{
    "system": "GoGuides Verified Text",
    "api_version": "verified-text-v1",
    "status": "ok",
    "response_type": "verified_text_record",
    "source_key": "britannica_1926",
    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
    "license_code": "public_domain",
    "attribution": null,
    "license_url": null,
    "chunk_id": "1926:danish literature:a4dec7e27d67",
    "title": "DANISH LITERATURE",
    "section": null,
    "hash_alg": "sha256",
    "hash_sha256": "0d6a763757db2d6d44dd7866c977d4537a1bc76c2b0dc394b7a88811352e6c66",
    "normalizer": {
        "name": "ggnorm",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    "verified_text": "denmark, though fortu- nately not directly involved in the world war, inevitably felt, as did other countries, the eilfects of the war and all it meant. there was first a period of excitement and enhanced vitality, de- generating at times into coarse indulgence; then a collapse of old and established ideas under the pressure of military, political and social disasters; and finally an attempt at re-orientation towards the problems of existence. this last was apparent, partly in ardent devotion to spiritual and religious questions, and again in a cold and clear appreciation of human and material possibilities. intellectual life (which in denmark is by no means confined to the social ‘ upper ”’ classes) exhibits a forceful up- ward tendency in almost every sphere. the novel.—tit is in this branch of literature that the move- ment is most clearly apparent. jakob knudsen (d.1917: coll. works 1917) in a series of novels, of which rodfuestet (1911) and angst og mod (1912-4) belong to this period, writes with deep feeling of human lives upborne by religious and ethical values. his characters are chiefly taken from the grundtvigian home- steads of the agricultural districts. johan skjoldborg (coll. works rorr and 1g21t) and jeppe aakjaer (coll. works 1918-9) choose for their heroes a somewhat more modern type of peasant and smallholder. thorkild gravlund, again, takes up the con- servative tendency found in jakob knudsen, but with more stress d’ancona—danish literature on the social-psychological aspect of the locality (nvilavs, 1915-8; herredet, 1919). . . has also written purely scientific studies of folk psychology such as dunsk-folkekarakter, 1-3 (1920). among books dealing with peasant life, the works of marie bregendahl must also be mentioned. the monumental work of martin anderson nex6 introduces a new class, that of the proletariat (pelle erobreren, 1906-10; detie menneskebarn, 1917, et seq.). the social novel on a large scale is represented by henrik pontoppidan (nobel prize, 1917), who adds to his previous novel sequences a new one, de dedes rige (1912-6), giving a general view of denmark as it was before the war. middle-class society in copenhagen is dealt with by poul levin and otto rung (den lange nat, 1913; paradisfuglen, 1918; da vandene sank, 1922). the action of the two last named stories takes place during the war, as also that of livets arabesk, 1921, by tom kristensen, a pronounced artist type. quaint sketches of provincial life are given by johannes buchholtz (egholms gud, 1915) and anders thuborg (fn afkrog af verden, 1918). a talented writer of seafaring stories appears in knud anderson ( j/avet, 1924). men- tion must also be made of thit jensen, with sven lange and karl larsen, who commenced semi-biographical novel sequences dealing with the years following 1870. the psychological problem novel, to which category most of the above-mentioned works belong in some degree, is represented more especially by harald kidde (d.1918: zjelten, 1912), knud hjorte (tvelys, 1917), karin michaelis (den farlige alder, 1910; pigen med glasskaarene, 1924), johs. anker-larsen (de vises sten, 1923, awarded the gyldendal literature prize) and tom kristensen (en anden, 1923). apart from all these is johs. v. jensen, one of the most important renewers of the danish language since ochlenschliiger (coll. works 1916). particularly noteworthy are his short stories, the novel sequence the long journey, translated into english 1924, and his collections of poems. novels of a partly historical nature were written by gyrithe lemche (/dvardsguve, 1900-24) and svend leopold ( holberg, 1922-4). lyrical poctry.—this has always been the favourite form with danish writers, and the art of verse was represented during igto-25 by a number of highly talented poets. among the older writers, who made their debue in the ’eighties and ‘nineties, are sophus claussen, who at the age of 60 published his most beauti- ful collection of poems (jteroica, 1924; coll. works, 1918), johan- nes jorgensen (selected works, 1915: der er en brend, som rinder, 1920). this generation also included helge rode, ludvig hol- stein, olaf hansen, l. c. nielsen, kai hoffmann, thor lange (d.1915), christian rimestad and theger larsen. jeppe aak- jer, who is not uninfluenced by robert burns, excels in the writing of lyrics. valdemar rerdam, the translator of kipling (selected poems, 1-2, 1923) is unique in splendour of rhythm and imagery, and in his spiritual outlook contrasts with johs. v. jensen, whose tendency is scientific and materialistic. among the younger writers, harald bergstedt (sange fra provinsen, 1-4, 1913-24), tom kristensen (paafuglefieren, 1922), hans h. seedorff (vinlev og vedbend, 1916: afod fremmede stjerncr, 1919) and emil bennelycke (selected poems, 1922) attracted most attention. kai friis-mdeller, and a new writer of talent, william waagner, should also be noted. the drama.