Den lange rejse — Johannes V. Jensen and the myth of modernity

Abstract

Johannes V. Jensen (1873–1950) wrote a six-novel series on evolution he later entitled Den lange Rejse (The Long Journey, 1908–1923). Scholars have usually classified The Long Journey as mythic because of those passages in the series that share common features with the specific Jensen’s short prose genre that went down in the history of Danish literature as myte (myth). This genre, i.e. Jensen’s myte, is closely related to the lyric mode; thus, scholars have considered mainly the lyric passages of The Long Journey mythic. I propose to read The Long Journey as a myth because of its plot; in other words, because of its epic. In the series, Jensen intentionally alluded to the legitimizing function of myth. Therefore, I use the theory of myth suggested by Manfred Frank and Leszek Kolakowski and in doing so I focus on the pragmatic function of myth in society. Hence, the series can be perceived as one among many re-mythologizing efforts in the 20th century. On that account, I juxtapose The Long Journey with Thomas Mann’s (1875–1955) view of the employment of myth by the Nazis, which he fiercely opposed to in his tetralogy Joseph und seine Brüder (Joseph and His Brothers, 1926–1943). It becomes apparent that Mann’s approach to myth had clear affinities with that of Jensen since both authors tried to assail the ruling paradigm. At the same time, the potential danger of recycling myths in order to fight myths becomes obvious — especially concerning Jensen’s adoration of the Nordic race in the two first novels of the series.