Bengt Holbek (April 1, 1933 – August 27, 1992)[1][2] was a Danish folklorist known for his unorthodox approach to folklore theory.[3] He wrote one of the definitive works of fairy tale scholarship entitled Interpretation of Fairy Tales (1987).
Bengt Knud Holbek was born 1 April 1933 in Copenhagen and was the fourth of ten children. His father, Hans Holbek, was a civil engineer and his mother was named Elsebeth. He grew up in Ørholm and graduated from Lyngby Statskole in 1951.[2]
Holbek studied Danish and Latin at the University of Copenhagen, and eventually earned a M.A. in Nordic Folklore in 1962. After graduating, he worked as an archivist at the Danish Folklore Archives. In 1968 he also began work as the director of the Nordic Institute of Folklore, a post which he held until 1972. In 1970 he became an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen within the folklore department which he himself had graduated from. By 1972, he had been made a full-time professor. He received his Ph.D. in 1987 after defending his doctoral thesis, The Interpretation of Fairy Tales.[2]
While studying at the University of Copenhagen, he married Bertha Dressel, a psychologist. The couple had three children. He died on 27 August 1992 while reading at his home in Denmark.[2] His grave is located in Køge.[4]
Holbek's 1987 Interpretation of Fairy Tales details a method for use in the analysis of fairy tales and applies it to the tales found in the repertoires of five Danish peasants collected by Evald Tang Kristensen in the mid 19th century.
In brief, Holbek posits that fairy tales can be broken down into five "moves" which work to reconcile the three main tensions which are addressed by the fairy tale. These tensions are those between "youths" and "adults", those of "low status" and those of "high status", and "male" and "female". The relationships between these are frequently represented on a cube. Imagine a cube, place youth on the left, adulthood on the right, low status on the bottom, high status on the top, male on the front and female on the back. It is Holbek's estimation that one of the most important things that distinguish the fairy tale from the more general category of folktale is the fact that the tale ends with a marriage. By his definition, if the tale one is considering does not involve a marriage, it is not a fairy tale.
At the beginning of a fairy tale, the protagonist, who can be either male or female, generally starts out as an unmarried youth of low status. This person generally becomes involved with an unmarried youth of high status and must undergo trials in order to prove their worth, thereby attaining high status so as to be worthy of their lover. Here the characters move from the bottom of the cube to the top of it. Over the course of the tale, the characters also cease to act as children and pass from the sphere of youth to the sphere of adulthood. The characters move from the left half of the cube to the right. The tension between male and female is negotiated at the end by the marriage between the protagonist and their lover, rendering the space between the front and back of the cube irrelevant.
The five "moves"edit
Holbek's moves can be described as follows:
In move two, the Low Young for the purposes of this example let us say Male (LYM) leaves home in order to make his way in the world, thereby becoming a Low Adult Male (LAM).
In move three, the LAM meets the High Young Female (HYF) and they share some sort of illicit love.
Move one, if it occurs, tends to occur in flashback form during move three. Move one generally involves the HYF explaining how she came to be imprisoned in whatever situation the LAM saved her from. Move one occurs first in the chronology of the tale, even if it does not occur first in the sequence of events as they are narrated. Holbek acknowledged the awkwardness of this, but decided against doing anything about it.
Move four, if it occurs, is generally an intensification of move three. For example, the lovers are separated again and must undergo trials in order to reunite and regain the status they enjoyed at the end of move three.
Move five involves the LAM being compensated for what he has done, allowing him to become a High Adult Male (HAM) and the couple is married, allowing the HYF to attain adult status and become a HAF, and also allowing negotiation of the tension between the genders.
Selected worksedit
"Hjorten, faaret og ulven. En fabels historie", 1960
^Honko, Lauri (6 March 1993). "Bengt Holbek (1933–1992)". Folklore Fellows Network. 8.
