carry reviews and articles on contemporary publications and literary developments. C.H.G., C. HARTLEY GRATTAN, D.Litt.
Australian literature has developed certain well-defined qualities: a love of the vast, empty land, with its unique flora and fauna, a compelling sense of the worth of the common people, and freedom from the bondage of European traditions. Although the English language has not been radically transformed in Australia, it has undergone distinctive changes of style with colorful additions to vocabulary, about which Australians were once apologetic but which are now regarded as a dynamic and valuable contribution to the language. Indeed, several studies of Australian transformations of the English language have appeared. Some of these are short vocabulary lists, with a history of the first appearance and subsequent usage of a certain word or phrase; others are studies of the pronunciation or intonation that is peculiarly Australian.
Poetry.
Among the earliest poetry published in Australia was First Fruits of Australian Poetry (1819) by Barron Field (1786–1846), an Englishman serving in the Australian judiciary. Four years later the founder of Australian colonial self-government, William Charles Wentworth, a native-born Australian, published a single poem, “Australasia, an Ode,” which is invariably cited as the first poetic expression of a national spirit.. The first volume of poetry by a native-born Australian was Wild Notes from the Lyre of a Native Minstrel (1826) by Charles Tompson (1806–83), who spent the greater part of his life as a government official. Charles Harpur (1817–68), also a native-born government employee and a farmer as well, was the author of Thoughts: A Series of Sonnets (1845). He continued to publish occasionally during the rest of his life and was the earliest poet of merit. It was not, however, until the time of Henry Clarence Kendall (1841–82), an Australian by birth, and Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–70), an English immigrant, that Australian poetry really became significant. Gordon’s sporting poems and narratives, which had great popularity, are at their best in Sea Spray and Smoke Drift (1867) and Ashtaroth (1867). Kendall, often called the national poet, developed a personal idiom equipped to deal with Australian subjects in Leaves from an Australian Forest (1869) and Songs from the Mountains (1880); he was especially successful in describing the scenery of the wooded valleys along the Pacific coast.
These pioneers prepared the ground for a number of poets whose work shows greater distinction. Bernard (Patrick) O’Dowd (1866–1953), a lawyer by profession, was a didactic poet of wide learning who published verses in pamphlet form after 1903. Little emotion is displayed in his work; he is rather a rhetorician of ideas, notably of the belief that Australia has the opportunity to build a nation free from such evils of European culture as economic, political, and social inequities. The classical scholar Christopher (John) Brennan (1870–1932) was the most learned poet Australia produced at this time. His work, largely in the symbolist tradition, is characterized by depth of feeling and force of imagery. Not popularly known, Brennan’s poetry is esteemed by a small group of discriminating readers. (John) Shaw Neilson (1872–1942), who is considered by some critics to be the best poet of his era, reflects the experience of ordinary people in the simple lyricism of his verse.
C. J. Dennis (1876–1938) was a popular versifier who expressed in dialect the feelings and experiences of the “dinkum Aussie bloke,” or true Australian guy, notably in The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke (1915). The journalist and lawyer Andrew Barton Paterson (1864–1941) gave the greatest literary development to the bush ballad, a kind of popular poem about life in the outback, the scrub country of the interior. His ballad “Waltzing Matilda” (1917), which was sung by Australian troops in both world wars, gained great popularity among all English-speaking people. The Man from Snowy River contains Paterson’s best ballads.
A number of 20th-century Australian poets have written works of the highest distinction. Notable among them were Kenneth Slessor (1901–71) and Robert FitzGerald (1902–87). The work of Slessor, written between 1919 and 1939, ranges from examples of pallid aestheticism to amusing realistic sketches of historical characters done in a variety of forms. FitzGerald’s long, semiphilosophical discourses in verse blend themes of Australian experience with those of more universal interest. Other distinguished poets include A. D. Hope (1907– ); Douglas Stewart (1913–85), the author of verse drama; Judith Wright (1915– ), who established an international reputation; and Les Murray (1938– ), a versatile, inventive writer. A sampling of Australian poetry, beginning with the work of Harpur, is in A Book of Australian Verse (1956; 2d ed. 1968), edited by Wright. More recently, Murray edited The Oxford Book of Australian Verse (1986).
Early Fiction.
An early Australian fictional work is Tales of the Colonies (1843) by Charles Rowcroft (1781?–1850); but the most frequently reprinted is Geoffrey Hamlyn (1859) by Henry Kingsley (1830–76), brother of the English novelist Charles Kingsley. Kingsley originated the novel of Australian pastoral life. His main characters are, however, Englishmen who come to Australia for colonial experience and then return to England, as he did. Two fairly prolific early novelists were Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (1846–81) and Thomas Alexander Browne (1826–1915), the latter of whom wrote under the name of Rolf Boldrewood. Clarke is most famous for his classic story of the convict era, For the Term of His Natural Life (1874), which exploits the horrors of convict life in the heightened realistic manner of Charles Dickens. Browne’s reputation rests on Robbery Under Arms (1888), a classic story of bushranging. It may be described as an Australian Western, a narrative full of vivid adventures.
Two important early works on Australian themes, both on the borderline between fiction and reportage, came to notice in the 1950s. These are Ralph Rashleigh (1952), probably written in the early 1840s by James Tucker (1808–66?), but belatedly discovered, and Settlers and Convicts (1852), written under the pen name “An Emigrant Mechanic” by Alexander Harris (1805–74).
Henry Lawson (1867–1922) was a prolific writer of sketches that ranged from sentimental vignettes to strongly realistic studies. Poorly educated, he identified with working people and wrote about them and their attitudes toward Australia. His best writing appeared during the 1880s in the weekly newspaper The Bulletin. Perhaps his most widely read work is While the Billy Boils (1896; reprinted in Traveller’s Library, 1927). Miles Franklin (full name Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin; 1879–1954) is best known for her feminist novel My Brilliant Career (1901); an unsparing portrait of outback life and a woman writer’s beginnings, it was later made into a highly successful film. Franklin also wrote a sequel, The End of My Career, which was not published until 1946. The basic attitudes of 19th century Australians are superbly expressed in Such Is Life (1903) by Joseph Furphy (1843–1912), who used the pen name Tom Collins. Furphy’s life was spent as a farmer and driver of bullock teams before the days of the railroad. His book, written in diary form, is a compound of episodic adventures, philosophic and literary opinions, and homely observations about people and conditions in Australia. Katharine Susannah Prichard (1884–1969) interpreted Australian life in terms of class struggle. Her work began to appear before World War I in such novels as The Pioneers (1915). Her best fiction is contained in Working Bullocks (1926), a story of lumbering in western Australia, and Coonardoo (1930), a study of intermarriage.
Later Fiction.
One of the finest craftsmen of Australian fiction was Frank Dalby Davison (1893–1970), known mainly for his animal stories. The most distinctive, Man-Shy, was published in the U.S. as Red Heifer (1934). It is a subtly conceived story of a maverick on a Queensland cattle station. Davison is as discerning in his character studies, as in his novel of pre-World War II suburban life in Sydney, The White Thorn Tree (1968). Xavier Herbert (1901–84) showed his passionate concern for the plight of the aborigines in such novels as Capricornia (1938). Eleanor Dark (1901–85) wrote excellent historical novels, especially The Timeless Land (1941), which is about the founding of Australia; she also wrote novels of contemporary life. Both types of her fiction are distinguished by psychological perception and brilliant descriptions of the landscape.
The Australian writer of the middle generation who was best known abroad was Henry Handel Richardson, the pen name of Ethel Florence Robertson, née Richardson. Her earliest novel of note was Maurice Guest (1908), an autobiographical story of an Australian studying music in Germany, but her trilogy, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917, 1925, 1929), is by far her most widely appreciated work. The trilogy, based on the life of the author’s father, begins with the gold rushes of the 1850s and then penetratingly describes various aspects of Australian life in later decades. The main character is an unstable Irish-born physician who intensely dislikes Australian life; he is considered one of the major creations of Australian literature. With profound insight, Richardson developed Australian themes in the European tradition of psychological realism. Another novelist who gained a reputation abroad was Kylie Tennant (1912–88), whose first novel, Tiburon (1935), was recognized as a distinguished achievement. Among her other major works are The Joyful Condemned (1953), a novel about working women in the Sydney slums, and The Battlers (1954), a novel of caravan life in southwestern Australia. Tennant’s nonfiction includes Australia: Her Story; Notes on a Nation (1953).
In 1973 Patrick White became the first Australian to win a Nobel Prize in literature. His novels include Happy Valley (1939), Tree of Man (1954), Voss (1957), and The Eye of the Storm (1973). White wrote with imaginative boldness in a highly individual style; his fiction is often set in the Australian bush country. Among other moderns, Jon Cleary (1917– ), author of The Sundowners (1952), scored notable commercial success. John O’Grady (1907–81), under the pen name Nino Culotta, wrote They’re a Weird Mob (1957), a popular comic novel. Morris West (1916– 99) also won worldwide fame with such popular novels as The Devil’s Advocate (1959) and The Shoes of the Fisherman (1963).
Christina Stead (1902–83) lived abroad (principally in Great Britain) for most of her life. She was relatively unknown in Australia until 1965, when a revised edition of her novel, The Man Who Loved Children (1940), was published there. One of the few novels she wrote with an Australian setting was Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1934). Randolph Stow (1935– ) has written distinguished poetry as well as novels. His works include A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems (1969) and the novels The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea (1965) and Visitants (1979). Thomas Michael Keneally (1935– ) has received acclaim for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1972) and other works; his Schindler’s Ark (1982; U.S. title, Schindler’s List) won the prestigious Booker Prize in England and was made into a highly acclaimed film—the 1993 Academy Award-winning motion picture. Peter Carey is known for his short stories, collected in The Fat Man in History (1974), and for such novels as Bliss (1981), Illywhacker (1985; shortlisted for the Booker Prize that same year), and The Tax Inspector (1991). Carey is only the second author—the South African writer J. M. Coetzee is the other—to have been honored with the Booker Prize twice, winning for his novels Oscar and Lucinda, in 1988, and True History of the Kelly Gang, in 2001. (Oscar and Lucinda was later made into a motion picture, in 1997). The Thorn Birds (1977), a family saga by Colleen McCullough (1937– ), became an international best-seller and a television drama. David Malouf (1934– ) is known for his poetry and his novels. His fiction includes An Imaginary Life (1978), cited by the National Book Council as one of Australia’s Ten Best Books of the Decade, and The Great World (1991), a psychologically probing saga of two war veterans. Barbara Hanrahan (1939– ), a well-known artist, is the author of The Frangipani Gardens (1980) and other novels. Elizabeth Jolley (1923– ) is an Englishwoman who moved to Australia in 1959. Miss Peabody’s Inheritance (1984) is her best known work.
Other Genres.
Although the theater has flourished in Australia since the earliest days and Australian actors have made brilliant stage careers at home, in New York City, and in London, dramatists comparable in outlook and skill to the poets and fiction writers have been scarce. Louis Esson (1882–1943) is usually cited as the Australian writer who most consistently devoted himself to drama, but many others before and since have also helped to build a theatrical tradition. In 1954 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, by Ray Lawler (1921– ), a drama of workers on a sugarcane plantation, with authentic vernacular dialogue, scored a resounding success and was produced in New York City on Broadway (1956) and off-Broadway (1968), and as a film, Season of Passion (1961). Since World War II, important plays by native authors have been produced successfully on the Australian stage; the growing interest in drama paralleled the significant resurgence of Australian filmmaking that began in the late 1970s. Among the important playwrights who came to maturity during this period are Jack Hibberd (1940– ), author of Dimboola (1969) and other plays; David Williamson (1942– ), whose first full-length production was Stork (1970); and Alexander Buzo (1944– ), whose play Rooted was performed in the U.S., in 1972.
The writer A. G. Stephens (1865–1933) had a reputation as a literary critic, and the Scottish-born educator and anthologist Walter Murdoch (1874–1970) was known as an essayist.
Contemporary literary quarterlies include Overland of Melbourne and Southerly of Sydney. A weekly journal of opinion, The Bulletin, has been an important force in Australian literature for more than a century. Australian literature is now a recognized academic subject in educational institutions. The scholarly journal Australian Literary Studies is an adjunct to such courses. In addition, many popular periodicals carry reviews and articles on contemporary publications and literary developments. C.H.G., C. HARTLEY GRATTAN, D.Litt.
CATALAN LITERATURE
Literature of Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain. Under the influence of the splendor of the literary courts of independent Provençal potentates, the first Catalan poets adopted the verse forms of the troubadours of Provence and Toulouse. The 15th century was the Golden Age of Catalan poetry. During this period the language used in poetry as well as prose showed an increasing devotion to purely Catalan forms until it became an entirely native product. The greatest among the brilliant poets of this period was Ausías March (c. 1397–1460), a Valencian. The subsequent decline of Catalan poetry was caused not by a lessening of the genius of Catalan poets, but by the loss of independence of Aragón to Castile and the triumphant rise and spread of Castilian. A Catalan, Juan Boscán Almogáver (1493–1542), inaugurated in Castilian the use of Italian poetic forms.
Few important prose works were produced in Catalan before the end of the 13th century. The 15th-century chivalric novel Tirant lo Blanc, written by Joanot Martorell (1415?–80?), was translated into English in 1984. A humorous, ironic, yet compassionate account of the adventures of an imaginary knight, it gives vivid descriptions of the life of the time. Catalan writers produced very little other notable literature until the 19th-century renaissance. A major writer during the early years of this period was Buenaventura Carlos Ariba (1798–1862), whose Oda a la patria, written in 1833, is one of the best poems in modern Catalan. Other Catalan writers attained celebrity, including Mosén Jacinto Verdaguer (1845–1902), author of two epics; and Ángel Guimerá (1847–1924), poet and dramatist. Among important Catalan writers of the 20th century are the novelists Narcís Oller (1846–1930), Joaquim Ruyra (1858–1939), and Prudenci Bertrana (1867–1941) and the poets Joan Maragall (1860–1911) and Carles Riba Bracóns (1893–1959). Under the regime (1939–75) of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, all traces of Catalan autonomy were temporarily abolished; the use of the Catalan language has since revived, however.
Few important prose works were produced in Catalan before the end of the 13th century. The 15th-century chivalric novel Tirant lo Blanc, written by Joanot Martorell (1415?–80?), was translated into English in 1984. A humorous, ironic, yet compassionate account of the adventures of an imaginary knight, it gives vivid descriptions of the life of the time. Catalan writers produced very little other notable literature until the 19th-century renaissance. A major writer during the early years of this period was Buenaventura Carlos Ariba (1798–1862), whose Oda a la patria, written in 1833, is one of the best poems in modern Catalan. Other Catalan writers attained celebrity, including Mosén Jacinto Verdaguer (1845–1902), author of two epics; and Ángel Guimerá (1847–1924), poet and dramatist. Among important Catalan writers of the 20th century are the novelists Narcís Oller (1846–1930), Joaquim Ruyra (1858–1939), and Prudenci Bertrana (1867–1941) and the poets Joan Maragall (1860–1911) and Carles Riba Bracóns (1893–1959). Under the regime (1939–75) of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, all traces of Catalan autonomy were temporarily abolished; the use of the Catalan language has since revived, however.
SUMERIAN LITERATURE
Literature written in Sumerian in the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Sumer. It is the oldest literature in history. Sumerian inscriptions, in cuneiform, have been found on tens of thousands of pieces of pottery, on clay cylinder seals, and on clay tablets. More than 90 percent of these inscriptions are administrative, economic, and legal documents, including inventories, promissory notes, receipts, deeds of sale, marriage contracts, wills, and court decisions. The inscriptions make reference to hundreds of names of persons, deities, places, and products, and constitute the most important source material for the study of Sumerian society and economy. Many of the documents were dated by the scribes in relation to significant events and are therefore invaluable as historical sources.
Nearly 1000 inscriptions have been found on objects such as statues, stelae, vases, bricks, door sockets, and foundation deposits. Written in lofty prose style, the inscriptions contain much information about Sumerian history and religion.
More than 5000 tablets and fragments are inscribed with Sumerian literary and religious works. These works, including myths and epic tales, hymns and lamentations, proverbs, and essays, number in the hundreds. The various compositions range in length from hymns of fewer than 50 lines to myths of nearly 1000 lines. Except for the proverbs and some of the essays, all Sumerian literary and religious works are written in poetic form. Most of the literary tablets, which are of great value for the study of Sumerian intellectual development, date from the 18th century bc, but the majority of the inscribed works were composed centuries earlier. Although most of these literary tablets were excavated toward the beginning of the 20th century, it was not until the 1940s that a systematic and fruitful study of their contents began. S.N.K., SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER, Ph.D.
Nearly 1000 inscriptions have been found on objects such as statues, stelae, vases, bricks, door sockets, and foundation deposits. Written in lofty prose style, the inscriptions contain much information about Sumerian history and religion.
More than 5000 tablets and fragments are inscribed with Sumerian literary and religious works. These works, including myths and epic tales, hymns and lamentations, proverbs, and essays, number in the hundreds. The various compositions range in length from hymns of fewer than 50 lines to myths of nearly 1000 lines. Except for the proverbs and some of the essays, all Sumerian literary and religious works are written in poetic form. Most of the literary tablets, which are of great value for the study of Sumerian intellectual development, date from the 18th century bc, but the majority of the inscribed works were composed centuries earlier. Although most of these literary tablets were excavated toward the beginning of the 20th century, it was not until the 1940s that a systematic and fruitful study of their contents began. S.N.K., SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER, Ph.D.
