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Misstaget och den intellektualistiska antropologin i Per Olov Enquists Legionärerna (1968)

Zillén, Erik LU orcid (2024) In Filologiskt smörgåsbord 5. p.45-61
Abstract
The notion of error plays an important role, this article argues, in Per Olov Enquist’s ground-breaking documentary novel Legionärerna (The Legionnaires) (1968), which depicts the controversial Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers in January 1946. In terms of the plot (re)constructed by Enquist, Swedish politicians and Baltic soldiers as well as the novel’s investigator, a kind of alter ego of the author, constantly make errors in their decisions and actions. And by letting characters, investigator and narrator refer to the course of events as a tragedy, Enquist connects the phenomenon of error that permeates his novel with the concept of hamartia in the classical drama. In correspondence with the ancient Greek view that the error of the... (More)
The notion of error plays an important role, this article argues, in Per Olov Enquist’s ground-breaking documentary novel Legionärerna (The Legionnaires) (1968), which depicts the controversial Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers in January 1946. In terms of the plot (re)constructed by Enquist, Swedish politicians and Baltic soldiers as well as the novel’s investigator, a kind of alter ego of the author, constantly make errors in their decisions and actions. And by letting characters, investigator and narrator refer to the course of events as a tragedy, Enquist connects the phenomenon of error that permeates his novel with the concept of hamartia in the classical drama. In correspondence with the ancient Greek view that the error of the tragic hero is caused by a lack of knowledge, Enquist’s novel understands the errors of its characters and its investigator as resulting from ignorance and incorrect reasoning, and thus, the article concludes, embraces a premodern intellectualistic anthropology. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
alternative title
Error and Intellectualistic Anthropology in Per Olov Enquist’s Legionärerna (1968)
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Per Olov Enquist, Legionärerna, documentary novel, error, anthropology
host publication
Filologiskt smörgåsbord 5 : När forskning och undervisning möts. En 50-årsjubileumsskrift från skandinavistiken i Kraków - När forskning och undervisning möts. En 50-årsjubileumsskrift från skandinavistiken i Kraków
series title
Filologiskt smörgåsbord
editor
Data-Bukowska, Ewa and Wasilewska-Chmura, Magdalena
volume
5
pages
17 pages
publisher
Jagiellonian University Press
ISBN
978-83-233-7573-9
978-83-233-5391-1
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
625a5654-ba68-49bc-9ece-5c5942fab433
alternative location
https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/filologiskt-smorgasbord/artykul/misstaget-och-den-intellektualistiska-antropologin-i-per-olov-enquists-legionarerna-1968
date added to LUP
2024-10-19 22:18:23
date last changed
2025-10-21 02:54:38
@inbook{625a5654-ba68-49bc-9ece-5c5942fab433,
  abstract     = {{The notion of error plays an important role, this article argues, in Per Olov Enquist’s ground-breaking documentary novel Legionärerna (The Legionnaires) (1968), which depicts the controversial Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers in January 1946. In terms of the plot (re)constructed by Enquist, Swedish politicians and Baltic soldiers as well as the novel’s investigator, a kind of alter ego of the author, constantly make errors in their decisions and actions. And by letting characters, investigator and narrator refer to the course of events as a tragedy, Enquist connects the phenomenon of error that permeates his novel with the concept of hamartia in the classical drama. In correspondence with the ancient Greek view that the error of the tragic hero is caused by a lack of knowledge, Enquist’s novel understands the errors of its characters and its investigator as resulting from ignorance and incorrect reasoning, and thus, the article concludes, embraces a premodern intellectualistic anthropology.}},
  author       = {{Zillén, Erik}},
  booktitle    = {{Filologiskt smörgåsbord 5 : När forskning och undervisning möts. En 50-årsjubileumsskrift från skandinavistiken i Kraków}},
  editor       = {{Data-Bukowska, Ewa and Wasilewska-Chmura, Magdalena}},
  isbn         = {{978-83-233-7573-9}},
  keywords     = {{Per Olov Enquist; Legionärerna; documentary novel; error; anthropology}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  pages        = {{45--61}},
  publisher    = {{Jagiellonian University Press}},
  series       = {{Filologiskt smörgåsbord}},
  title        = {{Misstaget och den intellektualistiska antropologin i Per Olov Enquists Legionärerna (1968)}},
  url          = {{https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/filologiskt-smorgasbord/artykul/misstaget-och-den-intellektualistiska-antropologin-i-per-olov-enquists-legionarerna-1968}},
  volume       = {{5}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}