Johannes Vilhelm Jensen

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Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (in Denmark always called "Johannes V. Jensen") (January 20, 1873 – November 25, 1950) was a Danish author, often considered the first great Danish writer of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1944. One of his sisters, Thit Jensen, was also a well-known writer and a very vocal and occasionally controversial early feminist.

He was born in Farsø, a village in North Jutland, Denmark, as the son of a veterinary surgeon and he grew up in a rural environment. While studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen he worked as a journalist to fund his studies. After 3 years of studying he chose to shift careers and devoted himself fully to literature.

The first phase of his work as an author was influenced by fin-de-siècle pessimism. His career began with the publication of Himmerland Stories (1898-1910), comprising a series of tales set in the part of Denmark where he was born. During 1900 and 1901 he wrote his first masterpiece, Kongens Fald (eng. transl. 1933 The Fall of the King), a modern historical novel centred around King Christian II and his characteristically Danish hesitancy and failures to act. In 1999 it was acclaimed as the best Danish novel of the 20th century.

In 1906 Jensen created his greatest literary achievement: the collection of verses Digte 1906 (i.e. Poems 1906), which introduced the prose poem to Danish literature. He also wrote poetry, a few plays, and many essays, chiefly on anthropology and the philosophy of evolution.

He developed his theories of evolution in a cycle of six novels, Den lange rejse (1908-22) eng. transl. The Long Journey 1923-24, which was published in a two-volume edition in 1938. This is often considered his main work in prose, a daring and often impressive attempt to create a Darwinian alternative to the Biblical Genesis myth. In this work we see the development of mankind from the Ice Age to the times of Columbus, focusing on pioneering individuals.

Like his compatriot Hans Christian Andersen, he travelled extensively; a trip to the United States inspired a poem of his, "Paa Memphis Station" [At the train station, Memphis, Tennessee], which is well-known in Denmark. Walt Whitman was among the writers who influenced Jensen.

Jensen's most popular literary works were all completed before 1920. After this he mostly concentrated on ambitious biological and zoological studies in an effort to create an ethical system based upon Darwinian ideas. He also hoped to renew classical poetry.

For many years he worked in journalism, writing articles and chronicles for the daily press without ever joining the staff of any newspaper.

Jensen was a controversial figure in Danish cultural life. He was a reckless polemicist and his often dubious racial theories have damaged his reputation. However he never showed any Fascist leanings.

Today Jensen is still considered the father of Danish modernism, particularly in the area of modern poetry with his introduction of the prose poem and his use of a direct and straightforward language. His direct influence was felt as late as the 1960s. Without being a Danish answer to Kipling, Hamsun or Sandburg, he bears comparison to all three authors. He combines the outlook of the regional writer with the view of the modern academic and scientific observer.

Johannes Vilhelm Jensen is NOT to be confused with Wilhelm Jensen (1837-1911), German writer, whose short story, Gradiva (1903), became famous for being analysed by Sigmund Freud in Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva.

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