ASSYRO-BABYLONIAN LITERATURE
Texts written in the ASSYRO-BABYLONIAN LANGUAGE, (q.v.) between the 3d millennium bc and roughly the time of Jesus Christ. Most Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform tablets deal with science, economics, administrative policies (in the form of letters), and law, including one of the greatest of all legal documents, the Code of Hammurabi (see HAMMURABI, CODE OF,). A wide variety of purely literary genres, however, also exists. Among them are epics and myths; historical chronicles and royal annals; historical romances in poetic form; hymns and prayers, incantations and rituals, and texts dealing with magic and divination; collections of proverbs and precepts; disputations such as fanciful literary debates between animals, trees, or the like; and remarkable poetic narratives dealing with the problem of human misery.
Most of this body of literature is in the Babylonian dialect of the southern part of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Those texts written in the Assyrian dialect of the north consist of historical inscriptions, business documents, oracles and rituals, and official letters; existing literary texts in Assyrian are copies or adaptations of Babylonian originals. The preservation of Assyro-Babylonian literature is, in fact, due to Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, who sent scholars to Babylonia to copy old Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform tablets; thousands of these transcriptions (many now in the British Museum in London) were collected in his library at Nineveh.
The longest Babylonian epic poems are the Creation Epic and the GILGAMESH EPIC, (q.v.). The former, consisting of seven tablets, deals with the struggle between cosmic order and primeval chaos. The secular Gilgamesh Epic, written about 2000 bc on 12 cuneiform tablets, concerns the hero’s fruitless search for immortality. Masterfully woven together from an older series of separate Sumerian tales, this epic poem had great popular appeal in antiquity. It is of interest to modern biblical scholars because of its reference to a Noah-like character who survived a great flood. See DELUGE,.
The Epic of Zû tells of the theft of the Tablets of Destiny from the gods by the evil bird Zû and of their recovery by the warrior god Ninurta. The search for the “plant of birth” by the shepherd Etana, who ultimately founded the first dynasty after the deluge, is related in the Epic of Etana. Among other Babylonian epics and myths are The Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World; Atrahasis, which deals with human sin and its punishment through plagues and the deluge; and Nergal and Ereshkigal, concerning the marriage of the divinities who ruled the netherworld.
Other important works are The Babylonian Theodicy, a poetic dialogue about a Job-like “righteous sufferer”; a satirical dialogue, The Master and His Obliging Servant; and a recently discovered folktale, The Poor Man of Nippur, which seems to be the ancestor of one of the stories in the Arabian Nights.
Among significant historical romances in poetic form are The Cuthaean Legend, concerning the defeat of King Naram-Sin (r. about 2255–2218 bc) of Akkad; The King of Battle, dealing with a military expedition to Anatolia led by Sargon I (r. about 2335–2279 bc) of Akkad; and The Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta, describing the defeat of the Babylonians by the Assyrians. E.I.G., EDMUND I. GORDON, Ph.D.
Most of this body of literature is in the Babylonian dialect of the southern part of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Those texts written in the Assyrian dialect of the north consist of historical inscriptions, business documents, oracles and rituals, and official letters; existing literary texts in Assyrian are copies or adaptations of Babylonian originals. The preservation of Assyro-Babylonian literature is, in fact, due to Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, who sent scholars to Babylonia to copy old Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform tablets; thousands of these transcriptions (many now in the British Museum in London) were collected in his library at Nineveh.
The longest Babylonian epic poems are the Creation Epic and the GILGAMESH EPIC, (q.v.). The former, consisting of seven tablets, deals with the struggle between cosmic order and primeval chaos. The secular Gilgamesh Epic, written about 2000 bc on 12 cuneiform tablets, concerns the hero’s fruitless search for immortality. Masterfully woven together from an older series of separate Sumerian tales, this epic poem had great popular appeal in antiquity. It is of interest to modern biblical scholars because of its reference to a Noah-like character who survived a great flood. See DELUGE,.
The Epic of Zû tells of the theft of the Tablets of Destiny from the gods by the evil bird Zû and of their recovery by the warrior god Ninurta. The search for the “plant of birth” by the shepherd Etana, who ultimately founded the first dynasty after the deluge, is related in the Epic of Etana. Among other Babylonian epics and myths are The Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World; Atrahasis, which deals with human sin and its punishment through plagues and the deluge; and Nergal and Ereshkigal, concerning the marriage of the divinities who ruled the netherworld.
Other important works are The Babylonian Theodicy, a poetic dialogue about a Job-like “righteous sufferer”; a satirical dialogue, The Master and His Obliging Servant; and a recently discovered folktale, The Poor Man of Nippur, which seems to be the ancestor of one of the stories in the Arabian Nights.
Among significant historical romances in poetic form are The Cuthaean Legend, concerning the defeat of King Naram-Sin (r. about 2255–2218 bc) of Akkad; The King of Battle, dealing with a military expedition to Anatolia led by Sargon I (r. about 2335–2279 bc) of Akkad; and The Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta, describing the defeat of the Babylonians by the Assyrians. E.I.G., EDMUND I. GORDON, Ph.D.
GEORGIAN LITERATURE
Literature of the inhabitants of the Republic of Georgia. It is written in the Georgian language. The earliest work to survive, The Martyrdom of the Saint Shushanik (474–84), and the thousands of palimpsests of the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries indicate that at least the Gospels, the Epistles of Saint Paul, and about 150 Psalms had been translated into Georgian during that period. Several Georgian translations of the complete Bible from the 8th and 9th centuries also survive.
The Golden Age of Georgian literature came under Queen Thamar (c. 1160–1212), during whose rule (1184–1212) Georgia reached its political as well as its cultural peak. The bestknown work is the secular The Man in the Tiger's Skin, by the late 12th-century poet Shotha Rus-thaveli (fl. 1190), the national epic of Georgia. Beginning in this period, Persian stories and myths became a strong literary influence. They were much evident in the writings of the royal poet King Theimuraz I (1589–1663) and denounced by a later royal poet, King Archil (1647–1713). Persian influence remained strong until the rise of Georgian nationalism in the 18th century.
Among the important 18th-century writers were King Vakhtang (1675–1737) and Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani (1655?–1725?), author of a collection of moral tales and of a Georgian dictionary as well as of poems and a journal of his extensive travels in Western Europe. Other writers include the poets David Guramishvili (1705–92) and Bessarion (Besiki) Gabashvili.
During the 19th century, Western European influence became strong. Among the poets were Alexander Chavchavadse (1786–1846) and Grigol Orbeliani (1804–83). Their poetry was noted for its patriotic themes and extravagant praise of wine and women. Nikoloz Baratashvili (1814–46) also showed European influence.
In the late 19th century the most influential Georgian man of letters was the patriotic Ilia Chavchavadse (1837–1907). From 1921 to 1991 Georgia was part of the Soviet Union. Much literature continued to be produced in the Georgian language, but it belonged to the cultural tradition of the USSR.
The Golden Age of Georgian literature came under Queen Thamar (c. 1160–1212), during whose rule (1184–1212) Georgia reached its political as well as its cultural peak. The bestknown work is the secular The Man in the Tiger's Skin, by the late 12th-century poet Shotha Rus-thaveli (fl. 1190), the national epic of Georgia. Beginning in this period, Persian stories and myths became a strong literary influence. They were much evident in the writings of the royal poet King Theimuraz I (1589–1663) and denounced by a later royal poet, King Archil (1647–1713). Persian influence remained strong until the rise of Georgian nationalism in the 18th century.
Among the important 18th-century writers were King Vakhtang (1675–1737) and Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani (1655?–1725?), author of a collection of moral tales and of a Georgian dictionary as well as of poems and a journal of his extensive travels in Western Europe. Other writers include the poets David Guramishvili (1705–92) and Bessarion (Besiki) Gabashvili.
During the 19th century, Western European influence became strong. Among the poets were Alexander Chavchavadse (1786–1846) and Grigol Orbeliani (1804–83). Their poetry was noted for its patriotic themes and extravagant praise of wine and women. Nikoloz Baratashvili (1814–46) also showed European influence.
In the late 19th century the most influential Georgian man of letters was the patriotic Ilia Chavchavadse (1837–1907). From 1921 to 1991 Georgia was part of the Soviet Union. Much literature continued to be produced in the Georgian language, but it belonged to the cultural tradition of the USSR.
BRETON LITERATURE
Ancient literature of Brittany. In its earliest written forms, which scholars have traced back to the period between the 7th and 11th centuries, Breton is represented by glosses of Latin words. The oldest known continuous text in the language consists of six or seven lines of a 14th-century Latin manuscript, discovered in 1913. From the 15th to the 17th century a fair-sized body of religious literature was produced, much of it in the form of mystery and miracle plays. Mellezour an Maru (Mirror of Death), a lengthy poem of the early 16th century, deals with the last judgment. The first important prose work in Breton is Buhez Sante Cathell (Life of Saint Catherine), largely translated from a Latin source and first published in 1576.
Brittany experienced a literary revival in the 19th century. The Bible was translated into Breton in 1827 by Jean François Legonidec (1775–1838), who eliminated words of French origin. Some of these words were the most common in the language, and, because the words he substituted often were absurd, the Breton translation is decidedly unrepresentative. During the century many orally transmitted poems, folktales, proverbs, and riddles were written down and published. That phase of the revival was stimulated to some extent by the appearance in 1839 of what purported to be a collection of old popular songs, Barzaz Breiz (The Poetry of Brittany), edited by Hersart de Villemarqué (1815–95). Although it was discovered later that the editor had retouched many of the songs, and that a great many were of recent origin, the volume influenced such later collectors and poets as Anatole Le Braz (1859–1926). Another poet, Prosper Proux (1811–73), who wrote Poems of a Man from Cornwall (1839), became one of the most popular writers of the early 19th century.
In the 20th century several periodicals, such as Gwalarn (Northwest, 1925–44; continued as Liamm, Bond, from 1946 on), presented the works of new authors. A number of scholarly works on the Breton language were published, and a few novelists achieved modest success. Our Lady of the Carmelites (1942) by Youenn Drezen is considered one of the finest modern Breton novels. Distinguished among several modern poets in the language were Jean Pierre Colloc’h (1888–1917)—who wrote religious verse such as Kneeling, published posthumously with a French translation in 1921—and Roperzh Er Mason, writer of compelling nature poetry. Since the Middle Ages drama has been popular in Brittany, and a modern school of drama was founded by Tanguey Malmanche (1875–1953), among others.
Brittany experienced a literary revival in the 19th century. The Bible was translated into Breton in 1827 by Jean François Legonidec (1775–1838), who eliminated words of French origin. Some of these words were the most common in the language, and, because the words he substituted often were absurd, the Breton translation is decidedly unrepresentative. During the century many orally transmitted poems, folktales, proverbs, and riddles were written down and published. That phase of the revival was stimulated to some extent by the appearance in 1839 of what purported to be a collection of old popular songs, Barzaz Breiz (The Poetry of Brittany), edited by Hersart de Villemarqué (1815–95). Although it was discovered later that the editor had retouched many of the songs, and that a great many were of recent origin, the volume influenced such later collectors and poets as Anatole Le Braz (1859–1926). Another poet, Prosper Proux (1811–73), who wrote Poems of a Man from Cornwall (1839), became one of the most popular writers of the early 19th century.
In the 20th century several periodicals, such as Gwalarn (Northwest, 1925–44; continued as Liamm, Bond, from 1946 on), presented the works of new authors. A number of scholarly works on the Breton language were published, and a few novelists achieved modest success. Our Lady of the Carmelites (1942) by Youenn Drezen is considered one of the finest modern Breton novels. Distinguished among several modern poets in the language were Jean Pierre Colloc’h (1888–1917)—who wrote religious verse such as Kneeling, published posthumously with a French translation in 1921—and Roperzh Er Mason, writer of compelling nature poetry. Since the Middle Ages drama has been popular in Brittany, and a modern school of drama was founded by Tanguey Malmanche (1875–1953), among others.
NORMAN FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
French dialect that developed in Normandy after Viking (or Norse) invaders settled the region around 911, and the literature written in it. During the three centuries after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, French culture predominated in England; this culture, transmitted by the conquerors and their descendants, is often referred to as Anglo-Norman. Norman French (with the later admixture of Parisian, or standard French) was the official language of the law courts, the church, and polite society in England. A considerable body of Anglo-Norman prose and poetry was produced; much literature was also brought over from France.
In adopting French as a medium of communication the Normans retained for purposes of literary expression many Scandinavian words, which are still, although in a greatly changed form, characteristic of this French dialect; the largest such class is that of proper names of persons and places. During the early period Norman French played a significant part both in French literature and in the development of Middle English and English literature.
Among the most important works written in the Norman French dialect are historical accounts, for it was in Normandy that histories in the vernacular (as opposed to Latin) first appeared. Geoffrey Gaimar (fl. about 1099–1140), an Anglo-Norman poet and historiographer, wrote Estorie des Engles (History of the English), narrating the heroic achievements of the Anglo-Normans. Wace, another 12th-century Anglo-Norman chronicler, wrote Roman de brut, or La geste des bretons (Heroic Achievements of the Bretons). From 1160 to 1174, Wace produced La geste des normands (Heroic Achievements of the Normans), also called Roman de rou, comprising 17,000 decasyllabic and octosyllabic lines.
Other 12th-century works include the Cumpoz (an ecclesiastical calendar) and Bestiaire of the Norman poet Philippe de Thaon or Thaün; the laws of William I the Conqueror; versions of the romances, including the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland); and the Chançun de Guillelme (Song of William), which probably belongs to the end of the 11th century.
The 13th century was by far the most flourishing epoch. Among the poets belonging to this period are Fantosme, who wrote a chronicle of the invasions of the Scots in 1173–74; Angier, author of a life of St. Gregory the Great; and Guillaume de Berneville, who wrote a life of St. Gilles. The English martyr Thomas à Becket, the legendary English knight Bevis of Hampton (Boeve de Haumtone), St. Auban, and others are the subjects of anonymous poems. Also of interest are versions of the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne (Pilgrimage of Charlemagne), and the mystery play of Adam, as well as a Fabliau du Héron. The 14th century, marking the decline of Norman French literature, is noted for the Contes moralisées (Moral Tales) by the Anglo-Norman author Nicole Bozon and versions of biblical legends.
After the decline of this literature, French continued to be the language of pleadings in the law courts of England until as late as the mid-16th century. By the end of the 18th century, law-court French had completely died out with the exception of a few terms still retained in courts on the Channel Islands.
An
In adopting French as a medium of communication the Normans retained for purposes of literary expression many Scandinavian words, which are still, although in a greatly changed form, characteristic of this French dialect; the largest such class is that of proper names of persons and places. During the early period Norman French played a significant part both in French literature and in the development of Middle English and English literature.
Among the most important works written in the Norman French dialect are historical accounts, for it was in Normandy that histories in the vernacular (as opposed to Latin) first appeared. Geoffrey Gaimar (fl. about 1099–1140), an Anglo-Norman poet and historiographer, wrote Estorie des Engles (History of the English), narrating the heroic achievements of the Anglo-Normans. Wace, another 12th-century Anglo-Norman chronicler, wrote Roman de brut, or La geste des bretons (Heroic Achievements of the Bretons). From 1160 to 1174, Wace produced La geste des normands (Heroic Achievements of the Normans), also called Roman de rou, comprising 17,000 decasyllabic and octosyllabic lines.
Other 12th-century works include the Cumpoz (an ecclesiastical calendar) and Bestiaire of the Norman poet Philippe de Thaon or Thaün; the laws of William I the Conqueror; versions of the romances, including the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland); and the Chançun de Guillelme (Song of William), which probably belongs to the end of the 11th century.
The 13th century was by far the most flourishing epoch. Among the poets belonging to this period are Fantosme, who wrote a chronicle of the invasions of the Scots in 1173–74; Angier, author of a life of St. Gregory the Great; and Guillaume de Berneville, who wrote a life of St. Gilles. The English martyr Thomas à Becket, the legendary English knight Bevis of Hampton (Boeve de Haumtone), St. Auban, and others are the subjects of anonymous poems. Also of interest are versions of the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne (Pilgrimage of Charlemagne), and the mystery play of Adam, as well as a Fabliau du Héron. The 14th century, marking the decline of Norman French literature, is noted for the Contes moralisées (Moral Tales) by the Anglo-Norman author Nicole Bozon and versions of biblical legends.
After the decline of this literature, French continued to be the language of pleadings in the law courts of England until as late as the mid-16th century. By the end of the 18th century, law-court French had completely died out with the exception of a few terms still retained in courts on the Channel Islands.
An
LITHUANIAN LITERATURE
Literary works in the Lithuanian language. In contrast to other European languages, Lithuanian was late in coming into literary usage, not until early in the 16th century. In 1962 a text was discovered at Vilnius and authenticated as dating from the early 16th century; it appeared to be a copy of an even earlier work. This version of two Christian prayers and a statement of faith represents the earliest example of written Lithuanian. Previously a catechism printed at Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russian Federation) in 1547 was thought to be the earliest. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Lithuanian literature was mostly religious.
The 18th century witnessed a modest increase in secular publications, including dictionaries. The first notable name in Lithuanian literature is that of Christian Donalitius (1714–80), a poet whose masterful work Metai (The Seasons, printed in 1818), depicts in lyrical hexameter the passage of a year in a Lithuanian village.
