“The Faroese issue” in “Northern essays” by J. -F. Jacobsen

Abstract

The article deals with the little-studied works by Jørgen Frantz Jacobsen, a Danish- Faroese writer, journalist and public figure of the first third of the 20th century. During the 1920s–1930s J.-F. Jacobsen wrote a number of articles devoted to the Northern Europe for one of the oldest Danish newspapers Politiken. Some of those articles were published posthumously under the title “Northern essays” in 1943. The article focuses on the political essays devoted directly to the Faroe Islands. In his articles Jacobsen systematically defends the idea of self-government of the Faroe Islands. Determining the status of the Islands as an inorganic part of Denmark, emphasizing their geographical isolation, Jacobsen consistently pursues the idea of the authenticity of the Faroese people and the uniqueness of the Faroese language and culture, insisting on the need to revise relations with Denmark. The issues of self-determination of the Faroe Islands, national and linguistic identity are central to the political articles of Jacobsen. The writer believes that the social, cultural and economic problems existing on the Islands are rooted in forcing social-historical processes caused by external factors. In the polemical essays, the author’s high level of literary skills is combined with a well-thought-out structure and argumentation, which makes it possible to consider them to be a means of influencing public opinion.