—there is little to show during that period. a few writers may be mentioned: sven lange (sansom og dalila, 1909; auerlighcden og deden, 1914), otto benzon (foraeldre, 1923), carl gandrup (faldne engle, 1923; fru beates’ regnskab, 1925) and svend borberg (jigen, 1920). books of travel——more or less in the form of stories and sketches, these include subjects from all parts of the globe. knud rasmussen deals ethnographically with the arctic regions which he has recently studied on his numerous journeys in the danish colony of greenland. aage krarup niclsen has written of life in the antarctic (fn hvalfangerferd, 1921) and, like ebbe korn- erup, of the far east; jiirgen jiirgensen of the congo; ijenning kehler of bolshevik russia (russiske kroniker, 1920). mention must also be made of johannes jergensen’s beautiful sketches of the south. d’annunzio _ a remarkable and valuable contribution to modern danish literature is made by icelandic authors writing in danish (see icelandic literature). criticism and literary history —georg brandes, whose view of literature was rather that of the agitator than of the aesthetic critic, and who, despite his great age, produced notable works (goethe, 1915; voltaire, 1916; caesar, 1918; afichelangelo, 1921), was followed by a series of highly dissimilar critics. harald nielsen (afoderne littcratur, 1904, and a further collection 1923; holberg i nutidsbelysning, 1923) was the first to appear in op- position to brandes, though as a critic he does not differ essential- ly from the older leader. the critical work of hans brix (gu- dernes tungemaal, 1911) has a marked aesthetic element, which has been further developed by henning kehler (om jbseus dramaer, in “‘ edda,” 1916). a decisive factor in the change of aesthetic views is the work of wilhelm wanscher (om den aestetiske opfattelse af kunst, 1906; italicn og den store stil, 1921). the leading name among the older writers of literature history is unquestionably that of vilhelm andersen, whose great work on lines of development in danish literature (tider og typer, 1-4, 1907-16) was still in process of completion in 1925. in collab- oration with carl s. petersen, he was also issuing at that period a ilistory of danish literaiure (1922, ete.) to appear in three volumes. valdemar vedel described the development of euro- pean culture from the middle ages to the baroque, based on a comprehensive study of the literature. among the younger writers may be mentioned paul v. rubow (dansk literer kri- tik i. xix., aarh., 1921). a factor of importance in the study of danish literature is the danish literature society, founded in 1911, which, in addition to critical editions of earlier danish writers (johs. ewald, seren kierkegaard, blicher, etc.), had undertaken to produce a dictionary of the danish language, estimated to comprise 20 volumes, of which seven had already appeared in 1925. the study of holberg was advanced by the publication of a holberg year book, of which six volumes also appeared, and by several new editions of his works. history, philosophy, etc—the abundant activity in various directions, inaugurated and, to some extent, maintained by older historians such as kr. erslev, johs. steenstrup, trocls- lund (d.1921), was carried on by a younger generation. erik arup issued the first volume of a history of denmark, based on materialistic principles. individual periods and personalities have been dealt with by aage friis and knud fabricius. a work of remarkable intuition is vilh. grenbech’s vor folkeat 1 old- tiden (1909-12). a fourth edition of the well-known topograph- ical work traps danmark was about to be published at the close of 1925. the publications of the danish folkemindesamling should be noted, as also the amfemoirer og breve serics (1-46), edited by jul. clausen and rist (1905-25). of the older philo- sophical writers, kromann died in 1925. h. h6ffding at an ad- vanced age, published new works (den store himer, 1916). among the younger generation herbert iversen (d.1920) at- tracted particulary attention with his work to fssays om vor erkendelse (1918). theology had nothing of very great impor- tance to offer after p. o. ryberg hansen's frasgelierne som kilder til jesu liv (1904) and the various works of f’. c. krarup and j. c. jacobsen. religious history, on the other hand, at- tracted several writers, e.g., i. p. jacobsen (d.1918) (afanes, 1914-6), johs. pedersen (israe/, 1920) and vilh. grenbech (ke- ligidse stremninger 1. det xix., aarh., 1922). an illustrated history of religion, edited by e. lehmann (1924), and a collec- tion of the principal texts in the religions of the world (translated into danish), edited by poul tuxen, appeared in rg19~24. bibliogra phy.— interesting documents illustrating the intellectual movements of the period appear in the autobiography of johs. jor- gensen, mit livs legende, 1-6, 1916-9 and v. vedel’s collections of essays, menneskelighed, 1920, and firsernes forerc, 1923; also helge rode’s pladsen med de grenne traeer, in which a neo-christian awakening finds expression. the following works by the above authors have been translated into english: karin michaelis, the dangerous age (1912); martin an- dersen nexo, pelle the conqueror (1920) and ditte girl aline (1921-3); johannes v. jensen, the long journey (1922-4); and j. anker-jarsen, the philosopher's stone (1924). (c. ro.