In the first half of the 19th century, the University of Vilnius was the center of a movement promoting the language, history, and folklore of Lithuania. A leader of this group was Simanas Daukantas (1793–1864), a romanticist and historian. In 1863, troubled by Lithuanian nationalist uprisings, the Russian czar proclaimed a 40-year ban on the printing of the Lithuanian language. Consequently, much literature written in Lithuanian was published in East Prussia and smuggled across the border. A major figure whose works were treated thus was Motiejus Valan[ccaron]ius (1801–75), Roman Catholic bishop of Samogitia and author of many works on religion and education.
During the ban, the Lithuanian people's desire for independence became a theme in much of the literature. Two influential nationalist periodicals began to be published in the 1880s. Jonas Basanavi[ccaron]ius (1851–1927), founder and editor of the first periodical, Aušra (Dawn, 1883–86), was a folklorist turned statesman and guiding force of Lithuanian nationalism. The second periodical, Varpas (The Bell, 1889–1905), was started by Vincas Kudirka (1858–99), also an important satirist, poet, and translator. Whereas Aušra was interested in forwarding the romantic ideal, Varpas was characterized by political populism and literary realism. Other major authors of the national renaissance period were the Roman Catholic bishop Aleksandras Daumbrauskas (1860–1938), who wrote influential literary criticism under the pseudonym Adomas Jakštas; Aleksandras Fromas Gu[zcaron]utis (1822–1900), one of the first playwrights to use the Lithuanian language; Vilkutaitis Keturakis (1869–1948), the author of the highly successful comedy Amerika pirtyje (America in the Bathhouse, 1895); Jonas Ma[ccaron]iulis (1862–1932), a poet and dramatist who used the pen name Maironis; and the poet Antanas Baranauskas (1835–1902), whose Anykš[ccaron]ių šilelis (The Grove of Anyksai, 1858–59) is considered one of the great achievements of Lithuanian literature.
In 1904 the ban against printing the Lithuanian language was lifted, and European literary movements such as symbolism, impressionism, and expressionism influenced the work of Lithuanian writers. The first period of Lithuanian independence (1918–40) gave them the opportunity to look into themselves and their characters more deeply, as their primary concerns were no longer political. A notable figure of the early 1900s was Vincas Krėvė Mi[ccaron]kevi[ccaron]ius (1882–1954), a novelist and dramatist. His many works include Dainavos salies senų [zcaron]monių padavimai (Old Folks Tales of Dainava, 1912) and the historical dramas Šarūnas (1911), Skirgaila (1925), and Mindaugo mirtis (The Death of Mindaugo, 1935). Petras Vai[ccaron]iūnas (1890–1959) was another popular playwright, producing one play a year during the 1920s and '30s. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893–1967) wrote lyric poetry, plays, and novels, including the novel Altorių q[dcl009]eq[dcl009]ely (In the Shadows of the Altars, 3 vol., 1933), a remarkably powerful autobiographical novel.
During the Soviet period (1940–91), literature written in the Lithuanian language fell into two distinct categories. Those authors who remained in Lithuania tended to write in the vein of Soviet socialist realism. Expatriated authors, writing for a small but devoted audience in such countries as the U.S., Australia, and Canada, were concerned with maintaining Lithuanian culture and traditions.
The 18th century witnessed a modest increase in secular publications, including dictionaries. The first notable name in Lithuanian literature is that of Christian Donalitius (1714–80), a poet whose masterful work Metai (The Seasons, printed in 1818), depicts in lyrical hexameter the passage of a year in a Lithuanian village.
In the first half of the 19th century, the University of Vilnius was the center of a movement promoting the language, history, and folklore of Lithuania. A leader of this group was Simanas Daukantas (1793–1864), a romanticist and historian. In 1863, troubled by Lithuanian nationalist uprisings, the Russian czar proclaimed a 40-year ban on the printing of the Lithuanian language. Consequently, much literature written in Lithuanian was published in East Prussia and smuggled across the border. A major figure whose works were treated thus was Motiejus Valan[ccaron]ius (1801–75), Roman Catholic bishop of Samogitia and author of many works on religion and education.
During the ban, the Lithuanian people's desire for independence became a theme in much of the literature. Two influential nationalist periodicals began to be published in the 1880s. Jonas Basanavi[ccaron]ius (1851–1927), founder and editor of the first periodical, Aušra (Dawn, 1883–86), was a folklorist turned statesman and guiding force of Lithuanian nationalism. The second periodical, Varpas (The Bell, 1889–1905), was started by Vincas Kudirka (1858–99), also an important satirist, poet, and translator. Whereas Aušra was interested in forwarding the romantic ideal, Varpas was characterized by political populism and literary realism. Other major authors of the national renaissance period were the Roman Catholic bishop Aleksandras Daumbrauskas (1860–1938), who wrote influential literary criticism under the pseudonym Adomas Jakštas; Aleksandras Fromas Gu[zcaron]utis (1822–1900), one of the first playwrights to use the Lithuanian language; Vilkutaitis Keturakis (1869–1948), the author of the highly successful comedy Amerika pirtyje (America in the Bathhouse, 1895); Jonas Ma[ccaron]iulis (1862–1932), a poet and dramatist who used the pen name Maironis; and the poet Antanas Baranauskas (1835–1902), whose Anykš[ccaron]ių šilelis (The Grove of Anyksai, 1858–59) is considered one of the great achievements of Lithuanian literature.
In 1904 the ban against printing the Lithuanian language was lifted, and European literary movements such as symbolism, impressionism, and expressionism influenced the work of Lithuanian writers. The first period of Lithuanian independence (1918–40) gave them the opportunity to look into themselves and their characters more deeply, as their primary concerns were no longer political. A notable figure of the early 1900s was Vincas Krėvė Mi[ccaron]kevi[ccaron]ius (1882–1954), a novelist and dramatist. His many works include Dainavos salies senų [zcaron]monių padavimai (Old Folks Tales of Dainava, 1912) and the historical dramas Šarūnas (1911), Skirgaila (1925), and Mindaugo mirtis (The Death of Mindaugo, 1935). Petras Vai[ccaron]iūnas (1890–1959) was another popular playwright, producing one play a year during the 1920s and '30s. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893–1967) wrote lyric poetry, plays, and novels, including the novel Altorių q[dcl009]eq[dcl009]ely (In the Shadows of the Altars, 3 vol., 1933), a remarkably powerful autobiographical novel.
During the Soviet period (1940–91), literature written in the Lithuanian language fell into two distinct categories. Those authors who remained in Lithuania tended to write in the vein of Soviet socialist realism. Expatriated authors, writing for a small but devoted audience in such countries as the U.S., Australia, and Canada, were concerned with maintaining Lithuanian culture and traditions.
FINNISH LITERATURE
Works written by or traced to the people of Finland but, because of a continual affiliation with neighboring Sweden, not all necessarily in the Finnish language.
Origin and Early Swedish Influence.
An extensive oral folk literature dates from about ad 100 and the arrival of the Finns, a people of possibly Nordic and East-Baltic origin. Legends and myths served as the basis for much of their creative work. The most popular forms included epic and lyric poetry, folk songs, fables, proverbs, and riddles.
In 1157 Finland was conquered by Sweden. Through the next six centuries, Swedish influence in administrative, religious, and educational areas increasingly altered the culture of the nation. Swedish was designated the official language, and, with the introduction of Christianity, the language of the church, Latin, came into similar wide usage. With most of the writing by the educated class being done in either one or the other language, literature in the Finnish tongue remained sparse. The first book published in Finnish was the ABC-Book printed in 1543 by Bishop Mikael Agricola (1506?–57). The bishop's subsequent translation of the New Testament, published in 1548, marked the earliest use of Finnish for religious writings. The traditional oral forms continued to be transmitted, but little other literature was produced in Finnish.
Nationalist Literary Movement.
In 1809 Finland was ceded to Russia. Following the separation from Sweden, a Finnish nationalist movement emerged, largely encouraged by historical research undertaken by the nation's academic community. The scholar Elias Lönnrot (1802–84), after many years collecting and studying the folk songs and sayings of ancient Finland, published the KALEVALA, (q.v.) in Finnish in 1835; he enlarged it in 1849. Pride in the Finnish language awakened among the nation's writers, inspiring them at last to produce in their native tongue.
By the mid-19th century, Finnish works were being published in all the major literary forms. One of the most impressive monuments of Finnish prose is the novel Seven Brothers (1870; trans. 1929), by Alexis Kivi (1834–72), a noted playwright as well as a novelist. The book changed the emphasis of Finnish narrative literature by realistically, rather than romantically, portraying the rural folk. Early realism is also represented in the novels and stories of Juhani Aho (1861–1921) and in dramatic works by Minna Canth (1844–97). Of the comedies written since Kivi, the best is Man's Rib (1914), a depiction of marriage and divorce, by Maria Jotuni (1880–1943). Her last play, Klaus, the Master of Louhikko, was honored as the best Finnish drama of 1941. Naturalism in literature is represented in works by the novelists Joel Lehtonen (1881–1934); Toivo Pekkanen (1902–57), whose My Childhood (1953; trans. 1966) describes a working-class family; and 1939 Nobel Prize winner Frans Eemil Sillanpää, writer of the poetic epic of rural life People in the Summer Night (1934; trans. 1966). Mika Waltari (1908–79) is best known for his internationally popular historical novel The Egyptian (1945; trans. 1949), which reflects contemporary European postwar disillusion. The greatest names in Finnish verse are the lyric master Eino Leino (1878–1926), the patriotic poet Veikko Antero Koskenniemi (1885–1962), the singer of suffering and death Uuno Kailas (1901–33), and the sensitive lyricist Kaarol Sarkia (1902–45).
The most prominent post–World War II novelist was Väinö Linna (1920–92), whose The Unknown Soldier (1954), with its realistic, humorous criticisms of the officer class, became a bestseller and was translated into many foreign languages. In his trilogy Under the North Star (1959–62), Linna forcefully described the Finnish civil war in 1917. Among the contemporary novelists of note are Veijo Meri (1928– ), author of The Manila Rope (1957; trans. 1967), a much-translated story of a soldier home on leave; and Paavo Rintala (1930– ), whose trilogy Grandma and Mannerheim (1960–62) deflates cherished national myths. The young modernist poets include Tuomas Anhava (1927– ); Eeva-Liisa Manner (1921–95), whose poetry encompasses both nature and dream imagery; Matti Rossi (1934– ), writer of political protest verse; and Pentti Saarikoski (1937–83), whose love poetry and self-analytical verse is written in colloquial diction. Saarikoski did the Finnish translation of James Joyce's Ulysses. Drama has flourished in contemporary Finland in the work of Meri and of Arvo Salo (1933– ), who dealt with Finnish fascism in his popular Lapua Opera (1966).
Modern Works in Swedish.
Many Finnish writers published in Swedish, finding an audience at home and an extended readership in neighboring Sweden. Among these are Johan Ludvig Runeberg, whose poem “Vårt Land” (Our Country, 1848) became the words of the anthem of Finland, and Zakarias Topelius (1818–98), a revered writer of fairy tales and historical novels. Important 20th-century lyric poets are Edith Södergran (1892–1923), pioneer of modernism; Arvid Mörne (1876–1946), champion of the Swedish-speaking minority's cause; Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947), a master of form; and Elmer Diktonius (1896–1961), who dealt with revolutionary political themes. P.V.V., PAUL V. VEHVILAINEN, M.A., Ph.D.
Origin and Early Swedish Influence.
An extensive oral folk literature dates from about ad 100 and the arrival of the Finns, a people of possibly Nordic and East-Baltic origin. Legends and myths served as the basis for much of their creative work. The most popular forms included epic and lyric poetry, folk songs, fables, proverbs, and riddles.
In 1157 Finland was conquered by Sweden. Through the next six centuries, Swedish influence in administrative, religious, and educational areas increasingly altered the culture of the nation. Swedish was designated the official language, and, with the introduction of Christianity, the language of the church, Latin, came into similar wide usage. With most of the writing by the educated class being done in either one or the other language, literature in the Finnish tongue remained sparse. The first book published in Finnish was the ABC-Book printed in 1543 by Bishop Mikael Agricola (1506?–57). The bishop's subsequent translation of the New Testament, published in 1548, marked the earliest use of Finnish for religious writings. The traditional oral forms continued to be transmitted, but little other literature was produced in Finnish.
Nationalist Literary Movement.
In 1809 Finland was ceded to Russia. Following the separation from Sweden, a Finnish nationalist movement emerged, largely encouraged by historical research undertaken by the nation's academic community. The scholar Elias Lönnrot (1802–84), after many years collecting and studying the folk songs and sayings of ancient Finland, published the KALEVALA, (q.v.) in Finnish in 1835; he enlarged it in 1849. Pride in the Finnish language awakened among the nation's writers, inspiring them at last to produce in their native tongue.
By the mid-19th century, Finnish works were being published in all the major literary forms. One of the most impressive monuments of Finnish prose is the novel Seven Brothers (1870; trans. 1929), by Alexis Kivi (1834–72), a noted playwright as well as a novelist. The book changed the emphasis of Finnish narrative literature by realistically, rather than romantically, portraying the rural folk. Early realism is also represented in the novels and stories of Juhani Aho (1861–1921) and in dramatic works by Minna Canth (1844–97). Of the comedies written since Kivi, the best is Man's Rib (1914), a depiction of marriage and divorce, by Maria Jotuni (1880–1943). Her last play, Klaus, the Master of Louhikko, was honored as the best Finnish drama of 1941. Naturalism in literature is represented in works by the novelists Joel Lehtonen (1881–1934); Toivo Pekkanen (1902–57), whose My Childhood (1953; trans. 1966) describes a working-class family; and 1939 Nobel Prize winner Frans Eemil Sillanpää, writer of the poetic epic of rural life People in the Summer Night (1934; trans. 1966). Mika Waltari (1908–79) is best known for his internationally popular historical novel The Egyptian (1945; trans. 1949), which reflects contemporary European postwar disillusion. The greatest names in Finnish verse are the lyric master Eino Leino (1878–1926), the patriotic poet Veikko Antero Koskenniemi (1885–1962), the singer of suffering and death Uuno Kailas (1901–33), and the sensitive lyricist Kaarol Sarkia (1902–45).
The most prominent post–World War II novelist was Väinö Linna (1920–92), whose The Unknown Soldier (1954), with its realistic, humorous criticisms of the officer class, became a bestseller and was translated into many foreign languages. In his trilogy Under the North Star (1959–62), Linna forcefully described the Finnish civil war in 1917. Among the contemporary novelists of note are Veijo Meri (1928– ), author of The Manila Rope (1957; trans. 1967), a much-translated story of a soldier home on leave; and Paavo Rintala (1930– ), whose trilogy Grandma and Mannerheim (1960–62) deflates cherished national myths. The young modernist poets include Tuomas Anhava (1927– ); Eeva-Liisa Manner (1921–95), whose poetry encompasses both nature and dream imagery; Matti Rossi (1934– ), writer of political protest verse; and Pentti Saarikoski (1937–83), whose love poetry and self-analytical verse is written in colloquial diction. Saarikoski did the Finnish translation of James Joyce's Ulysses. Drama has flourished in contemporary Finland in the work of Meri and of Arvo Salo (1933– ), who dealt with Finnish fascism in his popular Lapua Opera (1966).
Modern Works in Swedish.
Many Finnish writers published in Swedish, finding an audience at home and an extended readership in neighboring Sweden. Among these are Johan Ludvig Runeberg, whose poem “Vårt Land” (Our Country, 1848) became the words of the anthem of Finland, and Zakarias Topelius (1818–98), a revered writer of fairy tales and historical novels. Important 20th-century lyric poets are Edith Södergran (1892–1923), pioneer of modernism; Arvid Mörne (1876–1946), champion of the Swedish-speaking minority's cause; Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947), a master of form; and Elmer Diktonius (1896–1961), who dealt with revolutionary political themes. P.V.V., PAUL V. VEHVILAINEN, M.A., Ph.D.
SCOTTISH LITERATURE
Literature in any of the languages of Scotland: Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots, or Standard English. This article deals with poetry and prose in Scots and in English, written in Scotland or by Scottish-born authors living abroad but dealing primarily with Scottish themes and settings. For information on the Scottish Gaelic literary tradition, see Gaelic Literature. See also English Literature.
Early Works.
The earliest literature in the northern dialect of English known as Scottish or Lowland Scots is a fragment of an anonymous 13th-century poem on the condition of Scotland after the death of King Alexander III. One of the first major Scottish poets was John Barbour, archdeacon of Aberdeen, who wrote The Brus (1375); its 14,000 lines tell the story of the heroic Scottish king Robert Bruce.
The Makars.
Some of the most notable Scottish poetry was the work of the medieval makars (literally makers), professional poets generally attached to the court. The tradition is considered to have begun with King James I, the probable author of The Kingis Quair (The King's Book, c. 1423), a dream allegory in the courtly love tradition of Le roman de la rose. Because of their supposed imitations of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, the makars have often been referred to as Scottish Chaucerians. The term is inaccurate; the similarity stems from their use of the same French models that inspired Chaucer.
