SCAND 155 A: Danish Literary and Cultural History

Spring 2022
Meeting:
TTh 2:30pm - 4:20pm / LOW 216
SLN:
19714
Section Type:
Lecture
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

SCAND 155 - Spring 2022

Meeting times: Tuesday and Thursday. 2:30 – 4:20pm

LOW. 216

Morten Bøje Stensgaard Larsen, Visiting Lecturer of Danish

Office: Raitt Hall 305S

Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 1.00 – 2.00pm

Email: mbsl@uw.edu


SCAND 155
introduces to modern Danish culture, literature, art, cinema, and contemporary discourses on class, environment, and politics.


Required Textbook: Available at UW Bookstore. AFTER THE SUN (Jonas Eika)       

Canvas: Class material will be uploaded under Files.

 

LINK TO 9th OF APRIL: https://www.amazon.com/April-9th-Pilou-Asb%C3%A6k/dp/B07KRQ4P68

LINK TO WILD WOUNDED ANIMALS: https://vimeo.com/681989545/cbbbac381e

Please, do not share the link with others. Jakob is sharing his film with you and you alone. I hope you will respect that. Thanks.

 

Evaluation

  • 30% essays 
  • 30% Participation: In-class and online discussions. 
  • 40% Final paper

 

Diversity and equity

The Department of Scandinavian Studies builds cultural awareness and understanding through research, teaching, service and community outreach. The students in this class engage curricula and field experiences structured to foster knowledge of others and their cultures. Awareness of and respect for difference is essential to preparing students for citizenship. The Department of Scandinavian Studies views each student as an individual and supports the equal treatment of all those who enroll in this class in particular. The Scand155 is an inclusive space where all religions, ethnicities, genders, sexualities are welcomed, valued and appreciated. If you have personal requests or requirements in this regard, please come talk to me about it. 

 

Land acknowlegdement

The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot nations” including the Duwamish, on whose traditional lands the University of Washington-Seattle stands in violation of the Treaty of Point Elliott.  

Religious Accommodation Policy: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

 

Week 1
3/28 - 4/1

Tuesday

Introduction to Denmark

 

 

Thursday

Politics of Denmark


Read:

- Jens Faerkel: “Some Aspects of the Danish Constitution”

Week 2
4/4 - 4/8

Tuesday

Thinking the Danish Welfare State

Read:
- Lasse horne Kjældgaard: “ ‘An Open System with an Objective External to Itself’: The Rapprochement Between Danish Politics and Literature in the Golden Age of the Welfare State, 1950-1980.”

 

Thursday

The Danish Golden Age  - Art & Nature

Read:
- Adam Oehlenschläger: There Is A Lovely Country

- H. C. Andersen: The Nightingale
- Johannes Ewald: The Delights of Rungsted. An Ode.

Week 3
4/11 - 4/15

Tuesday

Danishness as politics


Read:

- Richard Jenkins: “‘Pork roast and lasagne’: Modern dankshed” in Being Danish: Paradoxes of Identity in Everyday Life

 

Thursday

The American-Danish Connection - Antiracism and Rebellion

 

Read: -

Week 4
4/18 - 4/22

Tuesday

Creation of Danish Jazz

 

Read:

-Christophers Washburne: “Jazz Re-bordered: Cultural Policy in Danish Jazz”

 

Thursday

The Question of the Global - Capitalism, Exploitation and Intimacy

Read:

- Jonas Eika: After The Sun

Week 5
4/25 - 4/29

 

NO CLASS THIS WEEK

Tuesday

Essay and presentation work:


Essay topics:
1) Choose one of the short stories in After The Sun and analyze it. Discuss the themes of the story and how it relates to Danish culture.

2) Describe the concept of “Danishness” and how it is expressed in Danish politics and art.

 

3-5 pages

 

Make a small 3 minutes presentation of your paper.

 

 

Thursday

Work on essay/presentation

Deadline: SUNDAY 5/1

Week 6
5/2 - 5/6

Tuesday

Presentations of papers

 

Thursday

Presentations of papers

 

Week 7
5/9 - 5/13

Tuesday

Denmark and WWII

Watch in class: “April 9th”

Read:

- Sofie Lene Bak: “Danish Historical Narratives of the Occupation” in Nordic War Stories.

 

Thursday

The Time of the Individual - Kierkegaard, Christianity and modernity

Read:

Søren Kierkegaard: “Introduction” + “A” in Sickness Unto Death.

Week 8
5/16 - 5/20

Tuesday

 The Nordic Sexual Morality Debate

 

Read:

  • Karen Blixen: “The Ring”
  • Karen Blixen: “The Blank Page”

 

Thursday

Colonialism and Greenland

 

Read:

- Kim Liene: “The Profets in the Eternal Fyord” (excerpt).

Week 9
5/23 - 5/27

Tuesday

Denmark and WWII

w. Prof. Marianne Stecher-Hansen

Read:

  • Marianne Stecher-Hansen: “The War Film as Cultural Memory in Denmark” in Nordic War Stories.
  • H. C. Andersen: “The Wicked Prince”
  • Tove Ditlevsen: "Oranges"

 

 

Thursday

The meaning of “lykke”

Read:

- “The little book of lykke” (excerpt).

Week 10
5/30 - 6/3

Tuesday

Parenthood and modernity

Watch in class: “Sårede vilde dyr”


Live artist talk with documentarist Jakob Pagel Andersen
We watch “Sårede vilde dyr” in class and having the talk with Jakob afterwards.

 

Thursday

NATIONAL NORDIC MUSEUM

Week 11
6/6 - 6/10

 

FINAL PAPER DEADLINE 6/10 11:59PM

 

 

 

Catalog Description:
Introduces the literary and cultural history of Denmark. Focuses on several major literary works and cultural moments from the Viking Age, the Enlightenment, nineteenth-century Romanticism, twentieth-century Modernism, and current Danish literature, journalism, and film.
GE Requirements Met:
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
October 11, 2024 - 8:53 pm