‘Og jeg vil så gerne eje min egen tid…’

Kvindelig arbejderlitteraritet i Tove Ditlevsens Ungdom og Barndom

Resumé

In several major works, danish author tove ditlevsen depicted her upbringing in working-class Copenhagen in the 1920s and 30s. Yet she has never been ascribed a central position in the tradition of danish working-class literature. As such ditlevsen is an illustrative example of the masculine bias characterizing the institutionalized narrative of danish working-class literature before the 1970s. Using the case of ditlevsen as its exemplary entry point, the article addresses the marginalization of female writers and perspectives in the construction of the danish tradition. Based on i) the examination of Ditlevsen’s reception in denmark and ii) analytical inquiries into the first two volumes of her memoirs, Childhood (1967) and Youth (1967), the article argues that the main reason for ditlevsen’s edge position in the history of danish working-class literature is that she represents a working-class literariness differing from the political-agitational expressions, which historically has been the predominant focus and ideal in danish working-class literature research and criticism. Approaching and reading ditlevsen as an author of working-class literature thus not only highlights the often-overlooked importance of class and class-experience in several of her works, but also contributes to a critical reflection on the construction of the tradition of danish working-class literature and consequently to an expanding reconfiguration of it.