World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Lars Gustafsson

ラーズ・グスタフソン

Rāsu Gusutafusson

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1936-05-17 （Västerås, Sweden）
Died
2016-04-03 （Stockholm, Sweden） age 79
Nationality
Sweden
Languages
Swedish, English
Religion
Judaism Baptized in 1981
Residence History
Västerås (birthplace) → Uppsala (studies) → West Berlin (residence, 1972–1974) → Austin, Texas (University of Texas at Austin, 1983–2003 etc.) → Stockholm (later life)

Career

Occupations
writer, poet, novelist, scholar, university professor, editor
Active Years
1960-2016
Affiliations
Bonniers Litterära Magasin (editor-in-chief, 1962–1972), The University of Texas at Austin (faculty, Plan II Honors), DAAD fellowship (residence in West Berlin)
Influenced By
Stanislaw Lem (influence/ homage in some works), Authors of Group 47 (international contacts)

Education

Västerås Gymnasium (secondary education)
Degree: Secondary education
Period: 1950s
Year of Graduation: 1955
Country: Sweden
Completed secondary education before attending Uppsala University.
Uppsala University
Studied literature, aesthetics, sociology and philosophy
Degree: Licentiate (1960); PhD in theoretical philosophy (1978)
Period: 1950s–1978
Year of Graduation: 1978
Country: Sweden
Received a licentiate degree in philosophy in 1960 and a PhD in theoretical philosophy in 1978; doctoral dissertation on speech and literature.

Awards

Prix européen de l'essai Charles-Veillon
1983
Result: 受賞
Una Vita per la Letteratura
1989
Result: 受賞
Bellman Prize
1990
Result: 受賞
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1994
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: フェローシップ受領
Gerard-Bonnier-Preis
2006
Result: 受賞
Goethe Medal
2009
Organization: Goethe-Institut
Result: 受賞
Thomas Mann Prize
2015
Result: 受賞
International Nonino Prize
2016
Organization: Nonino
Result: 受賞（2016）
Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award
2016
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Death of a Beekeeper

1978 Novel (modern literature, existential)

Follows Vesslan, a beekeeper dying of cancer, through notebook entries; explores pain, memory and identity with an innovative fragmented structure.

paindeathidentitymemory
Translations
  • Available in English translation

Bernard Foy's Third Castling

1986 Novel (detective-like, multi-layered)

A threefold narrative featuring three versions of Bernard Foy; uses nested storytelling and dream-argument motifs to investigate subjectivity and authorship.

subjectivitynarrativitydream vs. reality

A Tiler's Afternoon

1991 Short novel / Fiction

Depicts human relationships and existence through close observation of everyday details.

everyday lifememoryhuman relations

Yllet

1973 Novel (part of the five-novel cycle 'The Cracks in the Wall')

Part of the five-novel cycle 'The Cracks in the Wall', exploring boundaries of personal memory and narrative; adapted into a film in 2003.

memorylimits of narrativeidentity
Adaptations
  • [Film] Yllet / Jimmy Karlsson (2003)

Det sällsamma djuret från norr och andra science-fiction-berättelser

1989 Science fiction (philosophical)

A collection of stories set 40,000 years in the future where humans are extinct; populated by artificial intelligences and exploring philosophical questions, with homage to Stanislaw Lem.

ontologyartificial intelligencethe future

Bibliography

  • Bröderna (The Brothers, 1960)
  • The Real Story of Mr. Arenander (1966)
  • The Cracks in the Wall (five-novel cycle, 1971–1978)
  • The Death of a Beekeeper (1978)
  • The Tennis Players (1977)
  • Stories of Happy People (1981)
  • Science-fiction stories (1989)
  • A Tiler's Afternoon (1991)

Adaptations

  • Yllet (2003 film, dir. Jimmy Karlsson)

Translations of Works

  • The Death of a Beekeeper has been translated into English and several other languages
  • Major works translated into multiple languages and received international recognition

Style & Themes

Literary Style
philosophical and intellectual stylelyrical and conceptual expressionexperimental and fragmented structures
Recurring Motifs
identitymemory and forgettingpain and deathlanguage and possibilities of expression

Legacy

Gustafsson was one of Sweden's leading contemporary writers, internationally recognized for blending philosophy and literature. He received numerous awards, his works were translated into many languages, and he influenced both literary scholarship and creative writing education; some works were adapted for film.

Archives

  • University of Texas at Austin (faculty papers, CVs)
  • Works listed at Open Library

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of Yllet (2003)

Quotes

  • "A book about pain. It describes a journey into the centre where pain rules—and pain can tolerate no rivals."
    Source: Author's own remark about The Death of a Beekeeper (1978)
  • "I listen. I listen and I look. Creativity knows no rules."
    Source: 2003 interview/essay (2003)

Trivia

  • Converted to Judaism in 1981.
  • Invited to University of Texas at Austin in 1972 and 1974; moved to Austin in 1983 and returned to Sweden in 2003.
  • In 2009 declared support for the Swedish Pirate Party in European elections but left the party in 2010.
  • The Death of a Beekeeper is one of his best-known internationally translated works.