Hans Christian Andersen

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Hans Christian Andersen

Pseudonym(s):	HC Andersen
Born:	April 2, 1805 Odense, Denmark
Died:	August 4, 1875 Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupation(s):	novelist, short story writer, poet
Nationality:	Dane
Literary genre:	Children's literature, travelogue
Magnum opus:	The Little Mermaid
Influences:	Ludvig Holberg, William Shakespeare

Hans Christian Andersen [ˈhanˀs ˈkʰʁæʂd̥jan ˈɑnɐsn̩] or simply H.C. Andersen [hɔse ˈɑnɐsn̩], (April 2 1805 – August 4 1875) was a Danish author and poet. Although he was a proflic author who wrote plays, travel books, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his fairy tales, a literary genre that he was master of and whose works were immortalized in children's world literature. However, Andersen was not just a children's author; his fairy tales, called eventyrs in the Danish language translates more accurately to mean "fantastic tale". His stories, often dark tales of hard won redemption, hold universal lessons for all ages. He is Denmark's most famous son whose works were celebrated in 2005, the year of Hans Christian Andersen's bicentenary. [1]

Childhood

Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, on Tuesday, April 2 1805. He was the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. Although his mother was illiterate, his father encouraged his son's imagination, reading to him from the Arabian Nights and the Danish playwright Ludvig Holberg. His father constructed a small toy-theatre for him that the young H.C. would stage dramas with using hand made puppets. He liked to recite plays by Shakespeare and, as legend goes, he would have his wooden dolls act them out.

In 1816, his father died and the young boy worked as an apprentice for a tailor, but at age 14 he left for Copenhagen to seek "fame and fortune" as an actor. He spent three years attempting to establish himself in the theatre but after many disappointments he continued his schooling under the tutelage of a family friend and advisor to the King.

Hans Christian Andersen in 1869

Although he received a scholarship to study and sponsorship by King Frederick VI he experienced many difficulties as a student. He lived at the headmaster's home at Slagelse where he was unhappy and purportedly treated badly in order to "build character." He was not a good speller and was discouraged from writing, a situation which may have been exacerbated by dyslexia. His difficulties in writing, however, are also what would ultimately enable him to write in an accessible language rather than in the more stilted prose of the Victorian era.[2].

Life as an author

Andersen began his writing career writing travel sketches describing his various European travels. While in England, he met Charles Dickens who he was a great admirer of. He published poems and his first installment of fairy tales, (year) which initially went unrecognized. Andersen's first novel, the autobiographical The Improvisatore, was published in the beginning of 1835, and brought Andersen international recognition as an author. The Improvisatore was set in Italy and reflects his travels and interest in the local customs and people.

In the mid-1800s, Andersen published several long travelogues: Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831 (1831), A Poet's Bazaar (1842), In Spain (1863), and A Visit to Portugal in 1866 (1868). Picture-Book without Pictures (1840).

The fame of his Fairy Tales initially received greater acclaim throughout Europe than in his native Denmark. In 1838 and a third in 1845. Andersen continued to publish many works, although still hoping to excel as both novelist and dramatist, his true genius was expressed through his writing of Fairy Tales - two more collections appeared in 1847 and 1848. After a long silence, Andersen published a new novel To Be Or Not to Be in 1857. He continued publishing his Fairy Tales in installments, until 1872. He published his last stories at Christmas

A few of his stories such as http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/cgi/aesop1.cgi?hca&a126 "The Wild Swans"] and The Rose-Elf are adaptations of older folktales (for example, "The Wild Swans" might be a retelling of The Six Swans as recorded by the Brothers Grimm.)

Death

Fairy tales

Some of his most famous fairy tales include:

• The Angel [3]
• The Bell [4]
• The Emperor's New Clothes [5]
• The Fir Tree [6]
• The Happy Family [7]
• It's Quite True! [8]
• The Little Match Girl [9]
• The Little Mermaid [10]
• Little Tuk [11]
• The Nightingale [12]
• The Old House [13]
• Ole-Lukøie [14]
• The Princess and the Pea (also known as The Real Princess) [15]
• The Red Shoes [16]
• The Shadow [17]
• The Snow Queen [18]
• The Steadfast Tin Soldier [19]
• The Story of a Mother [20]
• The Swineherd [21]
• Thumbelina [22]
• The Tinder Box [23]
• The Ugly Duckling [24]
• The Wild Swans [25]

Naming conventions

Most English (as well as German and French) sources use the name "Hans Christian Andersen", but in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia he is usually referred to as merely "H. C. Andersen". His name "Hans Christian" is a traditional Danish name (and is used as a single name; it is incorrect to use only one of the two parts). It is an accepted custom in Denmark to use only the initials in this and a few other names (examples include "H.P.", short for "Hans Peter" and "J.C." or "I.C" short for "Jens Christian" and "H.H" short for "Hans Henrik")

