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Man and Animality in the “Fables” of August Strindberg

Zillén, Erik LU orcid (2011) Autour du Roman de Renart. Récits brefs et ménageries littéraires, linguistiques ou iconographiques
Abstract
The paper focuses on a suite of fable texts from the modern epoch, the “Fables” of August Strindberg, written in the 1880s. In most of these ten prose fables the protagonists are anthropomorphized animals, one of the facts clearly connecting the suite with the Aesopic tradition, which Strindberg was highly familiar with. The basic message of the Aesopic genre – the rejection of man’s animality as the source of moral vice – is, however, inverted by Strindberg. The Swedish author, in the 1880s adopting a primitivistic outlook, instead tries to reclaim the animal nature of the human being and proposes social reforms liberating man from the yoke of culture. Strindberg’s concept of what might be called a naturalistic fable and its controversy... (More)
The paper focuses on a suite of fable texts from the modern epoch, the “Fables” of August Strindberg, written in the 1880s. In most of these ten prose fables the protagonists are anthropomorphized animals, one of the facts clearly connecting the suite with the Aesopic tradition, which Strindberg was highly familiar with. The basic message of the Aesopic genre – the rejection of man’s animality as the source of moral vice – is, however, inverted by Strindberg. The Swedish author, in the 1880s adopting a primitivistic outlook, instead tries to reclaim the animal nature of the human being and proposes social reforms liberating man from the yoke of culture. Strindberg’s concept of what might be called a naturalistic fable and its controversy with the traditional genre model sheds light on – that is the main thesis of the paper – some of the historical factors causing fundamental problems for the Aesopic fable to function in the literary culture after 1800. (Less)
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author
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
animal fable, August Strindberg, genre transformation, modern breakthrough, animality, morality, criticism of civilization, primitivism
host publication
[Host publication title missing]
publisher
Université de Provence & Société Internationale Renardienne
conference name
Autour du Roman de Renart. Récits brefs et ménageries littéraires, linguistiques ou iconographiques
conference dates
2011-09-21 - 2011-09-24
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
e478332f-491e-43c5-8104-ef1d426b7954 (old id 3242463)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:21:16
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:04:17
@inproceedings{e478332f-491e-43c5-8104-ef1d426b7954,
  abstract     = {{The paper focuses on a suite of fable texts from the modern epoch, the “Fables” of August Strindberg, written in the 1880s. In most of these ten prose fables the protagonists are anthropomorphized animals, one of the facts clearly connecting the suite with the Aesopic tradition, which Strindberg was highly familiar with. The basic message of the Aesopic genre – the rejection of man’s animality as the source of moral vice – is, however, inverted by Strindberg. The Swedish author, in the 1880s adopting a primitivistic outlook, instead tries to reclaim the animal nature of the human being and proposes social reforms liberating man from the yoke of culture. Strindberg’s concept of what might be called a naturalistic fable and its controversy with the traditional genre model sheds light on – that is the main thesis of the paper – some of the historical factors causing fundamental problems for the Aesopic fable to function in the literary culture after 1800.}},
  author       = {{Zillén, Erik}},
  booktitle    = {{[Host publication title missing]}},
  keywords     = {{animal fable; August Strindberg; genre transformation; modern breakthrough; animality; morality; criticism of civilization; primitivism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Université de Provence & Société Internationale Renardienne}},
  title        = {{Man and Animality in the “Fables” of August Strindberg}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}