Hans Christian Andersen

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Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen.jpg
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. Yet, Andersen cannot be just considered a children's author; his fairy tales, called eventyrs in the Danish language translates more accurately to mean "fantastic tale". Their appeal to all ages has to do with an interpretation that can vary depending on the sophistication and age of the reader. 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

It doesn't matter about being born in a duckyard, as long as you are hatched from a swan's egg.

Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling

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 Bible. He also took his son to see the plays of 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. As legend goes, he liked to recite plays by Shakespeare and would have his wooden dolls act them out.

In 1816, his father died and the young boy found work 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 at the Royal Theatre, through music, dance and acting, but after many disappointments, he decided to continue more formal schooling. Jonas Collin, a well connected Arts pratron and advisor to the King took the young Hans Christian Andersen under his wing.

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]. His genius as a storyteller would be refelcted in his use of colloquialisms, and chatty humorous asides. As an author he would often try out his tales by reading them aloud to his friends.

Life as an author

Early works

[1] He published his first book A journey on Foot from Copenhagen to the Eastern Point of Amager in 1829. In the book, the protaganist meets an array of characters from St. Peter to a cat that can talk. He followed this success with a theatrical piece, Love on St. Nicholas Church Tower and a short volume of poems. One of his best loved poems was dedicated to the sister of a fellow student that he was in love with, Riborg Voigt. Purportedly a note to her was found around Andersen's neck when he died.

In 1831 the first of Andersen's travel books, Shadow-Pictures of a Journey to the Harz Mountains and Saxony was published. it reflects his travels to Germany where he was influenced by their culture and literature. He then received a small traveling grant from the King, and made the first of his long European journeys. In October 1834 he arrived in Italy, and inspired by the landscapes and local customs, Andersen would write his "breakthrough" autobiographical work of fiction. Often Andersen would install himself as the main character in his stories, drawing on his hardships from his youth intermixed with his travel experiences. The Improvisatore, set in Italy, was published in 1835 and established Andersen as an international author. Although not a children's book it does, like others in this genre, notably Dickens's David Copperfield and Brontë's Jane Eyre concentrate on the hero's childhood, an increasingly important theme to Romantics of the era.

Fairy tales

His initial attempts at writing fairy tales were re-written stories that he heard as a child as was the trend with Victorian era writing. However, Andersen brought this genre to a new level by writing a vast majority of original fairy tales. Initially, they were not met with recognition due partly to the difficulty in translating them and capturing his genius for humor and dark pathos. The year 1845 heralded a breakthrough for Andersen with four different translations of his fairy tales finding recognition. The first The Little Mermaid appeared in the popular periodical Bentley's Miscellany which enjoyed a large readership. To follow was a second volume Wonderful Stories for Children. Two other volumes enthusiastically reviewed were A Danish Story Book and Danish Fairy Tales and Legends. A review of the time which appeared in the journal The Anthenaeum said of Wonderful Stories..." this is a book full of life and fancy; a book for grandfathers no less than grandchildren, not a word of which will be skipped by those who have it once in hand." Among his most popular tales were The Ugly Duckling, The Princess and the Pea and The Emperor's New Clothes.

Meanwhile Charles Dickens was revolutionizing literature in England with his emphasis on emotional and sentimental content. A highlight of Andersen's European travels was a summer visit to Dicken's home. The two authors respected each other's work and had something important in common as writers: depictions of the poor and the underclass, who often had difficult lives affected at once by the Industrial Revolution and poverty. During this time of increased industrialism there was a growing sympathy for children and an idealization of the innocence of childhood. The time was ripe for fairy tales to be regarded as a key element in Nineteenth century culture and literature. Andersen's tales laid the groundwork for other children's classics to come such as Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

In 1855 Andersen published his autobiography The Fairy Tale of My Life.

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


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)

Further Reading

  • 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

  • Wullschläger Jackie, Hans Christian Andersen. The Life of a Storyteller, Penguin, 2000, ISBN 0226917479
  • "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

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