Absalon was the bishop of Denmark who wielded a lot of power. He was given the area that would later become Copenhagen and built a castle at the site.

Agape: The concept of mutual love. This concept of love is used for a variety of ideas, one being spiritual love, in direct contrast to Eros. From a Christian perspective, it is the love that caused God to send Christ to Earth to save us. Therefore, Agape is merciful love.

Aladdin: One of the main protagonists of The Arabian Nights.

Arabian Nights, The

 

Bachelor goes a-wooing

 

 

 

Biedermeier: was the early part of the Romantic movement that avoids the dark aspects of life, i.e. death and sexuality. In Biedermeier texts, painful and dark issues are made idyllic. A good example of this is The Angel. It was a transitional period between Neoclassicism and Romanticism and closely linked with the bourgeoisie, particularly in the Scandinavian countries. Following the Napoleonic wars, the Biedermeier style grew during the economic impoverishment of the 1820s and 1830s. The term Biedermeier was derogatory and was based on a comic symbol of middle-class comfort, "Papa Biedermeier."

Bildung: The German word for the development or growth of a character during a narrative. A Bildungs Roman is a novel where such character growth occurs. The protagonist gains wisdom about the world and himself/herself. See the model...

Bourgeoisie: The middle class. In the 1800's the middle class was a class growing with the industrial revolution. They tended to make up a very conservative group, often seen as uninterested in the welfare of the lower classes.

 

Brandes, Georg

 

Bredsdorff, Elias

 

 

 

Chamisso, Adelbert von

 

 

 

Collin, Jonas: One of hans Christian Andersen's principal patrons. He adopted Andersen as a type of son, though they were not social equals.

 

 

Conroy, Patricia is a professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. Listen to her complete interview.

 

 

Copenhagen

 

de Mylius, Johan: the project leader for the Hans Christian Andersen center at Odense. Hear his interview and what he has to say about Andersen.

 

 

Denmark

 

 

 

Dickens, Charles

An English author known to HC Andersen

 

 

Discourse: The way in which a narrative is told. For example, a fabliau often has an ironic or sarcastic discourse, whereas a magic tale has a romantic discourse.

Eros: This concept of love is used for a variety of ideas, one being erotic love, in direct contrast to Agape. From a Christian perspective, God is so disgusted with our sinful natures that we are not worthy to be with Him. Therefore, Eros is a physical love, i.e. an erotic, severe love that may take the form of corporal punishment.

 

Eros Thanatos: The concept of love and death. The juxtaposition of the generative impulse with death, i.e. decay and destruction.

 

 

Fabliau

 

Factsheet

 

 

 

 

Felix Culpa: A Latin phrase meaning the fortunate fall. Sometimes a protagonist must break the rules and fail in order to advance. When a test is failed that should be failed it is called Felix Culpa.

 

Fodreise: see Journey on Foot.

Folklore

 

Folktales

 

Genre: Genre is the type of something. For example, magic tales, fabliau, and Schwankmärchen are different genre of folktales. Three different genres of movies include drama, science fiction, and horror.

Grimm Brothers

 

Guilds

 

Heiberg, Johan Ludvig: The director of the royal theater and a poet. He wrote a book, A Soul after Death, in which he claimed that the souls in Hell are forced to watch Andersen's plays The Mulatto and The Moorish Girl. Andersen exacted his revenge in a book he wrote called A Poet's Bazaar.

 

Heiberg, Johanne Louise: She was an actress well known in her time. She was married to Johan Ludvig Heiberg. Heiberg played in several of Andersen's plays, but when asked to play the lead role in Andersen's The Moorish Girl she refused saying that the role was not a good one.

 

Hoffmann, ETA

 

 

 

Homo Ludens: A Latin phrase meaning the playful human. This concept refers to the protagonist who enjoys life.

 

Intertextuality

 

Journey on Foot: Hans Christian Andersen's early attempt at a novel.

Legends

 

Lind, Jenny

 

Magic Tale

 

Meta: Something having to do with itself, i.e. a meta-text discusses itself.

 

Meisling, Simon: Hans Christian Andersen's head master at Slagelse where he went to school. Meisling became Andersen's nemesis and haunted Andersen for the rest of his life.

The Moorish Girl: The Moorish Girl was one of Andersen's early plays. It was performed at the Royal Theater and was not a huge success. He asked Johanne Louise Heiberg to play the led roll and she refused. Further, it spurred antagonism between himself and Johan Ludvig Heiberg.

 

The Mulatto: The Mulatto was one of Andersen's first plays, written in 1940. It was controversial because some claimed Andersen had plagiarized the story. As a result Andersen wrote The Moorish Girl in 1841.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte: (1769-1821) was born on Corsica in 1769. He worked his way up through the military to the rank of General in 1793. He spent much of his time studying strategy and tactics. Many of his campaigns as a general were largely successful, especially in Spain, Italy, and against the Austrians. On December 25th, 1799, he declared France a military dictatorship and on December 2nd, 1804 he crowned himself emperor. His military career hit its first major snag with a defeat against the Russian army during a siege of Moscow in the middle of winter, 1812. Napoleon was finally defeated by Wellington at Waterloo in 1815. He was exiled to the Island of Saint Helena on October 15, 1815. He died on Saint Helena on May 5th, 1821, most probably of poisoning.

 

Napoleonic Wars: were a series of wars between 1792 and 1815. After the French revolutionary war, Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor of France and tried to carve an empire out of Europe. During this time Denmark was on the side of France and provided troops and arms to the cause. Andersen's father took the place in the army of a wealthy farmer and, though he never saw any action, was broken by the experience.

 

Narrative Expectation: The expectations a reader has as to the discourse and plot of a narrative. For example, when reading what the reader believes to be a magic tale, the reader has expectations as to how the narrative will end and elements that should be in the narrative.

Not to be printed, Andersen's Travels on Trains

 

 

 

Odense

 

 

 

Patrons: The group of people that give financial and other types of support to an artist. Andersen had many such patrons; Jonas Collin to name one.

A Poet's Bazaar: The book that Andersen wrote while on his travels throughout Europe. Mostly a travel log, it also contains a scathing remark about Johan Ludvig Heiberg. Andersen claims that, whereas it is true that in Hell the damned souls are forced to watch Andersen's plays The Mulatto and The Moorish Girl, something Heiberg claims in his book, they are not forced to watch Heiberg's comedy because even Hell has its limits.

 

Propp, Vladimir

 

Romanticism

 

 

 

Scott, Sir Walter

 

 

 

Slagelse: The town in Denmark where Hans Christian Andersen went to high school at the age of 17. It was here he met Simon Meisling.

 

Swankmärchen

 

Tieck, Ludwig

 

Timeline

Travels by Andersen

 

 

 

 

Winther, Mathias