ABSTRACT
Madman and genius, Titan and barbarian, woman hater and the people’s poet – these are just a few of the many labels often attached to August Strindberg’s name. Strindberg’s efforts to shape his own image were instrumental in that his controversial figure still looms above his work. Scraps of a life of which every aspect was made deliberately public in the name of literature or theatre and testimonies by acquaintances, fellow artists, and political, religious, scientific, and legislative authorities have provided inexhaustible source material for Strindberg criticism over the past century. An overview of Strindberg’s reception, from his own time to today, reflects intriguing historical changes and topical variants in the public consciousness that have produced critical approaches and their apparatuses. The following pages attempt to contextualise some of these diverse accounts – by both Strindberg and his critics – and identify significant instances in his life that served as ground for myth construction.
