Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sic fairy-tale mission: to make his fortune in the big city. He tried and failed at various oc-
cupations until he eventually found success with his writing, initially with his poems and
plays, and then his first volume of short stories.
A neurotic, sexually ambivalent, highly strung hypochondriac, Andersen lived a
troubled life. It may go some way to explaining why he was such a restless nomad to the
last. Andersen's collected works (156 in all) include poems, novels, travel books, dramatic
pieces and three autobiographies. Succumbing to liver cancer, his final resting place is
Copenhagen's Assistens Kirkegård.
Hans Christian Andersen Sites
Den Gamle Gaard , Faaborg
Fyrtøjet , Odense
HC Andersens Barndomshjem , Odense
HC Andersens Hus , Odense
Assistens Kirkegård , Copenhagen
Realism & Modern Times
Acclaimed Prose
Around 1870 a trend towards realism emerged in Danish literature, dubbed the 'modern
breakthrough'. Focused on contemporary issues, the movement's leading figure was Georg
Brandes (1842-1927), a writer and social critic who called passionately for a style of liter-
ature designed to spark debate and challenge societal norms. Among those who achieved
this was Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847-85), his novel Marie Grubbe being the first in Den-
mark to deal with women's sexuality.
Another realist was Henrik Pontoppidan (1857-1943), who won a Nobel Prize for Liter-
ature (shared with compatriot Karl Gjellerup) in 1917 for 'his authentic descriptions of
present-day life in Denmark'. The prize would be given to Johannes Vilhelm Jensen in
1944, his historical novel The Fall of the King acclaimed as the best Danish novel of the
20th century in 1999.
The most famous Danish writer of the 20th century is Karen Blixen (1885-1962). Start-
ing her career with Seven Gothic Tales, published under the pen name Isak Dinesen, she is
best known for Out of Africa, the memoirs of her farm life in Kenya. Penned in 1937, it
 
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