‘Den nye kvinde’ i det tidlige 1900-tals kulturdebat og litteratur

Forfattere

  • Lise Busk-Jensen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/fof.v55i0.118915

Resumé

Lise Busk-Jensen: ‘The New Woman’ in the early 1900s cultural debate and literature

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, men expanded their political and social liberties of action to such an extent that they undermined the patriarchal marriage and the traditional gender system. It provoked a heated cultural debate about women’s changing social situation and new identity. After the turn of the century, the fight for the right to vote became the major goal of woman’s rights movements, but opinions were divided concerning the definition of a modern woman and how she could best be included in society. In particular, the article deals with two of the major debates from the first decade of the twentieth century; namely the discussion in 1905 about Gyrithe Lemche’s criticism of Agnes Henningsen’s novels for solely focussing on women’s erotic identity, and the discussion in 1907 about the theatre censorship that banned the staging of Hjalmar Bergstrøm’s play Karen Bornemann about women’s right to enjoy sexual relations outside of marriage. Female writers joined in the debate and contributed with their own literary depictions of ‘the new woman.’ Agnes Henningsen’s heroines would be erotically liberated and would play an active role in their love relationships. Thit Jensen’s heroines would uncover a personal identity and publicly fight for their opinions. Gyrithe Lemche would create space for women’s abilities and motherly experience in the community, while Karin Michaëlis was intent on providing the numerous silent women, young ignorant girls and oppressed housewives with their own voice in literature. The article shows the positions of the gender debates and analyses women types in the four authorships’ early period as a spectrum of the possibilities created by women’s life outside of the family.

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Publiceret

2016-03-03

Citation/Eksport

Busk-Jensen, L. (2016). ‘Den nye kvinde’ i det tidlige 1900-tals kulturdebat og litteratur. Fund Og Forskning I Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger, 55, 213. https://doi.org/10.7146/fof.v55i0.118915

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