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Stina Aronson (1892–1956) is a celebrated Swedish modernist who published twenty-five works during the first part of the 20th century. Her writings are considered to be progressive and ethical due to extensive feminist and eco-critical research. Aronson’s novel Hitom himlen(This Side of Heaven, 1946) captures the life in upper Northern Sweden, in the Torne Valley, during the beginning of 20th century. In this thesis, I examine the narrative by placing it in relation to the racial hierarchies permeating society during the initial decades of the 20th century. The Finnish-speaking minority living in the Torne Valley came to be considered racially different from the national majority, due to national and international race science – today understood as scientific racism– and anthropology. My analysis shows how the characters are racialized using such ideas as the Mongolian theory and the cephalic index. It is further made evident that the novel captures a perception claiming the so-called ‘Finns’ were of an inferior race. And further, the belief that a mixture of Swedish, Finnish and Sami blood had weakened the group genetically. The mixture of races was defined as a serious threat to the Swedish population, who was regarded as the whitest and purest population on earth. Aronson captures this belief of a future extinction by depicting the death and illness of the youngest generation in the novel. Furthermore, the main character, Emma Niskanpää, believes that she meets God during the church service at the yearly holiday Marie bebådelsedag. I argue though, that the man she encounters is a fictitious Herman Lundborg (1868–1943), the most prominent of the Swedish race biologists, who, in reality, repeatedly performed skull measurement during this celebration. Directly following on this encounter, the ”deaf-and-dumb” daughter of the family Renström is buried along with several others and Emma Niskanpää’s son falls ill with tuberculosis. In this way, the novel captures the racial surveys carried out on minority groups– surveys which are today considered a national trauma. In This Side of Heaven, Stina Aronson turns into literature a specific form of racism and a forgotten part of Swedish history as a pioneering country in the formulation of race hierarchies.

This essay examines the body in Stina Aronsons Den fjärde vägen, and is based on theories from Sara Ahmed who writes about how the body is orientated toward and away from objects and others. The essay also intend to examine the way the character inhabit the room from a bodily experience and how this affect the way they feel and act against each other and themselves. My method is close reading, in which I approach parts of the book that refers to the body from different angles. In that way I read the book from a gender oriented perspective as well as a social perspective— in which the characters are related to different norms that causes expectations of how they should act in a certain kind of way.

The Swedish writers Artur Lundkvist (1906-1991) and Stina Aronson (1892-1956) spent one week together in Paris in June 1930. This article discusses the way Paris is described in Aronson's novel The Fever Book. In the novel, a modernistic play on words and identities, the protagonist Mimmi Palm tells the story of her relationship with Hugo and her stay in Paris.

The Swedish writers Artur Lundkvist (1906-1991) and Stina Aronson (1892-1956) spent one week together in Paris in June 1930. This article discusses the way Paris is described in Aronson's novel The Fever Book. In the novel, a modernistic play on words and identities, the protagonist Mimmi Palm tells the story of her relationship with Hugo and her stay in Paris.

The Swedish writers Artur Lundkvist (1906-1991) and Stina Aronson (1892-1956) spent one week together in Paris in June 1930. This article discusses the way Paris is described in Aronson's novel The Fever Book. In the novel, a modernistic play on words and identities, the protagonist Mimmi Palm tells the story of her relationship with Hugo and her stay in Paris.

Ett gemensamt drag i den tidigare forskningen om Stina Aronsons modernism har varit att betona Artur Lundkvists betydelse. Den här uppsatsen undersöker en roman som utkom före det att Aronson hade någon kontakt med Lundkvist, Två herrar blev nöjda från 1928, i syfte att nyansera nämnda historieskrivning. Romanen undersöks utifrån en modernistisk diskurs baserad på tre representativa översiktsverk för perioden. Dessutom anläggs Judith Butlers performativitetsteori i ett försök att åskådliggöra hur Aronson i romanen skenbart anpassar sig till en traditionellt kvinnlig författarroll. Resultatet visar att Två herrar blev nöjda tar avstånd från realismen och istället präglas av modernismens estetik och radikalt nya världsåskådning. I såväl form som innehåll märks ett tydligt intresse för det omedvetna, för det irrationella, för slumpen och för det splittrade jaget. Vidare kännetecknas romanen av formell introspektion, det vill säga en upptagenhet vid den egna litterära skapelsen.

