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Pompes aska och stoft : hundgravspoesins funktioner under stormakts- och frihetstiden

Möller, Daniel LU (2014) p.49-67
Abstract
Funerary poems on animals form a subgenre of the standard epitaph written to commemorate a deceased person. The poet who created the conditions necessary for the establishment of this kind of poetry in Sweden was the queen dowager Hedvig Eleonora’s court poet Erik Lindschöld (1634–1690); his poems mourning the death of the queen’s bitches were presumably composed in the 1670s. These poems constitute the starting-point for similar poems written over the next century by among others Israel Holmström (1661–1708), Olof Hermelin (1658–1709), and Olof von Dalin (1708–1763).

The major issue treated in this article concerns the functions that the writing of epitaphs on dogs served. Why were they written, and for what purpose? I examine... (More)
Funerary poems on animals form a subgenre of the standard epitaph written to commemorate a deceased person. The poet who created the conditions necessary for the establishment of this kind of poetry in Sweden was the queen dowager Hedvig Eleonora’s court poet Erik Lindschöld (1634–1690); his poems mourning the death of the queen’s bitches were presumably composed in the 1670s. These poems constitute the starting-point for similar poems written over the next century by among others Israel Holmström (1661–1708), Olof Hermelin (1658–1709), and Olof von Dalin (1708–1763).

The major issue treated in this article concerns the functions that the writing of epitaphs on dogs served. Why were they written, and for what purpose? I examine the manifold, predominantly social functions of these epitaphs on dogs, and demonstrate that such poems were written for a variety of reasons: they could, for example, promote careers; they could serve as covert ways of paying homage to noblemen and royalty; they could be instrumental in criticizing those in power, or cloak the treatment of politically sensitive topics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Från renhållningshjon till modeaccessoar : 10 000 år av relationer människa–hund i Sverige. Föredrag vid ett symposiium i Uppsala 15 februari 2013 - 10 000 år av relationer människa–hund i Sverige. Föredrag vid ett symposiium i Uppsala 15 februari 2013
editor
Gräslund, Anne-Sofie and Svanberg, Ingvar
pages
49 - 67
publisher
Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur
ISBN
978-91-87403-09-5
project
Fänad i helgade grifter. Svensk djurgravpoesi 1670–1760 (Dumb Beasts in Hallowed Tombs: Swedish Funerary Poetry for Animals 1670–1760)
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
2ffbb2f2-f82f-4568-8762-ec8117798854 (old id 3799595)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:57:49
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:08:13
@inbook{2ffbb2f2-f82f-4568-8762-ec8117798854,
  abstract     = {{Funerary poems on animals form a subgenre of the standard epitaph written to commemorate a deceased person. The poet who created the conditions necessary for the establishment of this kind of poetry in Sweden was the queen dowager Hedvig Eleonora’s court poet Erik Lindschöld (1634–1690); his poems mourning the death of the queen’s bitches were presumably composed in the 1670s. These poems constitute the starting-point for similar poems written over the next century by among others Israel Holmström (1661–1708), Olof Hermelin (1658–1709), and Olof von Dalin (1708–1763).<br/><br>
 The major issue treated in this article concerns the functions that the writing of epitaphs on dogs served. Why were they written, and for what purpose? I examine the manifold, predominantly social functions of these epitaphs on dogs, and demonstrate that such poems were written for a variety of reasons: they could, for example, promote careers; they could serve as covert ways of paying homage to noblemen and royalty; they could be instrumental in criticizing those in power, or cloak the treatment of politically sensitive topics.}},
  author       = {{Möller, Daniel}},
  booktitle    = {{Från renhållningshjon till modeaccessoar : 10 000 år av relationer människa–hund i Sverige. Föredrag vid ett symposiium i Uppsala 15 februari 2013}},
  editor       = {{Gräslund, Anne-Sofie and Svanberg, Ingvar}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-87403-09-5}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  pages        = {{49--67}},
  publisher    = {{Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur}},
  title        = {{Pompes aska och stoft : hundgravspoesins funktioner under stormakts- och frihetstiden}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}