*) sil d’annunzio, gabriele (1863- ), italian poet, man of letters and soldier (sce 2.78). the years tgo8—-21 were of great importance in d’annunzio’s career, not only in the field of litera- ture, but also in that of war and politics. in 1908 he produced la nave, a vivid presentation of the early history of venice, setting forth his aspirations for italy’s destiny as a great sea power and as the mistress of the adriatic—a curious forecast of his future political action. the following year fedra, a classical drama, appeared; and in ror le murivre de st. sebasticn, a dramatic mystery play in french verse with musical interludes by de- bussy, was first performed in paris. though a remarkable four de force and appreciated as such by french critics, this play was hardly one of his greatest achievements. la pisanella ou la mort parfumee (1914), also written in french and produced in paris, was a picturesque reconstruction of the medieval levant de- picted by the author in gorgeous colours. the same year he produced j] ferro, an italian version of chevrefeuille (paris, 1913), a drama of modern life, with a plot adapted from hamlet and containing some powerful scenes. parisina, a lyric tragedy in a renaissance setting, with music by mascagni, was first performed at milan, also in 1914. d’annun- zio, though greatly attracted by the stage, did not abandon the ficld of fiction, and in 1910 he published forse che si, forse che no, a powerful, but somewhat long-winded novel, in which aviation played a considerable part. la leda senza cigno (1913), consist- ing partly of essays and partly of fiction, originally appeared in the corriere della sera, and was afterwards issued in three vol- umes with a /icenza in 1917. his purely poetic output was limited to the canzoni della gesta d’oliremara (1912), which dealt with the libyan war and contained some admirable verse, as well as violent invectives against the powers which were, in his opinion, hampering italy in her mediterranean policy. on the outbreak of the world war d’annunzio was living in france, having had to leave italy on account of financial diffi- culties; but the moment the conflict began he became convinced of the necessity for italy’s intervention, in order to attain com- plete unity and to establish her sovereignty in the adriatic. ilis addresses to the italian people, full of cloquent and inspiring patriotism, were afterwards published in a volume per la pit grande italia (1915). in the spring of 1915 he returned to italy; his.speeches at quarto (near genoa), during the garibaldi cele- brations and also those which he made in rome aroused wide- spread enthusiasm, and undoubtedly contributed largely to italy’s intervention. from the moment italy declared war d’an- nunzio’s career became one of the most romantic of modern times; for the man who had hitherto been regarded mercly as a sensuous aesthete and a decadent, and whose only claim to distinction had been his exquisite sense of beauty and his mastery of the language, now proved himself to be not only a man of action and a soldier of almost incredible bravery, but also a politician who for many months defied powerful governments and received the attention of the world. on active service —although 52 years old, he at once volun- teered for active service. having been a reserve cavalry officer in the novara lancers, he first joined the cavalry; but as at the time there seemed little chance of active service in that arm, he attached himself to the 77th infantry and spent many months in the carso trenches, always in the most exposed positions. impatient for still greater sacrifices, he next joined the head- quarters of the navy in venice, and took part in many torpedo and submarine raids. finally he joined the air service in the hope of achieving immortality even at the cost of his life. his exploits in the air were of the most fantastic nature, and he be- came an airman of the first rank. in one of his flights he lost an eye, in another was wounded in the wrist and on several occa- sions his aeroplane was riddled with bullets. in aug. 1918 he led a flight over vienna, dropping propaganda pamphlets over the city. this exploit was particularly audacious, owing to the great distance over enemy country which had to be covered. his gallantry caused him to be promoted lieutenant- colonel, and he was decorated with the gold medal for valour (a | distinction corresponding to the british v.c.), as well as with 812 four silver and two bronze medals; he was also created officer of the military order of savoy. on being demobilised in june 1g19, he received an exceptionally flattering letter from the chief of the general staff, who regretted the loss of his valuable as- sistance, and expressed the hope that he would continue to re- main “‘ spiritually ” in the army as an example of “ faith, heroism and self-sacrifice.”” during the first period of the war he pub- lished ro war poems, some of them of great beauty; and after caporetto he delivered several cloquent addresses, which were afterwards collected in za riscossa. on the buccari enterprise he wrote za beffa dt buccari (1918). seizure of fiume.