European History Commons^™

Rousseau's Gift To Geneva, Helena Rosenblatt

Publications and Research

People often seem to forget that Rousseau dedicated his Second Discourse to “The Republic of Geneva.” This is a shame because, in doing so, they miss precious clues not only about the meaning of the Discourse itself, but also about its place in Rousseau’s political thought as a whole.

It is no accident that Rousseau dedicated the Discourse on Inequality, his most radical work of all, to his hometown of Geneva; but it requires some research into the historical context to understand why. In Geneva a patrician ruling elite was using social contract theory to subvert the democratic principles …

"My Old Friend In A Dad-End Of Empiricism And Skepticism": Bogoras, Boas, And The Politics Of Soviet Anthropology Of The Late 1920s-Early 1930s, Sergei Kan

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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

The Bridge

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.

Preface

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Helle Mathiasen

The Bridge

Since its founding in 1977, the Danish American Heritage Society (DAHS) has encouraged and supported efforts to research and preserve our ethnic heritage in Canada and the United States. The Society believes in the intrinsic value of building bridges between ideas and people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. An additional goal is the promotion of fellowship among those with an interest in events relating to Danish life, culture, and history.

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

The Bridge

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 Jean Hersholt Collection Of Anderseniana At The Library Of Congress, Kristi Johnson, Taru Spiegel

The Bridge

Hans Christian Andersen was already well known in the United States during his lifetime. Though he wanted to meet his American admirers, fear of accidents at sea kept Andersen from crossing the Atlantic. Three quarters of a century after the author's death, another Dane ensured that a part of Andersen's legacy would remain permanently in America. The Danish American actor, author, and humanitarian, Jean Hersholt, together with his Danishborn wife, Via, donated a treasure trove of Anderseniana to the Library of Congress in 1951. The Library's preeminent collection of Scandinavian materials is often overlooked amidst the institution's 130 million items …

The Veil Between Fact And Fiction In The Novels Of Kristian Ostergaard, John Mark Nielsen

The Bridge

The bicentennial of the births of Hans Christian Andersen and August de Bournonville and the 150th anniversary of the death of Soren Kierkegaard provide opportunity to reflect and celebrate how artists and philosophers interpret and express the complex network of values and ideas inherent in any culture. Great artists and thinkers are particularly successful in producing work that transcends a specific culture and achieves universality recognizable beyond the boundaries of that culture into which they were born. Certainly the works produced by Andersen, Bournonville, and Kierkgaard are not just Danish; their work engages and invites audiences to consider what it …

Karen Blixen: The Quintessential Dane, Linda G. Donelson

The Bridge

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 …

Between Patrons And Populace: Danish-American Sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith And The Iowa Soldiers' And Sailors' Monument In Des Moines, Aase Bak

The Bridge

Carl Rohl-Smith (1848-1900) received one of his most important commissions in America with the "Iowa Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument" (completed 1897). But his position became difficult as he had to navigate between the different interests of patrons and general public.

"A Danish artist cannot imagine the hardships that being an artist in a foreign land entails. Most of the decisions concerning art are made by the populace." Thus wrote Danish journalist Henrik Cavling (1858-1933) in his travel book Fra Amerika (From America) from 1897.1 He was talking about the Danish-American sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith and the problems he encountered when he …

Danish Poets Today

The Bridge

The Danish poet, playwright and novelist Pia Tafdrup read from her work Queen's Gate and presented some of her other poems at the session Danish Poets Today With the author's permission we are able to present one of the poems from Queen's Gate.

Back Cover

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Songs Of Denmark, Songs To Live By: Cultural Values Expressed In Traditional Danish Music, Joy Ibsen

The Bridge

This past August [2005] we published Songs of Denmark [Sange for Danskere], Songs to Live By, the culmination of a project that began to take shape three years ago at the 2002 DAHS conference in Omaha, when I met Sisse Brimberg. During that meeting I shared with Sisse my desire to publish a new Danish American songbook with lyrics in both Danish and English, one with beautiful contemporary Danish photographs-a book that would appeal to the next generation. Sisse, a talented National Geographic photographer, was enthusiastic and agreed to provide access to her photographic files for the book.

Hans Christian Andersen In Musical Translation, Jean Christensen

The Bridge

Those of us who work in two cultures are fascinated by the peculiar demands and limitations of translating the sensual and intellectual qualities of one language to those of another, and by the challenges of transferring ideas from one historical time to another. A similar challenge exists for today's composers who set out to transform a text into music, but this is a process that also involves other considerations, for music has the additional potential to project multidimensional time and space. H.C. Andersen was no stranger to musical renditions of his work during his lifetime. In fact, because of his …

Grundtivigianism In America, Yesterday And Today, Thorvald Hansen

The Bridge

It has been said, "In Denmark, everyone is a Grundtvigian whether he knows it or not." This certainly is not the case in America. Indeed, there are very few Grundtvigians in this country, and the prospects for increasing that number are very slight. This is not because the followers of Grundtvig have been "hiding their light under a bushel," but because the vast majority has not accepted it as light.