#astrid söderberg

[dynamofilms]

Startsladden (8 short films, 2021)

[chaoswillcalmusdown]

@marxisthozier oooh this is a fun question! idk how accessible these would be through libraries but the translations for sure exist (at least on amazon 😕 but hopefully also through indie places)

one of the most famous swedish classics is Vilhelm Moberg's The Emigrants (1949) (which the abba dudes turned into a super profitable musical) about a swedish couple's journey to the americas back in the 1800s.

then there's sapphic icon Karin Boye. I really like her poetry, which idk if it's as good translated into english, but she also wrote a dystopian novel in 1940 called Kallocain which is about a scientist who develops a truth drug.

if you want something short and edgy there's Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Söderberg which was extremely controversial when it was published in 1905 bc of the "abortion, women's rights, suicide, euthanasia, and eugenics".

there's also iconic nobel laureate (and iirc sapphic icon) Selma Lagerlöf who wrote loads of things but i think my fave is Gösta Berling's Saga (1891) which is a kind of strange "selling your soul to the devil" magical realism story. her books are generally quite political and feminist and also veeeery poetic and descriptive.

i also have to mention August Strindberg even though he's not my fave, but he was influential. his satire The Red Room (1879) wasn't really appreciated when it came out but nowadays it's called the first modern swedish novel and it's got some pretty fab descriptions of stockholm.

special mention goes to Astrid Lindgren even though my fave of her books was published in 1980 and is probably not technically a classic. but i still think everyone needs to read Ronia, the Robber's Daughter bc of the father daughter dynamics and just how iconic Ronia is. a lot of people hype Pippi and like, that's fair, but i love Ronia the most.

[scandireader]

Scandinavian lit recommendations

Here's a list of Scandinavian literature recommendations, based on what I have read and what I personally think is worth getting into. There's more Swedish (/Finland-Swedish) in this list than Norwegian/Danish/Icelandic but that's purely because I majored in this language - there's plenty more gems! Most of these works have been translated into English.

The classics

• August Strindberg - The red room, Miss Julie (Swedish)

• Henrik Ibsen - A doll's house, The wild duck (Norwegian)

• Knut Hamsun - Hunger, Mysteries, Pan, Victoria (Norwegian)

• Unknown - The poetic Edda (Icelandic)

• Emil Aarestrup - Poems (Danish)

• Selma Lagerlöf - Gösta Berlings saga, Sir Arne's treasure, The emperor of Portugallia (Swedish)

• Hjalmar Söderberg - Doctor Glas , The serious game (Swedish)

• Fredrika Bremer - The H___ family (Finnish)

Later 20th century

• Dan Andersson - Poems (Swedish)

• Vilhelm Moberg - The brides of midsummer (Swedish)

• Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) - Seven Gothic Tales, Babette's Feast (Danish)

• Harry Martinson - Aniara (Swedish)

• Torgny Lindgren - Light, The way of a serpent (Swedish)

• Per Olof Sundman - Flight of the eagle (Swedish)

• Marianne Fredriksson - Simon and the oaks (Swedish)

Contemporary

• Mikael Niemi - Popular music from Vittula (Swedish)

• Per Olov Enquist - The royal physician's visit (Swedish)

• Lukas Moodysson - Between sixteen and twentysix (Swedish)

Children's literature

• Hans Christian Andersen - Fairytales (Danish)

• Astrid Lindgren - The brothers Lionheart, Ronia the robber's daughter, Pippi Longstocking series (Swedish)

• Tove Jansson - The summer book (Finnish)

Literary crime fiction

• Peter Høeg - Smilla's sense of snow (Danish)

• John Ajvide Lindqvist - Let the right one in (Swedish)

• Kerstin Ekman - Blackwater (Swedish)

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hi! i’m really interested in learning swedish, so i was wondering if you wouldn’t mind recommending me a few books (any genre, could be textbooks as well) to help me study? i don’t mind spending money if you feel it would be a good resource for practice.

Hi, I guess a good way to start would be by reading children’s books, I can recommend Barbro Lindgren’s Loranga Masarin och Dartanjang and Loranga Loranga, they’re quite easy and made for very young children (also they’re really good lol). Astrid Lindgren is a given and I probably don’t need to introduce her much further, but if you’re not familiar with her I can recommend things like Mio, min Mio, Pippi Långstrump, Ronja Rövardotter, Emil i Lönneberga, Bröderna Lejonhjärta and so on. Tove Jansson was a Finn who wrote in swedish, and I recommend every single one of her books as well, no need to really go in to them I think. They’re Moomin. 

