Truemors
Horace Engdahl, born 30 December 1948 in Karlskrona. Writer, literary historian and critic, Adjunct Professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Århus. He was elected to the Swedish Academy on 16 October 1997 and admitted on 20 December 1997. Engdahl succeeded the writer Johannes Edfelt to Chair number 17. He has been the Academy’s Permanent Secretary since 1 June 1999.
He earned his B.A. in 1970 at Stockholm University, and began his doctoral studies there; he completed his Ph.D. only in 1987, with a study on Swedish romanticism, but had meanwhile been active as a literary critic, translator and journal editor, and was one of the introducers of the continental tradition of literary scholarship in Sweden. He is currently adjunct professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. He speaks Swedish, English, German, French and Russian fluently.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 06:01 on October 1st, 2008
United States is the sum of the world's greatest literati. Perhaps one day Engdahl will be great enough to understand and appreciate works of art from American writers, for, in general, no finer collection of global talent, thought, imagination, creativity, work, and even an inner sanctum of the literati exists than what is produced here, whether by those blessed enough to be born here or by the millions who have choose to move to the United States. Good Luck, Engdahl, on understanding great literature and insularity.
at 09:05 on October 2nd, 2008
Thank you, Mr. Engdahl for saying out loud what many people already know about <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />America’s cultural products. The US produces a profusion of violent, human-loathing, and spiritually vacuous art. It's all the same B.S. whether it's painting, film, or literature -- very low brow, and at best tedious. The bottom line is that most Americans don't travel and don't find much value in intellectual development. I've lived in the USA long enough to know that Americans don't like to trouble themselves with more in-depth knowledge of the humanities -- most are appalling ignorant, and that is reflected in their tastes. The population of the US seems to love to revel in the formulaic action-crime-fighting-adventure stories or cynical humor at the expense of the more neglected sections of the American population. With a largely uneducated populace it's no wonder that any writer wanting to be successful financially in the USA has to dumb down. As for American novels flooding the European markets… hmmm, quantity doesn't equal quality. American films have been flooding world markets for a long time however their artistic quality is far from being high.