Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reading The Fairytales Of Hans Christian Andersen And The Novels Of Horatio Alger As Proto-Entrepreneurial Narrative Or A True Story Of Two Boys Who Grew Up To Write Stories Which Shaped The Entrepreneurial Attitude Of Their Nations!, Robert Smith, Helle Neergaard

The Bridge

We believe that these two very different fairytales are a fitting introduction to the first part of this two part exploration by the authors into Danish and Danish-American Enterprise Culture. This is because they capture the spirit of their respective nations as it stood in 19th Century Denmark and America. The idea for the article flourished from an email conversation, between the authors Helle Neergaard and Robert Smith in late December 2005. The basis of the conversation was that with the year 2005 being the 200th anniversary of the birth of Denmark's favourite son Hans Christian Andersen it would be …