Knut Emil Ahnlund (24 May 1923 – 28 November 2012) was a Swedish literary historian, writer, 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 ...

, the body that chooses the laureates for the annual

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

. Ahnlund, who was born 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 ...

, was an expert on 19th- and 20th-century Nordic, especially Danish, literature. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Henrik Pontoppidan, and later wrote on Gustav Wied and Sven Lidman, among others. He was also a novelist and published translations of various writers such as Julio Cortázar. He received his doctorate from

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

, and was a professor of Nordic Literary History at the University of Aarhus. He was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1983. Due to conflicts with the former permanent secretary of the Academy, Sture Allén, and his successor, Horace Engdahl, Ahnlund had only participated minimally in the work of the Academy from 1996 until his death in 2012. On 11 October 2005, just a few days before the announcement of the 2005 Nobel laureate for literature, he declared in a piece in ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' that he would leave the Academy in protest against the choice of recipient of the prize the previous year,

Elfriede Jelinek Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices ...

; he characterized Jelinek's work as chaotic and

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

. As a membership in the Academy is for life, Ahnlund was not able to formally leave the Academy during his lifetime, but did not participate in its work from 1996, and his chair was left empty until his death in November 2012.

Bibliography

*''Henrik Pontoppidan : fem huvudlinjer i författarskapet'' (1956) *''Vännerna : en berättelse från hem och skola'' (1963) *''Den unge Gustav Wied'' (1964) *''

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...

: hans språk och hans värld'' (1978) *''Jordens skönhet : singalesiska minnen och myter'' (1979) *''Diktarliv i Norden : litterära essäer'' (1981) *''Karl Ragnar Gierow : inträdestal i Svenska akademien'' (1983) *''La Real Academia Española'' (1985) *''

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

: hans liv och diktning'' (1990) *''Sven Lidman : ett livsdrama'' (1996) *''Spansk öppning : essäer om Spaniens och Latinamerikas litteratur'' (2003)

References

1923 births 2012 deaths Writers from Stockholm Swedish literary scholars Swedish male writers Members of the Swedish Academy Litteris et Artibus recipients {{Sweden-historian-stub