August Strindberg

David Bowen Thomas (University of Warwick)
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August Strindberg was a prolific writer whose plays, novels and essays did much to shape the literary consciousness of modern Sweden. Throughout the twentieth century Swedish playwrights and directors of film and theatre have found themselves returning continuously to Strindberg’s work as a challenge, a reference point and source of inspiration. In addition, his aesthetic ideas, his views on theatre practice, and his work as a playwright underpin much of twentieth-century European theatre from Expressionism to Absurdism. Frequently provocative, always densely textured, his plays baffled his contemporaries but gradually yielded their subtleties, with their complex interplay of form and meaning, to painstaking critical exegesis and the more visionary empathy of committed directors,…

2992 words

Citation: Thomas, David Bowen. "August Strindberg". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 March 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4265, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4265 August Strindberg 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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