The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-25
LITERARYWAR INDENMARK
TROUBLE CAUSED BY YTETTE GULL
BERT,s APPEARANCE THERE.

COPENHAGEN. June 1.-THE Danish nation is
| stirred from centre to circumference Anom-
alousy enough an artistic de rdriete and great
| industrial lock-o are the causes which have
removed the compliment Copenhagen burghers
| and their households from their rest-nspiring
| promontories to level Of agitation which
| threatens to work a revolution in the existing
order Of things.
| Yvette Gulbert it is who has stirred UP the
latent emotonaism OF the Danes. She OF the
expressive countenance and the sombre- Royed
arms came from her devoted Paris to give the
descendants Of Hamlet n taste OF her art. True.
the Jailed trades lockout shares part of the
excitement which has been rampant in Dem
mark for some days. But far and above the
sordidness OF industrialism. the citizens Of tho
little kingdom to the north nre now concerned
with art for arts sake" Is Guibert an ar
tiSt or Is she an exponent OF deReneracy
Are her songs the expression OF Partisan
thought or is her performance simply
question Of catering to n public demand?
More than this. the advent and departure OF
Yvctte Guilbcrt have brought into discussion
the current literature OF the Danish people.
Great and small. atheist and churchman. So
cialist and monarchst. all shades of the ma
tionul lilo and existence have been mixed up
in the controversy which now fills the press as
no other subject since the Prussian war.
While Yvctte Guilbert rests indolently in her
Partisan home: while her purse Ia heavy and
her cares are light; while the artistic looks
retrospectvely over her victories in France
aud in America and on the Continent and on her
latest conquest. Denmark. staid professors at
the university and the opponents Of the new
school in literature are at swords point.
Aside from the question as to what constitutes
Legitimate art and its representation on the
eto vbntt ba Nan ppSttr would lilo n know
now Is whore the agitation will end. With
mon like DR.. Brandes. Alfred Ipsen. Bishop
Setback. and other equally well-known person-
alitIes concerned. small wonder that tho yellow
journals Of Copenhagen have found food for
gossip. and that tho daily papers in general
ore filed with tho matter to the brim. Den
mark has representatives at the peace confer
ence at Tho Hague; but while tho reports from
there receive some notice the other question is
the all-absorhinE one. The lockout has drawn
thousands Of workers and many capita lists into
controversy which looks detrimental to cit
liens and country alike but this disturbance
is disposed of complaccntly. while the problem
OF dcgeneracy and the literature OF Denmark
gets the cream OF the space at hand in the
daily press. 1t has led to an indictment Of DIR.
Edward Brandes. because of his latest novel.
Young Blood"
Dr. Edward Brandes is one Of the most prom
inent ltteratcurs in Denmark. and his dramas
are considered psychologically interesting. as
well rs historically correct.
That Young Blood" therefore. would be
bounced uron by the novel rca ling public with
avidity was sef-evident At the present mo-
mcnt not one copy can be obtained. whether in
boOkstals or circulating libraries. The further
issuing 81 the novel has been put of until the
law has had a chance to have its say.
DR.. Edward BrandcS is a philosopher in the
modern sense Of the term His writings cnr-
tainly bear the stamp OF realism. and it is he
cause OF this realistic phase in life that Brandes
now finds himself subject to Governmental
scrutiny as well as public notice, which his
latest novel has called forth.
Recurring to the subject OF Yvette Guibort
and the clergy. Bishop Setback OF this city re-
Gently published pamphlet dealing with the
appearance OF the singer at a concert arranged
by the Students Society, and touching her adj
vent at the Concert Palace. where tho best and
most cultured Of Copenhngcns society HES
itself in quest OF the dulcet strains. The clergy
man calls his pamphlet Art us the Servitor OF
brutality" and through 1t all there breathes a
protest against the tendency which has cvinccd
itself among tho younger Danish writers to pro-
dure art for arts sake
Art" says Bishop Setback. " is power that
not often is taken in vain. But there are mo-
monts in the existence Of a people when public
opinion is on the point OF losing hope. and may
surrender in the face OF brutalizing art 5 at
tack Our modern writer's. for instance, have
in high measure abused their power when it
ton OF the scX"s Our critics have not COM
batrd them with requisite effect and tn" pub
| lie has had neither the will nor the courage to
create u strong opinion which might offset this
uniOrtunht" activity in the domain OF litnra-
| turc. When merr ment concerns itself with
! the enrolling the humane elemcntsi in life ami
| as n consequence ideazes tho h0ssr qualities.
| then we have arrived at the stage when comes
-, "Iolbere can at times be coarse. But in
Hqlberg coarscness is catechism OF the dis
| Marie and Carl Ewald's Sumalith's Garden
the debasinG features are idea'ized and gIori-
! Few hooks during the last decade created
more tax IN Scandinayin than til" novels re-
forefront Of Scandnavian novelists. Their .ir
works are trans lated into the various tongues
the eon,nsnt AK E"nsnn sspSGphy has
north. With Yvctte Guihert. therefore. as a
Irct"nre for lourHaistic and literary war
| lad" Of invrctives. which. in more or less elc-
gance OF tGngu" has driven the reading public
one side are tho conservatives, who. with
Alfred lpsen. the renowned critic as their
other, the aggressive forces. led by DR.. Edward
! Brnnd""s. are continually bringing new issues
9, Or, Edward Brandes, n brother Of the
| Is OF Il different stamp however, from the man
| who made Scandinavian literature what 1t in
reality is to-day. BY this 10 meant It's nlu-
| enco as II pertains to other nations. George
Brapd"s is perhaps, the foremost critic of tho
| kind that makes 1ane and his CONTEMPORARIES
critics of al times and Of all nations. When
of Shakespeare" recently the world was
treated TO the spectacle, Of a foreigner
| who could deal with the bard as few
men Of the present time have dealt. And dur
| ing the controversy which is now raging in tho
n4blIc press h" gnardedly has kept away. For.
| while not entirely sanctiOnng the course of
| tho younger element. his teachings undOubt-
! cdly have done much for wider diffusion Of
! realistic thought and sentiment That abuse
may hay" set in is not for him to say or contro-
| vert at present.
American readers can scarcely realize the
| Importance which attaches to a literary war
! such hs now diSquicts Denmark, IN common
| with many other institutions OF transatlantic
| birth literature abroad is set on pedestaIs en-
| tirely apart. Not that the liberty loving pco-
! pie OF this or that country feel suhscrvcnt to
the expressions which some literary genius
may deign to offer. But in Denmark, as in
several other countries across the water. a
| certain awe inspiring halo surrounds the
| brOws from where spring the facts and fiction
of tho native soil. as given uttcrance by busy
| pen. For this reason, to the Danes it means
more than political issues could bring about.