Sammendrag Denne masteroppgaven tar for seg fire av de åtte novellene som utgjør Stina Aronsons kritikerroste novellesamling Sång till Polstjärnan (1948). Min inngang til disse tekstene er det kroppslige nærværet som jeg mener utmerker det litterære uttrykket. Aronsons produksjon kom, raskt etter hennes død i 1956, til å havne i den svenske litterære kanonens utkant. De siste tiårene har hennes forfatterskap imidlertid vært gjenstand for en fornyet interesse. Denne gryende forskingstradisjonen har først og fremst fokusert på det sene gjennombruddsverket Hitom Himlen (1946), samt på tekster fra den tidligere, eksperimenterende fasen av forfatterskapet. At Aronsons seneste prosa i liten grad er blitt viet oppmerksomhet synes paradoksalt med tanke på resepsjonens oppvurdering av denne delen av forfatterskapet i forhold til tidligere utgivelser. Mitt bidrag til forskningstradisjonen består dermed dels i å løfte frem noen tekster som i liten grad er blitt viet oppmerksomhet, samt i å undersøke de kvaliteter som Aronsons senere prosa ble kjent for. Med utgangspunkt i filosofen Maurice Merleau-Pontys kroppsorienterte ontologi viser jeg hvordan tekstene tematiserer den mellommenneskelige eksistensens vilkår og muligheter. Denne utforskingen er forankret i en væren som er grunnleggende kroppslig, situasjonell og uttrykkende. Det inkarnerte nærværet problematiserer våre tradisjonelle måter å organisere verden på. Gjennom språket, fortellerhandlingen og gestaltingen av de litterære personene undersøker jeg den grenseoverskridende tendensen som tekstene oppviser, der skillene mellom subjekt- og objektposisjoner, så vel som grensene i tid og rom prøves ut. Jeg mener at den egenart som Aronsons senere verker ble hyllet for både i sin samtid og senere, i stor grad kan knyttes til denne kroppsbevisstheten. Et hovedmål for oppgaven er således å fremholde kroppens avgjørende rolle i tekstenes unikt meningsskapende uttrykk. Abstract This master's thesis examines four of the eight short stories that form Stina Aronson's critically acclaimed collection Sång till Polstjärnan (1948) (Song to the Pole star). My approach to these texts is by focusing on the corporal presence, which I argue defines the literary expression. While Aronson did receive wide critical acclaim for her breakthrough novel Hitom himlen (1956) (This side of Heaven), her body of work has been marginalised in regard to the Swedish literary canon. It is only recently that scholars have found renewed interest in her literary production, but the research has primarily been focused on Hitom himlen and Aronson's early experimental face. Even though her later works have been seen as some of her best, this has not been reflected in research. My contribution to the research tradition is therefore partly to acknowledge some lesser-known texts as well as examining those qualities that distinguishes Aronsons later prose. Taking the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty's study of perception as my point of departure, I aim to show how these four short stories displays the terms and potential of human coexistence. This investigation is grounded in an existence that is fundamentally corporal, situational and expressive - an incarnated presence that challenges our traditional ways of organizing our world. By examining the transcendent elements of the texts through their language, narration and characters, the distinctions between subject and object positions as well as the boundaries of time and space are explored. My argument is that the distinctive qualities of Aronson's later works are closely connected to this bodily consciousness, and the primary goal of the thesis is thus to demonstrate the essential role it plays as part of the texts' unique literary expression. Master i Nordisk språk og litteratur MAHF-NORD NOLISP350

I uppsatsen undersöker jag hur huvudkaraktären Mimmi, under vägen att etablera sig som författare och i mötet med Hugo, söker nå balans mellan intellekt och kropp. Utifrån Julia Kristevas teori om abjektionen utforskar jag på vilka sätt Mimmi förhåller sig ambivalent till viljan att vara å ena sidan innesluten, å andra sidan avgränsad, och hur i sin tur synen på kroppen, dess samverkan med själen samt synen på andra kroppar präglas av begär och äckel. Som metodisk språngbräda använder jag paradoxen utifrån Kristina Fjelkestams definition. Med hjälp av den jag fokuserar på motsättningar och dubbeltydigheter hos karaktären och i texten utifrån frågeställningen: hur ser spelet ut mellan Mimmis förhållande till kroppen (Kvinnan) respektive själen (Konstnären), och är det möjligt för henne att förena kropp och själ i något som skulle kunna bli en fullbordad Människa?

Validerat; 20120330 (anonymous)

