Georg Brandes
Georg Brandes | |
---|---|
Born | Georg Morris Cohen Brandes 4 February 1842 Copenhagen, Denmark |
Died | 19 February 1927 Copenhagen, Denmark | (aged 85)
Occupation | Critic |
Education | University of Copenhagen |
Relatives | Edvard Brandes (brother) |
Signature | |
Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind the "Modern Breakthrough" of Scandinavian culture. At the age of 30, Brandes formulated the principles of a new realism and naturalism, condemning hyper-aesthetic writing and also fantasy in literature. His literary goals were shared by some other authors, among them the Norwegian "realist" playwright Henrik Ibsen.
When Georg Brandes held a series of lectures in 1871 with the title "Main Currents in 19th-century Literature", he defined the
Biography
Georg Brandes was born into a non-observant Jewish middle-class family in Copenhagen, the elder brother of prominent Danes Ernst Brandes and Edvard Brandes. He became a student at the University of Copenhagen in 1859 where he first studied jurisprudence. From this, however, his interests soon turned to philosophy and aesthetics. In 1862 he won the gold medal of the university for an essay on The Idea of Nemesis among the Ancients. Before this, indeed since 1858, he had shown a remarkable gift for verse-writing, the results of which, however, were not abundant enough to justify separate publication. Brandes did not collect his poems until as late as 1898. At the university, which he left in 1864, Brandes was influenced by the writings of Heiberg in criticism and Søren Kierkegaard in philosophy, influences which continued to leave traces on his work.[1]
In 1866, he contributed to the discussion of the works of Rasmus Nielsen in "Dualism in our Recent Philosophy". From 1865 to 1871 he traveled much in Europe, acquainting himself with the condition of literature in the principal centers of learning. His first important contribution to letters was his Aesthetic Studies (1868), where his maturer method is already foreshadowed in several brief monographs on Danish poets. In 1870 he published several important volumes, The French Aesthetics of the Present Day, dealing chiefly with Hippolyte Taine, Criticisms and Portraits, and a translation of The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill, whom he had met that year during a visit to England.[1]
The Modern Breakthrough
Brandes now took his place as the leading northern European critic, applying to local conditions and habits of thought the methods of Taine. He became Docent or reader in Aesthetics at the University of Copenhagen,
In the middle of these polemics, Brandes began to issue volumes of the most ambitious of his works, Main Currents in the Literature of the Nineteenth Century, of which four volumes appeared between 1872 and 1875 (English translation,[4] 1901–1905). The brilliant novelty of this criticism of the literature of major European countries at the beginning of the 19th century, and his description of the general revolt against the pseudo-classicism of the 18th century, at once attracted attention outside Denmark. The tumult which gathered round the person of the critic increased the success of the work, and the reputation of Brandes grew apace, especially in Germany and Russia.[1]
In 1877 Brandes left Copenhagen and settled in Berlin, taking a considerable part in the aesthetic life of that city. His political views, however, made
Later authorship
Among his later writings must be mentioned the monographs on
The most important of his later works was his study of William Shakespeare (1897–1898), which was translated into English by William Archer and was highly acclaimed. It was, perhaps, history's most authoritative work on Shakespeare not principally intended for an English-speaking audience.[1] He was afterwards engaged in writing a history of modern Scandinavian literature. In his critical work, which extended over a wider field than that of any other living writer, Brandes was aided by a singularly charming style, lucid and reasonable, enthusiastic but without extravagance, brilliant and colored without affectation. In 1900 he collected his works for the first time in a complete and popular edition and began to work on a German edition, completed in 1902.[1]
He published Main Currents in Nineteenth-Century Literature in 1906 (six volumes). This book was among the 100 best books for education selected in 1929 by
Personal life and last years
In the late 1880s, Brandes fought against what he saw as the hypocrisy of prudish sexuality, which caused a rift with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.[8][9] Between the years of 1886 and 1888 Brandes was engaged in a relationship with the Swedish author Victoria Benedictsson, who wrote Penningar and Fru Marianne under the male pseudonym Ernst Ahlgren. Benedictsson committed suicide in a Copenhagen hotel room,[10] and the relationship with Brandes has later been blamed as the cause for her death.[8]
In the late 1880s, Brandes turned to concentrating on "great personalities" as the source of culture. In this period, he discovered Friedrich Nietzsche, not only introducing him to Scandinavian culture but indirectly to the whole world.[11] The series of lectures that he gave on Nietzsche's thought, which he described as "aristocratic radicalism", were the first to present Nietzsche as a world cultural figure in need of full intellectual notice. Of Brandes' description of his philosophy, Nietzsche himself remarked: "The expression 'aristocratic radicalism', which you employ, is very good. It is, permit me to say, the cleverest thing that I have yet read about myself".[12] In 1909 the lectures were edited and published as the monograph Friedrich Nietzsche, which included the complete Nietzsche/Brandes correspondence as well as two essays in homage to the late Nietzsche's life and thought. Translated into English by A. G. Chater, the volume was published by Heinemann in 1911 and Nietzsche's thought was thus able to reach a significant English language audience before World War I. It was Brandes who, in an 1888 letter,[13] wrote to Nietzsche advising him to read the works of Søren Kierkegaard, with whom his thought had much in common. There is no evidence, however, that Nietzsche ever read any of Kierkegaard's works.
