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iv. education and . mental culture.
among different people and at different periods. It was thought that the aim
of art was to proclaim useful truths in a pleasurable form. Poetry thereby
became the handmaid of either morality or knowledge. Nevertheless, even in
Sweden the beginnings of a less restricted view of art were noticeable. By the
side of the main French classic stream runs a pre-romantic tributary with its
sources in English literature. Imagination, not intelligence, began to be regarded
as the prime quality of genius.
The philosopher Anders Rydelius (1671—1738), in his "Förnuftsövningar"
(Exercises of Intelligence) considers poetry to be a part of rhetoric and describes
it as "an art for amusing and affecting people by means of language put into
verse". A wider view was taken by the poet Olof Bergklint (1733—1805).
Although he does not advance beyond the "utile dulci" point of view, he
nevertheless maintains in an eloquent manner, in his "Tal över skaldekonsten" (Address
on the Art of Poetry, 1761), the importance of imagination for the poet. Sweden’s
best critic during the 18th century is J. H. Kellgren (1751—95), who from 1778
was responsible for literary criticism in the "Stockholmsposten". While criticism
had formerly been almost entirely of a negative character and had consisted in
showing up errors and transgressions of the rules of taste, Kellgren took a
profounder view and considered criticism to be an explanation of the beauties
of works of art. His "Företal till Fredmans epistlar" (Preface to Fredman’s
Epistles) is one of the most soulful productions of Swedish criticism. The
principal representative of the French classic tendency in Sweden was Kellgren’s
companion in arms Karl Gustav af Leopold (1756—1829) who, in several works
and particularly in his "Om Smaken och dess allmänna lagar" (Taste and its
General Laws) (1801), discussed poetic theories. Even as låte as 1798, the
poet Gustav Fredrik Gyllenborg (1731—1808) published a rhyming Swedish ars
poetica in four cantos: "Försök om skaldekonsten" (Essay on the Art of
Poetry). Tomas Thorild (1759—1808) is remembered particularly as the
precursor of romanticism; his was a pure "Sturm und Drang" nature, rich in
ideas and caprices, restless and excitable, without any sense of moderation and
proportion. He voiced the claim for the release of genius from the compulsion
of rules and for the interpretation of nature in poetry. In his principal work "En
kritik över kritiker, med utkast till en lagstiftning i snillets värld" (A Criticism
of Critics, with an Outline of Laws in the World of Genius) he attempts to
lay down principles for literary criticism. By the side of Thorild stand Jakob
Fredrik Neikter (1744—1803) and Karl August Ehrensvärd (17 4 5—1800)
as adherents of a freer view of art. Both are disciples of Montesquieu and
attach special importance to the influence of environment on art and poetry.
Neikter gave a summarised exposition of his views in the brilliant address which
he gave in 1787, on his admission to the Academy of Sciences, on "Orsaken till
smakens olikhet, uppkomst och förfall hos olika folkslag" (Causes of the
Difference, Origin and Decline of Taste in different Nations). Ehrenswärd is
Sweden’s first representative of the neo-classic tendency. He propounds his
theories on art in a pellucid and spirited style in his two works, "Resa i Italien"
(Journey in Italy) and "De fria konsters filosofi" (Philosophy of the Liberal
Arts).
The introduction into Sweden in the nineties of the 18th century of the
philosophy of Kant undermined to a considerable degree the French classical view
of art. To Benjamin Höijer (1767—1812) belongs the honour of being the first
to transmit to Sweden a knowledge of Kant’s aesthetics and of having first applied
their principles to actual criticism. Höijer, however, did not confine himself to
Kant, but in his later works he was powerfully influenced first by Schelling and
afterwards by Hegel and created an aesthetic system of his own, in the spirit of
the latter, which in many respects anticipates that elaborated at a much later
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