Georg Brandes in the context of "Danish literature"

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⭐ Core Definition: Georg Brandes

Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind the "Modern Breakthrough" of Scandinavian culture. At the age of 30, Brandes formulated the principles of a new realism and naturalism, condemning hyper-aesthetic writing and also fantasy in literature. His literary goals were shared by some other authors, among them the Norwegian "realist" playwright Henrik Ibsen.

When Georg Brandes held a series of lectures in 1871 with the title "Main Currents in 19th-century Literature", he defined the Modern Breakthrough and started the movement that would become Cultural Radicalism. In 1884 Viggo Hørup, Georg Brandes, and his brother Edvard Brandes started the daily newspaper Politiken with the motto: "The paper of greater enlightenment". The paper and their political debates led to a split of the liberal party Venstre in 1905 and created the new party Det Radikale Venstre.

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👉 Georg Brandes in the context of Danish literature

Danish literature (Danish: Dansk litteratur) stretches back to the Middle Ages. The earliest preserved texts from Denmark are runic inscriptions on memorial stones and other objects, some of which contain short poems in alliterative verse. In the late 12th century Saxo Grammaticus wrote Gesta Danorum. During the 16th century, the Lutheran Reformation came to Denmark. During this era, Christiern Pedersen translated the New Testament into Danish and Thomas Kingo composed hymns. Fine poetry was created in the early 17th century by Anders Arrebo (1587–1637). The challenges faced during Denmark's absolute monarchy in 1660 are chronicled in Jammersminde (Remembered Woes) by Leonora Christina of the Blue Tower. Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and Humanism, is considered the founder of modern Danish and Norwegian literature. Neoclassical poetry, drama, and the essay flourished during the 18th century influenced by French and English trends. German influence is seen in the verse of the leading poets of the late 18th century such as Johannes Ewald and Jens Baggesen. Other 18th century writers include the hymn writer Hans Adolph Brorson and the satirical poet Johan Herman Wessel.

During Denmark's Golden Age (1800–1850), literature centred on Romantic thinking, with authors such as philosopher Henrik Steffens (1773–1845) and the poet Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789–1862). One of the most important figures in Danish literary culture was Nikolaj Grundtvig (1783–1872). Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) is remembered first and foremost for his fairy tales, written between 1835 and 1872. Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was an existentialist philosopher and a theologian. Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847–1885) began the naturalist movement in Denmark with his romantic, melancholic poems. The Modern Breakthrough was a Scandinavian movement influenced by naturalism towards the end of the 19th century (1870–1890), led by Georg Brandes (1842–1927). Other writers include Holger Drachmann (1846–1908), Herman Bang (1857–1912), and Sophus Schandorph (1836–1901).

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Georg Brandes in the context of Dziady (poem)

Dziady (Polish pronunciation: [ˈdʑadɨ] , 'Forefathers' Eve') is a poetic drama by the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. It is considered one of the greatest works of both Polish and European Romanticism. To George Sand and Georg Brandes, Dziady was a supreme realization of Romantic drama theory, to be ranked with such works as Goethe's Faust and Byron's Manfred.

The drama's title refers to Dziady, an ancient Slavic and Lithuanian feast commemorating the dead (the "forefathers"). The drama has four parts, the first of which was never finished. Parts I, II and IV were influenced by Gothic fiction and Byron's poetry. Part III joins historiosophical and individual visions of pain and annexation, especially under the 18th-century partitions of Poland. Part III was written ten years after the others and differs greatly from them. The first to have been composed is "Dziady, Part II", dedicated chiefly to the Dziady Slavic feast of commemoration of the dead which laid the foundations of the poem and is celebrated in what is now Belarus.

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Georg Brandes in the context of Edvard Brandes

Carl Edvard Cohen Brandes (21 October 1847 – 20 December 1931) was a Danish politician, critic and author, and the younger brother of Georg Brandes and Ernst Brandes. He had a Ph.D. in eastern philology.

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Georg Brandes in the context of Modern Breakthrough

The Modern Breakthrough (Danish: Det moderne gennembrud; Norwegian: Det moderne gjennombrudd; Swedish: Det moderna genombrottet) was a movement of naturalism and debating literature of Scandinavia which replaced romanticism near the end of the 19th century.

The term "The Modern Breakthrough" is used about the period 1870-1890 in the history of literature in Scandinavia, which in this period had a breakthrough from the rest of Europe. Danish theorist Georg Brandes is often considered to be the "wire-puller" behind the movement, although some of the authors had already begun to write in a realistic style before he formulated the aesthetic paradigm of the movement. His lectures at Copenhagen University starting 1871 and his work Main Currents in 19th Century Literature (Danish: Hovedstrømninger i det 19. Aarhundredes Litteratur) mark the beginning of the period.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Dziady (poem) ← Edvard Brandes ← Modern Breakthrough ← Danish literature
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Scandinavian literature → Modern Breakthrough → Literary realism → Naturalism (literature) → Realism (theatre) → Henrik Ibsen → Cultural Radicalism → Viggo Hørup → Edvard Brandes → Politiken → Venstre (Denmark) → Det Radikale Venstre →