You can also check out these posts x x 

My favorite swedish author is Stig “Slas” Claesson and I recommend everything he has every written. He used a very everyday kind of language filled with repetitions which makes it ideal for learning as well. Also Hjalmar Söderberg is someone that people like, including me. He was active around 1895 - 1941 so his swedish is a bit dated, it’s maybe not the best for learning a language, at least in the beginning. But it’s still very worthwhile literature once you get a bit more comfortable with swedish. His book Den allvarsamme leken is a huge classic that I would dare say most adult swedish people have read. Even if you’re not interested in literature at all you’ve probably read Den allvarsamme leken, so it’s a pretty good way to start to get into swedish culture

[sarahsweden-blog]

Ten Interesting Swedish Novels

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.It’s a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives (Goodreads.com)

2. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past. (Amazon.com)

3. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (Amazon.com)

4. Willful Disregard by Lena Andersson

Ester Nilsson is a sensible person in a sensible relationship. Until the day she is asked to give a lecture on famous artist Hugo Rask. The man himself is in the audience, intrigued and clearly delighted by her fascination with him. When the two meet afterward, she is spellbound. Ester’s life is then intrinsically linked to this meeting and the chain of events that unfolds. She leaves her boyfriend and throws herself into an imaginary relationship with Hugo. She falls deeply in love, and he consumes her thoughts. Indeed, in her own mind she’s sure that she and Hugo are a couple.

Slowly and painfully Ester comes to realize that her perception of the relationship is different from his. She’s a woman who prides herself on having a rational and analytical mind, but in the face of her overpowering feelings for Hugo, she is too clever and too honest for her own good. Bitingly funny and darkly fascinating, Willful Disregard is a story about total and desperate devotion, and how willingly we betray ourselves in the pursuit of love. (Amazon.com)

5. Everything I Don’t Remember by Jonas Hassen Khemiri

A young man named Samuel dies in a horrible car crash. Was it an accident or was it suicide? To answer that question, an unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to map Samuel’s last day alive. Through conversations with friends, relatives, and neighbors, a portrait of Samuel emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poseur. The young man who did everything for his girlfriend Laide and shared everything with his best friend Vandad. Until he lost touch with them both.

By piecing together an exhilarating narrative puzzle, we follow Samuel from the first day he encounters the towering Vandad to when they become roommates. We meet Panther, Samuel’s self-involved childhood friend whose move to Berlin indirectly cues the beginning of Samuel’s search for the meaning of love—which in turn leads Samuel to Laide. Soon, Samuel’s relationship with Laide leads to a chasm in his friendship with Vandad, and it isn’t long before the lines between loyalty and betrayal, protection, and peril get blurred irrevocably. (Goodreads.com)

6. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last—revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door—a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night (Goodreads.com)

7. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. (Goodreads.com)

8. Echos from the Dead by Johan Theorin

On a gray September day, on an island off the coast of Sweden, six -year -old Jens Davidsson ventured out of his backyard, walked out into a fog, and vanished….Now twenty years have passed, and in this magnificent debut novel of suspense—a runaway bestseller in Sweden—the boy’s mother returns to the place where her son disappeared, drawn by a chilling package sent in the mail… In it, lovingly wrapped, is one of Jens’ sandals—sandals Julia Davidsson put on her son’s feet that very last morning. Now, with only a handful of clues, Julia and her father are questioning islanders who were present the day Jens vanished—and making a shocking connection to Öland’s most notorious murder case: the killing spree of a wealthy young man who fled the island and died years before Jens was even born. Suddenly the island that once seemed so achingly familiar turns strange and dangerous… Until Julia finds herself facing truths she never imagined—about what really happened on that September day twenty years ago, about who may have crossed paths with little Jens in the fog, and how a child could truly vanish without a trace…until now. (Amazon.com)

  9. The Serious Game by Hjalmar Söderberg

Sweden at the turn of the previous century. Arvid, an ambitious and well-educated young man, meets Lydia, the daughter of a landscape painter, during an idyllic summer vacation and falls in love. Lydia, however, has other suitors, and Astrid is frightened of being tied down by his emotions. Trapped inside loveless marriages of convenience, they struggle in later years to rekindle the promise of their romance with bitter and tragic results (Amazon.com)

10. Hanna’s Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson

Anna has returned from visiting her mother. Restless and unable to sleep, she wanders through her parents' house, revisiting the scenes of her childhood. In a cupboard drawer, folded and pushed away from sight, she finds a sepia photograph of her grandmother, Hanna, whom she remembers as old and forbidding, a silent stranger enveloped in a huge pleated black dress. Now, looking at the features Anna recognises as her own, she realises she is looking at a different woman from the one of her memory. Set against the majestic isolation of the Scandinavian lakes and mountains, this is more than a story of three Swedish women. It is a moving testament of a time forgotten and an epic romance in every sense of the word (Goodreads.com)

[kattahj]

On Shadowhunters and Swedish names

The notion of Shadowhunter names is so funny to me, the way they always consist of two parts: Lightwood, Herondale, Blackthorn, Fairchild and so on.

