European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Enok Mortensen And The Immigrant Experience: A View From The Lower Class, Rudolf Jensen

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To begin with, I would like to cite several short quotations from Enok Mortensen's fiction to show his primary themes as well as his writing style.

...for jer Emigranter er der aldrig noget, der er saa godt som det var i Danmark...altid skal I sammenligne...1 [for you immigrants there is never anything as good as it was in Denmark...you always have to compare.]

...herover gik man med en underlig Uro i Sindet altid...bare et hundrede Dollars mere, eller Tusinde...eller Millionen...2 [over here in America you are always restless...only a hundred dollars more, or a thousand, or a million.]

...I det …

Carl Theodor Dreyer' S Response To Anti-Semitism In His Unfilmed Jesus Film Scenario, Peter G. Christensen

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The controversy in 2004 over possible anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ had precedents in earlier Jesus-films. Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to Matthew and Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth have also been accused of anti-Semitism. Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889-1968) wanted to combat anti-Semitism, as he directly stated in his own essays attached to his Jesus screenplay, which since his death has been published in English, Danish, and French versions. Dreyer began the film project in 1949-1950 in Independence, Missouri, writing in English, and he worked on it until the end of his life. However, he …

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Appendix A

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Nineteenth-Century Emigration From Sollerod, A Rural Township In North Zealand (Sjaelland), Niels Peter Stilling

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In 1985, Erik Helmer Pedersen wrote that "the history of Danish emigration to America can be seen, in very broad terms, as the story of how a small part of the population tore itself away from the national community in order to build a new existence in foreign lands. Those who write the history of the emigrants must, on the one hand, see them as a minority in relation to the Danish whole, and, on the other hand, must reconstruct that little part of the history of American immigration which concerns the Danes."

This article attempts to do just that …

Reviews

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Contributors

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Conference Opening Remarks, Lene Balleby

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When I first heard about this year's conference, it was being launched as a celebration and recognition of two of Denmark's most famous sons: Hans Christian Andersen and Soren Kirkegaard. But looking at the extensive program for the upcoming days, it is clear that this program is also meant to present a much wider picture of the richness and scope of Danish culture and that it will indeed live up to its title: "Danish Culture, Past and Present."

Matie's Dagbog [Matie' S Diary], Matie Eliva Petersen-Larsen

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Matie begins her diary, "I think I will begin a diary of this my most exciting year, so I will not forget a small thing. But for now I must hurry to my stateroom and pack my luggage." That was September 7, 1900, on a ship headed for Cuxhaven, Germany, her ultimate destination being the island of Als, Denmark, where her father's relatives lived. Matie had been given this year-long trip as a gift from her parents for helping to raise her eight brothers and sisters, younger than she, and for teaching them to read and write English, as Danish …

Danish Churches And Congregations In Indianapolis, 1868-1885, Barbara R. George

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A look at the population make-up of Indianapolis and Indiana during the time period from the end of the Civil War (approximately 1865) until the 1880s shows that the Danes had little impact in the relatively small Indiana immigration picture. Indiana was less influenced by foreign born than any other northern state. Although ranking ninth in the number of German-born residents in 1880, Indiana ranked thirteenth in the number of foreign born, and was sixth in total population. As a state it was not particularly aggressive in promoting itself as a viable destination for immigrants, and ranked only in front …

Three Tales Of Two Towns: How Fano Entered The Golden Age Of Sail, Anne Ipsen

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Fano is a magical island off the west coast of Denmark, justly famous for its endless white beach along the North Sea. Towering dunes, whose slopes are covered in lyme grass, ring the center of the island where the heath is home to an abundance of creatures and plants. The colors of the sky and water, the heather and grass change in rhythm with the seasons. The solid houses of the two towns, Nordby to the north and Sonderho at the southern tip, bear witness to the wealth brought home from the seven seas by generations of seamen sailing their …

Danish Nobel Laureates In Literature With Special Emphasis On Johannes V. Jensen, Erik M. Christensen

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Religion, Philosophy, and Art are related. Sometimes more than other. They are so much in family, in fact, that they are able to become one. This may even happen without being intended or even realized, but we also have, in Western civilization, instances where the artist very clearly meant his work to represent a unity of Religion, Philosophy, and Art. The greatest known instance of this is, of course, Dante Alighieri's poem La Divina Commedia (ca. 13071320), the story of his wandering through Purgatory, down to Hell, and up to Paradise where his ideal love for Beatrice allows him to …

Christian Petersen: From Denmark To The New Deal To Campus Sculptor, Lea Rosson Delong

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Christian Petersen (1885-1961) was a Danish-American sculptor (Figure 1) whose accomplishment and importance in the history of American art is being increasingly understood and recognized.1 The first goal in this presentation is to present a small portion of his work and to discuss why his reputation is growing and, at the same time, weave in aspects of his Danish background.

Gyde-Petersen, A Skagen Artist In America, John Robert Christianson

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Mankato, Minnesota, was thrilled. A famous artist had come to town with his palette, easel, and painter's smock, and people noticed. The Mankato Free Press ran a story under a bold headline:

Sir Gyde Pedersen, Artist of Denmark

The reporter gushed away for two columns on the delight of having in their midst a European artist who had been knighted by a king.1

Of Two Women In Scandinavian-American Immigrant Literature, Mikael Engelstoft Hansen

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Neither politics nor traditional history has ever spelled much interest to me. But then I read in Hilde Petra Brungot's dissertation1 on Dorthea Dahl (1881-1958)2 of this Lutheran Norwegian-American immigrant writer being an outspoken Republican.