The next great makar was Robert Henryson (c. 1420–c. 1490), a cleric of Dunfermline, whose masterpiece was The Testament of Cresseid. Henryson's version forms a sequel to Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and tells of Cressida's punishment for violating the courtly love code. William Dunbar, a Franciscan prelate attached to the court of King James IV, is Henryson's rival to the title of greatest of these 15th-century poets. Dunbar was essentially a lyric poet, however, notable for his versatility and craftsmanship. His most famous poem is the Lament for the Makaris. Apart from its value as a roster of names of Scottish poets, his predecessors and contemporaries, the Lament is a poignant expression of his own fear of death. In contrast are The Twa Maryit Wemen and the Wedo, a rollicking satirical debate on various forms of love, and his stately hymn on the resurrection of Christ.
The fourth of the makars, Gawin Douglas, member of a noble family and bishop of Dunkeld, made the first translation in Britain of Vergil's Aeneid. His version, not superseded until the translations of the English poets John Dryden and Alexander Pope, is valuable also for its role in developing the Scots vocabulary. Each book of Douglas's Aeneid is prefaced by an original prologue; the seventh prologue is particularly notable for its realistic description of a Scottish winter scene.
The Reformation.
Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis (c. 1535) by Sir David Lindsay is a long allegorical poem in the tradition of the medieval morality plays. It constitutes an attack on the church and the monarchy and an apologia for the Reformation. As such, it remained the most popular work in Scotland until the time of Robert Burns.
With the Reformation, the tradition of the makars died; they were succeeded by a number of minor lyric poets. With the union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603, the court poetry tradition disappeared, and the vernacular was relegated mainly to the body of popular lyrics and ballads, generally of anonymous authorship. The most widely read prose work of this period was the English Bible; because of its enormous influence, the Scottish language ceased to be used for formal prose, and until the end of the 19th century it was reserved, in fiction, only for dialogue, to give a genre effect. Drama, negligible in Scotland before the Reformation, has never had a strong native tradition.
18th Century.
Three 18th-century poets used the Scots vernacular and restored a true national literary tradition. Allan Ramsay, a poet in his own right, through his anthologies The Tea-Table Miscellany (4 vol., 1724–37) and The Ever Green (2 vol., 1724), made the work of the makars and later Scottish poetry known to his contemporaries. Robert Fergusson (1750–74) was one of a line of Scottish poets that continues to the present day, devoted to sympathetic but realistic evocations of Glasgow and Edinburgh. “Auld Reekie” is one of his many lively descriptions of Edinburgh streets and citizens. Robert Burns, the most beloved of all Scottish poets, refused to turn to English for his poetry; the bulk of his work is therefore squarely in the Scottish tradition, in language, forms—based to a large extent on folk poetry—and content.
The Prose Tradition.
Up to the time of Sir Walter Scott, one of the most popular and prolific of all novelists, prose writing in Scotland (in Scots or in English) served mainly didactic purposes, as with the work of the religious reformer John Knox. A fiction tradition emerged with Scott's Waverley novels (1814–19), enlarged by such writers as Susan Ferrier (1782–1854) and John Galt. Ferrier wrote three novels, the first of which, Marriage (1818), is also the first social novel in Scotland; it is remarkable for its sharply witty descriptions contrasting life in the Highlands with that in London. Galt's novels include The Annals of the Parish (1821), a realistic account of the daily life of a rural minister, and The Entail (1842), a study of obsession, notable for its picture of 18th-century Glasgow.
Certain novelists and poets of the later 19th century, because of their idyllic re-creations of couthie (comfortable) Scottish rural life, have been dubbed the “kailyard” (cabbage patch) school by 20th-century critics. The antithesis of this is found in The House with the Green Shutters (1901), the only novel of George Douglas (pseudonym of George Douglas Brown, 1869–1902), which is a mordant exposé of small-town life and family tragedy. Another honest treatment of Scottish life is the trilogy A Scots Quair (1932–34) by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell, 1901–35). This often lyrical story of a Scottish woman's transition from farm to city life is told in her own voice; syntax and vocabulary re-create the Fifeshire dialect. The first part of the trilogy, Sunset Song (1932), was dramatized for television.
Later writers of fiction include Neil M. Gunn (1891–1973), who portrayed life in the fishing villages of his native Caithness, as in Morning Tide (1931) and The Silver Darlings (1941); Robin Jenkins (1912– ), whose several novels include Happy for the Child (1953) and Fergus Lamont (1969), the story of a Scot's search for identity; and Alasdair Gray (1934– ), author of the wildly inventive novels Lanark: A Life in Four Books (1981) and Janine, 1982 (1984), in the form of a long interior monologue, which manages to connect a man's fantasies with real events in his life. Gray's Unlikely Stories, Mostly (1984) continues his playful, allegorical approach.
20th-Century.
As in the past, the bulk of significant modern Scottish literature continues to be poetry. The two most distinguished Scottish poets of the earlier part of the century were Edwin Muir, whose poetry was inspired by memories of his Orkney childhood and by allegory, and Hugh MacDiarmid (pseudonym of C. M. Grieve), whose work was an expression of impassioned nationalism and socialist political views. MacDiarmid, leader of the so-called Scottish renaissance, attempted to revive a true Scottish poetry and the use of a Scots vocabulary. Their followers, writing both in Scots and in English, include Robert Garioch (1909–81) and Norman MacCaig (1910–96), city poets in the Fergusson vein; Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915–75); and George Mackay Brown (1921–96), whose verse and prose, as in An Orkney Tapestry (1969), drew on his native landscape and on legend. Douglas Dunn's (1942– ) several volumes of verse include Terry Street (1969) and Elegies (1985). His short stories, some of which have been published in The New Yorker, have been collected in Secret Villages (1985); they subtly indicate the adjustments of modern Scots to their changing social conditions. A scholar and critic as well, Dunn has edited The Poetry of Scotland (1980).
Early Works.
The earliest literature in the northern dialect of English known as Scottish or Lowland Scots is a fragment of an anonymous 13th-century poem on the condition of Scotland after the death of King Alexander III. One of the first major Scottish poets was John Barbour, archdeacon of Aberdeen, who wrote The Brus (1375); its 14,000 lines tell the story of the heroic Scottish king Robert Bruce.
The Makars.
Some of the most notable Scottish poetry was the work of the medieval makars (literally makers), professional poets generally attached to the court. The tradition is considered to have begun with King James I, the probable author of The Kingis Quair (The King's Book, c. 1423), a dream allegory in the courtly love tradition of Le roman de la rose. Because of their supposed imitations of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, the makars have often been referred to as Scottish Chaucerians. The term is inaccurate; the similarity stems from their use of the same French models that inspired Chaucer.
The next great makar was Robert Henryson (c. 1420–c. 1490), a cleric of Dunfermline, whose masterpiece was The Testament of Cresseid. Henryson's version forms a sequel to Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and tells of Cressida's punishment for violating the courtly love code. William Dunbar, a Franciscan prelate attached to the court of King James IV, is Henryson's rival to the title of greatest of these 15th-century poets. Dunbar was essentially a lyric poet, however, notable for his versatility and craftsmanship. His most famous poem is the Lament for the Makaris. Apart from its value as a roster of names of Scottish poets, his predecessors and contemporaries, the Lament is a poignant expression of his own fear of death. In contrast are The Twa Maryit Wemen and the Wedo, a rollicking satirical debate on various forms of love, and his stately hymn on the resurrection of Christ.
The fourth of the makars, Gawin Douglas, member of a noble family and bishop of Dunkeld, made the first translation in Britain of Vergil's Aeneid. His version, not superseded until the translations of the English poets John Dryden and Alexander Pope, is valuable also for its role in developing the Scots vocabulary. Each book of Douglas's Aeneid is prefaced by an original prologue; the seventh prologue is particularly notable for its realistic description of a Scottish winter scene.
The Reformation.
Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis (c. 1535) by Sir David Lindsay is a long allegorical poem in the tradition of the medieval morality plays. It constitutes an attack on the church and the monarchy and an apologia for the Reformation. As such, it remained the most popular work in Scotland until the time of Robert Burns.
With the Reformation, the tradition of the makars died; they were succeeded by a number of minor lyric poets. With the union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603, the court poetry tradition disappeared, and the vernacular was relegated mainly to the body of popular lyrics and ballads, generally of anonymous authorship. The most widely read prose work of this period was the English Bible; because of its enormous influence, the Scottish language ceased to be used for formal prose, and until the end of the 19th century it was reserved, in fiction, only for dialogue, to give a genre effect. Drama, negligible in Scotland before the Reformation, has never had a strong native tradition.
18th Century.
Three 18th-century poets used the Scots vernacular and restored a true national literary tradition. Allan Ramsay, a poet in his own right, through his anthologies The Tea-Table Miscellany (4 vol., 1724–37) and The Ever Green (2 vol., 1724), made the work of the makars and later Scottish poetry known to his contemporaries. Robert Fergusson (1750–74) was one of a line of Scottish poets that continues to the present day, devoted to sympathetic but realistic evocations of Glasgow and Edinburgh. “Auld Reekie” is one of his many lively descriptions of Edinburgh streets and citizens. Robert Burns, the most beloved of all Scottish poets, refused to turn to English for his poetry; the bulk of his work is therefore squarely in the Scottish tradition, in language, forms—based to a large extent on folk poetry—and content.
The Prose Tradition.
Up to the time of Sir Walter Scott, one of the most popular and prolific of all novelists, prose writing in Scotland (in Scots or in English) served mainly didactic purposes, as with the work of the religious reformer John Knox. A fiction tradition emerged with Scott's Waverley novels (1814–19), enlarged by such writers as Susan Ferrier (1782–1854) and John Galt. Ferrier wrote three novels, the first of which, Marriage (1818), is also the first social novel in Scotland; it is remarkable for its sharply witty descriptions contrasting life in the Highlands with that in London. Galt's novels include The Annals of the Parish (1821), a realistic account of the daily life of a rural minister, and The Entail (1842), a study of obsession, notable for its picture of 18th-century Glasgow.
Certain novelists and poets of the later 19th century, because of their idyllic re-creations of couthie (comfortable) Scottish rural life, have been dubbed the “kailyard” (cabbage patch) school by 20th-century critics. The antithesis of this is found in The House with the Green Shutters (1901), the only novel of George Douglas (pseudonym of George Douglas Brown, 1869–1902), which is a mordant exposé of small-town life and family tragedy. Another honest treatment of Scottish life is the trilogy A Scots Quair (1932–34) by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell, 1901–35). This often lyrical story of a Scottish woman's transition from farm to city life is told in her own voice; syntax and vocabulary re-create the Fifeshire dialect. The first part of the trilogy, Sunset Song (1932), was dramatized for television.
Later writers of fiction include Neil M. Gunn (1891–1973), who portrayed life in the fishing villages of his native Caithness, as in Morning Tide (1931) and The Silver Darlings (1941); Robin Jenkins (1912– ), whose several novels include Happy for the Child (1953) and Fergus Lamont (1969), the story of a Scot's search for identity; and Alasdair Gray (1934– ), author of the wildly inventive novels Lanark: A Life in Four Books (1981) and Janine, 1982 (1984), in the form of a long interior monologue, which manages to connect a man's fantasies with real events in his life. Gray's Unlikely Stories, Mostly (1984) continues his playful, allegorical approach.
20th-Century.
As in the past, the bulk of significant modern Scottish literature continues to be poetry. The two most distinguished Scottish poets of the earlier part of the century were Edwin Muir, whose poetry was inspired by memories of his Orkney childhood and by allegory, and Hugh MacDiarmid (pseudonym of C. M. Grieve), whose work was an expression of impassioned nationalism and socialist political views. MacDiarmid, leader of the so-called Scottish renaissance, attempted to revive a true Scottish poetry and the use of a Scots vocabulary. Their followers, writing both in Scots and in English, include Robert Garioch (1909–81) and Norman MacCaig (1910–96), city poets in the Fergusson vein; Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915–75); and George Mackay Brown (1921–96), whose verse and prose, as in An Orkney Tapestry (1969), drew on his native landscape and on legend. Douglas Dunn's (1942– ) several volumes of verse include Terry Street (1969) and Elegies (1985). His short stories, some of which have been published in The New Yorker, have been collected in Secret Villages (1985); they subtly indicate the adjustments of modern Scots to their changing social conditions. A scholar and critic as well, Dunn has edited The Poetry of Scotland (1980).
BULGARIAN LITERATURE
Literature written in the language of Bulgaria. It began in the second half of the 9th century ad with the translations by St. Cyril and St. Methodius of religious works from Greek into the vernacular, now known as Old Church Slavonic. Until the Turkish conquest (1396), Bulgarian literature consisted mainly of ecclesiastical writings; historical chronicles were also written. During the Turkish rule and Greek ecclesiastical domination (1396–1878), Bulgarian literature virtually ceased to exist.
The 19th century marked a revival of Bulgarian literature. It had its origin in historical works such as Istoria Slaveno-Bolgarska (History of the Slavic-Bulgarians), written in a form of ecclesiastical Slavonic mixed with popular language by a monk, Paisij (b. 1720?), about 1762. After 1830, a movement in Bulgaria for freedom from Turkish rule and Greek church domination, the establishment of Bulgarian schools and printing establishments, and the publication of Bulgarian grammars and other educational works were all important in producing a new Bulgarian literature.
Before 1878 writers were concerned with social and political questions, above all with national independence, rather than with literary style or the problems of the inner life of the individual. The most important writer of this preliberation period was the revolutionary poet Christo Botev (1848–76). The principal writer of the next period was Ivan Vazov (1850–1921), one of the most prolific as well as one of the most popular of Bulgarian writers and the one who scored a success in English translation, with his novel Under the Yoke (1893; trans. 1912). Other important writers of this period were Stoyan Mikhaylovski (1856–1927) and Aleko Konstantinov (1863–97). The former was a pessimistic philosopher, disillusioned with politics; the latter was a satirist who characterized the Bulgarian peasant in Bai Ganyu (Uncle John, 1895).
In the postliberation period, the writers increasingly emphasized technique and form and harmony and rhythm of language. Important writers of this third period are the short-story writers Dimiter Ivanov (1878–1951), who wrote under the pen name of Elin-Pelin, and Yordan Yovkov (1884–1938); both are noted for their interest in peasant life and the countryside.
Bulgarian literature after 1944 adhered closely to the requirements of Soviet socialist realism. The work of some talented current writers, including the poets Blaga Dimitrova (1922– ), Lubomir Levchev (1936– ), and Pavel Matev (1924– ), nevertheless reveals a fresher point of view and may signal a movement toward greater artistic freedom. The prose of Jordan Radichkov (1929– ) is especially interesting. He handles historical themes, always a Bulgarian favorite, with unusual finesse, and his short novel Khradriatyat chovek (A Brave Man, 1967) has earned wide popularity.
Elias Canetti won the 1981 Nobel Prize for literature for his novels and plays about individuals at odds with society. Born in Bulgaria, Canetti settled in England in 1938 and wrote in German. S.S., STAVRO SKENDI, Ph.D. & I.S., IVAN SANDERS, M.A., Ph.D.
The 19th century marked a revival of Bulgarian literature. It had its origin in historical works such as Istoria Slaveno-Bolgarska (History of the Slavic-Bulgarians), written in a form of ecclesiastical Slavonic mixed with popular language by a monk, Paisij (b. 1720?), about 1762. After 1830, a movement in Bulgaria for freedom from Turkish rule and Greek church domination, the establishment of Bulgarian schools and printing establishments, and the publication of Bulgarian grammars and other educational works were all important in producing a new Bulgarian literature.
Before 1878 writers were concerned with social and political questions, above all with national independence, rather than with literary style or the problems of the inner life of the individual. The most important writer of this preliberation period was the revolutionary poet Christo Botev (1848–76). The principal writer of the next period was Ivan Vazov (1850–1921), one of the most prolific as well as one of the most popular of Bulgarian writers and the one who scored a success in English translation, with his novel Under the Yoke (1893; trans. 1912). Other important writers of this period were Stoyan Mikhaylovski (1856–1927) and Aleko Konstantinov (1863–97). The former was a pessimistic philosopher, disillusioned with politics; the latter was a satirist who characterized the Bulgarian peasant in Bai Ganyu (Uncle John, 1895).
In the postliberation period, the writers increasingly emphasized technique and form and harmony and rhythm of language. Important writers of this third period are the short-story writers Dimiter Ivanov (1878–1951), who wrote under the pen name of Elin-Pelin, and Yordan Yovkov (1884–1938); both are noted for their interest in peasant life and the countryside.
Bulgarian literature after 1944 adhered closely to the requirements of Soviet socialist realism. The work of some talented current writers, including the poets Blaga Dimitrova (1922– ), Lubomir Levchev (1936– ), and Pavel Matev (1924– ), nevertheless reveals a fresher point of view and may signal a movement toward greater artistic freedom. The prose of Jordan Radichkov (1929– ) is especially interesting. He handles historical themes, always a Bulgarian favorite, with unusual finesse, and his short novel Khradriatyat chovek (A Brave Man, 1967) has earned wide popularity.
Elias Canetti won the 1981 Nobel Prize for literature for his novels and plays about individuals at odds with society. Born in Bulgaria, Canetti settled in England in 1938 and wrote in German. S.S., STAVRO SKENDI, Ph.D. & I.S., IVAN SANDERS, M.A., Ph.D.
