Katrina (novel)
Encyclopedia
Katrina is a Swedish language
novel
published in 1936, written by Åland author Sally Salminen
. The publishing company Holger Schildts Förlag had announced a writing competition, for which Salminen had submitted her first draft of Katrina. Salminen won first prize, and the publisher agreed to publish the novel. According to a nephew of Salminen, Henrik Salminen, her publisher requested 12 different drafts before they finally published the novel. The novel was Salminen's first, and became a surprise success, eventually being translated into more than 20 languages, including English
, French
and German
.
On her native Åland the novel caused a bit of controversy, as several characters in the novel was perceived as being negative portrayals of locally influential persons on Åland at that time.
The novel has also been adapted into a feature film in 1943 by Swedish film director Gustaf Edgren, and a musical based on the novel, composed by Jack Mattsson, premiered on Åland in 1997.
n woman named Katrina marries a young man from Åland, Johan, who promises her an affluent life on Åland. Upon arriving on Åland, however, Katrina discovers Johan has greatly exaggerated his standing in society, and she enters a life of poverty and constant struggle against difficult circumstances and unsympathetic people in power.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
published in 1936, written by Åland author Sally Salminen
Sally Salminen
Sally Alina Ingeborg Salminen , later Salminen-Dührkopf, was an internationally renowned author from the Åland Islands, Finland.-Biography:Born in Vårdö, Åland, Sally Salminen was the eighth child of twelve...
. The publishing company Holger Schildts Förlag had announced a writing competition, for which Salminen had submitted her first draft of Katrina. Salminen won first prize, and the publisher agreed to publish the novel. According to a nephew of Salminen, Henrik Salminen, her publisher requested 12 different drafts before they finally published the novel. The novel was Salminen's first, and became a surprise success, eventually being translated into more than 20 languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
On her native Åland the novel caused a bit of controversy, as several characters in the novel was perceived as being negative portrayals of locally influential persons on Åland at that time.
The novel has also been adapted into a feature film in 1943 by Swedish film director Gustaf Edgren, and a musical based on the novel, composed by Jack Mattsson, premiered on Åland in 1997.
Plot summary
A young OstrobothniaOstrobothnia (region)
Ostrobothnia is a region of Finland. It is located in Western Finland. It borders the regions Central Ostrobothnia, Southern Ostrobothnia, and Satakunta and is one of the four regions making up the historical province of Ostrobothnia....
n woman named Katrina marries a young man from Åland, Johan, who promises her an affluent life on Åland. Upon arriving on Åland, however, Katrina discovers Johan has greatly exaggerated his standing in society, and she enters a life of poverty and constant struggle against difficult circumstances and unsympathetic people in power.