^"Bengt Knud Holbek". Gravsted (in Danish). 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
November 13, 2023
bengt, holbek, april, 1933, august, 1992, danish, folklorist, known, unorthodox, approach, folklore, theory, wrote, definitive, works, fairy, tale, scholarship, entitled, interpretation, fairy, tales, 1987, bengt, knud, holbekborn, 1933, april, 1933copenhagen,. Bengt Holbek April 1 1933 August 27 1992 1 2 was a Danish folklorist known for his unorthodox approach to folklore theory 3 He wrote one of the definitive works of fairy tale scholarship entitled Interpretation of Fairy Tales 1987 Bengt Knud HolbekBorn 1933 04 01 April 1 1933Copenhagen DenmarkDiedAugust 27 1992 1992 08 27 aged 59 Faxe Denmark Contents 1 Biography 2 Interpretation of Fairy Tales 2 1 The five moves 3 Selected works 4 ReferencesBiography editBengt Knud Holbek was born 1 April 1933 in Copenhagen and was the fourth of ten children His father Hans Holbek was a civil engineer and his mother was named Elsebeth He grew up in Orholm and graduated from Lyngby Statskole in 1951 2 Holbek studied Danish and Latin at the University of Copenhagen and eventually earned a M A in Nordic Folklore in 1962 After graduating he worked as an archivist at the Danish Folklore Archives In 1968 he also began work as the director of the Nordic Institute of Folklore a post which he held until 1972 In 1970 he became an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen within the folklore department which he himself had graduated from By 1972 he had been made a full time professor He received his Ph D in 1987 after defending his doctoral thesis The Interpretation of Fairy Tales 2 While studying at the University of Copenhagen he married Bertha Dressel a psychologist The couple had three children He died on 27 August 1992 while reading at his home in Denmark 2 His grave is located in Koge 4 Interpretation of Fairy Tales editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Holbek s 1987 Interpretation of Fairy Tales details a method for use in the analysis of fairy tales and applies it to the tales found in the repertoires of five Danish peasants collected by Evald Tang Kristensen in the mid 19th century In brief Holbek posits that fairy tales can be broken down into five moves which work to reconcile the three main tensions which are addressed by the fairy tale These tensions are those between youths and adults those of low status and those of high status and male and female The relationships between these are frequently represented on a cube Imagine a cube place youth on the left adulthood on the right low status on the bottom high status on the top male on the front and female on the back It is Holbek s estimation that one of the most important things that distinguish the fairy tale from the more general category of folktale is the fact that the tale ends with a marriage By his definition if the tale one is considering does not involve a marriage it is not a fairy tale At the beginning of a fairy tale the protagonist who can be either male or female generally starts out as an unmarried youth of low status This person generally becomes involved with an unmarried youth of high status and must undergo trials in order to prove their worth thereby attaining high status so as to be worthy of their lover Here the characters move from the bottom of the cube to the top of it Over the course of the tale the characters also cease to act as children and pass from the sphere of youth to the sphere of adulthood The characters move from the left half of the cube to the right The tension between male and female is negotiated at the end by the marriage between the protagonist and their lover rendering the space between the front and back of the cube irrelevant The five moves edit Holbek s moves can be described as follows In move two the Low Young for the purposes of this example let us say Male LYM leaves home in order to make his way in the world thereby becoming a Low Adult Male LAM In move three the LAM meets the High Young Female HYF and they share some sort of illicit love Move one if it occurs tends to occur in flashback form during move three Move one generally involves the HYF explaining how she came to be imprisoned in whatever situation the LAM saved her from Move one occurs first in the chronology of the tale even if it does not occur first in the sequence of events as they are narrated Holbek acknowledged the awkwardness of this but decided against doing anything about it Move four if it occurs is generally an intensification of move three For example the lovers are separated again and must undergo trials in order to reunite and regain the status they enjoyed at the end of move three Move five involves the LAM being compensated for what he has done allowing him to become a High Adult Male HAM and the couple is married allowing the HYF to attain adult status and become a HAF and also allowing negotiation of the tension between the genders Selected works edit Hjorten faaret og ulven En fabels historie 1960 AEsops levned og fabler Christiern Pedersens overswettelse qaf Stainhowels AEsop 1962 On the Classification of Folktales 1965 Strukturalisme og folkloristik I anledning af Borge Hansens eventyranalyse 1972 Den bugede kat Forsog paa en structuranalyse 1973 The Ballad and the Folk 1974 The Ethnic Joke in Denmark 1975 Eventyr som folketradition Bibliografi til eventyrforskningen 1976 Formal and Structural Studies of Oral Narrative A Bibliography 1978 Oppositions and Contrasts in Folklore 1980 Moderne folkloristik of historisk materiale 1981 Prose Narratives Nordic research in Popular Prose Narrative 1983 Folklorens betydning Oplaeg baseret paa et igangvaerende eventyrprojekt 1987 Interpretation of Fairy Tales Danish Folklore in a European Perspective 1987 Danske Trylleeventyr 1989 The language of Fairy Tales 1989 Hans Christian Andersen s Use of Folketales 1990 Variation and Tale Type 1990 On the Comparative Method in Folklore Research 1992 Tendencies in Modern Folk Narrative Research 1992References edit Bengt Knud Holbek in Danish Retrieved 2010 03 04 a b c d Hansen WIlliam 1993 Obituary Bengt Holbek 1933 1992 Journal of American Folklore 106 420 184 189 ISSN 0021 8715 JSTOR 541968 Honko Lauri 6 March 1993 Bengt Holbek 1933 1992 Folklore Fellows Network 8 Bengt Knud Holbek Gravsted in Danish 2019 Retrieved 9 July 2023 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bengt Holbek amp oldid 1171258216, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
