The arranged reality

En swedenborgiansk læsning af August Strindbergs Inferno

Abstract

Inferno (1897) is widely read as a lamenting self-portrait in which the frantic and somewhat deranged author comes to terms with his second failed marriage and a new moralistic insight. Instead of reading the novel’s plot as having actually occurred, I argue that it is more fruitful to interpret Inferno and the main character Strindberg as symbols and manifestations of a new poetics. Emmanuel Swedenborg, the Swedish theosophist, plays a crucial role in the novel and appears as a spiritual guide for the wretched protagonist. By applying his theories of correspondences between the spiritual and material world to Inferno I seek to reveal that the distance between the narrator and protagonist has its origins in the swedenborgian monism. In this sense, the ”reality” in the novel becomes highly constructed, something the author sculpts as he sees fit, thus turning it into a mere means of manipulation. The conclusions drawn in my analysis enable a discussion with scholar Gunnar Brandell and his interpretation of the swedenborgian theodicy.