Hans Christian Andersen In American Literary Criticism Of The Nineteenth Century

In Hans Christian Andersen in American Literary Criticism of the Nineteenth Century, Herbert Rowland argues that the literary criticism accompanying the publication of Hans Christian Andersen’s works in the United States compares favorably in scope, perceptiveness, and chronological coverage with the few other national receptions of Andersen outside of Denmark. Rowland contends that American commentators made it abundantly evident that, in addition to his fairy tales, Andersen wrote several novels, travelogues, and an autobiography which were all of more than common interest. In the process, Rowland shows that American commentators “naturalized” Andersen in the United States by confronting the sensationalism in the journalism and literature of the time with the perceived wholesomeness of Andersen’s writing, deploying his long fiction on both sides of the debate over the nature and relative value of the romance and the novel, and drawing on three of his works to support their positions on slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Americans and other English speakers have long associated the name of Hans Christian Andersen exclusively with fairy tales for children. Danes and other Scandinavians, however, have preserved an awareness that the fairy tales are but part of an extensive and respectable lifework that embraces several other literary forms. Moreover, they have never lost sight of the fact that the fairy tales themselves address adults no less than children. Significantly, many of Andersen's coevals in the U.S. knew of his broader literary activity and the sophistication of his fairy tales. Major authors and critics commented on his various works in leading magazines and books, establishing a noteworthy corpus of criticism. One of them, Horace E. Scudder, wrote a seminal essay that surpassed virtually all contemporary writing on him in any language. The basic purpose of this study, the first of its kind, is to trace the course of American Andersen criticism over the second half of the nineteenth century and to view it in several American contexts.

Presents literary criticism on the works of nineteenth-century writers of all genres, nations, and cultures. Critical essays are selected from leading sources, including published journals, magazines, books, reviews, diaries, broadsheets, pamphlets, and scholarly papers. Criticism includes early views from the author's lifetime as well as later views, including extensive collections of contemporary analysis.

Hans Christian Andersen is indisputably the best known of all Scandinavian writers, his tales and stories having been translated probably into more languages than any other work except the Bible. He is also one of the greatest travelers of nineteenth-century belles lettres and few were the major European cities, capitals, and countries he did not visit, many of them several times: Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Weimar, Paris, and London. He met and became friends with some of the most outstanding representatives of the European artistic community: Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas père, Franz Grillparzer, Heinrich Heine, the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Clara and Robert Schumann, to mention a few. Andersen was the first notable Danish writer of proletarian origin, and even though he was never able to overcome his personal traumas, he became extremely successful in climbing the social ladder receiving invitations wherever he went from nobility and royalty and being showered with recognition and decorations. He read aloud to and was feted by Maximilian II of Bavaria, Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Grand Duchess Sophia of Austria, and Friedrich August II of Saxony. Even though he also was a frequent visitor at the Danish court Andersen always felt more appreciated abroad. In spite of Andersen's status as a world-renowned writer, no critical treatment has thus far discussed him as a key figure in European contemporary culture and a cosmopolitan personality. The contributors to the present volume -- all of whom are acclaimed Andersen scholars -- have made extensive use of the vast material available in Andersen's diaries, almanacs, autobiographies, and letters. Most of this material, now made available in English for the first time, allows a new Andersen to emerge, different from the traditional portrayal of him as a content and happy storyteller -- a myth indeed! To the contrary, all contributors of this volume discuss his complexity, the traumas and disillusionments of a professional artist constantly struggling to maintain his position and incessantly worried about running out of inspiration. This volume -- besides presenting biographical information in an international perspective -- focuses on Andersen's fascinating psychological make-up, his taste in music, literature, and the pictorial arts, the contemporary critical reception of his work, and explores his creative universe in a more general sense including his poetry, novels, plays, and travelogues. Andersen's overall artistic achievements are viewed in the context of world literature.

In 850 analytical articles, this two-volume set explores the developments that influenced the profound changes in thought and sensibility during the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. The Encyclopedia provides readers with a clear, detailed, and accurate reference source on the literature, thought, music, and art of the period, demonstrating the rich interplay of international influences and cross-currents at work; and to explore the many issues raised by the very concepts of Romantic and Romanticism.

Contains articles which focus on a broad spectrum of significant figures in fiction, philosophy, and criticism such as Austen, Carlyle, Dickens,Thackeray, the Brontes, Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whitman, Twain, and Henry James.