HUNGARIAN LITERATURE
Literature written in the Hungarian language from medieval times to the present. During the Middle Ages, most cultural activities in Hungary were carried on in Latin, the language of the clergy. The vernacular began to be used, however, in translations of leg-ends and of Latin religious poetry. The earliest extant Hungarian literary work of importance is a funeral oration that dates from the beginning of the 13th century.
16th to 19th Century.
The first important period of Hungarian literature began with the great 16th-century Reformation, when the Bible was translated into Hungarian, first in 1540 and again in 1591. Outstanding among the poets who flourished during this period were Baron Bálint Balassa (1551–94), who wrote patriotic and religious poems and who is particularly noted for his love poems; Sebastian Tinódi (d. 1556), who wrote historical chronicles in rhymed verse; Miklós Zrinyi (1620–64), author of the volume of verse The Siren of the Adriatic (1651); and István Gyöngyösi (1620–1704), among whose works are the epics Murányi Venus (1664) and Cupidó (1695) in the style of the Latin poet Ovid. Numerous works written in Hungarian during this period deal with law and philology; some are religious polemics.
From the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th, the Habsburg rulers of Hungary attempted to make Hungary part of a great Germanic empire. They encouraged the writing of books in German or Latin and suppressed the use of Hungarian. During the late 18th century the Hungarians, influenced by nationalism, rebelled against the political and literary policy of the Habsburgs. The period was marked by the formation of societies for the cultivation of the Hungarian language and by the founding of a number of publications, among them the first newspaper in Hungarian.
The movement for a strongly classical Hungarian literature was greatly stimulated during the early 19th century by the poet and translator Ferenc Kazinczy (1759–1831), who was instrumental in modernizing the Hungarian language. Among the important poets of the Kazinczy epoch were Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805), whose works include the philosophical poem On the Immortality of the Soul and the mock epic Dorothy (1804), and Sándor Kisfaludy, who wrote Legends of the Olden Time in Hungary (1807). National feeling inspired such eminent poets as Sándor Petöfi, whose patriotic poems established him as the national poet of Hungary, and János Arany, author of many ballads and lyrics and of Toldi, an epic poem in 12 cantos, celebrating the exploits of a legendary Hungarian hero. The foundations of the Hungarian modern national drama were laid at this time by Károly Kisfaludy, author of The Mongols in Hungary (1819) and other historical dramas and also of tragedies and comedies of contemporary Hungarian life. Bánk bán, the first modern tragedy in Hungarian, was written in 1815 by József Katona (1791–1830); it is now a classic of the national theater and, in the musical setting by Ferenc Erkel (1810–93), of the Hungarian opera. The most noted fiction writers of the time were Baron Miklós Jósika (1796–1865), who wrote the first Hungarian romantic historical novel, and József Eötvös, a statesman who wrote novels dealing with social and political questions. Interest in Hungarian folk songs and folktales was advanced by the collections of folklore published by János Erdélyi (1814–68) between 1846 and 1848.
The direct expression of Hungarian nationalistic aspirations was prohibited by the Austrian rulers of Hungary after the abortive 1848–49 rebellion; in practice, German rather than Magyar was the favored language. In 1860 Magyar was restored as the official language, but not until the 20th century did Hungarian letters as a whole recover from political blight and the imitative tendencies that largely stifled literary effort during the period of political repression. Among the significant literary works of the time were the poetic drama The Tragedy of Man (1861) by Imre Madách (1823–64); the poetry of János Vajda (1827–97), whose achievements were overlooked until after his death; and the works of several novelists, particularly Mór Jókai, who produced more than 100 romantic novels and whose skill as a storyteller brought him immense popularity, and Kálmán Mikszáth (1847–1910), who wrote humorous tales, such as Saint Peter’s Umbrella (1895) and A Ghost in Lublo (1896) and stories of politicians and bureaucrats. The playwright Gergely Csiky (1842–91) is noted principally for The Proletariat.
20th Century.
The development of Hungarian literature during the 20th century was greatly influenced by the literary review Nyugat (The West), founded in 1908. Outstanding among the poets of this generation were the political revolutionary Endre Ady (1877–1919), noted for innovative themes and techniques in such works as Blood and Gold (1907); Mihály Babits (1883–1941), also an essayist; and the poet and short-story writer Dezsö Kosztolányi (1885–1936). Zsigmond Móricz (1879–1942), generally considered the greatest Hungarian novelist, is noted for his novels Gold Nugget (1910) and Butterfly (1925), for his historical trilogies Transylvania (1935) and Rózsa Sándor (1940), and for his short stories Seven Pence (1909) and Barbarians (1935). The satirical works of the humorist Frigyes Karinthy (1888–1938) include Travel Around My Head (1937; trans. 1938). Perhaps the most famous of modern Hungarian writers is the playwright Ferenc Molnár, author of Liliom (1909; trans. 1921).
Through the work of these authors, extraordinary productivity took place in Hungarian literature in the years following World War I. A number of new writers appeared, especially in poetry, where the outstanding figures included Lörincz Szabó (1900–57), a highly individualistic and subtle lyricist; Gyula Illyés (1902–83), known also for his essays and biographies; Attila József (1905–37), whose verse combines ancient Hungarian folklore with elements of modern psychology; and Miklós Radnóti (1909–44), an elegiac poet murdered by Hungarian National Socialists. Outstanding prose writers of this period include Lajos Zilahy (1891–74), playwright and author of the epic novel The Dukays (trans. 1949), probably the best description of prewar Hungary; Tibor Déry (1894–1977), a former Communist and one of the leaders of the revolution of 1956 against the Communists, known for his novels The Unfinished Sentence (1946) and Niki (1956; trans. 1957); and Laszló Németh (1901– 75), especially noted for his novel Revulsion (1947; trans. 1965). After the failure of the revolution of 1956, several Hungarian writers went into exile, and little significant literature was produced in Hungary itself. One exception is the work of Ferenc Juhász (1928– ), whose verse written between 1949 and 1967 has been published in an English translation entitled The Boy Changed into a Stag (1970).
16th to 19th Century.
The first important period of Hungarian literature began with the great 16th-century Reformation, when the Bible was translated into Hungarian, first in 1540 and again in 1591. Outstanding among the poets who flourished during this period were Baron Bálint Balassa (1551–94), who wrote patriotic and religious poems and who is particularly noted for his love poems; Sebastian Tinódi (d. 1556), who wrote historical chronicles in rhymed verse; Miklós Zrinyi (1620–64), author of the volume of verse The Siren of the Adriatic (1651); and István Gyöngyösi (1620–1704), among whose works are the epics Murányi Venus (1664) and Cupidó (1695) in the style of the Latin poet Ovid. Numerous works written in Hungarian during this period deal with law and philology; some are religious polemics.
From the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th, the Habsburg rulers of Hungary attempted to make Hungary part of a great Germanic empire. They encouraged the writing of books in German or Latin and suppressed the use of Hungarian. During the late 18th century the Hungarians, influenced by nationalism, rebelled against the political and literary policy of the Habsburgs. The period was marked by the formation of societies for the cultivation of the Hungarian language and by the founding of a number of publications, among them the first newspaper in Hungarian.
The movement for a strongly classical Hungarian literature was greatly stimulated during the early 19th century by the poet and translator Ferenc Kazinczy (1759–1831), who was instrumental in modernizing the Hungarian language. Among the important poets of the Kazinczy epoch were Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805), whose works include the philosophical poem On the Immortality of the Soul and the mock epic Dorothy (1804), and Sándor Kisfaludy, who wrote Legends of the Olden Time in Hungary (1807). National feeling inspired such eminent poets as Sándor Petöfi, whose patriotic poems established him as the national poet of Hungary, and János Arany, author of many ballads and lyrics and of Toldi, an epic poem in 12 cantos, celebrating the exploits of a legendary Hungarian hero. The foundations of the Hungarian modern national drama were laid at this time by Károly Kisfaludy, author of The Mongols in Hungary (1819) and other historical dramas and also of tragedies and comedies of contemporary Hungarian life. Bánk bán, the first modern tragedy in Hungarian, was written in 1815 by József Katona (1791–1830); it is now a classic of the national theater and, in the musical setting by Ferenc Erkel (1810–93), of the Hungarian opera. The most noted fiction writers of the time were Baron Miklós Jósika (1796–1865), who wrote the first Hungarian romantic historical novel, and József Eötvös, a statesman who wrote novels dealing with social and political questions. Interest in Hungarian folk songs and folktales was advanced by the collections of folklore published by János Erdélyi (1814–68) between 1846 and 1848.
The direct expression of Hungarian nationalistic aspirations was prohibited by the Austrian rulers of Hungary after the abortive 1848–49 rebellion; in practice, German rather than Magyar was the favored language. In 1860 Magyar was restored as the official language, but not until the 20th century did Hungarian letters as a whole recover from political blight and the imitative tendencies that largely stifled literary effort during the period of political repression. Among the significant literary works of the time were the poetic drama The Tragedy of Man (1861) by Imre Madách (1823–64); the poetry of János Vajda (1827–97), whose achievements were overlooked until after his death; and the works of several novelists, particularly Mór Jókai, who produced more than 100 romantic novels and whose skill as a storyteller brought him immense popularity, and Kálmán Mikszáth (1847–1910), who wrote humorous tales, such as Saint Peter’s Umbrella (1895) and A Ghost in Lublo (1896) and stories of politicians and bureaucrats. The playwright Gergely Csiky (1842–91) is noted principally for The Proletariat.
20th Century.
The development of Hungarian literature during the 20th century was greatly influenced by the literary review Nyugat (The West), founded in 1908. Outstanding among the poets of this generation were the political revolutionary Endre Ady (1877–1919), noted for innovative themes and techniques in such works as Blood and Gold (1907); Mihály Babits (1883–1941), also an essayist; and the poet and short-story writer Dezsö Kosztolányi (1885–1936). Zsigmond Móricz (1879–1942), generally considered the greatest Hungarian novelist, is noted for his novels Gold Nugget (1910) and Butterfly (1925), for his historical trilogies Transylvania (1935) and Rózsa Sándor (1940), and for his short stories Seven Pence (1909) and Barbarians (1935). The satirical works of the humorist Frigyes Karinthy (1888–1938) include Travel Around My Head (1937; trans. 1938). Perhaps the most famous of modern Hungarian writers is the playwright Ferenc Molnár, author of Liliom (1909; trans. 1921).
Through the work of these authors, extraordinary productivity took place in Hungarian literature in the years following World War I. A number of new writers appeared, especially in poetry, where the outstanding figures included Lörincz Szabó (1900–57), a highly individualistic and subtle lyricist; Gyula Illyés (1902–83), known also for his essays and biographies; Attila József (1905–37), whose verse combines ancient Hungarian folklore with elements of modern psychology; and Miklós Radnóti (1909–44), an elegiac poet murdered by Hungarian National Socialists. Outstanding prose writers of this period include Lajos Zilahy (1891–74), playwright and author of the epic novel The Dukays (trans. 1949), probably the best description of prewar Hungary; Tibor Déry (1894–1977), a former Communist and one of the leaders of the revolution of 1956 against the Communists, known for his novels The Unfinished Sentence (1946) and Niki (1956; trans. 1957); and Laszló Németh (1901– 75), especially noted for his novel Revulsion (1947; trans. 1965). After the failure of the revolution of 1956, several Hungarian writers went into exile, and little significant literature was produced in Hungary itself. One exception is the work of Ferenc Juhász (1928– ), whose verse written between 1949 and 1967 has been published in an English translation entitled The Boy Changed into a Stag (1970).
SWEDISH LITERATURE
Literature of Sweden, written in the Swedish language. The earliest Swedish writings are in the Latin alphabet in the form of provincial laws called landskapslagar, written down in the 13th century, and the 14th-century Landslag, the king’s common law for all the Swedish provinces. To this period, too, belong the visions of the nun and mystic St. Bridget (Birgitta), recorded in Latin by her confessors. Although most of the best Swedish folk songs and ballads were also composed in the 13th and 14th centuries, extant collections date from only the 16th and 17th centuries.
During the Reformation in the 16th century, the most important writers were the brothers Olaus (1493–1552) and Laurentius Petri (1499–1573), monks who had been converted to Lutheranism while at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. Their translation of the Old Testament into Swedish is of particular importance, as is their work on the translation of the first complete Bible published in Swedish (1541). Olaus Petri, author of the Swedish Chronicle, is known as the Swedish Martin Luther. Georg Stiernhielm (1598–1672), the father of Swedish poetry, and other distinguished poets such as Samuel Columbus (1642–79), Jacob Frese (1690?–1729), and Lars Johansson, called Lucidor (1638–74), emerged in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the leading prose writer, apart from the theologian Emanuel Swedenborg and the botanist Carolus Linnaeus, was Olof von Dalin, an essayist who reflected English and French cultural influences. In the Gustavian era (1772–1809), literature was patronized by King Gustav III, himself a poet and essayist. Among the leading Gustavians were the poets Johan Henrik Kellgren (1751–95), Carl Gustaf af Leopold (1756–1829), Count Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna (1750–1818), Frans Mikael Franzén (1772–1847), Anna Maria Lenngren (1754–1817), famed for her idylls and satires, Thomas Thorild (1759–1808), and Carl Michael Bellman, regarded as one of the finest writers of Swedish songs and poems.
In the 19th century the spirit of romanticism sweeping through Europe soon became evident in Swedish writings as well. Among early romantics was Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (1790–1855). The accompanying renaissance of national feeling brought into prominence such writers as Erik Gustaf Geijer, who was also a historian, and Esaias Tegnér, who was especially famous for his Frithiof’s Saga (1825; trans. 1833). Among the most important writers of the middle and late 19th century were the novelists C. J. L. Almqvist, Fredrika Bremer, and Abraham Viktor Rydberg (1828–95), and the Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who wrote in Swedish.
The dominating figure of modern Swedish literature was August Strindberg, a master of naturalistic drama such as Fröken Julie (1888; Miss Julie, 1918), who also developed expressionistic techniques, as in Drömspelet (1902; A Dream Play, 1929), and who was a prolific poet, novelist, and essayist as well.
The 20th century brought a revival of romanticism and a new interest in Swedish history and rural life. Neoromantics included the poets Gustaf Fröding, Erik Axel Karlfeldt, and Verner von Heidenstam, the winner of the 1916 Nobel Prize for literature; and the novelist Selma Lagerlöf, who won the 1909 Nobel Prize for literature and is best known for her historical novel The Story of Gösta Berling (2 vol., 1891; trans. 1898) and her children’s tale The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (2 vol., 1906–7; trans. 1907).
Outstanding in the following generation were the poet Birger Sjöberg (1885–1929); Per August Leonard Hallström (1866–1960), short-story writer, dramatist, and poet; Hjalmar Söderberg (1869–1941), who wrote novels, dramas, and short stories; the poet Bo Bergman (1869–1967); and Hjalmar Bergman (1883–1931), a versatile and psychologically acute novelist.
Among the “proletarian” novelists who portrayed Swedish working-class life were Ivar Lo-Johansson (1901–90) and Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973), author of an epic novel about Swedish immigration to America. Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson, who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize for literature, both wrote autobiographical novels. Leading mid-century poets included Erik Lindegren (1910–68), Gunnar Ekelöf (1907–68), and Artur Lundkvist (1906–91). The outstanding figure of the period was Pär Lagerkvist. A poet and novelist whose work is concerned with the erosion of traditional values, he won the 1951 Nobel Prize for literature.
Among the major novelists who emerged in the 1940s were Lars Ahlin (1915–97), Lars Gyllensten (1921– ), and Stig Dagerman (1923–54), all of whom combined formal virtuosity with existential themes. The historical novel, an important element in recent Swedish fiction, has been further developed by Birgitta Trotzig (1929– ) and Sven Delblanc (1931– ), author of a brilliant series of novels about the transformation of rural Sweden in the 1930s and ’40s. Other writers prominent since the 1960s include Lars Gustafsson (1936– ) and P. C. Jersild (1935– ), known for his grotesque satire of the welfare-state bureaucracy. E.J.F., ERIK J. FRIIS, M.A.
During the Reformation in the 16th century, the most important writers were the brothers Olaus (1493–1552) and Laurentius Petri (1499–1573), monks who had been converted to Lutheranism while at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. Their translation of the Old Testament into Swedish is of particular importance, as is their work on the translation of the first complete Bible published in Swedish (1541). Olaus Petri, author of the Swedish Chronicle, is known as the Swedish Martin Luther. Georg Stiernhielm (1598–1672), the father of Swedish poetry, and other distinguished poets such as Samuel Columbus (1642–79), Jacob Frese (1690?–1729), and Lars Johansson, called Lucidor (1638–74), emerged in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the leading prose writer, apart from the theologian Emanuel Swedenborg and the botanist Carolus Linnaeus, was Olof von Dalin, an essayist who reflected English and French cultural influences. In the Gustavian era (1772–1809), literature was patronized by King Gustav III, himself a poet and essayist. Among the leading Gustavians were the poets Johan Henrik Kellgren (1751–95), Carl Gustaf af Leopold (1756–1829), Count Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna (1750–1818), Frans Mikael Franzén (1772–1847), Anna Maria Lenngren (1754–1817), famed for her idylls and satires, Thomas Thorild (1759–1808), and Carl Michael Bellman, regarded as one of the finest writers of Swedish songs and poems.
