Jens Peter Jacobsen
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Jens Peter Jacobsen (7 April 1847 – 30 April 1885) was a Danish
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, and scientist, in Denmark often just written as "J. P. Jacobsen". He began the naturalist movement in
Danish literature Danish literature () a subset of Scandinavian literature, stretches back to the Middle Ages. The earliest preserved texts from Denmark are runic inscriptions on memorial stones and other objects, some of which contain short poems in alliterative ...
and was a part of the
Modern Breakthrough The Modern Breakthrough ( no, Det moderne gjennombrudd, da, Det moderne gennembrud, sv, Det moderna genombrottet) is the common name of the strong movement of naturalism and debating literature of Scandinavia which replaced romanticism near the ...
.


Biography

Jacobsen was born in
Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, the eldest of the five children of a prosperous merchant. He went to school in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and was a student at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
in 1868. As a boy, he showed a remarkable talent for science, in particular
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
. In 1870, although he was already secretly writing poetry, Jacobsen adopted botany as a profession. He was sent by a scientific body in Copenhagen to report on the flora of the islands of Anholt and
Læsø Læsø ("Isle of Hlér") is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') on that ...
. Around this time, the discoveries of
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
began to fascinate him. Realizing that the work of Darwin was not well known in Denmark, he translated ''
The Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
'' and ''
The Descent of Man ''The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871, which applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection, a form of biol ...
'' into
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
. When still young, Jacobsen was struck by
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
which eventually ended his life. His illness prompted travels to southern Europe, cut him off from scientific investigation, and drove him to literature. He met the famous critic
Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...
, who was struck by his powers of expression, and under his influence, in the spring of 1873, Jacobsen began his great historical romance, ''Marie Grubbe''. Jacobsen was an atheist.


Literary works

Jacobsen's canon consists of two novels, seven short stories, and one posthumous volume of poetry – small, but enough to place him as one of the most influential Danish writers.


Prose

The historical novel ''Fru Marie Grubbe'' (1876, Eng. transl.: ''Marie Grubbe. A Lady of the Seventeenth Century'' 1917) is the first Danish treatment of a woman as a sexual creature. Based upon the life of a 17th-century Danish noblewoman, it charts her downfall from a member of the royal family to the wife of a ferryman, as a result of her desire for an independent and satisfying erotic life. In many ways the books anticipates the themes of
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
. Jacobsen's second novel ''
Niels Lyhne ''Niels Lyhne'' is an 1880 novel written by the Danish author Jens Peter Jacobsen. General description A naturalistic work, ''Niels Lyhne'' is considered to be part of the Modern Breakthrough, a style of Realism native to Scandinavia; however, ...
'' (1880, English translation 1919) traces the fate of an atheist in a merciless world: his lack of faith is "tested" by tragedies and personal crises until he dies in war, disillusioned but unrepentant. According to biographer Morten Høi Jensen, the novel anticipates the work of Albert Camus. Jacobsen's short stories are collected in ''Mogens og andre Noveller'' (1882, translated as ''Mogens and Other Tales'', 1921, and ''Mogens and Other Stories'', 1994). Among them must be mentioned ''Mogens'' (1872, his official debut), the tale of a young dreamer and his maturing during love, sorrow and new hope of love. ''Et Skud i Taagen'' (''A Shot in the Fog'') is a Poe-inspired tale of the sterility of hatred and revenge. ''Pesten i Bergamo'' (The Plague of Bergamo) shows people clinging to religion even when tempted to be "free men". ''Fru Fønss'' (1882) is a sad story about a widow's tragic break with her egoistic children when she wants to remarry. ''Mogens og andre Noveller'' and ''Niels Lyhne'' were both highly praised by
Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...
in his letters to
Franz Xaver Kappus Franz Xaver Kappus (17 May 1883 – 9 October 1966) was an Austrian military officer, journalist, editor and writer who wrote poetry, short-stories, novels and screenplays. Kappus is known chiefly as the military academy cadet who wrote to Austri ...
, translated as ''Letters to a Young Poet''.


Poetry

The poems of Jacobsen are more influenced by late romanticism than his prose. Many of them are wistful, dreamy and melancholic but also naturalistic. Most important is the great obscure poem ''Arabesque to a Hand-drawing by Michel Angelo'' (about 1875) the idea of which seems to be that art is going to replace immortality as the meaning of life. They significantly inspired the Danish symbolist poetry of the 1890s.


