A different Andersen with Professor Anne-Marie Mai
FOR ANNUAL PASSHOLDERS ONLY – Hear the literature professor paint a different picture of the man and poet H. C. Andersen.
H. C. Andersen is more famous internationally than Denmark itself, and many people read or retell his exciting life story and his fairy tales to new generations. Andersen with the tall hat, Andersen with the big nose, Andersen the vain and self-absorbed poet, we all know him. Or do we?
The book En anderledes Andersen (A different Andersen) by literature professor Anne-Marie Mai will be published on 4 August, 2025. This is also the date of Andersen's 150th death anniversary. The book takes a critical look at the common notions of the childish and oversensitive Andersen and shows how new notions of him and his works are emerging in Danish poetry.
It is especially the famous critic Georg Brandes who has coloured our ideas about the man and the poet H. C. Andersen, and he prefers to portray him as a childish character, a cautious and vain person of heart.
Recent Danish literature paints a different picture of a mature, astute, courageous and empathetic poet, a modern character of a cast we need today.
A Different Andersen takes a closer look at representations of H. C. Andersen by Harald Voetmann, Kim Fupz Aakeson, Jesper Wung-Sung and Joakim Graff and interpretations of his fairy tales in new Danish prose, theatre and ballet.
