Why are Andersen’s fairy tales so disturbing?
As Andersen wrote down a month before his death: “No sculptor knows me, nor has ever seen me read. He does not know that I do not write with kids on my lap or behind my back. My fairy tales are only partially naïve, and they are seasoned with a good sense of humour.” And good sense of humour can indeed be found in Andersen’s fairy tales, yet some seasoning can cause watery eyes…
Nightingales, mermaids and aching teeth, the first Czech monograph about Andersen’s fairy tales is aimed at adult audience, as it wants to introduce the writer’s works as reading materials for more mature readers, too. As Helena Březinová, its author (teaching Scandinavian literature at Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague) claims, it could very well be compared to another celebrated Danish author of the same period, Søren Kierkegaard. One chapter also deals with the various attempts (both brilliant and brilliantly botched) to translate Andersen’s works to Czech.
The launch party takes place on the 30th of January at 19.00 at Božská Lahvice Café.
In Czech.
Free admission.
Organised by the Scandinavian House in Prague, Božská Lahvice Café, the publishing house Host and the Embassy of Denmark in Prague.