In the 19th century the spirit of romanticism sweeping through Europe soon became evident in Swedish writings as well. Among early romantics was Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (1790–1855). The accompanying renaissance of national feeling brought into prominence such writers as Erik Gustaf Geijer, who was also a historian, and Esaias Tegnér, who was especially famous for his Frithiof’s Saga (1825; trans. 1833). Among the most important writers of the middle and late 19th century were the novelists C. J. L. Almqvist, Fredrika Bremer, and Abraham Viktor Rydberg (1828–95), and the Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who wrote in Swedish.
The dominating figure of modern Swedish literature was August Strindberg, a master of naturalistic drama such as Fröken Julie (1888; Miss Julie, 1918), who also developed expressionistic techniques, as in Drömspelet (1902; A Dream Play, 1929), and who was a prolific poet, novelist, and essayist as well.
The 20th century brought a revival of romanticism and a new interest in Swedish history and rural life. Neoromantics included the poets Gustaf Fröding, Erik Axel Karlfeldt, and Verner von Heidenstam, the winner of the 1916 Nobel Prize for literature; and the novelist Selma Lagerlöf, who won the 1909 Nobel Prize for literature and is best known for her historical novel The Story of Gösta Berling (2 vol., 1891; trans. 1898) and her children’s tale The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (2 vol., 1906–7; trans. 1907).
Outstanding in the following generation were the poet Birger Sjöberg (1885–1929); Per August Leonard Hallström (1866–1960), short-story writer, dramatist, and poet; Hjalmar Söderberg (1869–1941), who wrote novels, dramas, and short stories; the poet Bo Bergman (1869–1967); and Hjalmar Bergman (1883–1931), a versatile and psychologically acute novelist.
Among the “proletarian” novelists who portrayed Swedish working-class life were Ivar Lo-Johansson (1901–90) and Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973), author of an epic novel about Swedish immigration to America. Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson, who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize for literature, both wrote autobiographical novels. Leading mid-century poets included Erik Lindegren (1910–68), Gunnar Ekelöf (1907–68), and Artur Lundkvist (1906–91). The outstanding figure of the period was Pär Lagerkvist. A poet and novelist whose work is concerned with the erosion of traditional values, he won the 1951 Nobel Prize for literature.
Among the major novelists who emerged in the 1940s were Lars Ahlin (1915–97), Lars Gyllensten (1921– ), and Stig Dagerman (1923–54), all of whom combined formal virtuosity with existential themes. The historical novel, an important element in recent Swedish fiction, has been further developed by Birgitta Trotzig (1929– ) and Sven Delblanc (1931– ), author of a brilliant series of novels about the transformation of rural Sweden in the 1930s and ’40s. Other writers prominent since the 1960s include Lars Gustafsson (1936– ) and P. C. Jersild (1935– ), known for his grotesque satire of the welfare-state bureaucracy. E.J.F., ERIK J. FRIIS, M.A.
ARMENIAN LITERATURE
Works written in the Armenian language. Before the introduction of Christianity into Armenia in the 3d century ad, Armenian literature was Assyrian or Medo-Persian in character. After that date, however, the language, literature, and finally the alphabet of Greece appeared in Armenian writing, although eastern Armenia retained the Syriac alphabet. The translation of the Bible into Classical Armenian, traditionally ascribed to the monk and scholar St. Mesrob (350?–439), and his systematization of the Armenian alphabet in 410 opened a period of literary activity in the 5th century known as the Golden Age of Armenian literature. The principal Armenian writers of this age were translators. Other authors were the philosopher Eznik of Golp, or Kolb, who wrote Refutation of the Sects, especially valuable for its account of the Zoroastrian and Manichaean religions; Moses of Chorene (c. 407–92), reputed author of a geography and of a history of Armenia; and the preacher Eliseus (d. 480), author of History of Vardan and of the Battles of the Armenians.
Arab rule over Armenia, lasting through most of the 6th to the 10th century, caused a decline in the production of literature in Armenia. In the 10th century Thomas of Ardsruni (fl. 936), an important historian, appeared, as did the poet and bishop Gregory Narek (951–1003). In the 12th century the patriarch Nerses the Gracious (1098–1173), poet, theologian, and historian, wrote prayers and hymns still in use. New literary forms began to appear in the 13th century, but for the next four centuries Classical Armenian literature was confined to the monasteries. A body of literature in the contemporary or vernacular language, however, was produced by such poet-minstrels as Sayat-Nova (1712–95) in the 18th century.
During the 18th century Armenian congregations were established in many cities in Europe, as well as in Asia. A special impetus toward the preservation of Armenian literature was given by the establishment in 1717 of a college and convent on the island of San Lazzaro near Venice by the Armenian prelate Mechitar da Petro (1676–1749). In Venice, and at another congregation established later in Vienna, Mechitarist monks are still producing literature in Armenian.
Beginning about 1850 a modern school of Armenian writers came into existence, especially in the Russian and Turkish parts of the country; the members of this school wrote exclusively in the dialects of Modern Armenian. This movement produced works in every literary form, though none of its writers won an international reputation; the movement is also responsible for important collections of Armenian folklore. After the founding of the Armenian SSR in 1936, literature in Armenian was encouraged and carefully monitored by the Soviet government. The most successful field for the Armenian writer in the 20th century was journalism, with many periodicals written in Armenian being published in various parts of the world.
Arab rule over Armenia, lasting through most of the 6th to the 10th century, caused a decline in the production of literature in Armenia. In the 10th century Thomas of Ardsruni (fl. 936), an important historian, appeared, as did the poet and bishop Gregory Narek (951–1003). In the 12th century the patriarch Nerses the Gracious (1098–1173), poet, theologian, and historian, wrote prayers and hymns still in use. New literary forms began to appear in the 13th century, but for the next four centuries Classical Armenian literature was confined to the monasteries. A body of literature in the contemporary or vernacular language, however, was produced by such poet-minstrels as Sayat-Nova (1712–95) in the 18th century.
During the 18th century Armenian congregations were established in many cities in Europe, as well as in Asia. A special impetus toward the preservation of Armenian literature was given by the establishment in 1717 of a college and convent on the island of San Lazzaro near Venice by the Armenian prelate Mechitar da Petro (1676–1749). In Venice, and at another congregation established later in Vienna, Mechitarist monks are still producing literature in Armenian.
Beginning about 1850 a modern school of Armenian writers came into existence, especially in the Russian and Turkish parts of the country; the members of this school wrote exclusively in the dialects of Modern Armenian. This movement produced works in every literary form, though none of its writers won an international reputation; the movement is also responsible for important collections of Armenian folklore. After the founding of the Armenian SSR in 1936, literature in Armenian was encouraged and carefully monitored by the Soviet government. The most successful field for the Armenian writer in the 20th century was journalism, with many periodicals written in Armenian being published in various parts of the world.
AUSTRIAN LITERATURE
Literature written in German from the 16th century to the present by authors of Austrian nationality and of distinguishable Austrian national consciousness. Although the unknown author of the medieval Nibelungenlied and the greatest German minnesinger, Walther von der Vogelweide, were Austrian, an Austrian culture distinct from that of Germany developed only after the Counter Reformation, when in the 16th century Roman Catholic Austria and Protestant Germany were separated. As Spain and Italy were at times part of the Habsburg empire, Austrian literature was influenced by both Spanish drama and Italian opera.
18th and 19th Centuries.
The first uniquely Austrian genre was the magic play of the 18th century, depicting supernatural events in allegorical terms. One that attained worldwide fame was Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute, 1791), by Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812), set to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ferdinand Raimund (1790–1836) elevated the magic play to tragicomedy, while Johann Nepomuk Nestroy (1801–62) wrote magic plays of political satire and literary parody. Nestroy's Einen Jux will er sich machen (He Wants to Go Off on a Spree, 1842) is the only Austrian play other than Die Zauberflöte that is widely known internationally. Adapted from the 1835 British comedy A Day Well Spent, it was revised by the American author Thornton Wilder as The Matchmaker in 1954 (film version, 1958). In 1964 it was adapted into the musical Hello, Dolly! (film, 1969). The Nestroy play was also adapted by the British playwright Tom Stoppard as On the Razzle in 1981.
Franz Grillparzer, on the other hand, fused the tradition of the German classics with the typically Austrian spirit that Roman Catholicism and the Habsburg empire had shaped. In the play König Ottokars Glück und Ende (King Ottokar: His Rise and Fall, first performed in 1825), he contrasts the arrogance of the enemies of Austria with the Christian humility of Austrian heroes. His many verse dramas treat the history and legends of various parts of the world. Like Grillparzer, his contemporary Adalbert Stifter (1805–68) demonstrated a concern for tradition, literary form, and morality. The well-ordered life is idealized in his novel Der Nachsommer (Indian Summer, 1857). Stifter's prose is an expression of the quiet desperation underlying the era dominated by the Austrian statesman Prince Klemens von Metternich. An important contribution to Austrian literature was made by the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber (1839–89). His realistic presentation of social issues, as in Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld (The Village Priest of Kirchfeld, 1870) and Das vierte Gebot (The Fourth Commandment, 1877), mark him as a pioneer of naturalism. He is a humorous and sentimental observer of peasant life in Der G'wissenswurm (The Worm of Conscience, 1874), the forerunner of the regional Heimatkunst (“homely art”), popular tales of the late 19th century.
20th-Century Drama.
Modern Austrian literature, which was developing while the Austro-Hungarian Empire was disintegrating, began with Hermann Bahr (1863–1934). He was the author of the sophisticated comedy Das Konzert (The Concert, 1909) and the essayist who promoted impressionism and other new movements. His contemporary, Arthur Schnitzler, unmasked hypocrisy in such plays as Affairs of Anatol (1893; trans. 1911) and Reigen (1897; trans. Merry-Go-Round, 1953; filmed as La Ronde, 1950). Influenced by impressionism, Schnitzler excelled in the short dramatic episode, such as The Green Cockatoo (1899; trans. 1913), and, anticipating the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce, he used the stream-of-consciousness method in his stories None but the Brave (1900; trans. 1925) and Fräulein Else (1924; trans. 1925). An astute analyst of human behavior, Schnitzler won the praise of his countryman Sigmund Freud.
Hugo von Hofmannsthal at first turned to a new romanticism. His early verse plays, such as The Death of Titian (1892; trans. 1913) and Death and the Fool (1893; trans. 1913), were stylized legends. Later he drew inspiration, as did Grillparzer, from a universal cultural heritage. He wrote in a variety of forms, including Greek drama in Elektra (1903; trans. 1908); drawing-room comedy in The Difficult Man (1921; trans. 1963); and opera libretto. His were the librettos used by the German composer Richard Strauss for Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose, 1911), Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos, 1912), and Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow, 1919).
For the influential critic Karl Kraus (1874–1936), the work of his contemporaries, castigated in his periodical Die Fackel (The Torch, 1899–1936), was a symptom of moral degeneration. His play Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind, 1919–22), consisting partly of actual war communiqués and street conversations, paints an apocalyptic picture of Vienna in World War I.
Fritz Hochwälder (1911–86) achieved renown in Europe with neatly structured historical dramas. His play Das heilige Experiment (1941) was produced in New York City as The Strong Are Lonely (1953).
20th-Century Fiction and Poetry.
Universality and preoccupation with psychological analysis merge in the biographies written by Stefan Zweig. These include Erasmus of Rotterdam (1934; trans. 1934), Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles (1935; trans. 1935), and Marie Antoinette (1932). His fiction also plumbs the depth of emotional aberration, as in Amok (1922; trans. 1931), Conflicts (1925; trans. 1927), and Beware of Pity (1938; trans. 1939). In the poetry of Anton Wildgans (1881–1932) and Georg Trakl (1887–1914), and in the plays of Franz Theodor Czokor (1885–1968), the intensity of the expressionist style is evident.
Of 20th-century Austrian novelists, Hermann Broch (1886–1951) is closest to James Joyce—as was Schnitzler in drama. His Death of Virgil (1945; trans. 1946) uses an inner monologue to express the despair of the Roman poet over the discrepancy between art and truth. Robert Musil (1880–1942) wrote the monumental unfinished novel The Man Without Qualities (1931–43; trans. 1953–60), which probes the possibility of the freedom of humanity, emancipated from prejudices and habits. The novel also analyzes the process of disintegration beneath the complacency of Viennese life. Social analysis is also found in the voluminous novels of Heimito von Doderer (1896–1966): Every Man a Murderer (1938; trans. 1964) and The Demons (1956; trans. 1964). Doderer, influenced by the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the French writer Marcel Proust, used a web of human relationships to give substance and structure to his novels of Viennese life after World War II. Doderer was probably the most outstanding force in post–World War II Austrian literature.
Among later writers Ilse Aichinger (1921– ), a writer of short stories, and Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–73), a poet, were widely read. One of the versatile younger authors, who often write for television, is Peter Handke (1942– ), whose Kaspar (1969) was produced (1972) in New York City. His novel of extreme alienation, The Left-Handed Woman (1976; trans. 1978), was later made into a film. Elfriede Jelinek—best known internationally for her novel The Piano Teacher (1983; trans. 1988)—became Austria's first Nobel laureate in literature when awarded the prize in 2004.
The Prague Authors.
Austrian literature is essentially that of Vienna and the Alpine hinterland of the city. Certain writers, including Gustav Meyrink (1868–1932) and Paul Kornfeld (1889–1942), and Franz Kafka, Max Brod, and Franz Werfel, who lived in Prague and wrote in German, are usually classified as Austrian. Although Bohemia was for centuries part of the Austrian Empire, the Prague authors did not share the Austrian national consciousness; their affinity with German literature was greater.
18th and 19th Centuries.
The first uniquely Austrian genre was the magic play of the 18th century, depicting supernatural events in allegorical terms. One that attained worldwide fame was Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute, 1791), by Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812), set to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ferdinand Raimund (1790–1836) elevated the magic play to tragicomedy, while Johann Nepomuk Nestroy (1801–62) wrote magic plays of political satire and literary parody. Nestroy's Einen Jux will er sich machen (He Wants to Go Off on a Spree, 1842) is the only Austrian play other than Die Zauberflöte that is widely known internationally. Adapted from the 1835 British comedy A Day Well Spent, it was revised by the American author Thornton Wilder as The Matchmaker in 1954 (film version, 1958). In 1964 it was adapted into the musical Hello, Dolly! (film, 1969). The Nestroy play was also adapted by the British playwright Tom Stoppard as On the Razzle in 1981.
Franz Grillparzer, on the other hand, fused the tradition of the German classics with the typically Austrian spirit that Roman Catholicism and the Habsburg empire had shaped. In the play König Ottokars Glück und Ende (King Ottokar: His Rise and Fall, first performed in 1825), he contrasts the arrogance of the enemies of Austria with the Christian humility of Austrian heroes. His many verse dramas treat the history and legends of various parts of the world. Like Grillparzer, his contemporary Adalbert Stifter (1805–68) demonstrated a concern for tradition, literary form, and morality. The well-ordered life is idealized in his novel Der Nachsommer (Indian Summer, 1857). Stifter's prose is an expression of the quiet desperation underlying the era dominated by the Austrian statesman Prince Klemens von Metternich. An important contribution to Austrian literature was made by the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber (1839–89). His realistic presentation of social issues, as in Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld (The Village Priest of Kirchfeld, 1870) and Das vierte Gebot (The Fourth Commandment, 1877), mark him as a pioneer of naturalism. He is a humorous and sentimental observer of peasant life in Der G'wissenswurm (The Worm of Conscience, 1874), the forerunner of the regional Heimatkunst (“homely art”), popular tales of the late 19th century.
20th-Century Drama.
Modern Austrian literature, which was developing while the Austro-Hungarian Empire was disintegrating, began with Hermann Bahr (1863–1934). He was the author of the sophisticated comedy Das Konzert (The Concert, 1909) and the essayist who promoted impressionism and other new movements. His contemporary, Arthur Schnitzler, unmasked hypocrisy in such plays as Affairs of Anatol (1893; trans. 1911) and Reigen (1897; trans. Merry-Go-Round, 1953; filmed as La Ronde, 1950). Influenced by impressionism, Schnitzler excelled in the short dramatic episode, such as The Green Cockatoo (1899; trans. 1913), and, anticipating the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce, he used the stream-of-consciousness method in his stories None but the Brave (1900; trans. 1925) and Fräulein Else (1924; trans. 1925). An astute analyst of human behavior, Schnitzler won the praise of his countryman Sigmund Freud.
Hugo von Hofmannsthal at first turned to a new romanticism. His early verse plays, such as The Death of Titian (1892; trans. 1913) and Death and the Fool (1893; trans. 1913), were stylized legends. Later he drew inspiration, as did Grillparzer, from a universal cultural heritage. He wrote in a variety of forms, including Greek drama in Elektra (1903; trans. 1908); drawing-room comedy in The Difficult Man (1921; trans. 1963); and opera libretto. His were the librettos used by the German composer Richard Strauss for Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose, 1911), Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos, 1912), and Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow, 1919).
For the influential critic Karl Kraus (1874–1936), the work of his contemporaries, castigated in his periodical Die Fackel (The Torch, 1899–1936), was a symptom of moral degeneration. His play Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind, 1919–22), consisting partly of actual war communiqués and street conversations, paints an apocalyptic picture of Vienna in World War I.
Fritz Hochwälder (1911–86) achieved renown in Europe with neatly structured historical dramas. His play Das heilige Experiment (1941) was produced in New York City as The Strong Are Lonely (1953).
20th-Century Fiction and Poetry.
