Constructing Danish Identity
Transcultural Adaptation in Peter Høeg’s The History of Danish Dreams
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10737136 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthias Stephan (0000-0002-2146-6366, Arhus University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 88 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 182-202 |
| Publication date | 2016-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scandinavian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0036-5637 • E-ISSN: 2163-8195 |
| Publisher | University of Wisconsin Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.5406/scanstud.88.2.0182 |
| OpenAlex | W2528885709 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
T his paper discusses the Danish novel Forestilling om det tyvende rhundrede, published in 1988, or perhaps more accurately, the 1995 American translation of the novel, The History of Danish Dreams.That is important mainly because this paper concerns several acts of transculturation both within the novel and in discourses surrounding it.I, like many Americans, came to Peter Heg's work rather late in the game, specifically after the publication of his international bestseller Frken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (1992; Smilla's Sense of Snow, 1993).The hype surrounding that novel, including its release in a film version in 1997, led to reconsideration, in the international context, of Heg's earlier work, which in turn led to the translation and publication of the novel considered here, Heg's debut work.Forestilling om det tyvende rhundrede traces the development of one family through the changes of the last few hundred years of Danish history.The project, as set forth in the foreword, is to present an exhaustive yet simple historical account of the dreams, dreads, hopes, and expectations of the twentieth century, but in so doing, Heg also describes the development of a particular individual, and through the three-part structure, with each part representing a single generation, presents Mads, the narrator, as a representative member of contemporary Danish society.Mads is the product of the history of his family, as well as the events of his time, and as such, represents the development not only of his own identity, but that of the Danish nation as well.The events are representative in their very commonality
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Citation · Danish · Icon · Identity (music) · Library science · Linguistics · Categorization, perception, and language · Computer Science · European Cultural and National Identity · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · History · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
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