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Gunnar Ekelöf

グンナル・エケロフ

Gunnar Ekelöf

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1907-09-15 （Stockholm, Sweden）
Died
1968-03-16 （Sigtuna, Sweden） age 60
Nationality
Swedish
Languages
Swedish
Residence History
Stockholm, Sweden → Paris, France (1929–1930) → Istanbul, Turkey (1965, visit)

Career

Occupations
poet, writer, translator
Active Years
1932-1968
Affiliations
Swedish Academy (Seat No.18)
Memberships
Swedish Academy (Seat No.18, 1958–1968)
Influenced By
T.S. Eliot, Edith Södergran, Emanuel Swedenborg
Influenced
Later Swedish poets (influenced modern Swedish poetry), Anders Olsson (critic/scholar who engaged with his work)

Education

Uppsala University
Degree: 名誉博士（哲学）
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: Sweden
Awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958

Awards

Nordic Council Literature Prize
1966
Work: Diwan on the Prince of Emgion
Organization: Nordic Council
Result: 受賞
Honorary Doctorate (Philosophy)
1958
Category: 名誉学位
Organization: Uppsala University
Result: 授与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Sent på jorden (Late on Earth)

1932 poetry collection

Debut collection written during an extended stay in Paris; strongly influenced by surrealism and characterized by violent, apocalyptic imagery.

surrealismalienationdeath and apocalypse

Färjesång (Ferry Song)

1941 poetry collection

Considered a personal breakthrough influenced by T.S. Eliot; uses simple and effective language and reflects the darkness of World War II.

memorywar's shadowreligious and oriental elements

Non serviam

1945 poetry collection

Title phrase in Latin meaning 'I will not serve'; contains poems symbolizing refusal to conform to welfare-state conformity and social expectations.

rebellionisolationexistential anxiety

A Mölna-Elegy

1960 long poem / elegy

A lengthy elegy centered on memory; features intertextual references to Swedenborg, Bellman, Strindberg and others and is considered one of his most Joycean works.

memorynostalgialiterary allusion

Diwan on the Prince of Emgion

1965 poetry collection (with narrative elements)

Part of a Byzantine-themed trilogy inspired by travels in Turkey; poetically tells of a fictive prince who was captured and blinded and accompanied by a mysterious woman on his journey.

Byzantine motifsjourneyblindness and loss

Bibliography

  • Sent på jorden (Late on Earth) — 1932
  • Fransk surrealism (French Surrealism) — 1933 (translations)
  • Dedikation (Dedication) — 1934
  • Färjesång (Ferry Song) — 1941
  • Non serviam — 1945
  • En Mölna-elegi (A Mölna-Elegy) — 1960
  • Diwan över Fursten av Emgión (Diwan on the Prince of Emgion) — 1965

Translations by Author

  • Fransk surrealism (French Surrealism) — translations of French poetry, 1933

Translations of Works

  • Selected Poems; Late Arrival on Earth; translations into English by Muriel Rukeyser, Robert Bly, W. H. Auden etc.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
elements of surrealismmodernismat times romantic tendenciesfragmentary and associative poetic language
Recurring Motifs
memory and nostalgialoneliness and rebellionOriental/Byzantine motifsreligious and mystical elements

Legacy

Gunnar Ekelöf is remembered as one of Sweden's first surrealist poets and had a strong influence on modern Swedish poetry. He was also a member of the Swedish Academy.

Museums

  • Bust of Ekelöf in the garden of the Swedish Embassy in Istanbul (originally intended for Salihli) Istanbul, Turkey

Academic Societies

  • Swedish Academy
  • The Gunnar Ekelöf Society

Archives

  • The Gunnar Ekelöf Society archives

In Popular Culture

  • 103rd birthday commemorations in Salihli with Swedish poetry enthusiasts

Quotes

  • I will not serve (Non serviam)
    Source: Poetry collection 'Non serviam' (1945)

Trivia

  • According to his will, his ashes were scattered in the river Pactolus (now Sart) near Salihli in Turkey.
  • Considered one of Sweden's first surrealist poets.