Johan Sebastian Welhaven
Johan Sebastian Welhaven, " Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven " ( born December 22, 1807 in Bergen, † October 21, 1873 in Christiania ) was a poet, literary critic and art theorist.
Life
Welhaven the son of Ernst Welhaven, pastor was Aussätzigenspital St. Jørgen in Bergen. His mother was Cammermeyer Else Margrete, daughter of Johan Sebastian Cammermeyers, the resident chaplain ( deputy parish priest ) at the Holy Cross Church, and his wife Maren Heiberg. Maren was part of the Danish branch of the Heiberg family and was cousin of the Danish poet and literary critic Johan Ludvig Heiberg. About this relationship came Welhaven in close contact with the Danish cultural life.
1817-1825 he attended the Cathedral School in Bergen. There he had the opportunity poet and esthete Lydians say as a teacher in Norwegian. Tell drew the interest of the young Welhaven on visual arts (drawing ) and theory of aesthetics ( Herder, Lessing, Winckelmann ). Tell demonstrated their purity of style and harmony in speech and writing. He attended the first winter after his exams artium the drawing school, the legends had founded in 1824. He originally wanted to become a painter, but desisted when the then most famous painter in Norway, JC Dahl, had spoke disparagingly of his production.
After the admission exams at the University of Christiania in 1827, he had passed with an overall score of "non" ( the lowest score for just passed yet), but with the best note in philosophy, began Welhaven study theology, but he gave up due to lack of interest soon. 1828 his father died, so his economic support was omitted. He tried to keep up with private lessons with the top layer of Christiania afloat. Thus, and by his incipient literary activities, he came up with the leading people in Christiania in contact: Hermann Graf Wedel Jarlsberg -, businessman Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Herre (father of the poet Bernhard Herre ) and the bookseller Dahl, who became his patron. Suggestions he received in Det norske Studentersamfund ( The Norwegian Student Association ), in which he based on his wit and his repartee was a central figure soon. 1829 to 1831 he was editor of the newspaper club. It was introduced into the social life of Christiania, where he was appreciated for his skills in conversation and occasional poet. Of particular importance for the future were his contacts in the student union with other talented people such as lawyers Anton Martin Schweigaard, Bernhard Dunker, Frederik Stang and historian Peter Andreas Munch. He Johan Ludvig Heiberg dealt with, Schiller's aesthetic treatises and Wolfgang Menzel.
In 1830 he met Henrik Wergeland 17 year old sister Camilla and they fell in love. Welhaven held, however, much to the sorrow Camilla, never for her hand. Instead, it was his great love Ida Kjerulf, the sister of the composer Halfdan Kjerulf. They became engaged in 1839, but in December of the year after she died. Welhaven put her in the poem " The Salige " ( The Blessed ) a monument. In 1845 he married the tutor Bidoulac Joséphine, daughter of French immigrants to Denmark.
1835 came Welhaven first to Copenhagen, where he met the leading cultural personalities Johan Ludvig Heiberg, Christian Winther and Henrik Hertz.
By 1840, his economic situation improved gradually. The poor opposition with an uncertain future, established himself in the Norwegian cultural life. In the university a new lectureship in philosophy in 1839 set up and he applied for the position. Immediately he was sharply attacked in the press. He is technically not trained for it. Nevertheless, he received from the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Count Wedel the controversial appointment as a lecturer for two years. This increased nor the attacks in the press against his person. In 1843 its site was converted to solid editing with a view to a professorship in 1846. The Norwegian historian Ludvig Daae was his pupil and precipitated in his autobiography a damning verdict on his teacher: Welhaven " was an actor on the catheter, which always caused a big bang in the conclusion, " and that he was a "zero" in philosophy was. In no way were his writings personality Welhavens, because he was just as anxious in what he printed, as he had been a talker in what he said.
During the period as a professor to Welhaven committed against alcohol and was active in the temperance "Den norske Forening mod Brændevinsdrik " active. During this time, a new political idea came up of. " Scandinavianism " who had the union of the three kingdoms of Norway, Sweden and Denmark as a vision For this movement he had great sympathy, even though he was not thinking of a political association, but a all three nations overarching culture. In Scandinavianism he also saw a counterweight against the Norwegian nationalism. In Scandinavian festivals, he joined in all three countries as a keynote speaker.
1868 different Welhaven out of the university. But his past as a critic of student nationalism caught up with him: the government has proposed the highest pension of 1200 thaler species prior year. The government committee sat down on the sum of 100 species Thaler. The Storting finally approved on 12 November 1868 55 against 54 votes, 800 species Thaler. On the same day the student him honored in protest with a torchlight procession to his house and sang for the first time the song " Lyt nu you ludende sanger " ( Hearken now, you yourself prone singer), composed by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and set to music by Edvard Grieg, which is considered one the most beautiful Norwegian occasional poems applies.
