Elpidi och Plus salis : Två böcker av Vilhelm Ekelund - belysta i relation till spelets fenomen / Elpidi and Plus salis : Two books by Vilhelm Ekelund - analyzed in relation to the phenomenon of play

This essay is interested in the Swedish poet, essayist and aphorist Wilhelm Ekelund’s (1880 – 1949) writing. The aim of the essay is to contribute to an understanding of Ekelund’s later writing, which has been described as enigmatic. The literary analysis of the essay focuses on two of Ekelund’s later works: Elpidi (Hope) from 1939 and Plus salis (More salt) from 1945.  A phenomenological and hermeneutic method is used to study the phenomenon of play and its significance in Ekelund’s later poetics. The essay originates in a sentence by the German hermeneutic Hans Georg Gadamer which defines how the ontology of the work of art can contribute to artistic insights through a philosophical definition of play. In addition to Gadamer’s philosophical description in Wahrheit und Methode from 1960, play is explained based on three additional theorists: the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga’s work Homo ludens from 1938, the Austrian logician and philosopher of language Ludwig Wittgenstein’s work Philosophical Investigations from 1953 and Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus from 350 BCE.   Ekelund’s two works are analysed based on the four theories about the phenomenon of play, and based on previous research on Ekelund’s authorship. In the results, it appears that the phenomenon of play has significance in Ekelund’s later poetics, as Ekelund treats the play from different perspectives in 24 of his aphorisms. No previous research shed lights on the phenomena of play in Ekelund’s poetics, which makes this essay’s contribution to the understanding of Ekelund’s later writings. The results indicates that the philosophical definition of play, as presented in Phaedrus, was relevant to Ekelund as “the apollonic road” to both an understanding and expression of the art and the mind.