Lit Trans 275

Scandinavian Studies 475

 

 

 

 

Dates

Content of Lecture

Readings

Week 1

Introduction and Life

W 9/2

The class - and Denmark

 

F 9/4

 

Andersen as a child

"The Emperor's New Clothes" p. 77, Haugaard, MTJFT p. 105.
"The Ugly Duckling" p. 216 Haugaard.

 

Week 2

Folklore - and a Movie

M 9/7

Labor Day - No Class

 

W 9/9

Folklore and Andersen

 

"The Pancake House" p. 1 Danish Folktales

"Snow White" p. 19 Danish Folktales
"The Little Kitchen Maid" p. 23 Danish Folktales



F  9/11

Movie

"Young Andersen" - streamed. Watch the first half = 1 hour

 

Week 3

Folklore, Magic, and Trickery

M 9/14

The Magic Tale

"The Traveling Companion" p. 40, Haugaard

Vladimir Propp

 

P.C.Asbjornsen: "The Companion"

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Fjeld/The_Companion


W 9/16

The Magic Tale

"The Eleven Swans" p. 4 Danish Folktales.
"The Wild Swans" p. 117, Haugaard

 

F  9/18

Movie

"Young Andersen"- streamed. Watch the second half = 1 hour

Week 4

Romanticism and Merpeople

 

M 9/21

Andersen and Romanticism

 

 The Dying Child online
"The Daisy" p. 108, Haugaard.

 

W  9/23

Mermaid

 

"The Little Mermaid," p. 57 Haugaard.

F  9/25

Merpeople

 

“The Garden of Eden," p. 132 Haugaard.
"The Prince and the Merman" p. 15, Danish Folktales.
"The Merman" p. 35, Danish Folktales.


Week 5

First Exam and Children

 

M 9/28

First exam review in class

 

 

 

W 9/30

First Exam in class

 

 

F 10/2

Andersen, The Fabliau, and Morals

"Clod Hans" p.479, Haugaard
"What Father does is Always Right", p. 713 Haugaard

"Little Claus and Big Claus" p. 8, Haugaard



Week 6

Romanticism

M 10/5

Andersen and Children

 

"Children's Prattle" p. 630, Haugaard.
"Little Ida's Flowers" p. 22, Haugaard.


W 10/7

Angelic Romanticism

"The Angel" p. 200, Haugaard
"The Comet" p. 978, Haugaard
"The Hill of the Elves" p. 282, Haugaard


F  10/9

(Icy) Women

"The Snow Queen" p. 234, Haugaard

"Inchelina" p. 29, Haugaard.
"The Talisman" p. 550, Haugaard

 

Week 7

Biedermeier, Women, and sex roles

M 10/12

Obsession and sexuality

"The Ice Maiden" p. 735, Haugaard.

W 10/14

Women & the 19th Cent.

"The Swineherd" p. 193, Haugaard

F 10/16

Love, Pain, and a Narrator

"The Naughty Boy" p. 38, Haugaard.
"The Snowman" p. 718, Haugaard.
"The Pact of Friendship" p. 167, Haugaard.


Week 8

Sex roles and Social Hierarchy

M 10/19

Obsessive Love

"The Sweethearts" p. 213, Haugaard.
"The Collar" p. 366, Haugaard.
"The Butterfly" p. 782, Haugaard

MTJFT p. 35

W 10/21

19th Cent. sexuality

"Ib and Little Christina" p. 469, Haugaard.
Bachelor goes a-wooing, by Lise Sørensen, online.
"Under the Willow Tree" p. 431, Haugaard.
"The Dung Beetle" p. 705, Haugaard.
MTJFT p. 81


F 10/23

The mind Obsessed

"The Steadfast Tin Soldier" p. 112, Haugaard
"What the Wind Told about Valdemar Daae and his Daughters" p. 595, Haugaard.
"The Old House" p. 346, Haugaard.

MTJFT p. 11

Week 9

Social hierarchy and the Future

M 10/26

The Social Hierarchy

"The Darning Needle" p. 271, Haugaard.
"The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep" p. 297, Haugaard.
"The Janitor's Son" p. 865, Haugaard


W 10/28

The Past and the Future

"The Great Sea Serpent" p. 1006, Haugaard.
"The Millennium" p. 428, Haugaard.
"The Old Street Lamp" p. 313, Haugaard.
"The Candles" p. 992, Haugaard.


F 10/30

Social Criticism

 

 

"The Little Match Girl" p. 306, Haugaard
"She was no good" p. 452, Haugaard
"Everything in its Right Place" p.416, Haugaard

 

 

Week 10

Pointing towards the future

M 11/2

Second Exam review in class

 

W 11/4

Second Exam in class

F 11/6

The new and the old

"Grief" p. 414, Haugaard.
"A Drop of Water" p. 354, Haugaard.
"In the Duckyard" p. 723, Haugaard.

MTJFT p. 11, p. 23

Week 11

Art,  Artist, and Audience

M 11/9

Art and the artist

 

"Something" p. 539, Haugaard.
"The Gardener and his Master" p. 1015, Haugaard


W 11/11

Looking down

"A Drop of Water" p. 354, Haugaard.
"The Watchman of the Tower" p. 614, Haugaard.
"A Happy Disposition" p. 410, Haugaard.