The critic and the feud with Wergeland
During his student days followed Welhaven of aesthetic controversy in Denmark and publicly protested against the situation of literature in Norway. Against the background of the Danish intellectual life as a model, he lamented the mindless Norwegian society towards the ideal demands a spirited society self-confident individuals. In the run by him and his friends "Intel Set Parti " (intelligence Party) within the student body, they were appalled by the low cultural level of their opinion in the student body and society in general. We found it raw without the aesthetic and political culture, as they knew from Denmark ago. Very particularly directed against the rejection Henrik Arnold Wergeland, mouthpiece of a nationalist -minded student movement. Here, his rejection directed not only against the seal and the radicalism Wergelands, but in the same way against the pompous patriotism and the lack of originality of the older generation of poets.
As Wergeland his ambitious poem " Skabelsen, Mennesket og Messiah " - strangely, with a drawing Welhavens as a title page - had published because of the protest of the " Intelligens " was publicly: Welhaven advanced on August 15, 1830 anonymous poem " Til Henrik Wergeland " into Morgenbladet one, the one with the oft-quoted line: " How long will you race against reason? " begins. He wanted to defend the temple of beauty against the barbarians. It was followed in handwritten student sheet a polemical in verse feud between Wergeland and Welhaven which has become known as " Stumpefeiden " in Norwegian literature. " Stumpe " Wergeland called his first verses, which he had published there, and means " stump, stub, piece". It was in the majority of aggressive epigrams.
1832 Welhaven and his friends left the student association and founded its own student association with the weekly magazine Vidar ( 1832-1834 ). He now saw his most urgent task as a critic. The modern aesthetic criticism should also have their n representatives in Norway. Because it lacked a previously aligned only to aesthetic principles objective criticism. This was also directed against Wergelands all boundaries busting seal. In this critique of the father Wergelands answered with Scripture " Retfærdig Bedømmelse af Henrik Wergeland 's Poesi above Karakter " ( Justifying end assessment of Henrik Wergeland poetry and character ). In Vidar published Welhaven 1832 milieu critical article " Christiania Vinter -og Sommerdvale " ( Christiania winter and summer sleep). In parallel, Welhaven published the pamphlet " Wergelands Digte art above polemic ved Aktstykker oplyste " ( Wergelands poetry and polemics, shown by means of documents). In 1834 he completed his campaign against Wergeland with his sonnet collection " Norges Dæmring " ( Norwegian Dawn ), demonstratively birthday of the Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger on November 14. In this report Norway as a proud, beautiful nature, its harsh living conditions, his evil spiritual culture dar. on the background of his opinion boastful patriotism in the 30s and the equally boastful policy followed " Dæmringsfeiden " ( the dawn feud ), in which the father Wergelands all seriousness suggested Welhavens of poems on Constitution Day on May 17 to burn publicly what happened in some places.
1836 traveled Welhaven again abroad, visited some months in Paris, and returned to Germany back to Christiania. There, the ship of nationalist demonstrators was received that haunted him with furious shouting and bawling all the way home.
1838 came the " Campe creator battle," a brawl in the theater in Christiania after Welhavens trailer had a piece Wergelands want to let things go in a chorus of whistles. Then grabbed Welhagen Wergeland not directly.
Literary work
Most poems are divided into stanzas Welhavens. Therefore, they are well suited for the setting. He belongs with his brother Halfdan Kjerulf to the creators of the Norwegian song, in which the lyrical text is closely connected with the melody. Songs like " Til Fjelds over Bygden staar min Hu " ( After the mountain over the parish is my sense) form the core of the oldest Norwegian song tradition, both as a solo act, as well as arranged for the first Norwegian male chorus, " The norske Studentersangforening ", founded in 1845.
The topics include Welhavens seal, are very concrete: natural impressions, memories of his childhood, a person, a situation. Characteristically train in his poetry is the pursuit of spirituality of matter, or in his own words: "Art is the spiritualized conception of the image of the reality. " The true poet " is the beauty of the universe as it einsenkt in him, in an ideal, concrete form. "
In his literary-historical works, shows a strong interest in the Norwegian line in the Danish-Norwegian literature. In this context, he was also involved in the former debate on a specific Norwegian book of Psalms, and published in 1838 " Antydninger til et forbedret Psalmeverk " ( approaches for an improved book of Psalms ).
Importance
Is Welhaven as a poet, literary critic and art theorist in Norway a founding figure. Literature Sociologically, it represents a modernization and professionalization process. With his literary criticism became an independent genus. As a poet, he established a tradition of idealistic form strict poetry in Norwegian literature. From him he said: "With my Norwegian literature has begun for the views and the demands of the European Enlightenment. "