Hans Christian Andersen’s “Fairy Tales” for Adults

...and How To Fight Terrorism

by Norman Berdichevsky (Sept. 2007)

2005 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Denmark’s greatest writer, whose works have been translated into more languages than any author (second only to the Bible). The event was marked not only in Denmark but throughout Europe with many festivities, exhibitions, seminars, exhibits and tours of his home town of Odense and where he lived in Copenhagen for many years.

Most Americans have basic misconceptions about Andersen and his work based on having seen the romanticized film about his life starring Danny Kaye and use of the term "fairy tales", usually considered appropriate only for children Almost all of his 156 short stories or "adventures" (a better meaning of the Danish word "eventyr" usually translated as "fairy tales") can be appreciated on two levels - one for adults and one for children.

The subjects of many of these stories also come as a surprise for those who have always regarded him as a kindly old grandfather telling his fairy tales to adoring grandchildren, the theme of a sculpture in New York’s Central Park that portrays Andersen reading to children perched on his knee. The themes of his lesser known short tales include time travel, adultery, murder by decapitation, death, grim poverty and social inequality, child psychology, intense drama, split personality, husband-wife relations, snobbery, social climbing, Jewish identity, and a deep abiding love for his Danish homeland.

Your children may have enjoyed the colorful characters, wizards and creatures of the Harry Potter series or The Wizard of Oz but what have they learned of any value for later life? Most Andersen short stories have left a moral legacy about life, its struggles, human nature and the beautiful innocence of childhood. It is ironic that his work is much better known and appreciated to tens of millions of children in China or Russia who continue to love Andersen, than in America or Britain.

When Leningrad was under siege in World War II and the city surrounded and starving, the production of all consumer goods was reduced to the absolute minimum. People were eating sawdust and paper could not be spared to publish literature. The publication of only one book was allowed in 1942 - The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.

Andersen as Social Critic

It strikes most contemporary Americans as amazing or unbelievable when told that after the Bible, Andersen’s most popular “fairy tales” are the most translated work in all of literature. Close to two-thirds of them have been translated into more than sixty languages (more than Shakespeare‘s most popular plays). The Andersen Museum in Odense, his birthplace, boasts a display of several Andersen short stories in more than 120 languages including Esperanto, Basque, Khmer, Estonian, Maltese, Korean, Albanian, Gaelic, Catalan, Icelandic, Yiddish, and Volapük. The Nightingale” in Chinese translation is a favorite Andersen tale read in Chinese elementary schools today.

Many of Andersen’s tales feature talking animals, inanimate objects and fantastic creatures with their distinctive personalities but they all teach us something about human nature and relations or the innocence of childhood. As a teacher of a course for "senior citizens" on Andersen’s “Fairy Tales” at Central Florida Community College last Spring, I was not surprised that the turnout was comprised almost entirely of women (85%). They all claimed that men would hardly be interested in “simple children’s stories” yet at the end of the last class, in summing up what they got out of the course, attitudes had changed profoundly. Several women spoke with tears in their eyes about how the stories had struck a powerful chord with them and even the men (who should properly be called “gentlemen”) spoke about how they had been totally surprised by the range of Andersen’s interests.

From: http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/9556/sec_id/9556