Fredrik Thomasson (European University Institute, Stockholm)
European University Institute, Stockholm: 'Raynal and Sweden. Colonial aspirations and censorship in political turmoil'

The Swedish reception of Raynal is an exemplary case of how French works and ideas were received in northern Europe during the last decades of the eighteenth century. Though the great interest in Raynal in Sweden is mostly evident around the years of the Revolution there are several examples of how his work was discussed in the 1770s and 1780s. Raynal wrote on Sweden and his comments on Swedish colonial history and aspirations are especially interesting and have been largely disregarded in the mostly sanitizing literature on Swedish colonial exploits (e.g. HDI, t. II, p. 207 ff., ed. 1774).

Raynal like some other non-Swedish writers (e.g. Mably) had an exaggerated view of the

freedom of expression during the so called Swedish ‘Age of Liberty‘ when royal power was curtailed by parliament. One could easily assert that Raynal and other mainly French writers used the Swedish example to hypothesize change in their own countries. Raynal even criticised the Swedish freedom as too wide-ranging and thus resulting in anarchy. He (and/or collaborators) introduced changes in the many editions of the HDI in line with political change in Sweden, especially after the coup re-establishing royal power in 1772.

My paper discusses the interplay between these ideas and centre on how somewhat idealised opinions on Sweden were put into relief by the French Revolution and how Raynal increasingly became seen as more and more radical and eventually was censored to the extent that not even his name was allowed to be mentioned in the Swedish press. 

But I also discuss some of the personal relationships Raynal had with Swedes. One such

hitherto unknown example comes from my thesis which is a scholarly biography of the Swedish diplomat and orientalist Johan David Åkerblad (1763–1819). Åkerblad is, if at all, known for his Egyptological work and as a predecessor of Champollion. He travelled extensively all over the Mediterranean and published in several languages on mainly oriental and classical Greek matters. He was an ardent supporter of constitutional change and often saw Raynal in Marseille during the spring of 1789. Åkerblad’s travel letters were published in Swedish papers and the way these were censored or edited – a thin line this year – is a telling example of how Raynal already before the Revolution was a controversial name in Sweden. 

Raynal was also frequently cited (and censored) in the works of the soon to be exiled Swedish poet and philosopher Thomas Thorild (1759–1808). The years following the Revolution were tumultuous in Sweden and led to the murder of the Swedish king Gustav III in 1792. Censorship got increasingly severe and Raynal was one of the early names on the ‘Swedish index' and can be used to track changes in Swedish-French relationships.

 

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