JERSILD, PER CHRISTIAN

(1935-)

A Swedish novelist and essayist, Jersild has produced work withcriticaland popular appeal. Trained in medicine, which he practiced full-time for much of his career as a writer, he has observed hospitals, medical research organizations, and other hierarchies with a keen eye and sharp wit. After publishing a collection of short stories and two novels, one of which,Till varmare laänder(1961; To Warmer Lands), takes place partly in hell, Jersild had his literary breakthrough withCalvinols resa genom varlden(1965; Calvinol's Voyage throughout the World), a doctor's fantastic journey through time and space. His first big success, however, was the novelGrisjakten(1968; The Pig Hunt), which tells about the eradication of swine on the Swedish island of Gotland. Jersild shows that the bureaucratic efficiency with which the book's narrator-protagonist goes about his task is related to such historical phenomena as the Holocaust and other instances of genocide. The technocratic mind-set is further explored inVi ses i Song My(1970; See You in Song My), in which Swedish soldiers are being trained to act in ways contrary to reason.

The novelDjurdoktorn(1973; tr.The Animal Doctor, 1975) tells about a woman veterinarian who, in a dystopian future, looks after the health of research animals that are being unnecessarily experimented on. InBarnens o(1976; tr.Children's Island, 1986) a 10-year-old boy deceives his mother by pretending to be away at summer camp, while instead staying home, reflecting on the big questions oflife.Babels hus(1978; tr.House ofBabel, 1987) has a large hospital as its setting, and Jersild portrays both its stratified society and the lack of communication that mark the relationships between such groups as doctors, nurses, and patients.

The main character inEn levande sjal(1980; tr.A Living Soul, 1988) is, quite literally, a brain in a vat, kept alive by laboratory scientists and experimented on by them for financial gain. Jersild has taken a philosophical concept—the brain in a vat is a popular contemporary version of Rene Descartes's famous "evil deceiver" argument—and uses it to probe the limits of what it means to be human.

Jersild's dystopian vision is also present in the novelEfter floden(1982; tr.After the Flood, 1986), in which a small group of survivors of a nuclearwarfind their humanity gradually slipping away. As they struggle for survival, often by brutal means, they are destroyed by a virus. Dan Brown's blockbuster novelThe Da Vinci Code(2003) is anticipated by Jersild's fantasy novelDen femtionde fralsaren(1984; The Fiftieth Savior), in which a direct descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene shows up in Venice in the 1790s. Captured and tortured by officials of the Roman Catholic Church, he escapes briefly and impregnates a marchioness, whose child then becomes the 51st generation descendant of Christ.

Drawing on one of the great classics of Swedish literature,SelmaLagerlof'sNils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige(1906; tr.The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, 1907), Jersild created a sequel to the story of the boy Nils in his novelHolgerssons(1991).En lysande marknad(1992; A Splendid Market), on the other hand, is a detective story that is strongly critical of Swedish society. A major theme ofEn gammal karlek(1995; An Old Love) is the question of when euthanasia is morally defensible.Ljusets drottning(2000; The Queen of Light), tells about a young man who discovers that his adopted mother is really his biological mother, and that his biological father is a famous, but anonymous, sperm donor. The story is a major satire on life in Sweden during the final decades of the 20th century. Set in medieval Stockholm,De ondas kloster(2003; The Monastery of the Evil Ones) investigates the potential for evil found within religion.

Two collections of Jersild's essays areHumpty Dumptys fall: Livsaskadningsbok(1990; The Fall of Humpty Dumpty: An Outlook on Life) andDarwins ofullbordade: Om manniskans biologiska natur(1997; Darwin Unfinished: On Humanity's Biological Nature); the latter presents Jersild's philosophy of mind. He has also written a memoir of his youth,Fem hjarten i en tandsticksask(1989; Five Hearts in a Matchbox).