Now I suspect it's in parallell to Jewish German names, but it also encompasses, like, half of Sweden.

Ingmar Bergman? Shadowhunter. Ingrid Bergman, the same. Astrid Lindgren (and Pippi Longstocking). Stellan Skarsgård and the whole Skarsgård clan. Selma Lagerlöf, August Strindberg, Vilhelm Moberg, and Carl Jonas Love Almqvist. Hjalmar Söderberg, Hjalmar Bergman, and Hjalmar Gullberg. Agnetha Fältskog (and Anni-Frid Lyngstad but she's Norwegian). Anita Ekberg, Britt Ekland and both of the Gösta Ekmans (along with Hasse). Malin Åkerman, Dolph Lundgren, Michael Nyqvist, and Mikael Persbrandt. Bruno Liljefors and Sven Nordqvist. Anton Niklas Sundberg, Nathan Söderblom, and Emanuel Swedenborg. Lasse Hallström, Vilgot Sjöman and Victor Sjöström. Dag Hammarskjöld and Raoul Wallenberg. Malena Ernman and Måns Zelmerlöw. Karl Birger Blomdahl and  Carl Michael Bellman. If we count non-Swedish names of Swedish celebrities, there’s also Cornelis Vreeswijk (Dutch) and of course Ingvar Kamprad (German).

And oh so very many more...

Sweden is brimming over with Shadowhunters. Sadly I'm not one of them. (But my mother is, and so was my grandmother.)

[mikrofwno]

“Wearing Nothing” | η Dagny ίσως να ετοιμάζεται για την μελλοντική της επιτυχία Όταν κάνουμε λόγο για ντίβες της Σκανδιναβίας, η Tove Lo, η Astrid S και η MØ λαμβάνουν τη μεγαλύτερη διεθνή προσοχή. Αυτό, βέβαια, ίσως να αλλάξει φέτος. Η Dagny από τη Νορβηγία, η οποία κατατάχθηκε ως μία από τους καλύτερους πρωτοεμφανιζόμενους ποπ καλλιτέχνες της περσινής χρονιάς χάρη στο ονειρικό της ντεμπούρο με το EP Ultraviolet, κυκλοφόρησε ένα από τα πιο κολλητικά τραγούδια πριν από μερικές εβδομάδες. Σε παραγωγή του Ludvig Söderberg (μέλος των Wolf Cousins του Max Martin και των Shellback), το “Wearing Nothing” είναι μια φαινομενική εκρηκτική επιτυχία με ωραίους στίχους και ένα χαρακτηριστικό ποπ ρεφρέν που έρχεται μόνο από τη Βόρεια Ευρώπη. “Tο τραγούδι λέγεται ‘Wearing Nothing’ αλλά δεν μιλά για την επιθυμία να είσαι γυμνός μαζί με κάποιον άλλον”, αποκάλυψε σε μια συνέντευξη η Dagny. “Μιλά για την επιθυμία να είσαι εντελώς γυμνός με κάποιον, αλλά να είστε τόσο κοντά τόσο συναισθηματικά όσο και πενυματικά, σε σημείο όπου και το παραμικρό ρούχο να νιώθει σαν τη μεγαλύτερη απόσταση”. Αυτό το concept προβάλλεται και στο βίντεο κλιπ, το οποίο βρίσκει την 26χρονη τραγουδίστρια να βγάζει σε πέρας μια περίπλοκη χορογραφία με το άλλο της μισό σε ένα σπίτι βαμμένο με παστέλ χρώματα. Είναι περίεργο, πανέμορφο και εκπληκτικά αποτελεσματικό. Δείτε το παρακάτω.

