Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard by
"The day will come when not only my writings, but precisely my life--the intriguing secret of all the machinery--will be studied and studied." Søren Kierkegaard's remarkable combination of genius and peculiarity made this a fair if arrogant prediction. But Kierkegaard's life has been notoriously hard to study, so complex was the web of fact and fiction in his work. Joakim Garff's biography of Kierkegaard is thus a landmark achievement. A seamless blend of history, philosophy, and psychological insight, all conveyed with novelistic verve, this is the most comprehensive and penetrating account yet written of the life and works of the enigmatic Dane who changed the course of intellectual history. Garff portrays Kierkegaard not as the all-controlling impresario behind some of the most important works of modern philosophy and religious thought--books credited with founding existentialism and prefiguring postmodernism--but rather as a man whose writings came to control him. Kierkegaard saw himself as a vessel for his writings, a tool in the hand of God, and eventually as a martyr singled out to call for the end of "Christendom." Garff explores the events and relationships that formed Kierkegaard, including his guilt-ridden relationship with his father, his rivalry with his brother, and his famously tortured relationship with his fiancée Regine Olsen. He recreates the squalor and splendor of Golden Age Copenhagen and the intellectual milieu in which Kierkegaard found himself increasingly embattled and mercilessly caricatured. Acclaimed as a major cultural event on its publication in Denmark in 2000, this book, here presented in an exceptionally crisp and elegant translation, will be the definitive account of Kierkegaard's life for years to come.
Call Number: Online ResourceISBN: 9781400849604Publication Date: 2013-10-31
Kierkegaard by
Kierkegaard is a fascinating author. Living shortly after the dawn of modernity in the Enlightenment, he restates classical Christianity in dynamic fashion. His Lutheran heritage is vital here as he places 'faith' over against 'reason'. Yet Kierkegaard also holds decidedly pre-modernepistemological presuppositions that are supportive of his endeavour.After an initial chapter on Kierkegaard's intellectual milieu, the book expounds with reference to their philosophical and historical context seven of his major texts, ranging over theological, ethical, social and political questions. A final chapter, on an autobiographical text, allows of anestimate of Kierkegaard as a person.The book does not however simply depict Kierkegaard. In the 'Critique' with which each chapter concludes Hampson carries on a lively debate with Kierkegaard. Questions range from his indifference to biblical historical criticism, his lack of a sense for causality and for the regularity of nature,and his early a-political outlook.Whatever one's theological evaluation, Kierkegaard has insights that are abiding; into the nature of the self in relation to God, the manner of according dignity to others, and the need to prioritise rightly in life. Quoted extensively in this book, Kierkegaard, a writer of distinction, enthrals thereader with his flair, wit and never failing perspicacity.A provocative and original book, while accessible to those approaching these texts for the first time, it should also be of interest to the seasoned Kierkegaard scholar, illuminating as has no previous work the importance of comprehending the structure of Lutheran faith for grasping Kierkegaard'sthought.
Call Number: B4377 .H346 2013ISBN: 0199673233Publication Date: 2013-05-19
Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling by
Written by an international team of contributors, this book offers a fresh set of interpretations of Fear and Trembling, which remains Kierkegaard's most influential and popular book. The chapters provide incisive accounts of the psychological and epistemological presuppositions of Fear and Trembling; of religious experience and the existential dimension of faith; of Kierkegaard's understanding of the relationship between faith and knowledge; of the purported and real conflicts between ethics and religion; of Kierkegaard's interpretation of the value of hope, trust, love and other virtues; of Kierkegaard's debts to German idealism and Protestant theology; and of his seminal contributions to the fields of psychology, existential phenomenology and literary theory. This volume will be of great interest to scholars and upper-level students of Kierkegaard studies, the history of philosophy, theology and religious studies.
