Niels Fredrik Dahl’s award-winning novel, ”Fars rygg” (Father’s Back), translated into Swedish by Gun-Britt Sundström, is a profound exploration of loss, time, and the intricate tapestry of family history. The novel centers around Dahl’s deceased father, whose life was marked by a pervasive sense of loneliness and displacement. Spanning three generations, the narrative delves into the father’s upbringing in Egypt, his abrupt severance from his parents at the age of thirteen, and his subsequent experiences in boarding schools in Norway and Switzerland. Dahl weaves a tapestry of fragmented memories, historical events, and imagined scenarios, attempting to reconstruct a ”possible version” of his father’s life, a life shrouded in mystery and reticence. The novel serves as a poignant attempt to connect with a father who remained an enigma even in the closest of relationships.
Motivated by a deep sense of loss following his parents’ deaths, Dahl embarked on a literary quest to understand his parents as individuals beyond their roles as caregivers. He sought to uncover their lives before him, recognizing that the one-dimensional figures of his childhood were, in reality, complex individuals with rich histories of their own. This desire to unearth the hidden lives of his parents fueled both ”Fars rygg” and its predecessor, ”Mor om natten” (Mother at Night), a combined portrait of Dahl and his mother. In ”Fars rygg,” the father’s journey unfolds against the backdrop of a turbulent 20th century, navigating the complexities of displacement, social alienation, and the looming shadow of war. Sent to live with a bereaved couple in Norway, he inherits not only the clothes and belongings of their deceased son but also the weight of their unresolved grief. He becomes “the new one,” “the other,” struggling to find his place in a community still reeling from loss.
The search for connection and belonging becomes a recurring theme in the father’s life. He forms fleeting bonds in a Swiss boarding school, only to experience the sting of unrequited love. A similar pattern unfolds later in Norway, where a brief affair ends in rejection, prompting him to flee to Sweden to escape the encroaching Nazi regime. Each experience reinforces the father’s ingrained sense of solitude, a condition that shaped his character and contributed to his emotional detachment. This isolation, initially imposed upon him, eventually becomes a refuge, a shield against the uncertainties of the world. Dahl masterfully portrays this evolution of loneliness from a burden to a form of self-preservation.
Dahl’s narrative approach mirrors the fragmented nature of memory and the complexities of reconstructing the past. The chronology is deliberately fractured, jumping between different periods and locations, creating a layered, non-linear narrative reminiscent of the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. This disjointed structure reflects the author’s process of piecing together fragments of information – letters, photographs, and anecdotes – to create a cohesive, yet ultimately imagined, narrative. Dahl acknowledges the inherent fictionality of his reconstruction, admitting to inventing details and embellishing existing accounts to serve the narrative. The novel becomes a blend of fact and fiction, a testament to the subjective nature of memory and the challenges of capturing the essence of a life.
The image of the father’s back, recurring throughout the novel like a musical motif, serves as a powerful symbol of both vulnerability and strength. The narrator visualizes his father’s back as he navigates various life transitions, from arriving at a train station to fleeing his homeland. This image encapsulates the father’s emotional distance, his tendency to turn away from the world. Yet, it also evokes a sense of resilience and fortitude, the image of a strong back capable of bearing heavy burdens. This duality reflects the narrator’s complex relationship with his father, a mixture of admiration, longing, and a yearning to understand the man behind the withdrawn facade.
Dahl’s writing process involved extensive research, drawing on family documents, particularly the numerous letters written by his grandfather, ”The Judge,” to his son. He meticulously pieced together the available evidence, attempting to connect disparate events and create a plausible narrative. However, he stresses that the novel is not a biography but rather a fictionalized exploration of a life. He embraces the freedom afforded by fiction, allowing himself to invent scenarios and fill in the gaps in his knowledge. While photographs from the family album served as inspiration, Dahl also acknowledges incorporating imagined photographs, blurring the lines between reality and invention. This conscious blending of fact and fiction underscores the novel’s exploration of the elusive nature of truth and the subjective process of remembering. Dahl’s ”Fars rygg” is a testament to the power of storytelling to illuminate the hidden corners of family history and to offer a poignant reflection on the enduring impact of the past. It is a novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned, prompting readers to contemplate their own family narratives and the intricate web of relationships that shape our lives.
