''The Emigrants'' is the collective name of a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg: *'' The Emigrants'' (Swedish: ''Utvandrarna''), 1949 *'' Unto a Good Land'' (title in Swedish: ''Invandrarna'' 'The Immigrants'), 1952 *''

The Settlers ''The Settlers'' () is a City-building game, city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich in 1993. The The Settlers (1993 video game), original game was released on the Amiga, with subsequent games released p ...

'' (Swedish: ''Nybyggarna''), 1956 *'' The Last Letter Home'' (title in Swedish: ''Sista brevet till Sverige'' 'The Last Letter to Sweden'), 1959 Written in the mid-20th century, they explore the large

Swedish emigration to the United States During the 19th and early 20th centuries, about 1.3 million Swedes left Sweden for the United States of America. While the land of the American frontier was a magnet for the rural poor all over Europe, some factors encouraged Swedish emigrati ...

that started about a century earlier. Many of the first immigrants settled in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, including the

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

: All of the books have been translated into English, in addition to numerous other languages. The novels are generally considered to be among the best works of Swedish literature.

Plot

The first novel describes conditions in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

that caused people to become emigrants and make the long and strenuous journey. A party of assorted people living in the province of

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

, Sweden, is explored as they decide to emigrate to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1850. (Later novels deal with their journey and settling in the

.) They are among the first significant wave of

. The novel focuses primarily on Karl Oskar Nilsson and his wife, Kristina Johansdotter, a young married couple who live with their four small children (Anna, Johan, Lill-Märta, and Harald) and Karl Oskar's parents and his rebellious younger brother Robert. The family lives on a small farm at Korpamoen, where the soil is thin and rocky and so growing crops extremely difficult. Robert works for a neighbouring farm family, which mistreats him. He and with his friend Arvid first come across accounts of going to America. When he talks with Karl Oskar about the idea, his brother says that he too is intrigued by pamphlets that state that farmers' conditions in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

are much better. Also, they will be able to homestead to acquire land. Kristina, however, adamantly opposes emigrating since she does not want to leave her homeland or to risk the lives of her children during the journey. In the winter of 1849, the family has very little food. To celebrate the christening of their youngest child, Harald, Kristina prepares a large bowl of barley porridge and puts it into the basement to cool. Although she is told to wait, their eldest child, four-year-old Anna, helps herself to so much porridge that she becomes ill. Her parents send for Beata, a healing woman, but she says that Anna's stomach has burst and that she cannot be saved. After Anna dies, Kristina agrees to leave with her husband for America. As they prepare to emigrate, the young Nilssons are joined by Kristina's uncle and aunt, Danjel and Inga-Lena Andreasson, and their four children. Danjel is the pastor of a local

conventicle A conventicle originally meant "an assembly" and was frequently used by ancient writers to mean "a church." At a semantic level, ''conventicle'' is a Latinized synonym of the Greek word for ''church'', and references Jesus' promise in Matthew 18: ...

of the Radical Pietistic Åkianer sect. He has suffered severe persecution by the established state-controlled

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

. Andreasson seeks

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

in the United States. His family is joined by Ulrika of Västergöhl, a former

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

and member of the conventicle who wants to start a new life with her

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

teenage daughter, Elin. Andreasson is paying for the passage of Ulrika and Elin and for Robert's friend Arvid, who worked for him as a

farmhand A farmworker, farmhand or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including har ...

. The last member of the party is Jonas Petter, a friend of Karl Oskar, who is fleeing an unhappy marriage. The party sets off by wagon for the Swedish port city of Karlshamn, on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, where they board the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

''Charlotta'', bound for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Recognition

By 2013, the four novels in total had sold nearly two million copies in Sweden and been translated into more than 20 languages.

Honours

*In a 1997 poll by ''Biblioteket i fokus'' ("''Library in focus''"), the series was ranked as the best Swedish book of the 20th century by 27,000 people. *In a 1998 poll by

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

, the series was ranked as the most important Swedish book of all time by 17,000 people.

Adaptations

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the series was adapted for other forms of representation: three films, and television series, and musical theatre. Two Swedish movies based on the books, directed by

Jan Troell Jan Gustaf Troell (born 23 July 1931) is a Swedish writer-director and cinematographer. His realistic films, with a lyrical photography in which nature is prominent, have placed him in the first rank of modern Swedish film directors along with I ...

and starring

Max Von Sydow Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

and

Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and filmmaker. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, whom she date ...

as Karl Oskar and Kristina, were released in the 1970s: *'' The Emigrants'' (1971) was based on the first two novels. *'' The New Land'' (1972) was a sequel based on the last two novels. The American television series '' The New Land'' (1974) starred Scott Thomas, Bonnie Bedelia, and

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...

, and was broadcast by ABC. The series was loosely based on the 1971 and 1972 film adaptations. 13 episodes were produced, but only 6 aired. The Swedish

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

'' Kristina från Duvemåla'' (1995) was based on the novels. It was created by former

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

members

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

and

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...

. It was successful in Sweden and abroad. Another Swedish film adaptation, titled simply ''The Emigrants'' (2021), starred Gustaf Skarsgård, Lisa Carlehed and

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take on pop music. Referring to her autobiographical lyrics, ''Out (magazine), O ...

. Its screenplay was written by Siv Rajendram Eliassen and Anna Bache-Wiig, and the film was directed by Erik Poppe. It was released on digital platforms in August 2023.

References

External links

* ''(archived 7 March 2020)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Emigrants, The Novels by Vilhelm Moberg Historical novels Swedish-American culture in Minnesota Novel series Novels set in Minnesota Swedish-language novels Novels about immigration to the United States Works about Swedish-American culture Book series introduced in 1949 Taylors Falls, Minnesota Novels set in Kronoberg County