Danish Literature as World Literature

by Dan Ringgaard (Editor), Mads Rosendahl Thomsen (Editor), Thomas Oliver Beebee (Editor)

Despite being a minor language, Danish literature is one of the world's most actively translated, and the Scandinavian country is the home of a number of significant writers. Hans Christian Andersen remains one of the most translated authors in the world, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard inspired modern Existentialism, Karen Blixen chronicled her life in colonial Kenya as well as writing imaginary, cosmopolitan tales, and the writers among the circles of literary critic Georg Brandes in the late 19th century were especially important to the further development of European Modernism.

Danish Literature as World Literature introduces key figures from 800 years of Danish literature and their impact on world literature. It includes chapters devoted to post-1945 literature on beat and systemic poetry as well as the Scandinavia noir vogue that includes both crime fiction and cinema and is enjoying worldwide popularity.

296 pages, Hardcover

First published February 9, 2017

About the author

Dan Ringgaard er dr.phil. og lektor i nordisk litteratur ved Aarhus Universitet. Han har udgivet blandt andet Den poetiske lækage. Sophus Claussens lyrik, rejsebøger og essayistik (2000), Digt og rytme (2002), Nordbrandt (2005) og Stedssans (2010). Dan Ringgaard modtog Georg Brandes-prisen 2010 for Stedssans.

Reviews

[Kārlis Vērdiņš · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books in the Bloomsbury's Literatures as World Literature series. Its chapters follows the most important authors and trends in Danish literature in chronological order, focusing on such figures as Saxo the Grammarian, Ludvig Holberg, Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, Georg Brandes, Herman Bang, Karen Blixen, as well as Inger Christensen and her generation of poets. Danish literature is a small literature with big names, indeed!