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.
