Essays on Scandinavian Literature

Written in the late 19th century by a scholar who actually knew many of the writers he discusses, these essays offer something rare: criticism composed while the giants of Scandinavian literature were still living and creating. Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, himself a Norwegian-American novelist and professor, turned his scholarly attention to the literary traditions of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, producing incisive portraits of figures like Henrik Ibsen and Björnstjerne Björnson. The collection grew from Boyesen's ambitious plan to write a comprehensive history of Scandinavian literature, a project that required extensive research and direct engagement with the works and cultural contexts that shaped these writers. What emerges is not mere academic survey but the perspective of an educated contemporary who witnessed the birth of works that would later transform global theater and fiction. The essays provide historical and cultural context alongside literary analysis, making this both a critical study and a valuable document of how Scandinavian literature first entered English-language consciousness. For readers interested in the origins of modern drama or the reception history of Ibsen and his contemporaries, Boyesen's collection serves as an essential primary source.