—after the armistice the attitude of the allied powers, and especially that of president wilson, towards italy, aroused d’annunzio’s bitter indignation, and his letters and articles in this connection, collected in the volume coniro uno € contro tutti (1919), occupy a place in the literature of invective. the extreme violence of his language helped to em- bitter the relations between italy and president wilson. during the nitti regime d’annunzio personified the patriotic reaction against the government’s policy; he not only became the idol of a small body of enthusiasts, but continued to attract the sympathies of the imperialists in italy. the fiume dispute symbolised in his mind the conflict between italy’s aspirations and the counter claims of her neighbours. when, as a result of the commission of inquiry into the anti-french riots at fiume, it was decided considerably to reduce the italian garrison and to police the town with maltese or u.s. gendarmes, a movement was planned by major reina of the granaticri brigade to re- occupy the town with regular troops and volunteers. d’annunzio accepted the leadership of the expedition, and on the night of sept. 11-12 he marched from ronchi at the head of detachments of grenadicrs and other troops and re-entered fiume. this action was vehemently discountenanced by the italian govt., and d’annunzio was severely criticised by many of his admirers for having tampered with the discipline of the army and navy at such a critical moment, even for patriotic motives. on the other hand, the unpopular policy of signor nitti and the attitude of the allies gained for d’annunzio the sympathy of numbers of italians. for 15 months he defied the italian govt. and indeed the whole of europe with success. he assumed the style of ruler or commandant of fiume and made of the town a new state. his “ reign ”’ was character- ised by a picturesque mysticism, with italian patriotism as the first article of his creed; and numbers of enthusiasts flocked to his standard from all parts of italy. men like general cecche- rini, one of the bravest soldiers in the italian army, joined the commandant; as well as maffeo pantaleoni, the economist, de ambris, the syndicalist leader and many officers of the army and navy. others openly expressed their approval of d’annun- zio’s action, among them the archaeologist giacomo boni, the poets siciliani, fucini and orvieto, the aged risorgimento patriot senator di prampero, the scientist professor cian and senator del lungo, the distinguished man of letters. but d’annunzio’s newly acquired power finally went to his head. both his language and action became more and more exaggerated and verged at times on the ridiculous; while the ad- venturous nature of his undertaking attracted many unworthy characters, not all of them italians, who exercised an undesirable influence over him. he gradually came to regard not only the government and the army, but even the italian people outside fiume as his enemies, and on them he poured the vials of his wrath and eloquence, hitherto reserved for foreign powers. when the rapallo treaty was concluded in 1920 he refused to recognise it, as he disapproved of its provisions regarding fiume and dal- matia; but his refusal not only caused the government serious inconvenience, but alienated the sympathies of many who had at first approved his action. the government was finally obliged to resort to force in order to carry out the rapallo treaty, and d’annunzio, after vowing to hold fiume to the bitter end, finally submitted in jan. 1021, and left the city. he then went to live at gardone on the lake of garda. during his stay at fiume he delivered innumerable speeches, all in a high-flown danube and exaggerated style, although passionately eloquent. some of these appeared in newspapers, or were printed separately; while others were published collectively in two pamphlets: ftalia o morte (1919) and ltalia e vita (1920). his constitution of the reggenza del carnaro is a strange mixture of poetic concepts and mediaeval lore. his diplomatic correspondence with the italian govt., published by him in a “green book,” also belongs to the domain of literature. in 1921 he published notturno, an analysis of his sensations during the blindness which resulted from an aeroplane accident; and in 1924 the first volume of le faville del maglio appeared. while at gardone he was seriously injured in the head by a fall. ife was from the first a strong supporter of the fascist movement, and helped to organise the fascist seamen’s federation. in the spring of 1925 the premier, signor mussolini, spent three days with him at gardone, a visit which aroused a good deal of curi- osity. in 1924 the king conferred on him the title of prince of monte nevoso, in recognition of his successful efforts to secure italy’s new eastern frontier, of which that mountain is the highest point. (es v.*)",
    "source_url": "https://archive.org/details/encyclopaedia-britannica-encyclopaedia-britannica.-3-encyclopaedia-britannica-inc.-1926",
    "observed_at": "2026-05-17 11:59:28",
    "integrity": {
        "hash_check": "match",
        "hash_scope": "full_normalized_text",
        "computed_sha256": "0d6a763757db2d6d44dd7866c977d4537a1bc76c2b0dc394b7a88811352e6c66"
    },
    "machine_use": {
        "read": true,
        "cite": true,
        "decision": "verified_public_domain_text"
    },
    "goguides_data_license": "https://www.goguides.com/data-license",
    "goguides_data_license_version": "2.0",
    "documentation": {
        "white_paper_url": "https://www.goguides.com/white-paper.php",
        "pdf_url": "https://www.goguides.com/whitepapers/goguides-ai-source-clearance-white-paper.pdf"
    }
}