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”Grift-Runor, skrifne 1769" : En ärekränkande och blasfemisk gravdikt av Brynolph Hallborg

Möller, Daniel LU (2021) In Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap 51(3-4). p.142-155
Abstract
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are the golden age of the poetic epitaph in Sweden and Europe. Most epitaphs were shaped in accordance with the principle of decorum, i.e., they were written to praise the dead and to comfort the bereaved. But there were also poems that sought to instead find faults with the deceased, sometimes even to insult their memory. A form of funeral poetry that was not uncommon during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, although not hitherto studied in Sweden, consisted of defamatory, parodic, burlesque, and wickedly humorous verse. This kind of poetry is highly diverse in character, spanning a wide range of moods, from mildly derisive to extremely demeaning poems, with everything from good-natured... (More)
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are the golden age of the poetic epitaph in Sweden and Europe. Most epitaphs were shaped in accordance with the principle of decorum, i.e., they were written to praise the dead and to comfort the bereaved. But there were also poems that sought to instead find faults with the deceased, sometimes even to insult their memory. A form of funeral poetry that was not uncommon during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, although not hitherto studied in Sweden, consisted of defamatory, parodic, burlesque, and wickedly humorous verse. This kind of poetry is highly diverse in character, spanning a wide range of moods, from mildly derisive to extremely demeaning poems, with everything from good-natured jocular and comical pieces to coarse, malicious, acutely ironic, and crudely sarcastic texts.

An original and highly defamatory epitaph in lapidary style, “Grift-Runor” (Sepulchral Runes), was composed by Brynolph Hallborg (1736–1792). Hallborg’s well-documented preoccupation, or even obsession, with death, along with his interest in parody, sarcasm, and blasphemy, make him a rarity in Swedish literature. At the time, Hallborg’s poem attracted attention and was commented on by Thomas Thorild. The poem can be regarded as an extreme example of a larger eighteenth-century process: the relaxation of the principle of decorum. (Less)
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author
organization
alternative title
“Sepulchral Runes, Written in 1769” : A Defamatory and Blasphemous Epitaph by Brynolph Hallborg
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Epitaph, decorum, Brynolph Hallborg, defamation, parody, blasphemy, Epitaph, decorum, defamation, parody, blasphemy, Brynolph Hallborg
in
Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap
volume
51
issue
3-4
pages
14 pages
publisher
Föreningen för utgivande av Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap
ISSN
1104-0556
DOI
10.54797/tfl.v51i3-4.1639
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
3d58f4bf-ccbd-4dc1-9d02-a4b8572a7802
date added to LUP
2022-06-08 14:05:41
date last changed
2022-06-20 09:28:31
@article{3d58f4bf-ccbd-4dc1-9d02-a4b8572a7802,
  abstract     = {{The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are the golden age of the poetic epitaph in Sweden and Europe. Most epitaphs were shaped in accordance with the principle of decorum, i.e., they were written to praise the dead and to comfort the bereaved. But there were also poems that sought to instead find faults with the deceased, sometimes even to insult their memory. A form of funeral poetry that was not uncommon during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, although not hitherto studied in Sweden, consisted of defamatory, parodic, burlesque, and wickedly humorous verse. This kind of poetry is highly diverse in character, spanning a wide range of moods, from mildly derisive to extremely demeaning poems, with everything from good-natured jocular and comical pieces to coarse, malicious, acutely ironic, and crudely sarcastic texts.<br/><br/>An original and highly defamatory epitaph in lapidary style, “Grift-Runor” (Sepulchral Runes), was composed by Brynolph Hallborg (1736–1792). Hallborg’s well-documented preoccupation, or even obsession, with death, along with his interest in parody, sarcasm, and blasphemy, make him a rarity in Swedish literature. At the time, Hallborg’s poem attracted attention and was commented on by Thomas Thorild. The poem can be regarded as an extreme example of a larger eighteenth-century process: the relaxation of the principle of decorum.}},
  author       = {{Möller, Daniel}},
  issn         = {{1104-0556}},
  keywords     = {{Epitaph; decorum; Brynolph Hallborg; defamation; parody; blasphemy; Epitaph; decorum; defamation; parody; blasphemy; Brynolph Hallborg}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  number       = {{3-4}},
  pages        = {{142--155}},
  publisher    = {{Föreningen för utgivande av Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap}},
  series       = {{Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap}},
  title        = {{”Grift-Runor, skrifne 1769" : En ärekränkande och blasfemisk gravdikt av Brynolph Hallborg}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.54797/tfl.v51i3-4.1639}},
  doi          = {{10.54797/tfl.v51i3-4.1639}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}