Introduktionen som försvann - lanseringen av litauiska noveller till en svensk läsekrets.
LithuaniaLithuanianTranslateShort storySwedenSwedishBiliunasKreveVienoulisSeiniusSavickisCvirkaOrintaiteBohmanÖllerLitauenLitauiskaöversattNovellSvenskaBiliunasKreveVienuolisScheyniusSavickisCvirkaOrintaiteBohmanÖller
This work concerns the book "Litauiska noveller" [Lithuanian Short Stories], a collection of nine Lithuanian short stories translated into Swedish by noted Finnish diplomat Ragnar Öller (1893-1960) and tutor and journalist Nils Bohman (1902-1943). The authors of the nine short stories are Jonas Bili?nas, Vincas Kr?v?-Mickevi?ius, Antanas ?ukauskas-Vienuolis, Ignas Jurkunas-Scheynius, Jurgis Savickis, Petras Cvirka, and Petron?l? Orintait?.The 242-page book published 1940 in Stockholm, was the first translation of literary texts from the Lithuanian appearing in the Swedish language. In spite of a professionally carried out translation, the book never gained the attention of Swedish literary circles, and has more or less been forgotten throughout the post war period and up to the present.The purpose of this paper is to investigate the history leading up to the publication of the book within the context of Swedish-Lithuanian relations, and analyse the possible reasons of why this work remained unnoticed for so many decades. Why was the book not reviewed in the Swedish daily press? Was the book ignored because of the choice of authors of the novels? Was the disregard due to the political situation?A discussion from a few selected points of view follows on some possible reasons of why the launch of "Litauiska noveller" failed in 1940.An appendix listing published works of Lithuanian authors in the Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic) up to 1996 is attached.