The key idea of "aristocratic radicalism" went on to influence most of the later works of Brandes and resulted in voluminous biographies Wolfgang
In the 1900s, Brandes fought the Danish political establishment on several occasions, but eventually had to curb his acidic attacks. However, his international reputation was growing.
Brandes argued against the historicity of Jesus and was a proponent of the Christ myth theory. He published Sagnet om Jesus which was translated as Jesus: A Myth in 1926.[14] He was an atheist.[15][16]
Legacy
Brandes stands as one of the most influential inspirations of Danish culture, an equal of Holberg,
His brother Edvard (1847–1931), also a well-known critic, was the author of a number of plays, and of two psychological novels: A Politician (1889), and Young Blood (1899). He became an outstanding political figure of the party
Books
- Søren Kierkegaard: A Critical Presentation in Outline (Søren Kierkegaard: En kritisk Fremstilling i Grundrids) (1877)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 427. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Ole Friis Thellufsen, Artikel: Georg Brandes, Aarhus University, 29 July 2009
- ^ a b c d e Georg Brandes at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi
- ^ "Review of Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature, Vol. I". The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art. 92 (2390): 207–208. 21 August 1901.
- ^ Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi
- ^ "Will Durant's 100 Best Books for an Education on Lists of Bests". Listsofbests.com. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ See p. 72 Main Currents in Nineteenth, Century Literature Vol. 2 Georg Brandes, 1906.
- ^ a b c d e f Georg Brandes – Forfatterportræt ved Jørgen Knudsen Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine at Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur
- OCLC 20699747.
- ^ Victoria Benedictsson at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi
- ^ Georg Brandes: A Biographical Note – Edouard d'Araille / Introduction to 'Friedrich Nietzsche' (2002, LTMI)
- ^ Nietzsche, Letter to Georg Brandes – December 2nd 1887.
- ^ Georg Brandes, Letter to Nietzsche – January 11th 1888.
- ISBN 1-56338-280-6
- ISBN 9781472412010.
- ^ "Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality". Ingram brothers. 1 January 1893.
Further reading
- Georg Brandes and Harald Høffding, edited and translated by William Banks, The Great Debate: Nietzsche, Culture, and the Scandinavian Welfare Society (University of Wisconsin Press, 2023).
- Allen, Julie K. Icons of Danish Modernity: Georg Brandes and Asta Nielsen (University of Washington Press; 2012) 280 pages; explores issues of Danish cultural identity through a study of the lives and friendship of Brandes and the silent film star (1881–1972).
- Essays on Scandinavian Literature by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen 1895 p. 199ff
- Some Modern History-Makers of Scandinavia III, Jonas Lie and George Brandes, Self culture, Volume 11, by Winfred Lee Wendell pp. 434–440, Werner Co., 1900
- The Most Influential of Living Critics, Current literature, Volume 40, edited by Edward Jewitt Wheeler, Edward Jewitt Wheeler – 1906 pp. 616–618
- Bertil Nolin: Georg Brandes. Gloucester, Mass., 1976.
- Hans Hertel (ed.): The Activist Critic. A Symposium on the Political Ideas, Literary Methods and International Reception of Georg Brandes. Copenhagen, 1980.
- Doris R. Asmundsson: Georg Brandes. Aristocratic Radical. N. Y., 1981.
- W. Glyn Jones (ed.): Georg Brandes. Selected Letters. Norvik Press, 1990.
External links
- Jewish Encyclopedia: "Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen" by Isidore Singer & Carl Henrik Bjerregaard (1906).
- Works by Georg Brandes at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Georg Brandes at Internet Archive
- Works by Georg Brandes at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Newspaper clippings about Georg Brandes in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
Individual books
- The Atlantic Monthly, Vol 37, 1876 "Recent Literature. Brandes pp. 505, 755–758". Boston. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1880 "Lord Beaconsfield; a study". 1880. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1886 "Eminent authors of the nineteenth century. Literary portraits". New York, T, Y, Crowell & co. 1886. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1879 "Sören Kierkegaard: Ein literarisches Charakterbild (German translation available)". J.A. Barth. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1899 "Henrik Ibsen: Critical Studies". Macmillan co. 1899. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1889 "Impressions of Russia". 1889. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1898 "William Shakespeare: A Critical Study Vol. 1". 1898., "Vol. 2". W. Heinemann. 1898., "Vol. 3". Gyldendalske boghandels forlag (F. Hegel & søn). 1896. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1906 "Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature, Vol. 1". W. Heinemann. 1906.,"Vol. 2". W. Heinemann. 1906., "Vol. 3". W. Heinemann. 1903., "Vol. 4". W. Heinemann. 1906., "Vol. 5". W. Heinemann. 1906., "Vol. 6". Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1901–06 "Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature, Vol. 1–6". Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- Georg Brandes, 1906 "Reminiscences of my childhood and youth". Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1908 "Anatole France". Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1915 "Friedrich Nietzsche". Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1915 "Wolfgang Goethe Vol. 1". 1915., "Vol. 2". Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- Georg Brandes, 1917 "The World at War". Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- The Return of Georg Brandes The New Republic Volume 31, The Republic Pub. Co., 1922 p. 44–47 Retrieved 2012-01-15
- Julius Moritzen 1922 "Georg Brandes in Life and Letters". Retrieved 3 October 2012.