Ola Hansson
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Ola Hansson (born November 12, 1860, Hönsinge, Sweden; died September 26, 1925, Büyükdere, Turkey) was a Swedish poet, prose writer, and critic.
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[edit] Biography
Hansson published his first works, Dikter ("Poems") in 1884 and Notturno in 1885. In those he expressed a celebration of the natural beauty and folk culture of his native province Skåne, southern Sweden. The raffined poetry did not fit the Swedish realism of the 1880s-90s and gained little attention. Hansson followed up with the decadent Sensitiva Amorosa (1887), a collection of morbid, erotic sketches that shocked the Sweden of his day. The reaction from the public was harsh, and Hansson left his country for Germany in 1889. He would then continue to live abroad for the remainder of his life, in countries such as Switzerland and Turkey (where he also died).
[edit] Ideas and works
In the period following the notorious Sensitiva Amorosa (1887) he proclaimed himself an adherent of Nietzschean ideas, a view he made public with Ung Ofegs visor (1892). Here he voiced his contempt of the general crowd and belief in the Übermensch.
While in Germany, he wrote and published works in German, Danish and Norwegian, for example Fatalistische geschichten (German, 1890) which was published the same year in Danish as Skæbnenoveller. Other German language works during this period included Im Huldrebann (1895), Meervögel (1895), Der weg zum Leben (1896; also in Swedish, Vägen till lifvet, 1896), and Der Schutzengel (1896).
Later in the 1890s he came to loath Germany, and further grew a hatred of people into fanatical proportions, manifesting itself in anti-semitism among other things. For a short period he expressed an adherence of catholicism. These peculiarities further alienated him from contemporary Sweden. He did however gain some recognition in Germany thanks to his German wife Laura (1854–1928; pseudonym Laura Marholm), who spread Hansson's works to a larger audience.
[edit] Legacy
A productive writer, his writings are uneven. However, he is today considered a pioneer of Swedish poetry, who reshaped nature poetry. Already in the 1910s did Sweden reappraise him; in 1913 he was awarded the first scholarship in memory of Gustaf Fröding, elected by Swedish students.
[edit] References
- Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, p.513
- Tigerstedt, Svensk litteraturhistoria (Solna, 1971)
