Heroismens abjekt i Stig Dagermans Skuggan av Mart

The Dilemma of Neutrality and Heroism in Stig Dagerman’s Skuggan av Mart To participate or not to participate in the war is the central dilemma of Stig Dagerman’s drama Skuggan av Mart (The Shadow of Mart) which can be considered as a modern tragedy. In my paper, I will examine the problem of neutrality and heroism in conflicts between characters. As one of the most remarkable writers of Swedish modernism, Dagerman wrote about the horrors of war in different genres. Undoubtedly, his most important literary contribution was the surrealistic masterpiece De dömdas ö (Island of the Doomed). Furthermore, he published a reportage book German Autumn (1947) which presented the post-war Germany. In 1948, he published Skuggan av Mart. As Ingemar Algulin states in his The History of Swedish Literature: “The Shadow of Mart … can be seen as a sort of tentative apotheosis of the anti-heroic human ideals of the postwar period.” The drama presents a family traumatized by the war. The title of the play refers to a non-existing person, Marty, who is highly valued and admired by his mother, Angelica. However, the real protagonist of the play is the other boy, Gabriel, who survived the war. He is very shy, introverted personality who is constantly humiliated by his mother. His character embodies neutrality while the memory of his brother represents heroism. This paper will discuss how post-war ethical dilemmas are reflected in family relationships. Why is it necessary to deconstruct categories, whether in the question of heroism or neutrality?