Universality and preoccupation with psychological analysis merge in the biographies written by Stefan Zweig. These include Erasmus of Rotterdam (1934; trans. 1934), Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles (1935; trans. 1935), and Marie Antoinette (1932). His fiction also plumbs the depth of emotional aberration, as in Amok (1922; trans. 1931), Conflicts (1925; trans. 1927), and Beware of Pity (1938; trans. 1939). In the poetry of Anton Wildgans (1881–1932) and Georg Trakl (1887–1914), and in the plays of Franz Theodor Czokor (1885–1968), the intensity of the expressionist style is evident.
Of 20th-century Austrian novelists, Hermann Broch (1886–1951) is closest to James Joyce—as was Schnitzler in drama. His Death of Virgil (1945; trans. 1946) uses an inner monologue to express the despair of the Roman poet over the discrepancy between art and truth. Robert Musil (1880–1942) wrote the monumental unfinished novel The Man Without Qualities (1931–43; trans. 1953–60), which probes the possibility of the freedom of humanity, emancipated from prejudices and habits. The novel also analyzes the process of disintegration beneath the complacency of Viennese life. Social analysis is also found in the voluminous novels of Heimito von Doderer (1896–1966): Every Man a Murderer (1938; trans. 1964) and The Demons (1956; trans. 1964). Doderer, influenced by the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the French writer Marcel Proust, used a web of human relationships to give substance and structure to his novels of Viennese life after World War II. Doderer was probably the most outstanding force in post–World War II Austrian literature.
Among later writers Ilse Aichinger (1921– ), a writer of short stories, and Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–73), a poet, were widely read. One of the versatile younger authors, who often write for television, is Peter Handke (1942– ), whose Kaspar (1969) was produced (1972) in New York City. His novel of extreme alienation, The Left-Handed Woman (1976; trans. 1978), was later made into a film. Elfriede Jelinek—best known internationally for her novel The Piano Teacher (1983; trans. 1988)—became Austria's first Nobel laureate in literature when awarded the prize in 2004.
The Prague Authors.
Austrian literature is essentially that of Vienna and the Alpine hinterland of the city. Certain writers, including Gustav Meyrink (1868–1932) and Paul Kornfeld (1889–1942), and Franz Kafka, Max Brod, and Franz Werfel, who lived in Prague and wrote in German, are usually classified as Austrian. Although Bohemia was for centuries part of the Austrian Empire, the Prague authors did not share the Austrian national consciousness; their affinity with German literature was greater.
ICELANDIC LITERATURE
Literature created by the inhabitants of Iceland from the country's settlement in the 9th century ad to the present. Because Old Norse and Icelandic are, for all practical purposes, the same language, Icelandic medieval writings are sometimes referred to as Old Norse literature.
The Saga.
Iceland is most famous for its medieval sagas, written between the 12th and 14th centuries. Sagas are tales of Norwegian kings and real or legendary heroes, both men and women, of Iceland and Scandinavia. Composed in prose, generally by unknown authors, they are thought to have been widely recited by storytellers before being committed to writing. None of the original manuscripts is extant; transcripts and collections, sometimes with revisions and amplifications of the originals, date from the 13th century and after.
Hundreds of sagas were written in medieval Iceland. They may be divided into kings' sagas, such as Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, which traces the rulers of Norway from legendary times to 1177, and Knytlinga Saga, dealing with Danish kings from Gorm the Old (fl. 860–935) to Canute IV (1163–1202); legendary sagas, which are basically knightly romances and fantasies (sometimes called lying sagas) of varying literary merit; and the sagas of Icelanders—more or less fictionalized accounts of the so-called Saga Age (c. 900–1050) in Iceland. To the last category belong such highly accomplished literary works as Egil's Saga, the life of the warrior-poet Egill Skallagrímsson (910–90); Laxdaela Saga, a triangular love story; Gísla Saga, the tragic tale of a heroic outlaw; and Njál's Saga, generally considered the high point of Icelandic literary art, a complex and rich account of human and societal conflicts.
In addition, the saga form was used in the 13th century to write contemporary history as it evolved around preeminent personages of the time. The result is generally known under the collective name of Sturlunga Saga; it recounts in gory detail the internecine struggle of the 13th century that led to the end of the old Icelandic commonwealth. The best of its components is the Íslendinga Saga of Sturla Thórdarson (c. 1214–84), a nephew of Snorri Sturluson. Other historical writings of medieval Iceland include the Íslendingabók (Book of Icelanders) by Ari Thorgilsson the Learned (c. 1067–1148) and the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), in which Ari may also have had a hand.
The Eddas and Other Poetry.
Early Icelandic literature also included the so-called Eddas and skaldic poetry. The term Edda is of doubtful origin. It may be derived from the Old Norse word edda (great-grandmother), but more likely refers to Oddi, a seat of culture in southern Iceland. (Oddi was the residence, at different times, of Saemund Sigfússon [1056–1133], a learned cleric once thought to have compiled one of the Eddas, and Snorri Sturluson, who is known to have written the other.) It is also possible that the term refers to the Old Norse word óthr (“poetry”). In any case, the term is used for two famous collections of Icelandic literature. The Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda (9th–12th cent.), is a group of more than 30 poems on the Scandinavian and Germanic gods and on human heroes, notably Sigurd, the Icelandic counterpart of the German Siegfried (see NIBELUNGENLIED,). Some of these poems may possibly have been composed outside Iceland, but they were apparently first written down there in the 12th century.
The Prose Edda, or Younger Edda (13th cent.), is the work of Snorri Sturluson. It includes tales from Scandinavian mythology and is the most important source of modern knowledge on this subject. Other sections of the Prose Edda form a guide to poetic diction and a metrical key.
Skaldic poetry, composed between the 9th and 13th centuries, was written variously in honor of the nobles, in praise of love, or to satirize or commemorate current happenings. Not as free as Eddic verse, it is strictly syllabic in structure and is characterized by the use of kennings: complex periphrases that at their best are beautiful metaphors, but also sometimes give skaldic poetry the effect of riddles.
Period of Literary Sterility.
After Iceland's loss of independence in the 1260s, Icelandic literature declined, and from about 1400 to the 19th century hardly any literary prose was written, with the exception of a notable Icelandic translation of the Bible by 16th-century Protestant theologians. Sacred verse, however, was composed, and so were rímur, an Icelandic form of balladry more remarkable for metrical ingenuity than literary value, which continued to be popular until the end of the 19th century. The outstanding work of these centuries—and the one that is more often printed than any other in Iceland—is the Passíusálmar (Hymns of the Passion, 1666) by Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–74), a Lutheran pastor.
Modern Icelandic Literature.
With the 19th century, a linguistic revival and a resurgence of literary creativity began in Iceland. Throughout the century, the influence of European literary movements was felt. Romanticism, dominant in the 1830s and characteristic of the work of such poets as Bjarni Thorarensen (1786–1841) and Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807–45), was succeeded by realism and naturalism in prose fiction. The modern Icelandic novel may be said to have begun with Lad and Lass (1850; trans. 1890), a description of contemporary life by Jón Thoroddsen (1818–68), a poet as well as a novelist. This early Icelandic fiction either is introspective in mood—as in the first novels of Einar Kvaran (1859–1938)—or is given to clearly detailed pictures of stark rural life—as in Heidarbylid (The Mountain Farm, 1908–11), a four-volume cycle by Gudmundur Magnússon (1873–1918), who wrote under the pen name Jón Trausti.
Realism, in the form of satire, is manifested in the short stories of Gestur Pálsson (1852–91) and, in the ironic vein, in the poetry of Stephan G. Stephansson (1853–1927). An expatriate who lived as a farmer in Canada, Stephansson was noted for his sensitive use of language. Another major poet who lived abroad for extended periods of time was Einar Benediktsson (1864–1940), a writer in the lyrical vein who instilled his work with a pantheistic vision.
Outstanding prose writers in the 20th century have included Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975), a master of characterization who wrote many of his novels in Danish, and Thórbergur Thórdarson (1889–1974), a superb stylist who won a wide following with his humorous autobiographical writings. The Icelandic author best known outside Iceland is Halldór Laxness, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1955. Among his expressionist, epic novels of Icelandic life are Salka Valka (1931–32; trans. 1936), Independent People (1934–35; trans. 1946), and World Light (1937–40; trans. 1969). Post–World War II works include a novel about a would-be singer, The Fish Can Sing (1957; trans. 1966) and Innansveitarkronika (A Parish Chronicle, 1970). Among the several significant novelists now writing are Ólafur Jóhann Sigurdsson (1918– ), author of such masterly novellas as The Changing Earth (1947; trans. 1979) and Bréf séra Bödvars (Pastor Bödvar's Letter, 1965); Indridi G. Thorsteinsson (1926– ), who has recorded the stresses in 20th-century Icelandic society in novels such as North of War (1971; trans. 1981); Gudbergur Bergsson (1932– ), an ironic commentator on the foibles of ordinary people; and Svava Jakobsdóttir (1930– ), author of the symbolic Leigjandinn (The Lodger, 1969).
Traditional poetry in the 20th century is represented by the neoromantic Davíd Stefánsson (1895–1964), who sought inspiration in folklore and ballads, and Tómas Gudmundsson (1901–83), an already classic master of style and diction, who became the city poet of Reykjavík. Newer trends were championed by Steinn Steinarr (1908–58), whose modernist expression was synthesized in Tíminn og vatnid (Time and the Water, 1948). The most accomplished of contemporary poets tend to merge the traditional with a modern approach. Among them are Sigurdsson and Snorri Hjartarson (1906– ), both of whom have won the Nordic Council's literary prize, Hannes Pétursson (1931– ), and Matthías Johannessen (1930– ).
Drama, a form not significant in Icelandic literature until the turn of the 20th century, is today represented by the work of such writers as Agnar Thórdarson (1917– ), whose Atoms and Madams (1957; trans. 1967) is a satire of modern city life, and Jökull Jakobsson (1933–78), brother of Svava Jakobsdóttir, who wrote brittle, evocative plays in a Chekhovian vein.
Iceland has an exceptionally high rate of literacy—more books are produced per capita than in most other countries in the world.
The Saga.
Iceland is most famous for its medieval sagas, written between the 12th and 14th centuries. Sagas are tales of Norwegian kings and real or legendary heroes, both men and women, of Iceland and Scandinavia. Composed in prose, generally by unknown authors, they are thought to have been widely recited by storytellers before being committed to writing. None of the original manuscripts is extant; transcripts and collections, sometimes with revisions and amplifications of the originals, date from the 13th century and after.
Hundreds of sagas were written in medieval Iceland. They may be divided into kings' sagas, such as Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, which traces the rulers of Norway from legendary times to 1177, and Knytlinga Saga, dealing with Danish kings from Gorm the Old (fl. 860–935) to Canute IV (1163–1202); legendary sagas, which are basically knightly romances and fantasies (sometimes called lying sagas) of varying literary merit; and the sagas of Icelanders—more or less fictionalized accounts of the so-called Saga Age (c. 900–1050) in Iceland. To the last category belong such highly accomplished literary works as Egil's Saga, the life of the warrior-poet Egill Skallagrímsson (910–90); Laxdaela Saga, a triangular love story; Gísla Saga, the tragic tale of a heroic outlaw; and Njál's Saga, generally considered the high point of Icelandic literary art, a complex and rich account of human and societal conflicts.
In addition, the saga form was used in the 13th century to write contemporary history as it evolved around preeminent personages of the time. The result is generally known under the collective name of Sturlunga Saga; it recounts in gory detail the internecine struggle of the 13th century that led to the end of the old Icelandic commonwealth. The best of its components is the Íslendinga Saga of Sturla Thórdarson (c. 1214–84), a nephew of Snorri Sturluson. Other historical writings of medieval Iceland include the Íslendingabók (Book of Icelanders) by Ari Thorgilsson the Learned (c. 1067–1148) and the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), in which Ari may also have had a hand.
The Eddas and Other Poetry.
Early Icelandic literature also included the so-called Eddas and skaldic poetry. The term Edda is of doubtful origin. It may be derived from the Old Norse word edda (great-grandmother), but more likely refers to Oddi, a seat of culture in southern Iceland. (Oddi was the residence, at different times, of Saemund Sigfússon [1056–1133], a learned cleric once thought to have compiled one of the Eddas, and Snorri Sturluson, who is known to have written the other.) It is also possible that the term refers to the Old Norse word óthr (“poetry”). In any case, the term is used for two famous collections of Icelandic literature. The Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda (9th–12th cent.), is a group of more than 30 poems on the Scandinavian and Germanic gods and on human heroes, notably Sigurd, the Icelandic counterpart of the German Siegfried (see NIBELUNGENLIED,). Some of these poems may possibly have been composed outside Iceland, but they were apparently first written down there in the 12th century.
The Prose Edda, or Younger Edda (13th cent.), is the work of Snorri Sturluson. It includes tales from Scandinavian mythology and is the most important source of modern knowledge on this subject. Other sections of the Prose Edda form a guide to poetic diction and a metrical key.
Skaldic poetry, composed between the 9th and 13th centuries, was written variously in honor of the nobles, in praise of love, or to satirize or commemorate current happenings. Not as free as Eddic verse, it is strictly syllabic in structure and is characterized by the use of kennings: complex periphrases that at their best are beautiful metaphors, but also sometimes give skaldic poetry the effect of riddles.
Period of Literary Sterility.
After Iceland's loss of independence in the 1260s, Icelandic literature declined, and from about 1400 to the 19th century hardly any literary prose was written, with the exception of a notable Icelandic translation of the Bible by 16th-century Protestant theologians. Sacred verse, however, was composed, and so were rímur, an Icelandic form of balladry more remarkable for metrical ingenuity than literary value, which continued to be popular until the end of the 19th century. The outstanding work of these centuries—and the one that is more often printed than any other in Iceland—is the Passíusálmar (Hymns of the Passion, 1666) by Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–74), a Lutheran pastor.
Modern Icelandic Literature.
With the 19th century, a linguistic revival and a resurgence of literary creativity began in Iceland. Throughout the century, the influence of European literary movements was felt. Romanticism, dominant in the 1830s and characteristic of the work of such poets as Bjarni Thorarensen (1786–1841) and Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807–45), was succeeded by realism and naturalism in prose fiction. The modern Icelandic novel may be said to have begun with Lad and Lass (1850; trans. 1890), a description of contemporary life by Jón Thoroddsen (1818–68), a poet as well as a novelist. This early Icelandic fiction either is introspective in mood—as in the first novels of Einar Kvaran (1859–1938)—or is given to clearly detailed pictures of stark rural life—as in Heidarbylid (The Mountain Farm, 1908–11), a four-volume cycle by Gudmundur Magnússon (1873–1918), who wrote under the pen name Jón Trausti.
Realism, in the form of satire, is manifested in the short stories of Gestur Pálsson (1852–91) and, in the ironic vein, in the poetry of Stephan G. Stephansson (1853–1927). An expatriate who lived as a farmer in Canada, Stephansson was noted for his sensitive use of language. Another major poet who lived abroad for extended periods of time was Einar Benediktsson (1864–1940), a writer in the lyrical vein who instilled his work with a pantheistic vision.
Outstanding prose writers in the 20th century have included Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975), a master of characterization who wrote many of his novels in Danish, and Thórbergur Thórdarson (1889–1974), a superb stylist who won a wide following with his humorous autobiographical writings. The Icelandic author best known outside Iceland is Halldór Laxness, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1955. Among his expressionist, epic novels of Icelandic life are Salka Valka (1931–32; trans. 1936), Independent People (1934–35; trans. 1946), and World Light (1937–40; trans. 1969). Post–World War II works include a novel about a would-be singer, The Fish Can Sing (1957; trans. 1966) and Innansveitarkronika (A Parish Chronicle, 1970). Among the several significant novelists now writing are Ólafur Jóhann Sigurdsson (1918– ), author of such masterly novellas as The Changing Earth (1947; trans. 1979) and Bréf séra Bödvars (Pastor Bödvar's Letter, 1965); Indridi G. Thorsteinsson (1926– ), who has recorded the stresses in 20th-century Icelandic society in novels such as North of War (1971; trans. 1981); Gudbergur Bergsson (1932– ), an ironic commentator on the foibles of ordinary people; and Svava Jakobsdóttir (1930– ), author of the symbolic Leigjandinn (The Lodger, 1969).
Traditional poetry in the 20th century is represented by the neoromantic Davíd Stefánsson (1895–1964), who sought inspiration in folklore and ballads, and Tómas Gudmundsson (1901–83), an already classic master of style and diction, who became the city poet of Reykjavík. Newer trends were championed by Steinn Steinarr (1908–58), whose modernist expression was synthesized in Tíminn og vatnid (Time and the Water, 1948). The most accomplished of contemporary poets tend to merge the traditional with a modern approach. Among them are Sigurdsson and Snorri Hjartarson (1906– ), both of whom have won the Nordic Council's literary prize, Hannes Pétursson (1931– ), and Matthías Johannessen (1930– ).
Drama, a form not significant in Icelandic literature until the turn of the 20th century, is today represented by the work of such writers as Agnar Thórdarson (1917– ), whose Atoms and Madams (1957; trans. 1967) is a satire of modern city life, and Jökull Jakobsson (1933–78), brother of Svava Jakobsdóttir, who wrote brittle, evocative plays in a Chekhovian vein.
Iceland has an exceptionally high rate of literacy—more books are produced per capita than in most other countries in the world.
