AUC Philologica (Acta Universitatis Carolinae Philologica) is an academic journal published by Charles University. It publishes scholarly articles in a large number of disciplines (English, German, Greek and Latin, Oriental, Romance and Slavonic studies, as well as in phonetics and translation studies), both on linguistic and on literary and cultural topics. Apart from articles it publishes reviews of new academic books or special issues of academic journals.
The journal is indexed in CEEOL, DOAJ, EBSCO, and ERIH PLUS.
AUC PHILOLOGICA, Vol 2025 No 1 (2025), 87–104
Denmark’s Little Brother: The Image of Iceland in Adam Oehlenschläger’s Drama Palnatoke
Anežka Matěnová
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/24646830.2025.5
published online: 11. 07. 2025
abstract
The drama Palnatoke by Adam Oehlenschläger (1779–1850) tells the story of an alliance of Vikings who lay the foundation stones of the Danish state. The author of the article analyses the image of Iceland and Icelanders in the drama. The article argues that the friendly, peace-loving Icelandic protagonist who travels around the world stands for Scandinavianism, a movement promoting political and cultural cooperation of the Nordic countries. In addition, the character shows some features of the Beautiful as opposed to the Danish Sublime – he is partly feminised. As a result, he looks up to the Danes. Iceland and Denmark are not on an equal footing; Denmark’s attitude to Iceland is colonial and paternalistic. On the one hand, Iceland is praised for its literature and knowledge and Icelanders for their pure hearts. On the other hand, the Icelander is depicted as inferior and in a primitivistic way.
keywords: imagology; Scandinavianism; Romanticism; Danish literature; Old Norse literature; Adam Oehlenschläger; postcolonialism; the Sublime; Nordic Orientalism
references (27)
1. Adriansen, Inge. 2003. Nationale symboler i Det Danske Rige 1830-2000. Vol. 2. København: Museum Tusculanum.
2. Alt, Peter-André. 2023. Das fluide Ich: Tränen in Goethes "Die Leiden des jungen Werthers" (1774) und Jacobis "Woldemar". Jahrbuch der deutschen Schillergesellschaft 66: 33-67. CrossRef
3. Arndt, Astrid. 2007. North/South. In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters: A Critical Survey, ed. M. Beller and J. Leersen, 387-389. Amsterdam: Rodopi. CrossRef
4. Burke, Edmund. 2015. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Buck, Steen and Poulsen, Henning. 2007. Dějiny Dánska. Trans. Helena Březinová. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny.
6. Eco, Umberto. 2005. Dějiny krásy. Trans. Gabriela Chalupská, Veronika Křenková, Jindřich Vacek, Kateřina Vinšová, Zora Obstová and Anita Pelánová. Praha: Argo.
7. Feldbæk, Ole. 2017. Tyskerfejden. Lex.dk (online). Updated 08.10.2024. https://lex.dk/Tyskerfejden.
8. Fink, Gonthier-Louis. 2004. Diskriminierung und Rehabilitierung des Nordens im Spiegel der Klimatheorie. In Imagologie des Nordens, ed. A. Arndt et al., 45-107. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
9. Hauge, Hans (ed.). 2007. Postkolonialisme. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
10. Ísleifsson, Sumarliði R. 2015. Images of Iceland and Greenland in the Late Seventeenth and First Half of the Eighteenth Century. 1700-tal: Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 12: 55-72. CrossRef
11. Ísleifsson, Sumarliði R. 2015. Tvær eyjar á jaðrinum: ímyndir Íslands og Grænlands frá miðöldum til miðrar 19. aldar. Dissertation. Háskólaútgáfan: Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands, Reykjavík.
12. Jóhannsson, Jón Y. 2000. Scandinavian Orientalism: The Reception of Danish-Icelandic Literature 1905-1950. In Nordisk litteratur og mentalitet: foredrag fra den 22. studiekongres i International Alliance for Scandinavian Studies (IASS) arrangeret af Føroyamálsdeild, Fróðskaparsetur Føroya, Færøernes Universitet, 3.-9. august 1998, ed. J. Cramer and M. Marnersdóttir, 254-261. Tórshavn: Føroya fróðskaparfelag.
13. Králová, Kristýna and Králová, Magda (eds.). 2017. Nesmrtelní Vikingové: Staroseverské motivy v novodobé literatuře. Praha: Herrmann & synové.
14. Leersen, Joep. 2007a. Image. In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters: A Critical Survey, ed. M. Beller and J. Leersen, 342-344. Amsterdam: Rodopi. CrossRef
15. Leersen, Joep. 2007b. The Poetics and Anthropology of National Character (1500-2000). In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters: A Critical Survey, ed. M. Beller and J. Leersen, 63-75. Amsterdam: Rodopi. CrossRef
16. Lönnroth, Lars and Ross, Margaret C. 1999. The Norse Muse: Report from an International Research Project. Alvíssmál 9: 3-28.
17. McClintock, Anne. 1995. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. New York: Routledge.
18. Meulengracht Sørensen, Preben. 1980. Norrønt nid: Forestillingen om den umandige mand i islandske sagaer. Odense: Odense Universitetsforlag.
19. Neumann, Birgit. 2009. Towards a Cultural and Historical Imagology: The Rhetoric of National Character in 18th-century British Literature. European Journal of English Studies 13 (3): 275-291. CrossRef
20. Oehlenschläger, Adam G. 1929. Palnatoke: et Sørgespil. In A. G. Oehlenschläger. Poetiske skrifter, vol. IV (online). København: Gads forlag. https://tekster.kb.dk/text/adl-texts-oehl04val-shoot-workid57154.
21. Saxo Grammaticus. The Danish History, Book I (online). https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1150/1150-h/1150-h.htm.
22. Said, Edward W. 1979. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books.
23. Shaw, Philip. 2017. The Sublime. London: Routledge. CrossRef
24. Skyum-Nielsen, Erik. 2015. Island i skrivende danskeres drømme. In Gullfoss: mødet mellem dansk ogislandsk kultur i 1900-tallet, ed. E. Skyum-Nielsen, 355-389. København: Vandkunsten.
25. The Tale of Thorvald the Far-Travelled. 1997. In The Complete Sagas of Icelanders Including 49 Tales, ed. V. Hreinsson et al., 357-369. Reykjavík: Leif Eiríksson Publishing.
26. Van der Liet, Henk. 2011. Iceland: A Postcolonial Literary Landscape? Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 67 (1): 447-471. CrossRef
27. Van Gerven, Tim. 2018. The Copenhagen Question of 1800: Tracing the Intellectual Roots of Cultural Scandinavism. In Skandinavismen: Vision og virkning, ed. R. Hemstad et al., 45-72. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag.
Denmark’s Little Brother: The Image of Iceland in Adam Oehlenschläger’s Drama Palnatoke is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
230 x 157 mm
periodicity: 3 x per year
print price: 150 czk
ISSN: 0567-8269
E-ISSN: 2464-6830