Legacy

Unlike many of his colleagues Jacobsen did not take much interest in politics, his main interests being science and psychology. He is primarily an ''artist'': his ability to create "paintings" and arabesque-like scenes both in his prose and his poetry (which has sometimes been criticized as "mannered") is one of the secrets of his art. It has been said that his novels are a presentation of various snapshots rather than tales of action. In spite of his not very extensive oeuvre Jacobsen's international influence has been quite strong. In Germany both his novels and poems were widely read and they are known to have influenced
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
, as well as the Englishmen
George Gissing George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include '' The Nether World'' (1889), '' New Gr ...
and
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
. Gissing read the Reclam edition of
Niels Lyhne ''Niels Lyhne'' is an 1880 novel written by the Danish author Jens Peter Jacobsen. General description A naturalistic work, ''Niels Lyhne'' is considered to be part of the Modern Breakthrough, a style of Realism native to Scandinavia; however, ...
in 1889 and again in 1890 when he wrote 'which I admire more than ever'.Coustillas. Pierre ed. London and the Life of Literature in Late Victorian England: the Diary of George Gissing, Novelist, Brighton: Harvester Press, 1978, pp.156-7 and 211-2. Jacobsen's works also greatly inspired
Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...
's prose: in '' Briefe an einen jungen Dichter'' (trans. ''Letters to a Young Poet'') (1929) Rilke recommends to
Franz Xaver Kappus Franz Xaver Kappus (17 May 1883 – 9 October 1966) was an Austrian military officer, journalist, editor and writer who wrote poetry, short-stories, novels and screenplays. Kappus is known chiefly as the military academy cadet who wrote to Austri ...
to read the works of Jacobsen, adding that Rilke always carried the Bible and Jacobsen's collected works. Further, Rilke's only novel '' Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge'' (translated as ''The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge'') (1910) is semi-autobiographical but is heavily influenced by Jacobsen's second novel ''Niels Lyhne'' (1880) which traces the fate of an atheist in a merciless world. Jacobsen also influenced many other authors of the turn of the 20th century, including
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
,
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
,
Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...
, Stefan Zweig, and
T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
, who all commented on his work. Thomas Mann once told an interviewer that "perhaps it is J. P. Jacobsen who has had the greatest influence on my style so far." He also had a musical influence:
Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...
's ''
Fennimore and Gerda (subtitled ''Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures'', RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as ''Fennimore and Ge ...
'' and
Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
's ''
Gurre-Lieder ' is a large cantata for five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra, composed by Arnold Schoenberg, on poems by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen (translated from Danish to German by ). The title means "songs of Gurre", ref ...
'' are based upon themes from Jacobsen's books. Schoenberg also set a Jacobsen text, translated by Robert Franz Arnold, as No. 4 of his Six Songs, Op. 3. Jacobsen's Samlede Skrifter is featured in the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park in Tarzan's Treehouse as one of the books salvaged from a shipwreck.


Works

* ''Mogens'' (1872) * ''Fru Marie Grubbe'' (1876) * ''
Niels Lyhne ''Niels Lyhne'' is an 1880 novel written by the Danish author Jens Peter Jacobsen. General description A naturalistic work, ''Niels Lyhne'' is considered to be part of the Modern Breakthrough, a style of Realism native to Scandinavia; however, ...
'' (1880) * ''Pesten i Bergamo'' (1881) * ''Mogens og andre Noveller'' (1882) * ''Digte'' (1886) * ''Skitser og Udkast'' (1886)


About J. P. Jacobsen

''A Difficult Death: The Life and Work of Jens Peter Jacobsen'' by Morten Høi Jensen, 2017, Yale University Press (978-0300218930)


In English

* J. P. Jacobsen: ''Siren Voices.'' London, 1896. Translated by Miss F. L. Robertson * J. P. Jacobsen: ''Marie Grubbe. A Lady of the Seventeenth Century.'' Gloucester, Mass., 1975. * Jens Peter Jacobsen: ''Mogens and Other Stories.'' Seattle, 1994. * Jens Peter Jacobsen: ''Niels Lyhne.'' Seattle, 1990; New York, 2006 ().


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Jens Peter 1847 births 1885 deaths People from Thisted Danish atheists Danish male poets 19th-century Danish botanists University of Copenhagen alumni 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century Danish novelists 19th-century Danish poets Danish male novelists 19th-century male writers Tuberculosis deaths in Denmark