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Stig Dagerman

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Stig Dagerman
Stig Dagerman, 1940s
Stig Dagerman, 1940s
BornStig Halvard Andersson
(1923-10-05)5 October 1923
Älvkarleby, Uppsala County, Sweden
Died4 November 1954(1954-11-04) (aged 31)
Enebyberg, Stockholm County, Sweden
OccupationWriter, journalist
LanguageSwedish
NationalitySwedish
Years active1945–1954

Stig Halvard Dagerman (5 October 1923 – 4 November 1954) was a Swedish author and journalist prominent in the aftermath of World War II.

Biography

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Stig Dagerman was born Stig Halvard Andersson in Älvkarleby, Uppsala County. He later took his father's surname Jansson and then changed his name to Stig Dagerman in his teens.[1] In the course of five years, 1945–49, he enjoyed success with four novels, a collection of short stories, a book about postwar Germany, five plays, hundreds of poems and satirical verses, several essays of note and a large amount of journalism. He died in 1954, having shut the doors of the garage and run the engine.[2]

Literary style and themes

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Dagerman is representative of the Swedish literary movement fyrtiotalism. His works deal with universal problems of morality and conscience, of sexuality and social philosophy, of love, compassion, justice,[2]: 14  fear, guilt, and loneliness. Despite the somber content, he also displays a wry sense of humor that occasionally turns his writing into burlesque or satire.[3]

Legacy

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The annual Stig Dagerman Prize awards individuals who, like Dagerman, promote empathy and understanding through their work.[4]

In 2023 the centenary of Stig Dagerman's birth was celebrated in Sweden with various events and staging of plays. In Stig Dagerman's native Älvkarleby a park was namned after Dagerman and a statue of him was placed there.[5]

Main works

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  • Ormen (The Snake) 1945, novel
  • De dömdas ö (Island of the Doomed) 1946, novel
  • Tysk höst (German Autumn), 1947, non-fictional account of post-war Germany
  • Nattens lekar (The Games of Night) 1947, a collection of short stories
  • Bränt barn (A Burnt Child, also translated as A Moth To a Flame) 1948, novel
  • Dramer om dömda: Den dödsdömde; Skuggan av Mart (Dramas of the Condemned: The Man Condemned to Death; Marty's Shadow) 1948, plays
  • Judas Dramer: Streber; Ingen går fri (Judas Dramas: No One Goes Free; The Climber) 1949, plays
  • Bröllopsbesvär (Wedding Worries) 1949, novel
  • Vårt behov av tröst (Our Need for Consolation is Insatiable) 1955, prose and poetry. Edited by O. Lagercrantz

English translations

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Books

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  • German Autumn. Translation by Robin Fulton. Introduction by Mark Kurlansky. University of Minnesota Press, 2011.
  • Sleet: Selected Stories. Translation by Steven Hartman. Preface by Alice McDermott. David R. Godine, 2013.
  • A Burnt Child. Translation by Benjamin Mier-Cruz. Introduction by Per Olov Enquist. University of Minnesota Press, 2013.
  • Island of the Doomed. Translation by Laurie Thompson. Introduction by JMG Le Clezio. University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
  • The Snake. Translation and introduction by Laurie Thompson. Quartet Encounters, London, 1995.
  • The Games of Night. Translation by Naomi Walford and introduction by Michael Meyer. Bodley Head, London, 1959; Lippincott, Philadelphia and New York, 1961; Quartet Encounters, London, 1986.
  • A Moth to a Flame. Translation by Benjamin Miers-Cruz. Introduction by Siri Hustvedt. Penguin European Writers 2019.

Individual texts translated by Steven Hartman

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  • "Our Need for Consolation." "Little Star", Issue 5, 2014. 301-307
  • "Thousand Years with God." (unpublished)
  • "The Surprise." Southern California Anthology 8, Los Angeles, CA: University of Southern California, 1996. 60-66
  • "Men of Character." Southern Review 32:1. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University, 1996. 59-79
  • "Salted Meat and Cucumber." Prism International 34:2. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia, 1996. 54-60
  • "Sleet." Confrontation 54/55 (Double Issue). New York, NY: Long Island University, 1994. 53-62
  • "The Games of Night." Black Warrior Review 20:2. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama, 1994. 107-117
  • "In Grandmother's House." Quarterly West 38. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah, 1994. 160-167
  • "To Kill A Child." Grand Street 42. New York, NY, 1992. 96-100

Other English translations

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  • "Marty's Shadow." Translation of the play "Skuggan av Mart" by Lo Dagerman and Nancy Pick, 2017.
  • "Pithy Poems." Translation by Laurie Thompson. The Lampeter Translation Series: 4. Lampeter, Wales, 1989.
  • "God Pays a Visit to Newton, 1727." Translation by Ulla Natterqvist-Sawa. Prism International, Vancouver, BC, October 1986, 7-24.
  • "Bon Soir." Translation by Anne Born. The Swedish Book Review supplement, UK, 1984, 13-.
  • "The Man Condemned to Death." Translation by Joan Tate. The Swedish Book Review supplement, UK, 1984, 21-.
  • " The Condemned." Translation by Henry Alexander and Llewellyn Jones. Scandinavian Plays of the Twentieth Century, Third Series, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951.

Selected adaptations

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  • "To Kill A Child" (TRT 10 min, 2003, Swedish with English subtitles) by Bjorne Larson and Alexander Skarsgard. Narration by Stellan Skarsgard.
  • "The Games of Night" (TRT 23 min, 2007, English) by Dan Levy Dagerman. Screenplay based on translation by Steven Hartman.
  • "Our Need for Consolation" (TRT 20 min, 2012, English) by Dan Levy Dagerman. Narration by Stellan Skarsgard.
  • "Notre besoin de consolation est impossible a rassasier," Têtes raides, CD "Banco," 2007. "Corps de mots," CD booklet + DVD, 2013.
  • "Stig Dagerman," a French poem inspired from "Our need for consolation is insatiable", written by Kentin Jivek, part of the album "Now I'm Black Moon", released in April 2011.

References

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  1. ^ Olof Lagercrantz Stig Dagerman, Norstedts 1958 p.14-15
  2. ^ a b Thompson, Laurie. 1983. Stig Dagerman. Boston: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-6523-9
  3. ^ Lagercrantz, Olof. 1958, 1967, 1985, 2004. Stig Dagerman. Stockholm: Norstedts Panpockets. ISBN 91-7263-550-9
  4. ^ "Home". dagerman.se.
  5. ^ Nyheter, S. V. T. (5 October 2023). "Älvkarleby firar Stig Dagermans 100-årsdag". SVT Nyheter.
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