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▪ Danish literature

      (Danish: “the modern breakthrough”), literary movement beginning about 1870, dominated by the Danish critic Georg Brandes (Brandes, Georg), that introduced the literary trends of naturalism and realism to the Scandinavian world.

      Brandes—influenced by Hippolyte Taine, Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, and John Stuart Mill—felt his mission as a critic was to bring Denmark out of its backwater and isolation. His Hovedstrømninger i det 19de aarhundredes litteratur (1872–90; Main Currents in 19th Century Literature) caused a great sensation not only in Denmark but throughout the rest of Scandinavia; and his demands that literature should concern itself with life and reality, not with fantasy, and that it should work in the service of progress rather than reaction provoked much discussion. He influenced the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen and the Swedish dramatist August Strindberg. Jens Peter Jacobsen (Jacobsen, Jens Peter) was among the first Danish writers to exhibit the influence of Brandes' theories; his novel Niels Lyhne and his short stories deal with the problem of dreams versus reality. Holger Drachmann, the greatest lyrical poet of the period, began his career as a staunch supporter of Brandes, against whom he reacted strongly later.

      Henrik Pontoppidan (Pontoppidan, Henrik) emerged as one of Denmark's great novelists. His early stories reveal social injustices; and in several of his short novels he discusses the political, moral, and religious problems of his day. Herman Bang (Bang, Herman) was another novelist who cultivated a determined realism. His works deal with insignificant people, the gray and lonely and miserable men and women who are normally overlooked because nothing ever seems to happen in their undramatic lives.

      Other novelists associated with the movement are Sophus Schandorph, Vilhelm Topsøe, Edvard Brandes, and Karl Gjellerup. Sven Lange, Einar Christiansen, and Henri Nathansen are three notable playwrights.

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