Syskonbädd, or “Sibling’s bed” in English, is a short story or drama, written by Swedish author Stina Aronson and originally published in 1931 under the pen name Sara Sand. While the story did not attract wide attention for many years, it has recently been republished and performed on stage, as well as aired on the radio. The plot is centered on Harriet, a woman who starts to see the world with different eyes, in a less strict and organized way. Her new view is welcomed neither by her husband nor society, and the book starts with Harriet’s escape from a “rest home”, where she has been placed by her husband in order for her to return to her old self. During the escape, Harriet meets several people, some like herself who believe that the world was meant to be different, and some who strive to maintain the social structure. Swedish literature scholar Eva Adolfsson argues that Aronson’s later works take place in a landscape on the border of the wild, and that both the characters and the story move through such a landscape. I believe that this is also the case for Syskonbädd, one of Aronson’s earlier writings. My essay focuses on the momentum in the book, its double nature, the zone of uncertainty that it creates and the possibilities that it presents. Based on this, my thesis is that the idea of a “sibling’s bed” solidarity is a formula that drives the book; it is the engine for all movements. With a starting point in philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari’s theories about literature, philosophy and art, I follow and analyze these different movements; the lines of flight that dissolve and create chaos, as well as the plane of consistency that holds the work together and on which the chaos is visualized. These structural movements constitute my starting point for an analysis also on a hermeneutical level. Harriet escapes from society and from the norms that it enforces. At the same time, she seeks a new kind of community; a connection beyond knowledge that will allow new sensations. In this aspect, the outer movement of escape leads to another kind of motion, a static one, which may take place between people when they meet under such circumstances.

Denna uppsats behandlar Stina Aronsons Feberboken - stoffet till en roman (1931) i syftet att ifrågasätta verkets status som självbiografiskt dokument. Uppsatsen innehåller en komparativ analys av karaktären Hugos brevutdrag i Feberboken och de autentiska brev från Artur Lundkvist som står som förlaga till den fiktiva brevkorrespondensen. Analysen resulterar i att tidigare forsknings jämställande av Hugo och den verklige personen Artur Lundkvist framstår felaktig, och slutdiskussionen rymmer en dialog med representanter för den vedertagna läsningen av verket.

Who tells the true story of the world? The western civilisation is highly influenced by the written word. The writings of ancient philosophers, poets and religious authorities still have a strong cultural impact. Myths and religion as well as philosophical and political systems effects our self-concept. These models are all unified by there ambition to explain mankind and tell the story of reality. This essay examines two published diaries in order to discuss their relation to the common story of the world. The objects of the study are Feberboken, by Stina Aronson (written in 1934) and Allt, by Martina Lowden (written in 2006). The diary is a place for the personal story, it gives the writer an opportunity to confront the surrounding world. The conventional conception of reality can be questioned. I will use Pierre Bourdieus theory about the biographic I to discuss the Self in the texts. Two definitions of mimesis will be treated. The traditional meaning of the term, given by Plato, and the postmodern point of view, represented by Gilles Deleuze. I aim to investigate how Feberboken and Allt are confronting the generic image of reality.

Den befriade sången. Stina Aronsons berättarkonst Liberated song. Stina Aronson’s narrative art Abstract This thesis discusses the narrative art of the Swedish author Stina Aronson (1892-1956) with special emphasis on Hitom himlen (“This Side of Heaven”) from 1946. This work forms the subject of the first part, with formal aspects like narrator construction, composition and genre as the starting-point. These aspects, and the originality with which they are treated by Aronson, are put in relation to modernist æstheticism. In the next step the modernist approach is linked to a discussion of modernity. The basis of this thematic analysis consists of entities like language, time, faith and individuality, all of which play an important part in Aronson’s writing. The thematization of individual freedom versus determinism makes the work a counterpart to existentialism, the current philosophy of the time. What becomes especially apparent is a striking ambivalence towards modernity, but also towards a more traditional, almost pre-modern, attitude to life prevailing in the severe Læstadianist village community described. This interpretation deviates from the idea of pure civilization criticism and of the near idealization of the world described, which has dominated earlier analyses of the Aronson’s work. Gender issues, too, play an important part in the thesis, especially in the section analyzing the main characters and the attitudes they represent. The two central characters of the text are women and they are fundamentally different. The criticism of the village community and the destructive effects on the individual of the austere faith is most evident in the portrait of Mira, one of the women. She emerges as a more modern character than the others, driven by an urge to break free and make her own destiny, a project which, however, fails completely. There are several reasons for this, but the decisive factor is that as a woman she is more strictly bound by conventions and norms in the surrounding environment and interpretative community. Part II discusses the author’s other works published in book form. The textual forms and their possible relation to modernism are discussed to some extent, but above all the same issues concerning modernity and gender are tested as outlined in the first part. Ambivalence vis-à-vis the modern is also noticeable in the early works, albeit in a less sophisticated way. The problematization of gender roles is a marginal but essential element in these works, most evident in those produced around 1930 and gradually becoming more and more complex. What is striking is the recurrent existence of gender-transcending characters. Aronson’s characters are depicted over and over again as untypical of their sex, which altogether conveys the image of a world where there is something fundamentally wrong with expectations. In the collected works of Aronson these themes remained constant throughout the great variation in genre, form and contents ever since the début in 1921 to her last work in 1952: opposition against all forms of normalizing categories prescribing how people should believe, communicate, experience time and function as man or woman.