APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090021-3
Three scientific academies also play an important role in the supervision of research. The oldest of these academies, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, runs various scientific institutions, publishes a number of journals, arranges for Swedish membership in many international scientific organizations, and is responsible for awarding the Nobel prizes in chemistry and physics, in addition to conducting research in mathematics and the natural sciences. The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the first of its kind in the world, supports various kinds of technical research. The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture coordinates research in agriculture and related industries.
I. Artistic and cultural expression
1. Literature
Swedish literature has generally presented a picture of a culture shaped to the European pattern—at times creative and original, at other times, merely reflecting current cultural forces. The oldest stone-carved and written literary references show Sweden to have been strongly influenced by Old Norse traditions. The sagas and ballads—common literary expression of the Scandinavian ethnical and mythical heritage—are an important part of Swedish literature. Certain unique folk song forms, such as the lyrical dance song, were Swedish contributions to the region's 12th and 13th century literature and may be regarded as the first original Swedish literature. Sweden, however, did not figure as prominently as Norway or Iceland in this early literary output, and it was not until the Reformation placed the stamp of approval on intellectual expression in local languages that Swedish literature began the steady development which has continued to the present day.
The Latin alphabet superseded runic characters throughout most of Sweden by the 14th century, and with the advent of the printing press in the 15th century, came into general use. Literary activity centered in religious writings, beginning in earnest with the vernacular translation of the Bible in 1541. During the 16th and 17th centuries the language took on new standards of clarity and precision. Georg Stiernhielm (1598-1672), hailed as the Father of Swedish poetry, proved through his poetry that the Swedish language could be used for intricate classic meters. He worked incessantly to purify the language, to revive and preserve old Swedish words and expressions, and to refine and standardize the grammar.
European consciousness in Sweden and Swedish willingness to accept foreign cultural influence increased sharply in the 17th century with the reigns of Gustavus II, Adolphus, and Christina. During the Swedish period of greatness numerous universities were founded, the Swedish Academy was organized, libraries and art collections were formed, theaters were opened, and all the forms of high cultural expression were fostered by the increasingly self-conscious and Europeanized aristocracy. Initially the chief cultural influences were Dutch and then German, but in the 18th century a thin French overlay was applied to the life at court and among the very small aristocratic elite. This only partially filtered down to the growing burgher class and did not overwhelm the intellectual circles; as a result, Sweden avoided the extremes of Francophilia which so inhibited indigenous currents in central and east European cultural expression during the essentially French led Enlightenment. Instead, the 18th century produced such local geniuses as the naturalist, Carl von Linne (1707-78), whose literary production was prodigious, and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), scientist and philosopher, who is today most noted for his work in theology, Anders Celsius (1701-44), the originator of the centigrade thermometer, was also a scientific writer of some note. The outstanding purely literary figure of the period was the poet Carl Mikael Bellman (1740-95), who drew much of his inspiration from everyday life in Stockholm.
Military defeat by Russia and political change at home, marked by the adoption of the Constitution of 1809, were reflected with some lag in literature. Romanticism came to the Swedes, as in other Europeans, as a reaction to the rationalism of the previous century, which, instead of bringing the promised progress of humanity, plunged the continent into a quarter century of warfare. Romanticism was also peculiarly suited to the rising tides of nationalism, set in motion by that warfare, which were to wash over Europe throughout the 19th and into the 20th century. Sweden disengaged from its flirtation with French culture and reoriented its focus to Germany. German influence was preeminent until the 1920's, and Swedish literature successively reflected German romanticism, idealism, and realism. The principal early 19th century exponent of romantic interest in Sweden's past was Erik Gustav Geijer (1783-1847), an eminent historian, philosopher, poet, and musician.
During the middle decades of the 19th century, Swedish literature oscillated between realism and idealism, new interests in everyday life, and a romanticizing of peculiar national traditions. Modern Swedish literature begins with the work of August
44
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090021-3
