Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [19]
The character herself first found life in 1941 when Lindgren’s pneumonia-struck daughter, Karin, asked her mother for a story about ‘Pippi Longstocking’. The curious name inspired Lindgren to spin a stream of tales about the original wild child, which became an instant hit with Karin and her friends.
While recovering from a sprained ankle in 1944, Lindgren finally put her tales to paper and sent them to a publisher. Rejected but undefeated, she sent a second story to another publisher and scooped second prize in a girls’ story competition. The following year, a revamped Pippi manuscript grabbed top honours in another competition, while her story Bill Bergson Master Detective shared first prize in 1946.
This was just the beginning of a prolific, award-winning career that would include picture books, plays and songs translated into over 50 languages, as well work in radio, TV and film.
Arguably, Lindgren’s greatest legacy to Sweden has been her influence on the rights and protection of society’s most vulnerable, from children and the poor to animals. In 1976 Swedish newspaper Expressen published an allegorical opinion piece she wrote on an unjust tax-system loophole that saw self-employed writers paying 102% tax on their earnings. Not only did it lead to an amendment in the taxation law, but it also influenced the fall of the Social Democrats, who had been in power for 44 years. In 1978 Lindgren used her acceptance speech for the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to express her views on the issue of violence against children, rousing intense debate. The following year, Sweden became the world’s first nation to ban the smacking of children.
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Other home-grown stalwarts include the Hives, the Cardigans, Sahara Hotnights, the Shout Out Louds and Håkan Hellström, who is much lauded for his original renditions of classic Swedish melodies.
On the house music front, DJs Axwell, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Eric Prydz (dubbed the ‘Swedish House Mafia’) have firmly cemented Sweden’s cred on the dance floor.
Jazz has been another Swedish musical forte, especially between the 1930s and 1960s. Icons include the Sonora Swing Swingers (think ‘Lady Be Good’), trumpeter Rolf Ericson (1922–97) and saxophonist Carl-Henrik Norin (1920–67). Baritone sax Lars Gullin (1928–67) dominated the scene in the 1950s, followed by tenor saxophonist Bernt Rosengren (1937–96) a decade later. Another star of the time was pianist Jan Johansson (1931–68), renowned for blending jazz and folk in a distinctly Swedish fashion. Both Stockholm and Umeå host popular annual jazz festivals.
Although Sweden has never produced a classical composer to match Norway’s Edvard Grieg, there has been no shortage of contenders. One of the earliest was Emil Sjögren (1853–1918). He was followed by the Wagnerian Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867–1942) and Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960).
And what would a piece on Swedish music be without mentioning the nation’s most successful, iconic and dubiously dressed music group? Winners of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’, ABBA’s greatest album success to date is the 1992 Abba Gold compilation, released 10 years after the group disbanded.
Architecture
Apart from elaborate gravesites, little survives of Bronze Age buildings in Sweden. Several Iron Age relics remain on Öland, including Ismantorp, a fortified village with limestone walls and nine gates.
Excellent examples of Romanesque church architecture dot the country. One of the finest is Domkyrkan (Cathedral) in Lund, consecrated in 1145 and still dominating the city centre with its two imposing square towers.
Gothic styles from the 13th and 14th centuries mainly used