Hans Christian Andersen Stories, Lisa Kramme

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During her presentation at the international conference "Danish Culture, Past and Present: The Last Two Hundred Years," Lisa Kramme shared the following stories by Hans Christian Andersen: "The Princess on the Pea," "The Old Man Is Always Right," and "The Little Match Girl." She also shared several tales of the famous people of Mols, but passed them off as stories about her relatives in Denmark.

Appendix C.

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Karin Michaelis: Famous Danish Novelist And Humanitarian Rebel With A Cause, Merete Von Eyben

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Consider the following question: Which Danish author was not only one of the most famous European authors in the early part of the twentieth century, but also one of the most widely read female ones; had all of her books translated into German and some of them into as many as 30 other languages; wrote the most notorious bestseller of that period; celebrated her 60th birthday at a banquet hosted by Austrian PEN in Vienna where she was awarded both an Austrian and a Czechoslovakian medal and honored by the German language papers as Europe's Conscience; had her books banned …

Dealing With The "Third Enemy": English-Language Learning And Native-Language Maintenance Among Danish Immigrants In Utah, 1850-1930, Lynn Henrichsen, George Bailey, Jacob Huckaby

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In the latter half of the nineteenth century, over 22,000 Scandinavians joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter referred to as the church or the LDS church) and migrated to Utah.1 Well over half of these Scandinavians, 12,350 (not including children age 12 and under), were Danes.2

This influx of people who spoke a language other than English and came from a cultural background different from that of the original Anglo-American settlers of Utah presented some perplexing challenges. Even Brigham Young, the territorial governor and LDS church president, found them difficult to resolve. According to local folklore, …

Preface

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Contents

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Karen Blixen: The Quintessential Dane, Linda G. Donelson

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The year 2005 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen and the 150th anniversary of the death of Soren Kierkegaard. It also is the 120th anniversary of Karen Blixen' s birth in 1885, and it is appropriate to talk about her at this conference. For the millions of Americans who have seen the movie Out of Africa, she may be the most famous Dane of all. We often imagine Karen Blixen as personified by Meryl Streep in the movie. But if you have read the book Out of Africa, you may rather think of Karen Blixen …

The Greater Challenge: Staying Home Or Emigrating?, Inger Wiehl

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This presentation poses the challenge of emigrating versus that of staying home, exemplified by a Southern Jutlander who stayed home during the years of Prussian rule between 1864 and 1920 and one who left for America during those years. It begs the larger question of who endures more, those who leave or those who stay behind, a salient issue underlying all emigration and any significant parting. Put in classical terms: Who faces the greater challenge Odysseus or Penelope? He endures any number of dangers on his way back from Troy; she stays by her loom and keeps home intact for …

Culture For Sale In Solvang, California: A Little Bit Of Denmark, Disney, Or Something Else?, Hanne Pico Larsen

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Danish educators coming from a Danish settlement in the Midwest founded Solvang in 1911. During the first 20 years or so, Solvang looked like an average Pacific Coast American town - but underneath lurked Danish, Grundtvigian values and philosophy. Little by little, the picture changed. After World War II, many original buildings representing these Danish values, such as a Folk High School and an assembly hall, even if not particularly Danish looking, were demolished in order to provide space for new "Danish-style" buildings in the commercial center of town. A Danish-style architecture was introduced and since then, the town became …

The History Of Wind Technology In Denmark, James D. Iversen

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Wind--a phenomenon we do not always understand or pay much attention to, perhaps because we cannot see it, only its effects. And its effects can be devastating, such as the terrible destruction due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States in August and September, 2005. As a member of the American Association for Wind Engineering, I am aware of that organization's attempts to influence local government agencies in the southeastern coastal areas of the United States in the improvement of building codes so that buildings can better withstand the destructive power of the wind.

Opening Remarks, James Iversen

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Ladies and gentlemen, as president of the Danish American Heritage Society (DAHS), it is my great pleasure and privilege to bid all of you a very sincere velkommen to this, the third international conference on Danish Immigration to North America. There are approximately 420 people registered for this conference, representing 31 of the 50 United States, plus Washington, D.C., and Denmark. I think one of the remarkable aspects of this conference is that so many people are here from different sections of the country and also from Denmark who have not met each other before, so it is a wonderful …

Quest And Place In Carl Hansen And Hans Christian Andersen, David S. Iversen

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Carl Hansen and Hans Christian Andersen demonstrate a number of similar characteristics as authors. Both wrote their stories with their respective readership in mind. Both authors strove to establish character and setting with as few words as possible. Both knew their audiences well and made use of scenes, places, and experiences that their readers recognized. Each man was also driven to become an author, albeit for slightly different reasons. Hans Christian Andersen was, according to Sven H. Rossel, "single-minded in pursuit of art and recognition,"1 while Carl Hansen relates that "some five years before he emigrated to the United States …

Editorial Statement

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Anton Kvist Danish-American Poet: His Life And His Works, Birgit Flemming Larsen

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Anton Kvist was born in 1878 in a small village in the northern part of Jutland in Denmark. In his home at Valsted there was a large group of ten siblings, and already as a six year old boy Anton had to work as a shepherd boy at the same time as he started to go to school. His father was a bricklayer, and so were a few of his brothers. At the age of sixteen he followed the family tradition and became a bricklayer's apprentice. In 1898 he came to Copenhagen to work as a bricklayer. Here in 1900 …