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What do you suggest a beginner learns about Swedish culture and how ? ( I just learned about fika and I’m kinda sad it’s not common in more places 😭)

haha well first off, i think fika is a perfect place to start, you’re on the right path!

i think some more or less essential parts of our culture and history that you should know about would be

sweden is a monarchy

most people, unless they’re like 80, we’re probably raised on Astrid Lindgren at least to some extent, it wouldn’t hurt to know a bit about her work or maybe even read some of her books, it would also be good swedish practice 

we have ABBA, Ted Gärdestad, Monica Zetterlund and we like them very much

Ingmar Bergman would be good to know about, or have seen. some of his most popular films are The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), Fanny & Alexander, Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika)

we have a sibling-esque relationship with denmark and norway

we’re very informal, which is quite apparent in our language compared to, say, french

it would probably not be the best idea to try to read if you’re a beginner (or even proficient, since the language generally is quite outdated) but i think you should be aware of classic authors like Hjalmar Söderberg, August Strindberg, Victor Rydberg, Selma Lagerlöf 

you should know a bit about the geography, where’s Stockholm, where’s Göteborg, Härjedalen, Skåne, Jämtland, Bohuslän? you can practice on seterra x x

sweden’s nationalday is june 6th, both because that’s the day when Gustav Vasa became king and broke the Kalmar union 1523, a union between the scandinavian countries, and because that’s the day when the power of the royalty declined and sweden took mayor steps into becoming a democracy, 1809

our current king’s name is Carl XVI Gustav (pronounced Carl den sextonde Gustav)

Gustav the third, also known as the “theater king” was king in the 18th century and much like the couture of the time was a huge francophile. during “den gustavianska eran” (the era in which he ruled) the swedish court adapted a huge fascination for french culture and a lot of french vocabulary. he’s the reason why we have words like “apropå” (a propos), “journalism”, (journalisme), “paraply” (paraplui), “trottoar”, (trottoir). (he also made up an entire war with russia for no reason other than making himself seem a bit more powerful) you can read a list of french loanwords in swedish here x 

some svensk husmanskost includes knäckebröd, köttbullar, surströmming (unfortunately), inlagd sill, kroppkakor, janssons frestelse, blodpudding (also unfortunately but not as unfortunately i guess)

we’re very private people and would, generally, not indulge in conversations with complete strangers

norgevitsar (jokes about norway)

our terrible weather also killed Descartes sorry about that

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reasons to learn swedish!!!!!!!!!!!!

HMMMMM

1. listening to abba’s earlier stuff

2. ordering some köttbullar at ikea in swedish, imagine

3. ted gärdestad

4. reading elsa beskow, august strindberg, hjalmar söderberg, gustaf fröding, tove jansson, astrid lindgren and selma lagerlöf in the original language

5. the.. beautiful weather? no not really

6. we have rly nice art that you can find good sorces for in swedish? haha i’m kind of lame

7. learning danish and norweigan becomes 100% easier

8. å ä and ö are pretty cool

9. sweden has really beautiful nature? that has nothing to do with the language tho i’m not very good at these lists

10. you can watch Vikings without subtitles i guess?

11. we have some good crime shows

12. uhh i’m gonna go with astrid lindgren again

13. pronouncing smörgåsbord without sounding like a jackass (!!!)

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general resources for learning swedish

TV:

Sveriges Television, sweden’s biggest tv channel, they have lot’s of different programs, such as Rapport, which is great to watch if you want to understand current news in swedish. here is Pippi Långstrump, here is Madicken and here is Vi på Saltkråkan, bc i love them. most of SVT can only be viewed from inside sweden though

RADIO:

Sveriges Radio, sweden’s official radio network. my personal favorites are Konflikt (a program about international conflicts and relations), and P2 Klassiskt, they air classical music and talk about classical music, it usually centers around airing music, but they do also talk about it, and hey, classical music never hurt anyone. there are a million different programs to pick from though!

LITERATURE:

some of the most notable swedish writers and literature includes: 

Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige by Selma Lagerlöf, 

Röda Rummet, Hemsöborna, Tjänstekvinnans Son (and about 50 others) by August Strindberg

Den sista athenaren and Singoalla by Victor Rydberg 

Solägget, Tant Grön, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin, Sagan om den lilla, lilla gumman and not least Tomtebobarnen by writer and illustrator Elsa Beskow

Doktor Glas, Den allvarsamma leken and Gertrud by Hjalmar Söderberg

Vilhelm Moberg’s Utvandrarna, Invandrarna and Nybyggarna. 

Bröderna Lejonhjärta, Pippi Långstrump, Barnen i Bullerby, Emil i Lönneberga, Madicken, Karlsson på taket and a million others by Astrid Lindgren

nowadays sweden is known for producing thrillers and crime novels, but i’ve never been interested in that so i don’t know a lot about them, i don’t think it would be hard for you to look up though

MUSIC:

you can check out this post for swedish music, Agnetha Fältskog made a lot of nice music with swedish texts before her success with ABBA, that i recommend! the melody is usually simple, the lyrics as well and they rarely contain slangs or words that you can’t look up, and her pronunciation is usually clear! and, she sings beautifully and i luv her