Herman Bang - i kærlig erindring
HERMAN BANG - IN LOVING MEMORY
ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN ITALICS
Det er i dag 100 år siden, at Herman Bang døde i en togkupé under en oplæsningsturné i USA. Bladtegnerne havde deres andel i at gøre ham livet svært og medvirke til hans udlændighed.
Selv sagde han, at tegningerne af ham var for mange og for gode.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the
death of the Danish author Herman Bang. His heart stopped in a train
compartment while on a reading tour in the US. Herman Bang was a homosexual, and
the acid tongues of the Danish press had known only too well to make the most
of it. The reading tour was a sort of voluntary exile to get away from it all.
Sadly, the cartoonists had had their share in making his life difficult.
As he said himself: The cartoons of him had been too
plentiful and too good.
Men så låst han har følt sig som forfatter og ikke mindst som forelæser af sit eget forfatterskab, var det netop Alfred Schmidts tegninger af ham, der blev Niels', min brors, og min indgang til ham.
Formelt set var det Niels' bamse, som dyrkede Herman Bang. Han læste højt, mens han tabte bogen på gulvet, slog sig for brystet, gjorde udbrud, kravlede ud og ind fra, hvad han kunne kravle ind og ud fra, og jeg var hans publikum, som hulkede hver gang.
Hver eneste gang, for vi læste, genlæste og nærlæste hans ord, og hver scene blev intenst gentaget. "Se, solen står op over bjergene!" - hvor mange versioner har den ikke været afprøvet i. Og den vil altid kræve lommetørklæder.
But while he felt exposed as a writer and not least as
a lecturer of his own writings, it was precisely the drawings of him by Alfred Schmidt, which opened the door to him for my brother Niels and myself.
Actually, it was Niels' teddy bear, who adored Herman
Bang. He – the teddy bear - would read aloud while dropping the book onto the
floor, beating his chest, exclaiming, crawling in and out of whatever was at
hand for him to climb in and out of, and I was his grateful audience, who cried
each and every time.
Every single time because we read, re-read and scrutinized his words, and each scene was intensely repeated. "Look, the sun rises over the mountains!" – A death scene tested and acted out in I cannot possibly say how many versions. It always required handkerchiefs on my part.
Every single time because we read, re-read and scrutinized his words, and each scene was intensely repeated. "Look, the sun rises over the mountains!" – A death scene tested and acted out in I cannot possibly say how many versions. It always required handkerchiefs on my part.
Bladtegning er forunderlig tredimensionel. En så enkel optegning i to dimensioner gør det muligt at genkende en persons bevægelser og selv diktion. Et billedmedium blev vores indgang til en enestående forfatter og gjorde os til hans læsere.
Cartoon Art is amazingly three-dimensional. Such a simple drawing in two dimensions makes it possible to recognize not just the movements of a person, but his diction too. Cartoons became our opening to a unique writer and made us his readers.
Dette være skrevet med en vis forlegenhed og stor taknemmelighed.
This being written with much embarrassment and deep gratitude to Herman Bang.
This being written with much embarrassment and deep gratitude to Herman Bang.
