Sunday, May 4, 2014

Ivar Lo-Johansson

Ivar Lo-Johansson (23 February 1901 - 11 April 1990) was a Swedish writer of the proletarian school.
Lo-Johansson was born in Ösmo. He wrote over 50 proletarian novels and short-stories, all of which carried vivid portrayals of working-class people.
He described the situation of the Swedish land-workers, statare, in his novels, short stories and journalism, which encouraged the adoption of certain land reforms in Sweden. He also caused much controversy with his features on old-age pensioners, gypsies and other non-privileged people. He died, aged 89, in Stockholm.
Lo-Johansson is best known for his vivid recollections of the life in Swedish trade-unionist and literary circles of the twenties, thirties and forties. He also continued throughout his long life to insist that literature should face the world from the under-dog's perspective.
Lo-Johansson's works are characterized by a vivid expression of individual human suffering. A great example of this motif is character of the farm servant’s wife in Only A Mother (1939). He also explored the conflict between individualism and collectivism extensively in his autobiographical series of eight novels. He published the series in the 1950s with The Illiterate (1951). He published the last book in the series, The Proletarian Writer in 1960. 
In the 1970s he wrote numerous short stories dealing with the seven deadly sins. In the 1980s he wrote several memoirs.
Thanks, Ariel

No comments:

Post a Comment