“Ett Swänskt och redligt Nit”. Essäpress och tragedi i svensk frihetstid

The article discusses the relation between the genres of essay press and tragedy during the Swedish so-called Age of Liberty. The writings and carriers of two authors, Andreas Hesselius (“Americanus”) (1714–1762) and Olof Celius the Younger (1716–1794) stand as examples and a comparison between them as authors of both essay press and of tragedy respectively is made. These genres, it is argued, are fruitful to discuss in tandem, as well as in the context of the literary system and the political landscape. Hesselius and Celsius where both young political activists when they together published the journal Thet Swenske Nitet (1738). They had the ambition to enhance the Swedish literature and language, and to promote political ideas, and their own carriers. With the same purposes they also individually wrote some of the first tragedies in the Swedish language. These tragedies are marked by political tendencies, royalistic and patriotic ideals and (an imaginative) use of history, and analyses of the dramas also points to the importance of analysing the rhetorical dimension of these tragedies.