Serafita

by Honoré de Balzac, Pernille Bergendorff (Translator)

På et slot i Norge nær Strømfjord lever Serafitus. Et sært og melankolsk væsen, der gemmer på en frygtelig hemmelighed. Serafitus elsker Minna, og kærligheden er gengældt med en stormende intensitet. Men Serafitus elsker også Wilfrid, som gengælder kærligheden med en kraft, der ikke engang overgås af naturen selv. Seraphitus er en mand, når han er sammen med Minna, og en kvinde, Serafita, når hun er sammen med Wilfrid.

Balzac bliver ofte betragtet som realismens grundlægger, men fra denne historie første gang blev trykt i Revue de Paris I 1834, stod det klart, at han også dyrker og mestrer andre litterære genrer. Og mesteren betragtede selv denne bog som sit hovedværk. Han blander elegant sin tids verdenssyn med myter, filosofi, spiritualitet og religion. I virkeligheden er Serafita det perfekte, androgyne menneske eller en slags engel – eller et Frankensteins monster. Skabt af forældre i det dunkle lys af Emanuel Swedenbergs rationalistiske mysticisme (som også spiller en væsentlig rolle i Lars von Triers Riget) er hun det fremmeste billede på det nye menneske og den nye religion.

190 år efter historiens første udgivelse spiller Bogens temaer ind i den tid, vi står i. Det androgyne som kønsidentitet og som kærlighed. Det er det spirituelle og mystiske, der forener ånd og krop med den vilde, kolde, nordiske natur og tanken om en helt ny måde at være menneske på.

Genres: Classics

237 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2023

About the author

French writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as La comédie humaine .

Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.

Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.

Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.