Miscellaneous trivia

• April 2, Andersen's birthday, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.
• H.C. Andersen is also a Finnish band. Its name is a play on words as, the H.C. refers to hard core (punk) in this case, not Hans Christian: they play hardcore punk and "hardcore" is often abbreviated "HC".
• A $12.5m theme park based on Andersen's tales and life will open in Shanghai by the end of 2006. Multi-media games as well as all kinds of cultural contests related to the fairytales will reportedly be available to visitors. He was chosen as the star of the park because he is a "nice, hardworking person who was not afraid of poverty", Shanghai Gujin Investment general manager Zhai Shiqiang was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. (BBC Asia-Pacific 8/11/06)

D- I could not find info on this theme park. E

• He is the first known person to write a novel about a Philosopher's Stone.

Contemporary literary works inspired by Andersen's stories

• The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf by Kathryn Davis: a contemporary novel about fairy tales and opera
• The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge: an award-winning novel that reworks the Snow Queen's themes into epic science fiction
• The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey: a lyrical adult fantasy novel set in the courts of old Japan
• The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr: a novel that brings Andersen's fairy tale to colonial and modern America
• Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier: a romantic fantasy novel, set in early Ireland, thematically linked to "The Wild Swans"
• The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan: a gentle Young Adult fantasy novel that brings out the tale's subtle pagan and shamanic elements
• "The Snow Queen," a short story by Patricia A. McKillip (published in Snow White, Blood Red)
• "You, Little Match Girl," a short story by Joyce Carol Oates (published in Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
• "Sparks," a short story by Gregory Frost (based on The Tinder Box, published in Black Swan, White Raven)
• "Steadfast," a short story by Nancy Kress (based on The Steadfast Tin Soldier, published in Black Swan, White Raven)
• "The Sea Hag," a short story by Melissa Lee Shaw (based on The Little Mermaid, published in Silver Birch, Blood Moon)
• "The Real Princess," a short story by Susan Palwick (based on The Princess and the Pea, published in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears)
• "Match Girl," a short story by Anne Bishop (published in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears)
• "The Pangs of Love," a short story by Jane Gardam (based on The Little Mermaid, published in Close Company: Stories of Mothers and Daughters)
• "The Chrysanthemum Robe," a short story by Kara Dalkey (based on The Emperor's New Clothes, published in The Armless Maiden)
• "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," a short story by Joan Vinge (published in Women of Wonder)
• "In the Witch's Garden," a short story by Naomi Kritzer (based on The Snow Queen, published in Realms of Fantasy magazine, October 2002 issue)
• "The Last Poems About the Snow Queen," a poem cycle by Sandra Gilbert (published in Blood Pressure)

Bibliography

• Wullschläger Jackie, Hans Christian Andersen. The Life of a Storyteller, Penguin, 2000, ISBN 0226917479
• Dalager, Stig Journey in Blue, historical, biographical novel about H.C.Andersen, Peter Owen, London 2006, McArthur & Co., Toronto 2006. ISBN 0720612691

Notes

Jens Andersen; Andersen, En Biografi; Gyldendal, Copenhagen, 2 volumes, 2003

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• "Hans Christian Andersen." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hill, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
• "Hans Christian Andersen." Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, 2nd ed., 8 vols. Gale group, 2002. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.

External links

• The Hans Christian Andersen Center - contains many Andersen's stories in Danish and English
• The Hans Christian Andersen Museum has a large digital collection of Hans Christian Andersen papercuts, drawings, portraits and more.
• Hans Cristian Andersen at the Internet Movie Database
• Hans Christian Andersen Bicentenary Website from Danish Broadcasting Corp. (DR)- Features audio fairytales and interactive, multimedia features in Danish and English
• Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories
• The Orders and Medals Society of Denmark has descriptions of Hans Christian Andersen's Medals and Decorations.
• And the cobbler's son became a princely author Details of Andersen's life and the celebrations.
• Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales in English, Russian and Ukrainian
• Hans Christian Andersen: Fairytales and Stories Text of most of Andersen's fairy tales, with an extensive introduction and art based on Andersen's papercuts.
• Works by Hans Christian Andersen. Project Gutenberg
• Hans Christian Andersen Information (mainly in Danish) contains information about his life, childhood home, Hans Christian Andersen House and museum, fairy tales and stories, literary activities, drawings, papercuts and picture pages.
• Andersen online potrait gallery
• Funabashi H. C. Andersen Park (in Japanese) Main Article : H. C. Andersen Park (アンデルセン公園)

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