LUNDKVIST, ARTUR

(1906-1991)

A Swedish poet, essayist, and novelist, Lundkvist was the most prolific Swedish man of letters of his generation, with well over 80 books to his credit. He also wrote scores of essays and articles. The sheer volume of his literary production may thus seem forbidding, but his work is structured by a major principle: his desire to investigate and describe the interplay between such opposed forces asnatureand culture, reason and the subconscious, and reality and the imagination.

Although born into a rural family with little literary culture, Lundkvist was determined to become a writer and started producing journalism at the age of 16. Later he associated with a group of young men of similar background, the so-called Fem unga (Five Young Men), who were inspired by works of highmodernismand rebelled against the traditionalism of contemporary Swedish poetry. Lundk-vist's first poetry collections,Glod(1928; Ember),Naket liv(1929; Naked Life), andSvart stad(1930; Black City), contain poems written in free verse and the same positive view of technology that is to be found also in the works ofthe Danish modernistJohannes V.Jensen, such as Jensen's poem "Paa Memphis Station" (At the Memphis Train Station).

Lundkvist s admiration of modern technology did not last long, however. The poetry collectionsVit man(1932; White Man),Nattens broar(1936; Bridges of the Night),Sirensang(1937; Siren Song), andEldtema(1939; Fire Theme) chronicle his interest in surrealism. Surrealism is also an important theme in a collection of essays entitledIkarus'flykt1939; The Flight of Icarus).During these same years Lundkvist traveled in Africa, which resulted in the travelogueNegerkust(1933; Negro Coast). He later traveled extensively in Asia and the Soviet Union, and these travels resulted in the booksIndiabrand(1950; India Fire) andVallmor fran Taschkent: En resa i Sovjet-Unionen(1952; Poppies from Tashkent: A Journey in the Soviet Union).

The experience of WorldWarII made Lundkvist increasingly conscious of the significance of politics. Trying to steer a middle course between the ideologies of the two superpowers, he understood that both Western-style capitalism andMarxist-Leninism had their limitations. Such poetry collections asSpegel foir dag och natt(1953; A Mirror for Day and Night) andVindrosor(1955; Wind Roses) express his sympathies with those who want to throw off oppression and exploitation. His novelDarunga(1954) describes a revolution in a Latin American country and points toward Castro s takeover in Cuba.

In keeping with his interest in mediating between opposites, Lundkvist experimented extensively with bringing prose and poetry together into the prose poem or poetic prose. Most of his work in the late 1950s and the 1960s was in this vein. Representative titles areBerget och svalorna(1957; The Mountain and the Swallows),Det talande tradet(1960; tr.The Talking Tree, 1982), andSida vid sida(1962; Side by Side). The long poemAgadir(1961; tr. 1980) tells about his impressions of a destructive earthquake in Morocco.

Lundkvist also wrote several historical novels that depict moments in history when cultures meet and are transformed. Their disparate settings include Skane in Sweden and ancient Babylonia. In the 1970s he further experimented with the mixing ofsuch genres as essays, poems, and biography. Some titles from this period areLustgardens demoni(1973; The Demonism of Paradise),Fantasins slott och vardagens stenar(1974; The Castles ofthe Imagination and the Stones of Every Day), andFlykten och oiverlevandet(1977; Flight and Survival).Färdas i drommen och forestallningen(1984; tr.Journeys in Dream and Imagination, 1991) contains prose poems that tell about his dreams while in a coma subsequent to a stroke.