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Categories: art and literature

Daniel Kane, Professor of American literature who has written a new book about Joe Brainard. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt

Joe Brainard’s surprising letters

The American artist and author Joe Brainard (1942–1994) stood out with his strikingly unique style of writing, manifested among other ways in his many years of correspondence with other well-known artists and writers. Selections from his letters have now been published in a new volume with comments and analyses by Daniel Kane, professor of American literature at Uppsala University.

Painting: Norwegian landscape, Charles XV, 1856. Gustavianum Uppsala University Museum

Charles XV’s Norwegian Landscape painted in Romsdalen

King Charles XV (1826–1872) was known for his paintings, but elements of his artistic output have remained obscure until now. A researcher at Uppsala University has now discovered great similarities between one of the king’s most famous works, Norwegian Landscape, and that of the painting from Romsdalen by Norwegian artist Thomas Fearnley (1802–1842) .

From the book "Blå ugglan" by Lotta Geffenblad (2023) with permission. Image: Lotta Geffenblad

Death and grief in Swedish children’s books

Death is blue, or a flying animal. This is how death is most commonly illustrated in Swedish children’s literature, according to a new study from Uppsala University based on analyses of 62 books. Just six out of ten books use the word ‘dead’, which may be a problem.

New book highlights impact of streamed reading

More and more readers are opting to stream audiobooks , preferably in the crime fiction or romance genres. For many, it has become a way to fall asleep at night. "We can see this by the fact that many users start listening late at night – sleep sessions that end exactly after 30 minutes or three hours. They’ve simply fallen asleep," notes literary scholar Karl Berglund.

 Jana Rüegg has submitted her doctoral thesis at the Department of Literature, Uppsala University. Photo: Ute Rüegg

Small publishers increasingly important for translated literature

Over the period 1970–2016, small publishing houses became increasingly important for the publication of literature in translation in Sweden. More than ever, Nobel laureates are being published by relatively small independent publishers. A specialisation in translations often stems from a publisher’s personal interest in a language or geographical area.

Uppåt (Upwards) Part of light and sound installation at Odarslöv Church (2018). Artist and photographer: Jesper Wachtmeister

From living heritage to zombie churches

Churches are preserved by an antiquarian system that risks killing them instead of keeping them alive. The Swedish State and the Church of Sweden therefore need to define new joint visions and goals to enable the ecclesiastical cultural heritage to be used and developed. This is shown by historian of art Henrik Lindblad in a new doctoral thesis from Uppsala University.

Uppsala University - quality, knowledge, and creativity since 1477

Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden. With more than 50,000 students and 7,500 employees in Uppsala and Visby, we are a broad university with research in social sciences, humanities, technology, natural sciences, medicine and pharmacology. Our mission is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to society on a long-term basis. Uppsala University is regularly ranked among the world’s top universities.

Uppsala University

Dag Hammarskjölds väg 7
BOX 256, 751 05 Uppsala
Sweden

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