Lately it has been getting increased attention. The work’s reputation in the English-speaking world has remained fairly subterranean and has owed more to readers of science fiction than of poetry. There have also been numerous foreign-language translations, but although Aniara has twice been rendered into English, both versions have gone out of print. In Sweden, where Martinson was already a prominent figure, the poem was an immediate best seller and has continued to work its way into the culture, giving rise to an opera (later televised), pop and electronic musical adaptations (including a somewhat harrowing “blackened death metal” version by Necrosavant), planetarium shows, a graphic novel, and now the film adaptation that opened in the US this spring. KYLASS DEATHMETAL SERIALSuch is the narrative gist of the Swedish poet Harry Martinson’s book-length serial poem Aniara: A Review of Man in Time and Space, begun in 1953 and published in its entirety in 1956, eighteen years before Martinson won the Nobel Prize for Literature (which he shared with the novelist Eyvind Johnson). The associations and promises of the Sun. Its gateway of purest crystal and cut off The passengers must resign themselves to years of continued existence as the ship proceeds inexorably into the empty regions beyond the solar system, heading for a destination they will not live to reach, the constellation Lyra: Early in the flight, the ship is bumped slightly off course after a near collision with an asteroid its navigational equipment is damaged, and it will be unable to change direction. A scene from Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja’s film AniaraĪn immense and well-stocked spaceship sets out on what should be a routine voyage: shuttling eight thousand refugees to resettlement on Mars after Earth’s environment has been poisoned by a succession of nuclear wars.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |