Det tidiga 1800-talets svenska novellistik

Publikationssätt och novelltyper

Abstract

Swedish Short Stories in the Early 19th Century. Publication and Subgenres

The present study of Swedish short stories published between the years 1810 and 1829 illustrates that authors representing the Romantic Movement made special efforts to put the short story on the market. At V. F. Palmblad’s publishing house, German contemporary short stories were translated and distributed, later followed by Swedish contributions to the genre, which appeared primarily in literary magazines. Only a small number of short stories were published over the course of these 19 years, and the means of publication varied. Out of 45 works found in the catalogues of the National Library of Sweden, 27 are published separately, while 14 are published in periodicals or newspapers and two in anthologies (one of which is a frame story and the other a modern collection). Authors connected to the Romantic school introduced two new varieties of short story: the exotic story and the fantastic story. The pre-existing subgenres included, for instance: adventures, satirical or comic stories, stories of family life, travel stories and historical short stories. Among these, the historical story was the only subgenre to be printed separately. Characteristic for the short story is its ability to be inserted into many different kinds of publications. Another result of the study is the discovery of the ease with which a short story may be transferred from one form of publication to another. For instance, the short story may originate as part of a novel, only to turn into a separate work in its own right. Alternatively, it may develop as a serial story in a newspaper and go on to be printed separately, and later appear in a publishing house series or in a volume of selected works. This adaptive, or transferable, quality should be included in the ongoing discussion pertaining to the definition of the short story.