Henrik Blicher

Henrik Blicher

Associate Professor

Brief introduction to research profile and current research focus

My PhD years ago centered on a lyrical oeuvre from the romantic period that, surprisingly, had not been thoroughly published in a collection since the mid-1800s. The Society for Danish Language and Literature (DSL) was very happy with the idea, so the project was born with a commitment to publication. It became Adolph Wilhelm Schack von Staffeldt's Collected Poems, Vols. 1-3, 2001, in German and Danish. The thesis consisted of a critical edition in addition to a number of independent articles about an authorship that gained new impact by virtue of its romantic radicality, but probably also by virtue of the ongoing deconstruction. For a few years, I was employed at the new Danish edition of Søren Kierkegaard's Writings (SKS). Had I thus become a full-time philologist? Not completely, but I have retained an interest in textual scholarship in theory and practice over the years and like to seek out topics on the transitions between text and interpretation. While I was head of studies with completely different obligations, I began work on an edition of Jens Baggesen's novel-like travelogue from the eventful years around the first French Revolution. Since the first edition of Labyrinten (The Labyrinth, Vols. 1-2) from the years 1792-93, no one had found it necessary to have a complete edition of the work, which Henning Fenger has called “the 18th century's most original Danish prose work, undoubtedly the book Kierkegaard learned the most stylistically from". This sort of thing takes time, but in 2016 a complete and generously annotated edition of the work became available. In general, I am interested in literary history and diverse forms of literary contextualization, rarely decidedly sociological, more book-historical. Closer to the work, it often revolves around style, composition and rhetoric. My research interests are in most cases between 1600 and 1900. Years ago, I made my debut with a transmission story about a Spanish folktale on erotic deception, which gained a certain status in Danish literary baroque. At the same time, I wrote about a sample of Swedish metafiction inspired by Kabbalah. Currently, it is mainly about the enlightenment, learning and sensitivity of the 18th century. Right now, I am working on the article “A long chain of performed benefit. Metafiction, sense and sensibility in 18th century Danish prose” and the postscript for the English edition on Oxford University Press of Jens Baggesen’s Labyrinten together with the translator Jesper Gulddal (University of Newcastle, Australia).

 

 Three selected publications

 

Research grant(s), selected prices, awards and honours

The Continuation of Labyrinten (Labyrintens fortsættelse). A Digital edition of Jens Baggesen’s diaries around 1800 (individual project at the moment, DSL) – An edition of Johan Herman Wessel for DSL (partly published in Norway) – Member of an international group concerning Aufklärungsliteratur in Skandinavien – Moralische Wochenschriften, headed by Klaus-Dieter Ertler (2017), but the EU research granted was only close to success.

 

 International and national network, collaborations and relations

Kooperationspartner at Romanhaftwerden. Skandinavische Prosaliteratur der späten Vormoderne (Universität Zürich) – Workshop on sensibility together with Anna Sandberg and Juliane Engelhardt – Member of Tekstvidenskab (Textual Scholarship) – Member of SCAM – Scandinavian Cultural and Aesthetic Modernity (Jan Rosiek) – Member of Dansk Selskab for 1700-talsstudier and The International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) – Cooperation with Karin Hoff on the digitization of Baggesen’s Archiv in Kiel – Member of Thinking the European Public of Letters (Christian Benne) – Member of The Society for Danish Language and Literature (DSL) since 1996.

 

Other professional contributions

Member of Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab (DSL) – Editor of Danske Studier (sammen med Simon Skovgaard Boeck) – Member of Universitetsjubilæets Danske Samfund (UjDS) – Member of Nordisk Netværk for Editionsfilologer – Member of Dansk Selskab for 1700-talsstudier – Peer reviewer for DSL-editions of Ludvig Holberg, Carl Frederik Molbech, Adam Oehlenschläger og Karen Blixen – Awarded Jens Baggesen-prisen 2014 – Peer reviewer for numerous journals and books like 1700-tal. Nordic Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Orbis Litterarum and Memory Culture in Scandinavian Studies – Editor of Danske Studier – Invited lecturer at seminar on the Selvet: Fra sjæleliv til skolestil: Europæisk litteratur 1500-1800. Dahl, C. & Nexø, T. (red.). Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Bind 4 (2022).

 

External (non -academic) collaborations and outreach activities

In charge of Svend Grundtvigs og Axel Olriks Legat (together with med Anders Holm Rasmussen) – Inspection of plagiarism in the doctoral dissertation of former associate professor Marianne Stidsen (2022) – Educational podcast for use in primary school on Adam Oehlenschläger (2022) – Several news in the local NorS Nyt, like Baggesen and Holberg.    

 

Administrative positions

Member of the NorS study board (2003-2007) – Head of Studies at NorS (2009-2014) – Director of common lectures in Litteraturhistorie on BA in Danish (2010-) – Member of BFI-faggruppe 11. Nordisk litteratur og sprog (inkl. nordisk filologi) (-2022) – Head of the ”Kunstudvalg” at NorS (2009-2015).                                                                                                          

 

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