Bo Hjalmar Bergman (6 October 1869 – 17 November 1967) was a Swedish writer,

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

, sitting in Seat 12 from 1925 until his death. His works form the inspiration for works by several major Swedish composers, including: Wilhelm Stenhammar, Ture Rangström, and Karin Rehnqvist. Bergman was born and died in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where he spent his entire working life as a postal official, retiring in 1933. He started writing poetry whilst working for the Swedish postal service, his first poetry anthology, ''Marionettema'', was published in 1903. In addition to his postal duties, Bergman also worked as a literary critic for ''Ord och Bild'' from 1900 until 1904. He worked for the major newspaper, ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'', and he also served as a theatre critic from 1905 until 1939. Bergman was a close friend of the pre-eminent Swedish novelist of his day, Hjalmar Söderberg, with whom he maintained an extensive correspondence extending from 1891 until Söderberg's death in 1941. Like Söderberg, Bergman's writing was heavily influenced by the

decadent movement The Decadent movement (from the French language, French ''décadence'', ) was a late 19th-century Art movement, artistic and literary movement, literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artif ...

, in particular the

flâneur () is a type of urban male "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", or "loafer". This French term was popularized in the 19th century and has some nuanced additional meanings (including as a loanword into various languages, including English). ...

writings of

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

. Bergman's early poetry is typically decadent and disillusioned, being informed by a

determinist Determinism is the metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping mot ...

view of a changing world in which all value systems and all scientific and metaphysical processes of understanding the universe are meaningless. ''Marionetterna'', which translates as ''The Marionettes'', supposes that the destinies of men are in the hands of a bearded old man in control of their every move. Like Söderberg, Bergman's worldview gave way to a militant brand of humanism in his later works, a reaction against the growing threat of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. Bergman is buried at the

Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Burial Place" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables. Th ...

Bibliography

Source:

Anthologies

* 1903 - ''Marionetterna'' (The Marionettes) * 1908 - ''En människa'' (One Man) * 1917 - ''Elden'' (The Fire) * 1922 - ''Livets ögon'' (The Eyes of Life) * 1939 - ''Gamla gudar'' (Old Gods) * 1944 - ''Riket'' (The Country) * 1952 - ''Stunder'' (Moments) * 1969 - ''Äventyret'' (The Adventure)

Novels

* 1904 - ''Drömmen och andra noveller'' (The Dream, and Other Stories) * 1915 - ''Skeppet'' (The Ship)

Play

* 1963 - ''Det eviga spelet'' (The Eternal Game)

Autobiography

* 1964 - ''Trasmattan'' (The Rag Carpet)

Letters

* 1969 - ''Kära Hjalle – Kära Bo (Brevväxling med Hjalmar Söderberg)'' (Dear Hjalle, Dear Bo. Correspondence with Hjalmar Söderberg)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Bo 1869 births 1967 deaths Swedish poets Swedish male writers Swedish-language poets Members of the Swedish Academy Postmasters Swedish autobiographers Swedish male poets Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen Poets from Stockholm