MTJFT p. 23

F 11/13

Art and the audience

"The Pen and the Inkwell" p. 639, Haugaard.
"The Bronze Pig" p. 156, Haugaard.
"The Nightingale" p. 203, Haugaard.

MTJFT p. 35

Week 12

Art

M 11/16

Art and trickery

"The Professor and the Flea" p. 1022, Haugaard.
"The Flying Trunk" p. 145, Haugaard.

MTJFT p. 11, p. 35

W 11/18

Art for Art’s sake

"Psyche" p. 785, Haugaard.
"Lovely" p. 650, Haugaard


F 11/20

Art and the Dark Side

"The Shadow" p. 334, Haugaard.
"The Will-o-wisps are in Town the Bog Witch said" p. 799, Haugaard


Week 13

Art and Religion

M 11/23

The grace of God

"On the Last Day" p. 401, Haugaard
"The Girl Who Stepped on Bread" p. 606, Haugaard.
"The Red Shoes" p. 289, Haugaard.


W 11/25

Thanksgiving

 

F 11/27

Thanksgiving

 

 

Week 14

Religion continued

M 11/30

Deism and Atheism

"The Angel" p. 200, Haugaard.

"The Old Oak Tree's Last Dream" p. 545, Haugaard.
"The Bell" p. 275, Haugaard.
"The Evil King" p. 592, Haugaard.
MTJFT p. 57

W 12/2

Redemption

 

"About the Stolen Barley-corns" p. 40, Danish Folktales
"The Elf Children" p. 41, Danish Folktales

"The Dead Child" p. 642, Haugaard.

"The Pine Tree" p. 225, Haugaard.

F 12/4

Choice

"The Story of a Mother" p. 360, Haugaard.
"The Flax" p. 369, Haugaard.
MTJFT p. 57


Week 15

The End!

M 12/7

The End of Life

"Auntie Toothache" p. 1058, Haugaard.
"The Story Old Johanna Told" p.1026, Haugaard.


W 12/ 9

Third Exam in class

 

 

 


 

 

   

ODENSE, Denmark



Nete Schmidt

 
 
   

Official UW Syllabus

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Syllabus, Scand. Studies 275, The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.
Credits: 3
Course URL:

MWF 12:05-12:55, 5206 Social Sciences
Instructional Mode: Face-to-Face
Credit hours: Traditional Carnegie Definition
Instructor: Faculty Associate Nete Schmidt, Ph.D.
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:00 am and by appointment
Email: aschmidt2@wisc.edu
Course Description:

Hans Christian Andersen lived in Denmark from 1805 - 1875. He is one of the
best-known writers in the world, and his tales have been translated into numerous languages.

His writings span many genres and include much more than the "fairy" tales which made him famous. In this class, however, we will focus on the tales. They can be read by young and old alike, but it is quite certain that as an adult you will have a much stronger appreciation of the complexities and important messages in his tales. They are not mere "children's tales" but contain, wit, humor, sharp observations, social criticism, and existential thoughts, among many others They are.composed in a way that guarantees them well-deserved immortality.

We will read a variety of tales, discuss them, place them in a historical context, and also try to build a picture in our mind of Andersen, the writer. Maybe you will even be inspired to visit Denmark and his native city of Odense.

Prerequisites: None

Course Learning Outcomes:

The students will gain an ability to identify and understand the categories of folk tales and fairy tales by Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Asbørnsen and Moe.
The students will analyze and discuss the important features of the tales introduced and read in class.
The students will achieve the ability to compose and produce writing that applies the concepts introduced to describe, analyze, and differentiate the tales read in class.
The students will be able to place the tale in the historical context of the 19th Century and its defining Literary Movements.
The students will demonstrate profound knowledge of Hans Christian Andersen., his writings, and his time.

Grading:
Three exams: 33 1/3 % each

Required Textbooks:

Hans Christian Andersen, The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories
Translated by Erik Christian Haugaard,
Anchor Books, ISBN 0-385-18951-6

The other required reading - which you cannot find online - is:
Danish Folk Tales, Collected by M. Winther (1823)
WITS II, Number 5

More Than Just Fairy Tales (MTJFT)
ed. Julie Allen
Cognella Press, 2013

The class has three exams in class.

Homework:
Homework is assigned for every class.

Accommodations for students with disabilities:
The University of Wisconsin-Madison supports the right of all enrolled students to a full and equal educational opportunity. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Wisconsin State Statute (36.12), and UW-Madison policy (Faculty Document 1071) require that students with disabilities be reasonably accommodated in instruction and campus life. Reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities is a shared faculty and student responsibility. Students are expected to inform faculty [me] of their need for instructional accommodations by the end of the third week of the semester, or as soon as possible after a disability has been incurred or recognized. Faculty [I], will work either directly with the student [you] or in coordination with the McBurney Center to identify and provide reasonable instructional accommodations. Disability information, including instructional accommodations as part of a student's educational record, is confidential and protected under FERPA.

Diversity:
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.