Poetry
It
Det
Inger Christensen · 1969
Synopsis
A long poem of more than two hundred pages, in three parts, that runs from nothingness to the human world. The Prologos brings matter into being from an indefinite “it”, like a seed unfolding the universe, and ends on the isolated inhabitant of the cities. The Logos explores the relations of humans with one another, with nature and with language; the Epilogos lets the persistence of anguish be heard. The whole obeys numerical rules fixed in advance, and moves from prose litany to rhymed quatrain, from free verse to diary.
Context
The book was published by Gyldendal in 1969 and immediately became a national success; its framework owes much to the linguistics of Viggo Brøndal and to the reading of Chomsky, Lars Gustafsson or R. D. Laing, and it matches the libertarian mood of the late sixties. Lines from it have since been taken up in the country's political debate. Susanna Nied's English translation appeared in 2006; the French version, bilingual, waited more than fifty years and is published by La Rumeur libre in 2026.
Who it is for
Nearly five hundred pages in a bilingual edition, a continuous poem that can be entered at any point. Know before opening it that nothing in it is narrated.
Prizes and reception
Booksellers' Prize (De Gyldne Laurbær) and Danish Critics' Prize in 1969; the book by which its author became known outside Denmark.
Sources for this page 7
The pages consulted to check this page.