Daily Reporter: August 31, September 1

 August 31

Hej! I'm Maya, and I was the daily reporter on Thursday and Friday of our second week in Copenhagen. These days have been mostly review and travel, but we've still learned a lot! 

The group converses on African American Literature

Dr. Martyn Bone presents on Nella Larson's literature

We started out the day meeting up at the KU cafeteria with Dean Rix, an English teacher at the university. We chatted with him over lunch about the differences between college education in Denmark and the US. While there, we ran into Henrik Holm by chance, who we'd previously met showing us around the royal cast collection. 

After that, we headed to a classroom on campus to hear a presentation from Dr. Martyn Bone about African American Literature and Denmark. He's done research on American literature, focusing on the South. We had a lively discussion with him about Nella Larson's novels Quicksand and Passing. These novels are prime sources for the African-American racialized experience, as well as the changes in that experience in Denmark. 

Dr. Bone provided much-needed context for Larson's life and period, and how it impacted both her work and the ways that it's seen in Denmark. He gave us a brief history of Larson's life - publishing her books in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, then sadly falling into obscurity after some controversies and personal troubles until her work reemerged in the late 60s and 70s - sadly after her death in 1964. Biographies of her life began being published in the 90s, but many of them seemed to doubt her Danish heritage, fitting her into distinctly black writing, assuming she was just fitting into the common period trope of international travel. However, later biographies would bring back evidence of her Danish upbringing, putting her writing in a new, distinctly mixed-heritage light. Through this presentation, we drew connections to other parts of the program, and how they tie into colonialist ideologies and practices in Denmark.

That concluded the classwork activities for the day, though several of us visited the Royal Danish Library afterwards to do our work. It's along the Copenhagen Waterfront, and has a beautiful modern expansion added in 1999 that is quite visible from much of the nearby canal.

The 1999 expansion to the royal library, also known as the Black Diamond library, from one of its upper floors.

September 1

We checked out of the hotel at 11 and headed for the bus to Aarhus. The trip had some lovely views; we passed through the outskirts of Copenhagen before leaving Sjælland over a beautiful bridge and heading up the west coast of Jutland, through lovely rural areas.

A snippet of the ride to Aarhus

Group bus selfie

Despite some unfortunate traffic, we arrived in Aarhus around 5 and headed to dinner with some guests - several faculty of Aarhus University joined us, including Karen Sivertsen, who we met previously. 

Afterwards, most of the students headed to the university, where they met a couple of students to chat and show them around the town (except the writer, yours truly, who headed to a Daði Freyr concert). Interesting conversation followed, learning about their viewpoints on the country we'd come to visit; discussion came up on the dynamics of the Danish-Gereman border. This helped shed light, especially upon further reflection, on the behaviour of Danish nationalism in border areas and interactions with other nationalities.

We came back from a night on the town and got some rest before the expected art museum trip the next day.

Quinn picture, to follow convention - in KU following our discussion with Dr. Bone.

 

The concert I visited. With an Icelandic artist, and the kind of jokes he liked making in concert, many conclusions could be drawn here on the view of Denmark in the greater Scandinavian community, but I'll refrain from elaborating on basis of being the only one to go.