Myth as an Interpretive Paradigm of Reality: Strindberg’s and Göranson’s Inferno

This essay examines August Strindberg’s novel "Inferno" (1897) and Fabian Göranson's graphic adaptation of the story "August Strindbergs Inferno" (2010), by devoting special attention to the category of myth present in the works. By singling out and charting the myth of the hero and the myth of the city that both seem to sustain the narrative in the novel, the attempt is to discuss challenges, strategies, choices and solutions in Göranson’s visual display of these myths. The article ultimately wishes to show how the comic format succeeds in communicating multiple layers of meaning through its images: contents at times embedded in the source material and at other times wholly dependent on the cartoonist's personal imagery and independent creative vein.