Discovering Europe
Light and Dark
They have in common a certain kind of universalism. Some, the men – Strindberg the playwright and Ingmar Bergman the film director – sought to understand the motivations and behaviour of people. Others, the women – Astrid Lindgren and Selma Lägerlöf – used words as weapons in the cause of peace, emancipation and… pleasure!
The vivacious Astrid Lindgren.
© Scanpix/reporters
Who has never heard of Pippi Longstocking? This fiery little redhead, full name Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowhade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking, is a rebel who for the past 64 years has continued to emancipate children all over the world. In her fabulous world she saved children from the rules of adults and the conformity of school. It is scarcely surprising therefore that the books were censored by certain conservative countries and dictatorships. Born of the imagination of Astrid Lindgren, initially to amuse her own children, the adventures of Pippi have since been translated into more than 60 languages, including Arabic and Zulu. Astrid Lindgren herself was a formidable woman. Until her death in 2002, at the age of 95, she campaigned tirelessly for the rights of the oppressed, whether children, adults or animals, for which she received numerous awards, including the Albert Schweitzer Medal. Politically active and regarded in Sweden as a legend in her own lifetime, she also instigated legislation in favour of the most disadvantaged members of society.
Astrid Lindgren was preceded by another great lady of letters and humanity: Selma Lagerlöf, author of the lyrical epic The Story of Gösta Berling and, above all, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. This latter work, published in 1906, had in fact been commissioned to explain Sweden’s geography to schoolchildren. Three years later she was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and, in 1914, the first to be elected to the Swedish Academy. Later, at the start of the Second World War, she donated these two medals to Finland to help it in its efforts to raise funds to fight the Soviet Union.
There are other more tortuous and introspective adventures. Such as those of August Strindberg, considered to be one of the fathers of modern theatre. Born in 1849, the author of Miss Julie was also one of the pioneers of European expressionism in painting as well as being active in photography, alchemy and telegraphy. A misogynist as well as being a socialist if not anarchist – earning him honours from the Soviet Union and Cuba – he renounced his socialism after meeting Nietzsche, subsequently becoming interested in mysticism.
Psychological introspection is the theme that runs throughout the work of that giant of the cinema, Ingmar Bergman. Born in Uppsala in 1918, this theatre and film director, screenwriter and also actor at the start of his career, had directed 170 plays and 62 films at the time of his death in 2007. Among them, the metaphysical Seventh Seal, the psychological drama Persona, Fanny and Alexander and Scenes from a Marriage earned him the reputation of being one of the 20th century’s greatest film directors. Like Strindberg, who married three times, Bergman had a tumultuous personal life, marrying five times and fathering nine children.
