Edith Irene Södergran is undisputedly a pioneer of modernist poetry and feminist thought in Finland-Swedish literature, with the introduction of central European styles and techniques being introduced into Scandinavian literature being accredited almost entirely to her. Her emphasis on duality between the body and the mind, the unapologetic feminist motives and ability to incorporate modernist techniques into her poetry have influenced many writes in both the Swedish speaking community of Finland and also further afield. Most notably writers such as Mare Kandre, Gunnar Harding, Eva Runefelt and Eva Dahlgren have attributed much of their artist success and stylistic attributes to the work of Södergran. Despite her obvious influence on Scandinavian
…show more content…
However, she was educated at Petrischule in St Petersburg where the main language of instruction was German which became the language of daily life for both her and her mother. Having attended a German preparatory school, she became fluent in many languages including German, French, Russian, English and her native Swedish. Södergran maintained fluency in these languages but herself stated that German “was her best language and the language of her intellect.” It would be easy then to expect that Södergran’s poetry may have been better expressed and received by a larger audience had she written in German, indeed many of her earliest poems were written in German. It is unclear why the choice to write in Swedish was made but what is obvious is that it served as a milestone for a very distinct change in the poetry that she wrote. Many critics now consider her Swedish language poetry to be of the avant-garde movement towards modernism across Europe, her German lyrics however do not show any great separation from the traditional forms and structures of Romantic poetry. Her first 200 poems, approximately, which were written in German held a very strict metre and rhyming structure allowing very little self-expression of her own person form of the
However, she was educated at Petrischule in St Petersburg where the main language of instruction was German which became the language of daily life for both her and her mother. Having attended a German preparatory school, she became fluent in many languages including German, French, Russian, English and her native Swedish. Södergran maintained fluency in these languages but herself stated that German “was her best language and the language of her intellect.” It would be easy then to expect that Södergran’s poetry may have been better expressed and received by a larger audience had she written in German, indeed many of her earliest poems were written in German. It is unclear why the choice to write in Swedish was made but what is obvious is that it served as a milestone for a very distinct change in the poetry that she wrote. Many critics now consider her Swedish language poetry to be of the avant-garde movement towards modernism across Europe, her German lyrics however do not show any great separation from the traditional forms and structures of Romantic poetry. Her first 200 poems, approximately, which were written in German held a very strict metre and rhyming structure allowing very little self-expression of her own person form of the