Facts: Swedish cultural canon
In the Tidöavtalet, the government and the Sweden Democrats write that they must let independent expert committees in various fields come up with proposals for a Swedish cultural canon. It hasn’t happened yet. This summer we are therefore appointing our own experts and asking them to produce a canon based on their specialist knowledge.
1. Agnes von Krusenstjerna’s Pahlens suite
“The seven books that were published between 1930 and 1935 can be described as a Swedish and early version of “The Bridgerton Family”. The books revolve around the sisters Angela and Petra von Pahlen and they still feel very escapist and erotic. Typical books for teenage girls and grown women who wants to fantasize about romantic sex. It also feels a little edgy that Agnes von Kusenstjerna with her background wrote this,” says Johanna Schreiber.
2. Alice Lyttken’s Ann Ranmark trilogy
“The trilogy about the female lawyer Ann Ranmark, which was written in the 1930s, could have taken place in a feelgood novel from today. Ann Ranmark is an insecure upper-class girl who trains to be a family law lawyer. Ann wins case after case, falls in love and gets her heart broken. In the end, she wins both love and a successful career. Alice Lyttkens was a feminist pioneer and an extremely productive writer who was active for over 30 years. She also wrote fantastic non-fiction books on Swedish women’s history,” says Frida Malmgren.
Agnes von Krusenstjerna’s seven novels about the misses von Pahlen were published between 1930 and 1935. Archive image.
3. Denise Rudberg’s “The Girlfriend”
“Denise Rudberg was Sweden’s hottest and most glamorous writer during the early 2000s. Her debut novel “Väninnan” from the year 2000 was followed by five more books that took place around Östermalm. A kind of darker “Sex and the city” in book form that had clear themes that reflected contemporary challenges for modern women: psychological and physical abuse, alcohol and drug problems, eating disorders and involuntary childlessness. Denise Rudberg’s novels contain glamour, humor and blackness. All good feelgood novels must contain a certain amount of darkness, otherwise the story will be flat,” says Johanna Schreiber.
4. Emma Hamberg’s “Baddaren” and “Je m’appelle Agneta”
“Emma Hamberg is a genius when it comes to writing twisted characters that readers love. She has a very unique and own tone and writes books that are like adult fairy tales,” says Frida Malmgren.
5. Caroline Säfstrand’s “The truth about the oyster diver”
“The book is a mixture of feelgood and classic relationship novel. As in many of the feelgood novels of the 2020s, Caroline Säfstrand writes about stressed city women who move out into the country because they have, for example, inherited a house. “The truth about the oyster diver” is one of Caroline Säfstrand’s biggest successes and has been sold to the USA,” says Johanna Schreiber.