A ten-minute short lecture based on the thousands of letters sent to Selma Lagerlöf from the Swedish public, written between 1891–1940. The collection of letters is unusually large for its time, and it is unique due to its heterogeneity – people from all walks of life are represented. Letters from people that rarely appear in archives are preserved, and so far no one has attended to them. What do these letters tell us about dreams, life, reading and the importance of a famous writer? What do they say about who we remember and why?
In small groups, the audience gets to discuss various questions which we then discuss in conversations that will revolve around everything from canon formation to more general questions about grievability, asymmetry, accessibility, memory practices, reading, writing, and microhistory.
Maria Karlsson is a researcher in literary studies at Uppsala.
Take the chance to meet some of Sweden’s most promising young researchers. In collaboration with Young Academy of Sweden, quizzes, conversations and mini lectures with interactive elements are organized during the autumn in connection with the Nobel Prize Museum’s exhibition Life Eternal at Liljevalchs. The events take place on Saturday afternoons and are included in the regular admission ticket.