GAELIC LITERATURE
Literature, both oral and written, in the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland. Before the development of a distinct Scottish Gaelic language in the 15th century, the literature of both countries may be considered as one.
Early Period.
The earliest pre-Christian writings in Ireland are tombstone inscriptions in the ogham alphabet, which date from the 5th to the 8th century. The earliest Christian writings survive in a few manuscripts of the 7th through the 10th century, for example, some material on the life of St. Patrick included in the 9th-century illuminated gospels The Book of Armagh. The scarcity of literary works until the 11th century is the result of the Norse invasions of Ireland in the 8th century and the sacking of the monasteries, the centers of learning. While some manuscripts were preserved on the European continent by scholars fleeing the invaders, most of the literary works composed in this period survive, in fragments, in much later manuscripts. A characteristic form was the praise poetry composed by a professional class of bards, the filidh, in honor of their kings and chieftains. Freer, more personal poetry was written by anonymous poets, such as the one who addressed his white cat, or the writer who composed The Old Woman of Beare (9th cent.), an expression of longing for the pagan past. In the form of a dramatic monologue, it is one of the earliest examples of a genre popular in Gaelic poetry. The hermit monks of the early Irish church, living on intimate terms with their environment, established the tradition of nature poetry that is one of the glories of Irish and, later, Scottish Gaelic verse. Some fine examples of this genre are from the 8th century.
11th–15th Century.
The great victory over the Norse in 1014 freed Ireland from their domination and was indirectly a great stimulus to literary production. In two 12th-century manuscripts known as The Book of the Dun Cow and The Book of Leinster are preserved the earliest Gaelic sagas, part in prose, part in poetry, themselves remnants of a much older oral tradition. These sagas have been divided by modern scholars into two cycles. The Ulster, or Red Branch, Cycle is older, consisting of some 100 tales about the heroes of the kingdom of Ulster in the century before Christ, especially the warrior Cú Chulainn (Cuchulainn). Among the more notable tales are The Cattle Raid of Cooley (7th or 8th cent.) and the story of the tragic heroine Deirdre. The later Fenian, or Ossianic, Cycle centers about the hero Finn mac Cumhail or MacCool, a legendary chieftain and bard of the 2d or 3d century. Among his followers was Ossian, also a warrior-bard, believed to be his son (see OSSIAN AND OSSIANIC BALLADS,). The dominant strain of these tales, mostly in ballad form, is nostalgia for the heroic past; tinged with Christianity, they are more romantic than epic. Among the better-known stories are The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne and the lengthy Dialogue of the Old Men.
Aside from these cycles are groups of mythological tales, including a series of marvelous voyages to the Western Isles, notably The Voyage of Bran; king tales, for example The Madness of Sweeney; religious prose, with much emphasis on miracles; and visions, the best known of which is The Vision of Adamnan.
In the later Middle Ages popular ballads and prose tales began to replace the formal bardic literature, and Gaelic translations made the Arthurian legends and some classical literature accessible. The advent of printing, however, which made literature available to large numbers of people in other countries, had little impact in Ireland. Bards there continued to be supported by patrons, their work copied by hand—a tradition that lasted until the early 19th century.
Irish Gaelic Literature, 17th–20th Century.
Their support gone when the nobility was dispossessed during the reign of Elizabeth I, the bards themselves disappeared, and Gaelic gave way to English as the vernacular. Despite this, a good deal of prose, much of it devoted to Ireland’s past, was written. Examples are The Annals of the Four Masters (1636), the history of Ireland up until 1616, by Michael O’Clery (1575–1643); and the History of Ireland (c. 1620) by Geoffrey Keating (1570–c. 1650). At the same time, expressions of defiance of English rule began to appear in the folk poetry that circulated clandestinely. Among the most famed writers of the 17th and 18th centuries were the passionate nationalists Dáibhidh Ó Bruadair (1630–98) and Egan O’Rahilly (fl. 1670–1724), and Brian Merriman (1740–1808), a schoolteacher in county Clare. The latter’s The Midnight Court (trans. 1945), a broad satire on marriage customs, is considered the best long-sustained poem in Irish Gaelic.
Throughout the 19th century, principally because of the depopulation caused by the potato famine of 1845, the Gaelic language, both written and spoken, fell into disuse; most of the Gaelic speakers were by now illiterate. Toward the end of the century efforts were made not only to restore Gaelic as a spoken language but also to stimulate the writing of literary works in Gaelic. Interest in the language was revived by the work of various societies, particularly the Gaelic League, founded in 1893, and by the works of such scholars and nationalists as Douglas Hyde, Canon Peter O’Leary (1839–1920), Patrick O’Connery (1881–1928), and Padhraic Pearse (1879–1916). In the last decade of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries the Gaelic revival resulted in the publication of many collections of Irish folk tales and in the writing of a considerable number of plays, works of fiction, and poetry in Gaelic.
Among the numerous 20th-century lyric poets and novelists writing in Gaelic was Tomás O’Crohan (1856–1937), who wrote The Islandman (1937; trans. 1951) about a Munster fisherman. Brendan Behan, better known for his works in English, composed The Hostage originally in Gaelic (1957; trans. 1958).
Scottish Gaelic Literature, 16th–17th Century.
The first evidence of a distinct Scottish Gaelic literary tradition appears in The Book of the Dean of Lismore, compiled between 1512 and 1526 by Sir James MacGregor (fl. 1511–51). It is an anthology of writings by Scottish and Irish authors: heroic sagas; poetry (dating from the 14th century on), including a group of 28 Ossianic ballads; and ecclesiastical texts. Although it is presumed that much other early poetry existed, popular verse as well as the work of professional bards, none of it has survived.
Some 16th-century folk poetry that had survived orally was written down in the mid-18th century; and in the 17th and 18th centuries, work songs, also descendants of an older oral tradition, were set down in writing. Predominant among these are the “waulking” songs that accompany the fulling of cloth. In the 17th century Scottish Gaelic poetry flowered. Much of it was contained in three manuscript collections, The Black Book of Clanranald and The Red Book of Clanranald, written by the MacMhuirich family, hereditary bards to the MacDonalds of Clanranald, and the Fernaig manuscript (1688–93), a compilation of political and religious verse. Among many poets, three stand out. Mary MacLeod (c. 1615–c. 1706), bard of Harris and Skye, employed conventional imagery with a fresh, natural style, using strophic meters rather than the strictly syllabic meters of the bards. Iaian Lom (c. 1620–c. 1707), active in contemporary events, wrote poems about the Battle of Killiecrankie and the restoration of Charles II, and in opposition to the union of the Scottish and English parliaments. Remarkable for their intensity of feeling are the works of Roderick Morison (c. 1656–1713?), known as the Blind Harper, such as “Song to John MacLeod of Dunvegan.”
Scottish Gaelic Literature, 18th–20th Century.
In the 18th century contact with other literatures brought new vigor to Scottish Gaelic writing. Probably the most significant poet of the century was Alexander Macdonald (c. 1690–c. 1780), whose Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Tongue (1751) was the first book of secular poetry printed in Scotland. His masterpiece is The Birlinn of Clanranald (after 1751), a vivid description of a sea voyage from the Hebrides to Ireland. He also wrote nature and love poetry, drinking songs, and bitter satires. The poems of Duncan Macintyre (1724–1812), published in 1768, such as Praise of Ben Doran and The Misty Corrie, are emotional, finely detailed lyrics inspired by the scenery of Perthshire and Argyllshire. The greatest 18th-century writer of religious verse was Dugald Buchanan (1716–68), whose “Day of Judgment” and “The Skull” employ impressively somber imagery.
Since 1760, when James Macpherson’s Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland (actually forgeries of Ossianic ballads) were published, interest in Gaelic culture has continued. It has, indeed, been encouraged by scholarly anthologies of early texts, such as Reliquiae Celticae (2 vol., 1892–94), by Alexander Cameron (1827–88), and the Carmina Gadelica (6 vol., 1928–71), edited by Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912), and by the work of An Comunn Gaidhealach (The Gaelic League).
Short stories first began to appear in a number of periodicals in the late 19th century. Particularly notable are the 20th-century works in this genre by Iain Crichton Smith (1928– ). Much innovative poetry, still adhering to the old tradition of vivid nature imagery, was written by Smith and by his contemporaries Sorley Maclean (1911–96), George Campbell Hay (1915– ), and Derick Thomson (1921– ).
Lively interest in the Gaelic language and culture is also still maintained in Canada among descendants of Highland settlers in Nova Scotia. Notable among poets writing in Gaelic was John (The Bard) Maclean (1787–1848), whose bitterness at the lot of the exile is expressed in his “The Bard in Canada.” Others were James MacGregor (1759–1820), who translated the Psalms into Gaelic; Duncan Blair (1815–93), best known for a majestic poem on Niagara Falls; and Malcolm Gillis (1856–1929), whose poetry praises the landscape of Cape Breton.
Early Period.
The earliest pre-Christian writings in Ireland are tombstone inscriptions in the ogham alphabet, which date from the 5th to the 8th century. The earliest Christian writings survive in a few manuscripts of the 7th through the 10th century, for example, some material on the life of St. Patrick included in the 9th-century illuminated gospels The Book of Armagh. The scarcity of literary works until the 11th century is the result of the Norse invasions of Ireland in the 8th century and the sacking of the monasteries, the centers of learning. While some manuscripts were preserved on the European continent by scholars fleeing the invaders, most of the literary works composed in this period survive, in fragments, in much later manuscripts. A characteristic form was the praise poetry composed by a professional class of bards, the filidh, in honor of their kings and chieftains. Freer, more personal poetry was written by anonymous poets, such as the one who addressed his white cat, or the writer who composed The Old Woman of Beare (9th cent.), an expression of longing for the pagan past. In the form of a dramatic monologue, it is one of the earliest examples of a genre popular in Gaelic poetry. The hermit monks of the early Irish church, living on intimate terms with their environment, established the tradition of nature poetry that is one of the glories of Irish and, later, Scottish Gaelic verse. Some fine examples of this genre are from the 8th century.
11th–15th Century.
The great victory over the Norse in 1014 freed Ireland from their domination and was indirectly a great stimulus to literary production. In two 12th-century manuscripts known as The Book of the Dun Cow and The Book of Leinster are preserved the earliest Gaelic sagas, part in prose, part in poetry, themselves remnants of a much older oral tradition. These sagas have been divided by modern scholars into two cycles. The Ulster, or Red Branch, Cycle is older, consisting of some 100 tales about the heroes of the kingdom of Ulster in the century before Christ, especially the warrior Cú Chulainn (Cuchulainn). Among the more notable tales are The Cattle Raid of Cooley (7th or 8th cent.) and the story of the tragic heroine Deirdre. The later Fenian, or Ossianic, Cycle centers about the hero Finn mac Cumhail or MacCool, a legendary chieftain and bard of the 2d or 3d century. Among his followers was Ossian, also a warrior-bard, believed to be his son (see OSSIAN AND OSSIANIC BALLADS,). The dominant strain of these tales, mostly in ballad form, is nostalgia for the heroic past; tinged with Christianity, they are more romantic than epic. Among the better-known stories are The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne and the lengthy Dialogue of the Old Men.
Aside from these cycles are groups of mythological tales, including a series of marvelous voyages to the Western Isles, notably The Voyage of Bran; king tales, for example The Madness of Sweeney; religious prose, with much emphasis on miracles; and visions, the best known of which is The Vision of Adamnan.
In the later Middle Ages popular ballads and prose tales began to replace the formal bardic literature, and Gaelic translations made the Arthurian legends and some classical literature accessible. The advent of printing, however, which made literature available to large numbers of people in other countries, had little impact in Ireland. Bards there continued to be supported by patrons, their work copied by hand—a tradition that lasted until the early 19th century.
Irish Gaelic Literature, 17th–20th Century.
Their support gone when the nobility was dispossessed during the reign of Elizabeth I, the bards themselves disappeared, and Gaelic gave way to English as the vernacular. Despite this, a good deal of prose, much of it devoted to Ireland’s past, was written. Examples are The Annals of the Four Masters (1636), the history of Ireland up until 1616, by Michael O’Clery (1575–1643); and the History of Ireland (c. 1620) by Geoffrey Keating (1570–c. 1650). At the same time, expressions of defiance of English rule began to appear in the folk poetry that circulated clandestinely. Among the most famed writers of the 17th and 18th centuries were the passionate nationalists Dáibhidh Ó Bruadair (1630–98) and Egan O’Rahilly (fl. 1670–1724), and Brian Merriman (1740–1808), a schoolteacher in county Clare. The latter’s The Midnight Court (trans. 1945), a broad satire on marriage customs, is considered the best long-sustained poem in Irish Gaelic.
Throughout the 19th century, principally because of the depopulation caused by the potato famine of 1845, the Gaelic language, both written and spoken, fell into disuse; most of the Gaelic speakers were by now illiterate. Toward the end of the century efforts were made not only to restore Gaelic as a spoken language but also to stimulate the writing of literary works in Gaelic. Interest in the language was revived by the work of various societies, particularly the Gaelic League, founded in 1893, and by the works of such scholars and nationalists as Douglas Hyde, Canon Peter O’Leary (1839–1920), Patrick O’Connery (1881–1928), and Padhraic Pearse (1879–1916). In the last decade of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries the Gaelic revival resulted in the publication of many collections of Irish folk tales and in the writing of a considerable number of plays, works of fiction, and poetry in Gaelic.
Among the numerous 20th-century lyric poets and novelists writing in Gaelic was Tomás O’Crohan (1856–1937), who wrote The Islandman (1937; trans. 1951) about a Munster fisherman. Brendan Behan, better known for his works in English, composed The Hostage originally in Gaelic (1957; trans. 1958).
Scottish Gaelic Literature, 16th–17th Century.
The first evidence of a distinct Scottish Gaelic literary tradition appears in The Book of the Dean of Lismore, compiled between 1512 and 1526 by Sir James MacGregor (fl. 1511–51). It is an anthology of writings by Scottish and Irish authors: heroic sagas; poetry (dating from the 14th century on), including a group of 28 Ossianic ballads; and ecclesiastical texts. Although it is presumed that much other early poetry existed, popular verse as well as the work of professional bards, none of it has survived.
Some 16th-century folk poetry that had survived orally was written down in the mid-18th century; and in the 17th and 18th centuries, work songs, also descendants of an older oral tradition, were set down in writing. Predominant among these are the “waulking” songs that accompany the fulling of cloth. In the 17th century Scottish Gaelic poetry flowered. Much of it was contained in three manuscript collections, The Black Book of Clanranald and The Red Book of Clanranald, written by the MacMhuirich family, hereditary bards to the MacDonalds of Clanranald, and the Fernaig manuscript (1688–93), a compilation of political and religious verse. Among many poets, three stand out. Mary MacLeod (c. 1615–c. 1706), bard of Harris and Skye, employed conventional imagery with a fresh, natural style, using strophic meters rather than the strictly syllabic meters of the bards. Iaian Lom (c. 1620–c. 1707), active in contemporary events, wrote poems about the Battle of Killiecrankie and the restoration of Charles II, and in opposition to the union of the Scottish and English parliaments. Remarkable for their intensity of feeling are the works of Roderick Morison (c. 1656–1713?), known as the Blind Harper, such as “Song to John MacLeod of Dunvegan.”
Scottish Gaelic Literature, 18th–20th Century.
In the 18th century contact with other literatures brought new vigor to Scottish Gaelic writing. Probably the most significant poet of the century was Alexander Macdonald (c. 1690–c. 1780), whose Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Tongue (1751) was the first book of secular poetry printed in Scotland. His masterpiece is The Birlinn of Clanranald (after 1751), a vivid description of a sea voyage from the Hebrides to Ireland. He also wrote nature and love poetry, drinking songs, and bitter satires. The poems of Duncan Macintyre (1724–1812), published in 1768, such as Praise of Ben Doran and The Misty Corrie, are emotional, finely detailed lyrics inspired by the scenery of Perthshire and Argyllshire. The greatest 18th-century writer of religious verse was Dugald Buchanan (1716–68), whose “Day of Judgment” and “The Skull” employ impressively somber imagery.
Since 1760, when James Macpherson’s Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland (actually forgeries of Ossianic ballads) were published, interest in Gaelic culture has continued. It has, indeed, been encouraged by scholarly anthologies of early texts, such as Reliquiae Celticae (2 vol., 1892–94), by Alexander Cameron (1827–88), and the Carmina Gadelica (6 vol., 1928–71), edited by Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912), and by the work of An Comunn Gaidhealach (The Gaelic League).
Short stories first began to appear in a number of periodicals in the late 19th century. Particularly notable are the 20th-century works in this genre by Iain Crichton Smith (1928– ). Much innovative poetry, still adhering to the old tradition of vivid nature imagery, was written by Smith and by his contemporaries Sorley Maclean (1911–96), George Campbell Hay (1915– ), and Derick Thomson (1921– ).
Lively interest in the Gaelic language and culture is also still maintained in Canada among descendants of Highland settlers in Nova Scotia. Notable among poets writing in Gaelic was John (The Bard) Maclean (1787–1848), whose bitterness at the lot of the exile is expressed in his “The Bard in Canada.” Others were James MacGregor (1759–1820), who translated the Psalms into Gaelic; Duncan Blair (1815–93), best known for a majestic poem on Niagara Falls; and Malcolm Gillis (1856–1929), whose poetry praises the landscape of Cape Breton.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)