The Swedish-speaking literary modernists in Finland
Modernism in Finland began in 1916 with the debut of Edith Södergran and Hagar Olsson. Olsson played an active role, both as author and critic, in the establishment of modernism in Finland, as her extensive correspondence testifies. In another way, Gunnar Björling became a unifying factor in modernist circles. In his home, in a converted sauna in Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto park, he gathered a whole range of writers and artists to discuss the new art.
When it comes to the Swedish-speaking Finnish modernists, all archival material concerning them is of interest, including the letters they sent to others, especially to writers and artists. The letters reveal how the modernist conversations took place, who was part of different literary circles, how they supported or sometimes opposed each other, and also how they viewed art and literature, and relations with each other or the world at large.
Gunnar Björling collection
Only a limited part of the personal archive of the poet Gunnar Björling remains, as his home in Helsinki was hit by a bomb in 1944. Of the total of 44 volumes of manuscripts, only three date from before 1944.
The collection was first handed over as a deposit to Åbo Akademi University Library in 1965, but ownership later passed to Åbo Akademi University. The collection has been expanded with several additions between 1971 and 2018. Today, the collection consists of 91 volumes. It contains Björling’s manuscripts, letters, biographical material (e.g. wills and accounts), photographs, clippings, essays and other material about Gunnar Björling. There are large suites of letters from Tage Aurell, Stig Carlson, Walter Dickson, Johannes Edfelt, Bengt Holmqvist, Folke Isaksson, Fritz Mayer and Lorenz von Numers. About half of the approximately 120 photographs are pictures of Björling and his immediate circle.
Hagar Olsson collection
Hagar Olsson’s collection was donated to Åbo Akademi University Library after her death in 1978. The collection has been expanded over the years thanks to several donations and currently consists of 64 volumes. The collection contains letters, manuscripts, biographies and over 300 images. The manuscripts include both published and unpublished material, ranging from complete manuscripts to small drafts, notebooks and diary entries. There are larger suites of letters from Wäinö Aaltonen, Jörn Donner, R.R. Eklund, Anna Lenah Elgström and Olof Lagercrantz, among others. In addition, the collection consists of about 7 shelf metres of books with dedications owned by Olsson.
How to use the collections
- The collections of Hagar Olsson and Gunnar Björling are described in ÅAB’s database Manusam.
- The letters are catalogued in the Brevsam database.
- Olsson’s manuscripts in 14 volumes are catalogued by Roger Holmström and published under the title Hagar Olssons manuskript: kommenterad förteckning (1989).
- Gunnar Björling’s manuscripts are catalogued by Michel Ekman and published under the title Gunnar Björlings daterade manuskript (Turku 1991).
- Read here about how to access the collections.
Photo: Martin Ellfolk, Åbo Akademi University Library
The other modernists’ archives in the national World Heritage Register are those of Edith Södergran, Elmer Diktonius, Rabbe Enckell and Henry Parland. Their archival material is kept at the Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland (SLS).