FROSTENSON, KATARINA

(1953-)

A Swedish poet and dramatist, Frostenson writes poetry that avoids both any kind of story line and the use of metaphor. Instead, she juxtaposes the beautiful and the grotesque and emphasizes sound and rhythm. Thecriticalconsensus is that her poetry is very difficult. Frostenson knows Western literature well and has a degree in comparative literature, film, and drama. Frostenson had her debut with the poetry collectionI mellan(1978; In Between), which refers to the significance of the gap between the two terms in a binary opposition. It was followed byRena land(1980; Pure Lands),Den andra(1982; The Other), andI det gula(1985; In the Yellow).The male/female opposition is significant in the poetry collectionsSamtalet(1987; The Conversation) andStrandarna(1989; The Shores). Later poetry collections includeJoner: Tre sviter(1991; Ions: Three Suites),Tankarna(1994; The Thoughts), andKorallen(1999; The Coral).

In collaboration with her husband, Jean-Claude Arnault, a French photographer, Frostenson has published three books, (Överblivet(1989; Left Over),Vägen till oarna(1996; The Way to the Islands), andEndura(2002). They have also collaborated on other projects. Arnaud opened a gallery and multimedia stage in Stockholm in 1989, and Frostenson wrote her first play, the one-actSebastopol(1989), for this stage. She more or less invented a type of compact monologue that she termed "monodrama" and later published a volume containing four of them,4 monodramer(1990; Four Monodramas), with which she had a great deal of success. Later dramas includeTraum(1996; Dream) andSal P(1996; Ward P); the latter explores the methods used by Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) in the treatment ofwomensuffering from hysteria at his hospital in Paris. She also wrote the libretto for the operaStaden(The City), which opened in Stockholm in 1998. Two further plays areKristallvagen(2000; The Crystal Road) andSafirgrand(2000; Sapphire Lane).

See alsoTheater.