Call Number: 198 K54kierkfISBN: 9781107034617Publication Date: 2015-02-19
- Project Runeberg: Søren KierkegaardProject Runeberg is a volunteer effort to create free electronic editions of classic Nordic (Scandinavian) literature and make them openly available over the Internet.
August Strindberg
An International Annotated Bibliography of Strindberg Studies 1870-2005 by Call Number: 839.72 St8ViISBN: 9780947623814Publication Date: 2008-10-01
The Cambridge Companion to August Strindberg by
August Strindberg is one of the most enduring of nineteenth-century dramatists, and is also an internationally recognised novelist, autobiographer, and painter. This Companion presents contributions by leading international scholars on different aspects of Strindberg's highly colourful life and work. The essays focus primarily on his most celebrated plays; these include the Naturalist Dramas, The Father and Miss Julie; the experimental dramas with which he created a true modernist theatre - To Damascus and A Dream Play; and the Chamber Plays of 1908 which, like so much of his work, exerted a powerful influence on much later twentieth-century drama. His plays are contextualised for what they contribute both to the history of drama and developments in theatre practice, and other essays clarify the enormous importance to these dramas of his other work, most notably the autobiographical novel Inferno, and his lifelong interest in science, the occult, sexual politics, and the visual arts.
Call Number: PT9816 .C36 2009ISBN: 9780521846042Publication Date: 2009-09-24
- Strindberg MuseumThe collection consists of objects associated with the life and work of August Strindberg.
- Project Runeberg: August StrindbergProject Runeberg is a volunteer effort to create free electronic editions of classic Nordic (Scandinavian) literature and make them openly available over the Internet.
Henrik Ibsen
An Ibsen Companion by
This book will be useful to students of Ibsen and therefore belongs in the reference collections of all but the smallest public and academic libraries. . . . In all respects admirable. Reference Books Bulletin.
Call Number: PT8887 .B79 1984ISBN: 0313235066Publication Date: 1984-10-24
Henrik Ibsen: A New Biography by
Over a quarter of a century ago Michael Meyer's three-volume biography provided the English-speaking world with its most comprehensive study of Ibsen's life and work. Robert Ferguson is deeply appreciative of Meyer, but he argues that Meyer, like other critics, was content to write about the public reputation - Ibsen as a world figure, the critical response to Ibsen, Ibsen in performance. Ferguson succeeds in getting behind the daunting outside image of the dramatist, to reveal in greater depth than any previous biography the story of Ibsen's life, the workings of his mind and emotions and the making of some of the greatest plays ever written.
Using recently unearthed material that includes Ibsen's own letter admitting paternity of his illegitimate son, and details of how Ibsen's inability to pay maintenance for the boy almost landed him in jail, Ferguson shows for the first time the real impact these early experiences of humiliation had on Ibsen's development both as man and artist, as well as emphasizing the degree to which Ibsen was, in modern parlance, one of the great therapeutic artists. The result is a biography which does not necessarily produce a likeable or lovable man, but one whom we can understand and appreciate. Robert Ferguson has written a biography on the grand scale - deeply researched, wide-ranging, and providing insights into both Ibsen and the world in which he lived.
Call Number: Online ResourceISBN: 9781860660788Publication Date: 1996
The Complete Major Prose Plays by
Gathers the Norwegian writer's most important dramas, including A Doll's House, An Enemy of the People, Hedda Gabler, and Ghosts.
Call Number: PT8854 .F5 1978bISBN: 0452262054Publication Date: 1978-04-01
- Project Runeberg: Henrik IbsenProject Runeberg is a volunteer effort to create free electronic editions of classic Nordic (Scandinavian) literature and make them openly available over the Internet.
Article Databases
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Alternate version: MLA International Bibliography in the classic EBSCO user interface (best for exporting more than 50 results or combining saved searches).Indexes critical materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Proved access to citations from worldwide publications, including periodicals, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations and bibliographies.
- Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new windowSearchable database of full-text articles, essays, book reviews, plot summaries, poems, short stories, plays, and interviews with contemporary writers.
