Tommelise. Tummetott och Tändstickspojken: Androgyna äventyrligheter
(2005)- Abstract
- Thumbelina is one of Hans Christian Andersen´s most well-known tales, found worldwide in a wealth of translations and many illustrative versions, featuring not only in printed forms but also as children´s theatre, animated films and – in the bicentenary year of 2005 – also as a ballet with scenography and costume by Her Majesty Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark. In Odense, Andersen´s native city, there is a statue of Thumbelina in one of the squares. Ever since the days of Georg Brandes , critics have regarde this tale as an innocent ”little girl” story. This essay, however, attemtps to analyse Thumbelina as en early and complicated prototype of the Andersen ”eventyr”-genre. The starting point is its antagonistic attitude to the masculine Tom... (More)
- Thumbelina is one of Hans Christian Andersen´s most well-known tales, found worldwide in a wealth of translations and many illustrative versions, featuring not only in printed forms but also as children´s theatre, animated films and – in the bicentenary year of 2005 – also as a ballet with scenography and costume by Her Majesty Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark. In Odense, Andersen´s native city, there is a statue of Thumbelina in one of the squares. Ever since the days of Georg Brandes , critics have regarde this tale as an innocent ”little girl” story. This essay, however, attemtps to analyse Thumbelina as en early and complicated prototype of the Andersen ”eventyr”-genre. The starting point is its antagonistic attitude to the masculine Tom Thumb-tradition (Perrault, Grimm, Oehlenschläger) and its root in the antropomorphic symbols of the animal fable (La Fontaine). As a hidden expression of Andersen´s own androgynous nature and his well-known fear of sexuality, Thumbelina gains an autbiographical dimension. leading to the author´s romantic vision of the white marriage.The sexual ambiguity of the tale is mirrored in Thumbelina´s reception in Sweden, where Selma Lagerlöf´s Nils Holgersson is her cousin, sometimes referred to as Tom Thumb. She is transferred to the little logo-boy on the labels of the ”Solstickan” match boxes , produced by Swedish Match, and originally a Thumbelina-illustration by Einar Nerman.Thumbelina – generally regarded as a boy! – on the Swedish match boxes has been sold in almost six billions copies since 1936 – and is thus one of the most frequently reproduced art pictures in the world. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/536465
- author
- Palm, Anders LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2005
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- inter art and inter media studies, intertextuality, androgynity, Tom Thumb traditions, fairy tales, H. C. Andersen´s Thumbelina
- host publication
- H.C Andersens underbara resor i Sverige
- editor
- Holmquist, Ivo
- publisher
- Makadam förlag
- ISSN
- 1651-775X
- ISBN
- 91-7061-014-2; 1651-775X
- 91-7061-014-2
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 497cc31e-6117-4a99-8e16-5a6cebd751bc (old id 536465)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:10:25
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 20:39:18
@inbook{497cc31e-6117-4a99-8e16-5a6cebd751bc,
abstract = {{Thumbelina is one of Hans Christian Andersen´s most well-known tales, found worldwide in a wealth of translations and many illustrative versions, featuring not only in printed forms but also as children´s theatre, animated films and – in the bicentenary year of 2005 – also as a ballet with scenography and costume by Her Majesty Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark. In Odense, Andersen´s native city, there is a statue of Thumbelina in one of the squares. Ever since the days of Georg Brandes , critics have regarde this tale as an innocent ”little girl” story. This essay, however, attemtps to analyse Thumbelina as en early and complicated prototype of the Andersen ”eventyr”-genre. The starting point is its antagonistic attitude to the masculine Tom Thumb-tradition (Perrault, Grimm, Oehlenschläger) and its root in the antropomorphic symbols of the animal fable (La Fontaine). As a hidden expression of Andersen´s own androgynous nature and his well-known fear of sexuality, Thumbelina gains an autbiographical dimension. leading to the author´s romantic vision of the white marriage.The sexual ambiguity of the tale is mirrored in Thumbelina´s reception in Sweden, where Selma Lagerlöf´s Nils Holgersson is her cousin, sometimes referred to as Tom Thumb. She is transferred to the little logo-boy on the labels of the ”Solstickan” match boxes , produced by Swedish Match, and originally a Thumbelina-illustration by Einar Nerman.Thumbelina – generally regarded as a boy! – on the Swedish match boxes has been sold in almost six billions copies since 1936 – and is thus one of the most frequently reproduced art pictures in the world.}},
author = {{Palm, Anders}},
booktitle = {{H.C Andersens underbara resor i Sverige}},
editor = {{Holmquist, Ivo}},
isbn = {{91-7061-014-2; 1651-775X}},
issn = {{1651-775X}},
keywords = {{inter art and inter media studies; intertextuality; androgynity; Tom Thumb traditions; fairy tales; H. C. Andersen´s Thumbelina}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Makadam förlag}},
title = {{Tommelise. Tummetott och Tändstickspojken: Androgyna äventyrligheter}},
year = {{2005}},
}