Jensen, Thit 1876–1957

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Jensen, Thit 1876–1957

(Thit Maria Kristine Dorothea Jensen)

PERSONAL: Born January 19, 1876, in Farsø, Denmark; died of a stroke, May 13, 1957, in Bagsværd, Denmark; daughter of Hans (a veterinarian) and Marie Kristine Jensen; married Gustav Fenger (an artist), October 4, 1912 (divorced 1922).

CAREER: Novelist. Worked as photographer's assistant, 1895; housemaid, late 1890s.

WRITINGS:

"HIMMERLANDS NITAKKEDE KRONE"; HISTORICAL NOVELS

Prins Nilaus af Danmark, (title means "Prince Nilaus of Denmark"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1907, reprinted, Sesam (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1979.

Af Blod er du kommet: Roman fra Højrenaissancens tid i Danmark (title means "Of Blood You Have Come: A Novel of the High Renaissance in Denmark"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1928, reprinted, Sesam (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1982.

Jørgen Lykke; Rigens sidste Ridder: Roman i tre Bøger fra Højrenaissancen i Danmark (title means "Jørgen Lykke, the Last Knight of the Realm: A Novel in Three Books about the High Renaissance in Denmark"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1931, reprinted, Borgen (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1976.

Stygge Krumpen, two volumes, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1936, reprinted, 1991.

Valdemar Atterdag: En Kœrligheds Roman (title means "Valdemar Atterdag: A Love Story"), two volumes, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1940.

Drotten: Historisk Roman fra det 14. Aarhundrede (title means "The King: A Historical Novel of the Fourteenth Century"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1943.

Rigets Arving (title means "The Heir to the Kingdom"), two volumes, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1946.

Atter det skilte: Fjerde og sidste bog om Kong Valdemaar og Dronning Helvig (title means "Again Divided: Fourth and Last Book on King Valdemaar and Queen Helvig"), two volumes, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1953.

Den sidste Valkyrie: Roman om Dronning Thyra Danebod (title means "The Last of the Valkyrie: A Novel of Queen Thyra Danebod"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1954.

OTHER

To Søstre (novel; title means "Two Sisters"), Salmonsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1903.

Familien Storm (novel; title means "Family Storm"), Salmonsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1904.

Martyrium (novel; title means "Martyrdom"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1905.

Ørkenvandring (novel; title means "Desert Wandering"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1907.

Sagn og Syner: Mystiske fortœlling (title means "Legends and Visions: Mystical Stories"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1909.

I Messias' Spor: Nutids-roman fra Island (novel; title means "In the Footsteps of Messias: Contemporary Novel Set in Iceland"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1911.

Det banker (stories; title means "It Knocks"), Dansk Literært Forlag (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1911.

Elskovs Forbandelse (novel; title means "Love's Curse"), Dansk Literært Forlag (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1911.

Hemskoen (novel; title means "The Hindrance"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1912.

Højeste Ret: Fortœlling fra en dansk Herregaard (novel; title means "Highest Law: Story from a Danish Manor"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1913.

Stœrkere end Tro (novel; title means "Stronger yhan Faith"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1915.

Jorden, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1915.

Jydske Historier (novel; title means "Histories from Jutland"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1916.

Hr. Berger intime (novel; title means "Mr. Berger Intimate"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1917.

Gerd, det tyvende Aarhundredes Kvinde (novel; title means "Gerd, the Twentieth-Century Woman"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1918.

Kœrlighedens Kaabe (novel; title means "The Cloak of Love"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1918.

Den erotiske Hamster (novel; title means "The Erotic Hamster"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1919.

Kongen af Sande, Nyt Nordisk Forlag (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1919, reprinted, Sesam (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1979.

Det evigt Mandige (novel; title means "The Eternal Masculine"), Danske Forfatterest Forlag (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1919.

Den evige Lœgsel: Modern Studie over mande og Kvinde (novel; title means "The Eternal Longing: Modern Studies of Man and Woman"), Hasselbalch (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1921.

Aphrodite fra Fuur, den Moderne Kvindes Udviklingshistorie (novel; title means "Aphrodite from Fuur: The Story of the Modern Woman's Development"), Hasselbalch (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1924.

Mit Foredrag: Frivilligt Moderskab, E. Jespersen (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1924.

