Literature in Eastern Swedish, or Finnish, is less rich than that in Finnish. According to estatelearning, the Swedes constitute an absolute minority of the Finnish population and their language was preferred by the educated and noble classes. It is therefore not surprising that it was also used by authors such as Creutz (1731-85), Franzen (1772-1847), or even by the romantic national poet JL Runeberg (1804-77), author of the cycle of ballads Racconti dell’Alfiere Stål, of poems the hunters of elk and Christmas Eve, as Snellman (1806-81) who was the standard-bearer of the Finnish national spirit and one of the most convinced supporters of the Finnish language as a means of high artistic expression inspired by the rich folk heritage. The controversy between filofinnici filosvedesi and did not stop, fortunately, the latter to keep alive their artistic tradition and a number of Finnish authors to express themselves even in Swedish.
An example of this is the poet and narrator KA Tavaststjerna (1860-98) with his hard times, of vigorous realism. Among the most fruitful authors in Swedish we should mention: T. Topelius (1818-98) for his idyllic songs about nature, the lively historical re-enactments of the Military Surgeon’s Tales and the collection Readings for children (stories, legends, poems) also translated into Finnish; J. Ahrenberg (1847-1914) and Elena Westermarck (1857-1938). Strong opponents of Russification and advocates of freedom were at the beginning of the century M. Lybeck (1864-1925), poet, playwright and novelist, H. Procopé (1868-1927), A. Mörne (1876-1946) and the poet-soldier B. Gripenberg (1878-1947). With political, patriotic and social literature, moralists such as J. Hemmer (1893-1944) and nature singers also flourished. In the eastern Bothnia a regionalist school was born which had its greatest exponent in E. Zilliacus (1878-1961). An isolated figure, also due to his introverted and pessimistic character, is R. Schildt (1888-1925), author of splendid stories about the civil war between reds and whites. A breath of renewal in Finnish literature came with the new themes of Expressionism, introduced into the Swedish-speaking world by poet E. Södergran (1892-1923), initiator of Finnish modern poetry. Expressionism was theorized by H. Olsson (1893-1978) and propagated by the Quosego magazine , which gathered around it H. Parland (1908-1930), E. Diktonius (1896-1961), RR Eklund (1895-1946) and other. New schools then allowed the affirmation of S. Salminen (1906-76) with the realistic novel Katrina and the trend that followed, while M. Tuominen (1913-67) broke away from realism with acute retrospective analyzes. And if T. Colliander (1904-89) imprints his work on the sentiment of sin and redemption, many contemporaries contrast him with the collage novel and erotic themes.
The lyrical modernism, validly survived until the fifties, thanks to the originality of vital G. Björling (1887-1960), find new forms in the verses of Solveig von Schoultz (1907-96), who even in his masterful short stories (The Time some flowers, 1958) often draws reason from the personal experience of conflict between irreconcilable female roles. Their heritage, combined with the search for a formal balance nourished by all the classics of literature (an example is Marginalia to Greek and Roman poetry, 1985) flows into the work of Bo Carpelan (b.1926), which occupies a central position in the Finnish literary landscape. A frontal attack on aestheticizing modernism is brought by the FBT magazine, expression of the new left in the sixties, directed by the poet C. Andersson (b. 1937). Many names of the new poetic generation gather around it, including C. Kihlman (b. 1930), Ralf Nordgren (b. 1936) and Gösta Ågren (b. 1936), both authors also of notable works in prose. Otherwise founded is the social criticism of L. Huldén (b. 1926), whose verses of great musicality have conquered a varied and numerous audience. The vitality of contemporary lyricism seems to find confirmation in the work of Tua Forsström (b. 1947), already hailed in 1979 as the new star of Finnish poetry. The Snow Leopard collection (1987) is based like the previous ones on the play of contrasts, however attenuated by a constant conciliatory concern. Considered more traditionalist, provincial and closed in on itself than that of Sweden, the Finnish prose of Swedish expression, alongside authors more linked to tradition and regionalism such as G. Stenuius (b.1909) and O. Parland (b.1912)), presents increasingly innovative trends. M. Alopaeus (b.1918) with her depictions of the Swedish-Finnish middle class, traversed by social and religious prejudices, and Anna Bondestam (1907-95) with her analyzes of the relations between the two national communities against the background of common problems like urbanism, they have paved the way for a large number of female writers whose position and identity, including through the experience of feminism, it has been steadily strengthening. Among these, the bearers of the greatest innovations were W. Stürmer (b. 1929) and Marta Tikkanen (b. 1935), author of some of the most widely read novels in the whole Scandinavian area. The writer and illustrator occupies a separate position Tove Jansson (1914-2001) famous throughout the world for his children’s books. We also remember W. Chorell (b. 1912), H. Tikkanen (1924-84), Jörn Donner (b. 1933) and L. Salmén (b. 1952).
