["While breathing, one will die"--descriptions of diseases in the writings of Carl Michael Bellman].
The Swedish poet Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795) was one of the world's great song-writers. His exuberant characters include society's outcasts, many of them portrayed in great detail, with suffering and death frequently forming the backdrop for his often joyous poetry which gives unique glimpses of the living conditions in 17th-century Stockholm. The article is based on a study of the Swedish Bellman Society's "Standardupplaga", the complete edition in 19 volumes of the work of C.M. Bellman (published 1921-2001). Bellman described many of the most important diseases of his time. The descriptions are often mere depictions of symptoms and allusions to disease. They reflect Bellman's distinctive and extremely visual narrative technique, as well as the literary and social frames of reference of his time. It is argued that his frequent descriptions of suffering and death are among the reasons for, and not contradictory to, the reception he has received as a poet of life and joy.
Brean
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Nevrokirurgisk avdeling Rikshospitalet 0027 Oslo. a-brea@online.no
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000266:history; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000266:history; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history; D005197:Famous Persons; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D011037:Poetry as Topic / Q000266:history*; D012940:Social Problems / Q000266:history*; D013548:Sweden; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000266:history