- Literature Criticism Online This link opens in a new windowPart of Gale Literature Criticism Online. LCO covers a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras and genres, offering tens of thousands of hard-to-find critical essays. Database subscriptions may include any or all of the following titles, based on subscriber preferences: Contemporary literary criticism; Twentieth-Century literary criticism; Nineteenth-Century literature criticism; Literature criticism from 1400-1800; Shakespearean criticism; Classical and medieval literature criticism; Poetry criticism; Short story criticism; Drama criticism; and Children's literature review.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online This link opens in a new windowProvides biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.
- Arts and Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. Indexes world's leading arts and humanities journals with selected, relevant items from major science and social science journals.
- IBZ Online - International Bibliography of Periodical Literature This link opens in a new windowUniversal index of periodical literature covering basic research from all fields of knowledge, and is particularly strong in the humanities and the social sciences. Over 11,500 periodicals are indexed by this multilingual database, now containing over 3.2 million records. It is international in scope, and indexes a significant proportion the the periodicals published on the European continent.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides page images of back issues of the core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. Users may browse by journal title or discipline, or may search the full-text or citations/abstracts. New issues of existing titles and new titles are added approximately on a weekly basis. The University of Illinois has access to the following JSTOR collections: Arts & Sciences I-XV, 19th Century British Pamphlets, Business IV, Global Plants, Hebrew Journals, Ireland, Life Sciences Collection, Lives of Literature, Security Studies, Struggles for Freedom - South Africa, Sustainability, and World Heritage Sites - Africa.
- Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new windowPeriodicals Archive Online is a major archive that makes the backfiles of scholarly periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences available electronically, providing access to the searchable full text of hundreds of titles. The database spans more than two centuries of content, 37 key subject areas, and multiple languages.
- Scopus This link opens in a new windowScopus is the largest abstract and citation database including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications and quality web sources. Subject coverage includes: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering; Life and Health Sciences; Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics; Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
General Resources
Books at UIUC
Search for titles on Scandinavian literature using the Library Catalog. Some suggested search terms:
- Scandinavian literature
- Scandinavian fiction -- History and criticism
- Literary Criticism -- European -- Scandinavian
Some example texts:
Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature by
A heroic undertaking, this extremely useful encyclopedia covers the literatures of all five Nordic countries as well as Faroese, Inuit, and Sami_.is especially valuable in that it brings to light the sophistication and richness of literature in Finland and Iceland_highly recommended. Library Journal The Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature is the only English-language work of its kind. Unlike literary handbooks that cover a single literature, the dictionary covers the literature of the five Nordic countries from the Icelandic sagas to authors active in the 1980s. In addition to 380 individual entries, the volume includes lengthier essays on topics ranging from Inuit Literature to Scandinavian Studies in North America and Britain. Many of the topical articles are unique in that no systematic English-language treatment of the topic has previously appeared in print. Each entry concludes with a list of references and, in the case of author entries, a list of the author's works in the original as well as in English translation. For use in public libraries, small college libraries, as well as larger research libraries, the Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature is a reference tool for the nonspecialist and specialist alike. The bibliographies appended to every article will be of value to students looking for up-to-date secondary literature on an author or a topic, and the listings of English translations should be useful to instructors who teach courses of Scandinavian Literature in English Translation.
Call Number: 839.503 D561ISBN: 0313214506Publication Date: 1990-11-29
Contemporary Nordic Literature and Spatiality by
This open access collection offers a detailed mapping of recent Nordic literature and its different genres (fiction, poetry, and children's literature) through the perspective of spatiality. Concentrating on contemporary Nordic literature, the book presents a distinctive view on the spatial turn and widens the understanding of Nordic literature outside of canonized authors. Examining literatures by Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish authors, the chapters investigate a recurrent theme of social criticism and analyze this criticism against the welfare state and power hierarchies in spatial terms. The chapters explore various narrative worlds and spaces--from the urban to parks and forests, from textual spaces to spatial thematics, studying these spatial features in relation to the problems of late modernity.
Call Number: PT7055 .C66 2020ISBN: 9783030233525Publication Date: 2019-09-11- History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North from the Most Ancient Times to the Present byCall Number: 839.5 H78GPublication Date: 1971
- Contemporary Nordic Literature and Spatiality by ISBN: 9783030233525Publication Date: 2019-09-11This open access collection offers a detailed mapping of recent Nordic literature and its different genres (fiction, poetry, and children's literature) through the perspective of spatiality.
On the Web
- Project RunebergThe largest Nordic literature site on the web, with both online texts and additional information about Nordic literature.
- History of Nordic Women's LiteratureAn excellent site for research on Nordic women authors with hundreds of bio-biographies, articles, and news.
- Overview of Scandinavian LiteratureFrom Wikipedia - crowd-sourced collection of links and additional information.
- Medieval Nordic Text ArchiveManuscript transcriptions.
Literary Criticism
To find literary criticism, you can search the Library Catalog or an article database (find links above) such as the MLA International Bibliography. Some suggested search terms for the catalog are below (you can follow a similar format for other authors or topics):
- Henrik Ibsen -- Criticism and interpretation
- Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813-1855 -- History and Criticism
- Strindberg, August, 1849-1912 -- Criticism and interpretation
Some selected texts and web links are also provided below.
Swedish Literature
Surveys
A History of Swedish Literature by
This volume traces Swedish literature from its beginnings in the Middle Ages to its honored place in world literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A comprehensive reference work, A History of Swedish Literature provides much more than names and dates. Sweden's relative isolation in a remote corner of Europe put special stress on its language and literature to define national identity. In this volume nine scholars from Europe and America identify what is particular about Swedish literary culture as well as what makes it an integral part of European literature. The volume views Swedish literature in its historical and social context and reflects on the concerns of each age. Although women authors are treated throughout the book, a chapter on women's literature provides a salutary view of the gender issue in Swedish literature and the development of a feminist awareness. An additional chapter discusses children's literature, a major Swedish cultural export.
Call Number: 839.709 H629ISBN: 0803247508Publication Date: 1996-07-01
Aspects of Modern Swedish Literature by
Single volume history of modern Swedish literature.
Call Number: PT9368 .A87 1999ISBN: 1870041380Publication Date: 1999-12-31
Lesbianism in Swedish Literature by
Here, Björklund shows that Swedish literary discourses on lesbianism provocatively contrast with a widely accepted view that attitudes toward homosexuality have gradually become more tolerant. The lasting power of negative discourses upends the assumption that Sweden's progressive laws reflect progressive attitudes toward homosexuality.
Call Number: PT9370.L47 B56 2014ISBN: 9781137364951Publication Date: 2014-06-05
Skandinavische Literaturgeschichte by
Die Geschichte der skandinavischen Literatur - erstmals auf Deutsch. Die Autoren lassen den Blick schweifen #65533;ber s#65533;mtliche Literaturen des Nordens, darunter auch die Literaturen in finnischer, f#65533;r#65533;ischer, samischer und gr#65533;nl#65533;ndischer Sprache. Ausf#65533;hrlich und kenntnisreich werden dabei herausragende Autoren wie Holberg, Ibsen, Strindberg, Lagerl#65533;f, Blixen, der isl#65533;ndische Nobelpreistr#65533;ger Laxness, Lindgren u. v. a. gew#65533;rdigt. Zugleich entsteht ein faszinierendes Panorama der skandinavischen Kulturgeschichte vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart.
