Andersen (1805-1875) Danish writer. Born on April 2, 1805 in the slums of Odense, Funen Island, Denmark. His father was a poor shoemaker who volunteered to fight against Napoleon's invasion. He died of illness in 1816 after being discharged from the army. His mother, who was a laundry worker, remarried soon after. Andersen was tortured by poverty since he was a child. He worked as an apprentice in several shops without receiving formal education. He became interested in the stage as a boy and dreamed of becoming a singer, actor or playwright. In 1819, he became a minor supporting actor at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen. He was later fired because his throat was wet. From then on, he began to learn writing, but the script he wrote was completely unsuitable for performance and was not adopted by the theater. In 1822, he received funding from theater director Jonas Colin and studied at a grammar school in Slierse. This year he wrote the book "Youth's Attempts", published under the pseudonym Wilhelm Christian Walter. This pseudonym included the names of Shakespeare, Andersen himself, and Scott. In 1827, he published his first poem "The Dying Child". In 1829, he entered the University of Copenhagen to study. His first important work, "A Walk from the Holmen Canal to the East Point of Amager in 1828 and 1829", was published in 1829. This is a travelogue with a sense of humor, and is quite similar to the writing style of the German writer Hoffmann. The publication of this travelogue gave Andersen initial recognition from society. Thereafter he continued to write plays. In 1831, he traveled to Germany and wrote travel notes on his way back. In 1833, he went to Italy and wrote a poetic drama "Egnet and the Mermaid" and a novel "The Improvisational Poet" (1835) with Italy as the background. Shortly after its publication, the novel was translated into German and English, marking the beginning of the author's international reputation.
His first collection of "Stories for Children" includes "The Tinderbox", "Little Claus and Big Claus", "The Princess on the Pea" and "Little Things". "Flowers of Dar", published in the spring of 1835. In 1837, two more stories were added to this collection and compiled into Volume 1 of Fairy Tales. The second volume was completed in 1842, and another "Picture Album without Pictures" was written in 1847.
From 1840 to 1857, Andersen visited Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Asia Minor and Africa, and wrote many travel notes during the journey, such as: "A Poet's Journey" "Market" (1842), "Swedish Scenery" (1851), "Spanish Journey" (1863), "Visit to Portugal" (1866), etc. He met many well-known writers and artists in Germany, France and other countries. In 1847, he met Dickens in England.
Andersen wrote three autobiographies: the "Small Biography" (1926) written in 1832, the "Main Biography" published in Germany in 1847, and the later "Biography" (1855). Most of the novels and fairy tales are autobiographical, such as "The Improvisational Poet", "O.T" (1836), "Nothing But a Fiddler" (1837), "The Two Baronesses" (1848), "To Live or to Live" Not to Live" (1857), "Lucky Belle" (1870), etc. In his works such as "Dream Under the Willow Tree" (1853), "Ib and Little Christine" (1855), "She is a Waste" (1853), he also wrote about the lives of workers such as shoemakers and washerwomen. Life reflects his own unfortunate life experience and experiences, and at the same time expresses the social contradictions in Denmark, which is of profound reality and people's nature.
In 1843, Andersen met the Swedish singer Jenny Lind. The sincere friendship became the inspiring force in his creation. But he was not a bed of roses in his personal life. He has never been married. His closest friends in later life were Henrik and Melcher. On August 4, 1875, Andersen died at Melcher's mansion in Copenhagen. This fairy tale master continued to create throughout his life, dedicating his genius and life to "the future generation". Until three years before his death, *** wrote 168 fairy tales and stories. His works have been translated into more than 80 languages.
Andersen's fairy tales embody the democratic tradition and realism tendency in Danish literature. His best fairy tales are very popular and are still read by many adults and children around the world today. Some fairy tales, such as "The Little Match Girl", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Janitor's Son", not only truly depict the tragic life of the poor, but also are permeated with romantic sentiment and fantasy. Since the author was born into a poor family, he was deeply aware of the phenomenon of inequality between the rich and the poor in society and the law of the jungle. Therefore, on the one hand, he warmly praised the working people with sincere writing, sympathized with the unfortunate poor, and praised their kindness, purity and other noble qualities; On the other hand, he angrily lashed out at the cruel, greedy, weak, and stupid reactionary ruling class and exploiters, exposed the scandalous behavior of church monks and people's bad habits, and spared no effort to criticize social evils. "The Emperor's New Clothes" poignantly satirizes the emperor's incompetence and the ugliness of the courtiers; "The Nightingale" and "The Princess on the Pea" mock the ignorance and fragility of the nobles. Some stories, such as "The Snow Queen", express the author's views on human ideals, that is, the optimistic belief that "truth, goodness and beauty will eventually prevail." In his last work, "The Gardener and the Master," he also focused on creating the image of a true patriot, reflecting the author's unswerving patriotism.
Some of Andersen's fairy tales, especially some of his late works, also show the limitations of his thinking. Although he was full of sympathy for the poor, he could not find a way out of misfortune and looked at the world with a sad eye, showing negative emotions. He believes that God is the embodiment of truth, goodness and beauty and can guide people towards "happiness". In his works, he sometimes preached morals, promoted the Christian idea of ??fraternity, and advocated the spirit of tolerance and reconciliation.
Andersen's fairy tales are closely related to folk literature, inheriting and carrying forward the simple and fresh style of folk literature. Most of his early works were based on folk tales, and many folk songs and legends were also cited in his later creations.
In terms of genre and writing techniques, Andersen's works are diverse, including fairy tales and short stories, fables and poems; they are suitable for both children's reading and adult appreciation. The artistic images he created, such as the emperor without clothes, the determined tin soldier, Thumbelina, the ugly duckling, the red shoes, etc., have become allusions in European languages.
In terms of language style, Andersen is a highly creative writer. He makes extensive use of the daily spoken language of the Danish lower class and the structural forms of folk tales in his works. The language is vivid, natural, smooth, beautiful, and full of rich local flavor.
Andersen's works were introduced to China very early. The January 1919 issue of "New Youth" published a translation of "The Little Match Girl" by Zhou Zuoren. In 1942, Beijing Xinchao Press published "Traveling Companions" co-translated by Lin Lan and Zhang Jinfen. Since then, the Commercial Press, Zhonghua Book Company and Kaiming Bookstore have successively published translations of Andersen's fairy tales, Andersen's biography and reviews of his works. The translators include Zheng Zhenduo, Mao Dun, Zhao Jingshen, Gu Junzheng, etc. However, the translations before liberation were all translated from English, Japanese or other languages. After liberation, Ye Junjian conducted a systematic study of Andersen's original works and translated all Andersen's fairy tales directly from Danish into Chinese. People's Literature Publishing House published "Selected Fairy Tales of Andersen" translated by Ye Junjian several times in 1955, 1958, and 1978.