Om Poul Engberg forfatterskab

Resumé

About Poul Engberg’s Writings

By Jens Peter Ægidius

In a portrait sketch of Poul Engberg, J.P. Ægidius depicts him as a distinguished Grundtvigian folk high school man, a principal figure in the Grundtvigian tradition of 20th century Denmark.

PE has worked primarily at folk high schools, but has also been a clergyman to some of the »free« Grundtvigian congregations (i.e. those standing outside the state framework). His writings, the majority of which are the product of the three latest decades, are comprehensive in regard to the number of titles as well as to the scope of their subjects. The central deliberations bear on the meaning of folkelighed, historically in Grundtvig’s writings as well as today in relation to present political circumstances. As J.P. Ægidius renders it, it is made clear by PE that Grundtvig’s importance today is not ensured through a historical review of Grundtvig’s life and work; a critical dialogue about cultural and social conditions today is essential. PE makes no secret of the fact that he regards the European Union as patently opposed to what he himself sees as the core of the Nordic cultural heritage, his view being that this heritage builds on a mythical-poetical understanding of life. With this point of departure - in constant opposition to the leading circles of the day - PE has turned against the political development, which, consciously or unconsciously, adapts itself to the high political trends, including the move towards a political union in Western Europe. Instead, with courage and a good deal of obstinacy, he has sought to draw attention to the idea that there ought to be room for a high degree of folkelig understanding between the Nordic heritage, rightly understood, and »Holy Russia«.

In PE’s view this would, for one thing, comply with what Grundtvig had in mind when he experienced his »Greek revival« and thus came to appreciate the tradition of the Eastern church, and for another, it would be a highly called-for counterbalance to the dominating tendencies in European politics, which, in PE’s view, have succumbed to a materialistic mentality, dictated by globalization and market mechanisms, but are entirely devoid of any sense of the importance of a mythical-poetical universe.