We would like to introduce some representative authors to help readers gain more information and understanding of Danish literature.
BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS IN THE GARDEN (4)
OLSEN Ernst Bruun (1923-2011) was a Danish playwright. He studied acting and directing.
He wrote plays that criticized the main problems of bourgeois society, such as the entertainment industry in Love in the Twenties (1962); the manipulation of public opinion and the growth of militarism and neo-fascism in Must the Booksellers Wake Up? (Men Boghandleren kan Ikke Sove, 1963) and The Radio Nightmare (Et Fjernsynsmareridt, 1964). Olsen analyzed the reformist character of socialism in Dancing in the Bourgeoisie .
PONTOPPIDAN Henrik (1857-1948) was a Danish writer. Nobel Prize in 1917.
He was the son of a pastor, studied engineering but dropped out, taught, and soon made a living by his writing. He is an outstanding representative of Danish critical realism literature, delving into social psychology.
The early stories are naturalistic in nature, expressing indignation at social injustice and sympathy for the rural proletariat.
Pontoppidan satirically denounced the hypocrisy of the liberal bourgeois tendency in his short story collection Clouds (Skyer, 1890), while remaining faithful to the romantic and symbolic tradition in a number of other novels.
The three-volume novel The Promised Land (Det Forjiaettede Land, 1891-1895) and the novel Per' so do (Lykke Per, 1898-1904) present dreary images of rural and urban life in the late 19th century.
Per' so do (often considered his greatest work) demonstrates that in capitalist society, hard work and talent get you nowhere. Success depends on money, power and ruthlessness; the main characters find a way out by shunning society, or using their wealth for good.
The novel The World of the Dead (De Dodes Rige, 1912-1916) written in the context of World War I, presents the image of a decadent society and speaks of the failure of individuals, the irresolvable contradiction between bourgeois humanitarian ideals and capitalist social reality - the author's helplessness.
In general, Pontoppidan's works are optimistic, but still have a gray color, typical of the Danish novel tradition (mainly depicting the lower classes, people living suffocating lives).
RIJBJERG Klaus (1931-2015) was a pioneer writer in the modernization of Danish literature after the war, from the 60s. Rejuvenating lyric poetry, inventing language.
His novels and short stories are provocative, often depicting puberty and sexuality. In the 70s and 80s, fiction and harsh reality mixed together.
He is also a prolific critic and publisher.
SAXO Grammaticus (1150-1220) was a medieval Danish historian. Of noble birth. Commissioned by Absalon, the archbishop of Roskilde, to write in Latin the historical work Gesta Danorum: this book (published in Paris in the early 16th century) is a collection of oral literature and fairy tales, of linguistic value, and is a source of ancient Nordic literature.
SKOU-HANSEN Tage (1925-2015) was a Danish writer, born in Fredericia, from a bourgeois family. He studied literature, worked as a publishing editor, taught, and wrote novels.
Early works were written about the period of resistance against the Nazi occupation of Denmark, such as: The Stars of the Day (Dagstjernen, 1962). Skou-Hansen clearly showed the phenomena of alienation and decadence of the bourgeoisie in the novel The Other Side (Paa den Anden Side, 1965).
VOSS Tage (1918-2017) was a Danish writer, born in Copenhagen. His father was an art dealer. He studied medicine, practiced medicine, and worked in journalism and radio.
Voss wrote fiction and essays. His first collection of essays, Tidens Ultimatum (1954), exposed the inhumanity of capitalist society and the historical inevitability of socialism.
The short story collection The Foreigners (De Fremmede, 1966) denounced the barbaric acts of Nazi Germany. Voss also wrote about island life and the relationship between humans and the forces of nature.
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