Storken (play; title means "The Stork"), produced in 1929.

Nial den Vise: Udstyrsskuespil fra Islands Storhedstid, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1934.

Hvorfra? Hvorhen?, (journal; title means "Where From? Where To?"), Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1950.

Gylden Høst: Et Sommersmil, Grafisk Forlag (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1956.

Fru Astrid Grib (novella; title means "Mrs. Astrid Grib"), foreword by Jens Andersen, Gad (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1990.

Jeg lœnges … fra Thit Jensens dagbøger, 1891–1927 (journals; title means "I Am Longing:… from Thit Jensen's Diary, 1891–1927"), edited by Susanne Fabricius, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1991.

Works in English represented in anthologies, including Contemporary Danish Prose, edited by Elias Bredsdorff, Gyldendal (Copenhagen, Denmark), 1958. Works in Danish also represented in various collections and anthologies. Contributor to periodicals, including Politiken and Tilskueren.

SIDELIGHTS: Thit Jensen was a prolific Danish novelist who enjoyed significant popularity with fiction ranging from historical novels to provocative examinations of womanhood. Jensen published her first work in 1903, when the periodical Tilskueren accepted one of her short stories. That same year, she issued her first book, To Søstre, which Paul Bjørby, writing in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, described as "a psychological demonstration of two different kinds of female destinies." The novel concerns two sisters, one of whom lapses into madness as a consequence of her stifling marriage, while the other represses her sexuality but nonetheless realizes a measure of happiness within her own marriage. "Jensen never questioned her dependence upon … orthodox and conventional conceptions about masculinity and femininity, man and woman," declared Bjørby. "These were simply unchanging, given naturals."

Jensen followed To Søstre with Familien Storm, another examination of women's conditions. In this autobiographical account, the plight of a poor woman struggling to sustain herself as a writer contrasts with the more luxurious life of her brother, who reaps the benefits—wealth, material possessions—of a successful literary career. The heroine perseveres, repressing her sexuality and finding consolation, like Jensen, in what Bjørby called "spiritism." Bjørby observed that "in Familien Storm Jensen spells out her ethics as a writer, an ethics arrived at in cooperation with the spiritistic voices." He added: "Her realist credo was to be sund (healthy), to do good, and to serve humanity with her literary talents."

In ensuing novels such as I Messias' Spor: Nutidsroman fra Island and Gerd, det tyvende Aarhundredes Kvinde, Jensen continued to express her perspective on the nature of being a woman. Her perspective, however, proves to be rather conservative, and though she champions liberation, she rarely allows her heroines to succeed in attaining independence, especially in regard to sexual activity. "For Jensen …, the only place for sexuality to be expressed was within a mutual love relationship between a husband and a wife," wrote Bjørby. He added: "Increasingly, she castigated sex for sex's sake as vulgar and animalistic. Furthermore, sex must come second to the other much contested female role that, according to Jensen, was the most important role in life, namely that of being a mother."

After her own marriage ended in divorce in 1922—following the discovery that her husband was sexually involved with her best friend—Jensen developed an even gloomier perspective on feminism. "Jensen no longer seemed willing to support the psychological and social costs of women's sexual and financial independence," affirmed Bjørby, "and the novels [such as Den evige Lœgsel: Modern Studie over mande og Kvinde and Aphrodite fra Fuur, den Moderne Kvindes Udviklingshistorie] end pessimistically."

While she continued to probe the predicament of women in twentieth-century Denmark, Jensen also enjoyed success with several historical novels. In 1928 she produced Af Blod er du kommet: Roman fra Højrenaissancens tid i Danmark, a tale of romance and conflict during the Renaissance. Over the next two decades she followed that work with such books as Valdemar Atterdag: En Kœrligheds Roman, Drotten: Historisk Roman fra det 14. Aarhundrede, and Atter det skilte: Fjerde og sidste bog om Kong Valdemaar og Dronning Helvig, all of which constitute lengthy accounts set in Denmark's past. Bjørby described these novels, known collectively as the "Himmerlands Ni takkede Krone" sequence, as "wildly fantastic and dramatic tales of betrayal, greed, luxury, love, battles of the sexes, [and] political maneuverings." Bjørby added that through these novels "Jensen reached new heights as a popular author."