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Hagar Olsson (1893-1978) | |
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Finland-Swedish writer, journalist, critic, friend of the poet Edith Södergran. Olsson wrote in both languages. She was among the first playwrights, who introduced the Expressionistic drama to Finnish public. Olsson's theatre works were also visually pioneering. The set design for her drama S.O.S (1928) was planned by the famous architect Alvar Aalto. In the 1920s and 1930s, Olsson was one of the few major writers in Finland, who was more interested in such themes than pacifism, Pan-Europaneanism, and collectivism, than national, social, or historical issues. min själ (my soul Hagar Olsson was born in Gustafs (Kustavi), the daughter of a Protestant minister. She spent her early childhood in Åland and Åbo, but in 1906 the family moved to Karelia, the eastern Finland. After finishing her schooling in Viborg, Olsson studied in Helsinki at the Swedish School of Economics from 1913 to 1914, and at the University of Helsinki. Olsson contributed literature critics to the newspaper Dagens Press, later transformed into Svenska Pressen. In the 1920s she was a staff member of the short-lived culture magazine Ultra with Elmer Diktonius. A cosmopolitian, Olsson was interested in new ideas, and she introduced contemporary literature to Finland. A collection of her essays appeared under the title NY GENERATION (1925). Like the members of the literary movement Tulenkantajat, she reacted against the cynicism of the day, and was enthusiastic about the new youth in Russia, Germany, and Italy. Olsson's first novel, LARS THOMAN OCH DÖDEN, appeared in 1916 – in the same year as Edith Södergran's collection of poems Dikter. The novel was about a young man, who is haunted by fear of death and gains new strength from a forest god named Samr. Death theme appeared in the subsequent novels as well elements from fairy tales and mysticism. KVINNAN OCH NÅDEN (1919), written under the influence of Per Lagerkvist, embraced the belief that life continues after death. Among Olsson's major novels are MR JEREMIAS SÖKER EN ILLUSION (1927), in which the protagonist dies in a traffic accident and finds the real adventure and a new world in death. CHITAMBO (1933) reflected the conflict between individualism and collectivism. This autobiographical work, set in Helsinki before and after the Civil War (1917-18), was named after the village in Africa where the famous explorer David Livingstone died. Vega Maria, the protagonist, is named after A.E. Nordenskiöld's ship. After devoting herself to women's rights movement, and a personal crisis, Vega Maria decides to become a great individual like David Livingstone, and follow his example, but in her own country. "Om jag inte var kallad att öppna vägen till det inre av Afrika, så finns det svarta världsdelar nog för mig i mitt eget land, nöd, mörker och natt, slavjakt och brödarkrig. Det stora och enastående som han verkligen vunnit med sitt liv, det var döden i Chitambo!" Vega Maria's father, Mr. Dyster, is a visionary, who is not able to realize his ideas. Her mother tries to find safety in her life through self-denial and conformity. Olsson's play's were heavily experimental and showed her familiarity with the work of Pirandello and the German expressionist Georg Kaiser. S.O.S. (1928) dealt with the guilt of a manufacturer of poison gas, and his transformation into a pacifist through the love of a self-scarifying woman. In the play DET BLÅA UNDRET (1932) a sister and brother represent, respectively, communism and fascism, but at the end they learn to understand each other. DET BLÅSER UPP TIL STORM (1930) was a love story of a working class girl and a middle-class young boy, who propagate new ideas, but eventually the parents of the boy destroy their life. The short story KINESISK UTFLYK (1949), a fantasy about the events of her own life, was dedicated to Olsson's friend Ella Frelander. The dream fantasy, an imitation of a Chinese legend, was built around scenes from the author's life. Olsson's romantic novel, TRÖSNIDAREN OCH DÖDEN (1940), tells the story of a woodcarver, Abel Myyriäinen, who is drawn to mysterious Karelia, the source of his art. He meets a man and his sick daughter Sanni on their way to a monastery. She wants to see Saint Mary before she dies. After her death under a miracle-working icon, Abel follows Sanni's father to her home village and finds again his true calling as an artist. Olsson edited a collection of Edith Södergran's letters, which appeared in 1955. She translated into Swedish works from such Finnish authors as L. Onerva, Johannes Linnankoski, Juhani Aho, Maila Talvio and F.E. Sillanpää. In 1969 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Helsinki. Olsson's memoirs, MÖTE MED KÄRA GESTALTER, was published in 1963. It returned partly to the events of Kinesisk utflykt. In the 1960s she published three collections of short stories, in which she dealt with religious themes. In the title story of HEMKOMST (1961) she examined the daughter-father relationship, which was a recurrent subject in her work. Olsson died in Helsinki on February 21, 1978. She never married. From 1917 to 1920 she was engaged to the poet R.R. Eklund (1895-1946). Olsson's forbidden play LUMISOTA, which she wrote under the shadow of the Winter War (1939-40) and which criticized nationalism and the martial spirit, was not professionally performed until 1982. For further reading: 'Den unga Hagar Olsson' by Olof Enckell, in Skrifter utgivna av Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland (1949); A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Hagar Olssonoch den nya teatern by Lena Fridell (1976); A History of Scandinavian Literature, 1870-1980 by Sven H. Rossel (1982); Karakteristik och värdering by Roger Holmström (1988); 'Avantgardet i öster' by Clas Zilliacus in Den Svenska Litteraturen, vol. 5 (1989); A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Suomen kirjallisuushistoria, vol. 2, ed. by Lea Rojola (1999); Finlands svenska litteraturhistoria. Andra delen: 1900-talet, ed. by Clas Zilliacus (2000) - "There can be no doubt that a new cultural idea, which aims at unity and togetherness in human affairs, is beginning to emerge in the world." (Olsson in 1948) Selected works:
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