Chapter 45 Biography of Andersen

Biography of Andersen Andersen (Hans Christian Andersen 1805-1875) Danish writer. Born on April 2, 1805 in a slum in Odense, Funen Island, Denmark.His father was a poor shoemaker who had voluntary service against Napoleon's invasion and died of illness in 1816 after retiring from the army.His mother, who was a laundryman, remarried soon after.Andersen was tortured by poverty since he was a child, and worked as an apprentice in several shops successively without formal education.He became interested in the stage when he was a teenager, and fantasized about being a singer, actor or playwright. In 1819, he played a small supporting role at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen.Later, he was fired for losing his voice.From then on, he began to learn to write, but the script he wrote was completely unsuitable for performance and was not adopted by the theater. In 1822, he was funded by theater director Jonas Kölling and studied at a grammar school in Sleierse.This year he wrote the book "Young Attempts", which was published under the pseudonym of William Christian Walter.This pseudonym includes 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" appeared in 1829.This is a travel note with a sense of humor, quite in the style of the German writer Hoffmann.The publication of this travel note made Andersen initially recognized by the society.He has since continued to write plays. In 1831, he traveled to Germany and wrote travel notes on the way home. He went to Italy in 1833 and created a poetic drama "Egnet and the Mermaid" and a novel "Improvisational Poet" (1835) set in Italy.Soon after the novel was published, it was translated into German and English, marking the beginning of the author's international reputation.

His first "Tales for Children" included "The Tinderbox," "Little and Big Claus," "The Princess on the Pea," and "Little Ida's Flowers." Published in the spring of 1835. In 1837, on the basis of this collection, two stories were added and compiled into the first volume of fairy tale collection.Volume 2 was completed in 1842. In 1847, he wrote another "picture album without pictures". 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 Market" (1842), " Scenery of Sweden" (1851), "A Journey to Spain" (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: "Little Biography" (1926) written in 1832, "The True Story" published in Germany in 1847, and a "Biography" (1855) written later.Most of his novels and fairy tales are also autobiographical, such as "The Impromptu Poet", "O.T" (1836), "Just a Fiddler" (1837), "Two Baronesses" (1848), " To Live or Not to Live" (1857), "Lucky Belle" (1870), etc.In his works such as (1853), "Ib and Little Kristin" (1855), "She's a Waste" (1853), he also wrote about the lives of laborers such as shoemakers and washerwomen, reflecting his own The unfortunate life experience and encounters also show the social contradictions in Denmark, which is deeply realistic and popular.

In 1843, Andersen met the Swedish female singer Jenny Lind.Sincere friendship has become the inspiration in his creation.But his personal life was not what he wanted.He has never been married.His closest friends in later life were Henrik and Melcher. On August 4, 1875, Hans Christian Andersen died at Melcher's house in Copenhagen.The fairy tale master persisted in creation all his life, dedicating his genius and life to the "future generation". Until three years before his death, he 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 realistic tendency in Danish literature.His best fairy tales are very popular and are still recited by many adults and children all over the world.Some fairy tales, such as "The Little Match Girl", "The Ugly Duckling", and "The Gatekeeper's Son", not only truly describe the miserable life of the poor, but also permeate romantic sentiment and fantasy.Because the author was born in a poor family, he deeply felt the phenomenon of inequality in the society between the rich and the poor, and the law of the jungle. Therefore, on the one hand, he warmly praised the working people, sympathized with the unfortunate poor, and praised their noble qualities such as kindness and purity; On the one hand, he angrily lashed out at the cruel, greedy, weak, and stupid reactionary ruling class and exploiters, exposed the scandals of church monks and people's various bad habits, and spared no effort to criticize social evils. "The Emperor's New Clothes" poignantly satirized the emperor's incompetence and courtiers' flattery and ugliness; and "The Princess on the Pea" mocked 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 win".In his last work "The Gardener and the Master", he also focused on shaping the image of a true patriot, reflecting the author's unswerving patriotic spirit.

Some of Andersen's fairy tales, especially some of his later works, also show the limitations of his thinking.Although he devoted all his sympathy to the poor, he could not find a way out of misfortune, and looked at the world with sad eyes, showing negative emotions.He believes that God is the embodiment of truth, goodness and beauty, who can lead people to "happiness".In his works, he sometimes preaches morals, promotes Christian fraternity, and advocates the spirit of tolerance and reconciliation. Andersen's fairy tales have a blood relationship with folk literature, inheriting and carrying forward the simple and fresh style of folk literature.Most of his early works were based on folk stories, and many folk songs and legends were also quoted in his later creations.

In terms of genres 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 steadfast 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 who uses a lot of the daily oral language of the Danish lower class people and the structure of folk stories in his works.The language is vivid, natural, fluent and graceful, full of strong local flavor.

Andersen's works were introduced to China very early. The January 1919 issue of "New Youth" published Zhou Zuoren's translation of "The Little Match Girl". In 1942, Beijing Xinchao News Agency published a joint translation by Lin Lan and Zhang Jinfen.Since then, the Commercial Press, Zhonghua Bookstore and Kaiming Bookstore have successively published translations of Andersen's fairy tales, biographies of Andersen and comments on his works.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 systematic research on Andersen's original works, and translated all Andersen's fairy tales directly from Danish into Chinese.