Call Number: 839.509 Sk145 2006ISBN: 9783476019738Publication Date: 2006-11-16- Swedish Women's Writing, 1850-1995 by This work provides a survey of women's writing in Sweden, from the beginnings of the struggle for emancipation in the 1850s to the present day. These writers are seen within the political, cultural and economic context of women's lives. Modern critical currents are also assessed and Swedish feminist criticism is considered alongside the French and American traditions.Call Number: PT9315 .F67 1997ISBN: 0485920034Publication Date: 2001-10-01
Online Resources
- Swedish Book ReviewPublishes two main issues every year. The main aim of SBR is to present Swedish literature to the English-speaking world. It carries translated extracts from the works of Swedish writers, often together with an introductory article.
- Litteraturbanken (Literature Bank)Online collection of Swedish fiction and other important texts. Website available in Swedish, English, and French.
Icelandic Literature
A History of Icelandic Literature by
A History of Icelandic Literature provides a complete overview of the literature of Iceland, from the country's settlement in the ninth century until the present day, including chapters on lesser-known areas such as drama, children's literature, women's literature, and North American Icelandic literature. It is the first work to give non-Icelandic readers a wide-ranging introduction to Iceland's literature and each contributor to this volume is a recognized expert in his or her area. Despite its peripheral geographical position and small population, Iceland produced some of the most remarkable literary treasures of the Middle Ages, particularly sagas and Eddic poetry. These medieval works have inspired poets and writers across the centuries, who in turn have inspired the Icelandic people during the country's long history of hardships and up to its more affluent present. This volume extends knowledge of Icelandic literature outside the country and encourages its inclusion in comparative studies of literatures across national and linguistic boundaries.
Call Number: PT7154 .H57 2006ISBN: 9780803233461Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Danish Literature
Books at UIUC
Danish Literature As World Literature by
Despite being a minor language, Danish literature is one of the world 's most actively translated, and the Scandinavian country is the home of a number of significant writers. Hans Christian Andersen remains one of the most translated authors in the world, philosopher S ren Kierkegaard inspired modern Existentialism, Karen Blixen chronicled her life in colonial Kenya as well as writing imaginary, cosmopolitan tales, and the writers among the circles of literary critic Georg Brandes in the late 19th century were especially important to the further development of European Modernism. Danish Literature as World Literature introduces key figures from 800 years of Danish literature and their impact on world literature. It includes chapters devoted to post-1945 literature on beat and systemic poetry as well as the Scandinavia noir vogue that includes both crime fiction and cinema and is enjoying worldwide popularity.
Call Number: PT7660 .D24 2017ISBN: 9781501310010Publication Date: 2017-02-09
A History of Danish Literature by
For centuries, Denmark dominated the culture of Scandinavia, and its literature has influenced such English works as Beowulf and Hamlet as well as major philosophical movements: humanism, romanticism, existentialism. With contributions from nine internationally recognized scholars, A History of Danish Literature reaches back as far as the literary record allows, to the ancient runic inscriptions, and thence to medieval Latin, the development of literature in the vernacular, and the flowering of a distinct Danish literary tradition numbering among its luminaries Hans Christian Andersen, Soren Kierkegaard, and Karen Blixen. The volume includes, in addition, chapters on Faroese literature, women's literature, and children's literature. The approach used in A History of Danish Literature is maintained in the other volumes of A History of Scandinavian Literatures, which surveys the literary history of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland. These literatures are viewed not only as part of an interrelated Scandinavian tradition but as part of world literature. A comparative approach is used through-out, and social and cultural history feature prominently. Contributors to Volume 1 include David W. Colbert, Sven H. Rossel, F.J. Billeskov Jansen, P.M. Mitchell, Niels Ingwersen, Poul Houe, W. Glyn Jones, Faith Ingwersen, and Flemming Mouritsen.
Call Number: 839.8109 H629ISBN: 080323886XPublication Date: 1993-01-01
Online Resources
- Arkiv for dansk litteraturDigitized texts from Danish authors, covering as far back as the Middle Ages.
- Dansk Nationallitterært ArkivFrom Det Kongelige Bibliotek. Danish fiction from ~ 1200s - early 1900s.