TY - CHAP
T1 - Hinduism in Denmark
AU - Fibiger, Marianne Qvortrup
PY - 2020/8/20
Y1 - 2020/8/20
N2 - In his poem from 1860, Christenhedens Syvstjerne (The seventh star of Christianity), the Danish poet, theologian, historian, and founder of the Danish high school Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783–1872) “qualifies” India as being the place where he thinks the seventh and last Christian congregation should be placed. If we ignore the missionary aspects of the poem, it becomes obvious that Grundtvig is not only fascinated with India, but he also refers to it as a place where the truth has been hidden since the beginning of time.1 Later in the poem, Grundtvig expresses a reservation against those who disseminate this wisdom literature, the Brahmans, who he believes hold a large amount of spiritual arrogance, which means they would meet the Christian gospel with reservations and a lack of enthusiasm. Instead, he praises the laypeople.2 In this poem, Grundtvig, who has been an important figure in shaping a particular Danish self-understanding, as well as Danish nationalism,3 expresses an ambiguous relationship to India, which is characterised by both fascination and scepticism. He was inspired by German Romanticism4 but was also fascinated by the Old Norse tradition. And, as a key Danish cultural figure he had, and probably still has, an impact on the way Danes understand themselves in relation to the East in general and to India and Hinduism in particular.5 This double bind or ambiguity is important to bear in mind when dealing with ethnic Danes’ relations to Hinduism and the ways Hindus engage and represent their traditions in a Danish context. From a general perspective, it can be argued that the impact of Hinduism in Denmark has only been sporadic up until today.6 However, when the size of Denmark is taken into account, there has been a great deal of academic interest in studying Indian religion. The first Danish professor of Indology, who had a particular interest in philology, was Niels Ludwig Westergaard,7 who was appointed professor in 1845 and was active until his death in 1878. This marked the beginning of an era of professorships in Indian philology at the universities in Copenhagen and Aarhus during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Sand 1994). This article will not follow the historical development of Hinduism in Denmark, but will concentrate on representations of Hinduism in contemporary Danish society. It will present the main findings that were published in the article on Hinduism in Denmark in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism in 2013 (Fibiger 2013) and discuss some of the changes that have occurred since then.
AB - In his poem from 1860, Christenhedens Syvstjerne (The seventh star of Christianity), the Danish poet, theologian, historian, and founder of the Danish high school Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783–1872) “qualifies” India as being the place where he thinks the seventh and last Christian congregation should be placed. If we ignore the missionary aspects of the poem, it becomes obvious that Grundtvig is not only fascinated with India, but he also refers to it as a place where the truth has been hidden since the beginning of time.1 Later in the poem, Grundtvig expresses a reservation against those who disseminate this wisdom literature, the Brahmans, who he believes hold a large amount of spiritual arrogance, which means they would meet the Christian gospel with reservations and a lack of enthusiasm. Instead, he praises the laypeople.2 In this poem, Grundtvig, who has been an important figure in shaping a particular Danish self-understanding, as well as Danish nationalism,3 expresses an ambiguous relationship to India, which is characterised by both fascination and scepticism. He was inspired by German Romanticism4 but was also fascinated by the Old Norse tradition. And, as a key Danish cultural figure he had, and probably still has, an impact on the way Danes understand themselves in relation to the East in general and to India and Hinduism in particular.5 This double bind or ambiguity is important to bear in mind when dealing with ethnic Danes’ relations to Hinduism and the ways Hindus engage and represent their traditions in a Danish context. From a general perspective, it can be argued that the impact of Hinduism in Denmark has only been sporadic up until today.6 However, when the size of Denmark is taken into account, there has been a great deal of academic interest in studying Indian religion. The first Danish professor of Indology, who had a particular interest in philology, was Niels Ludwig Westergaard,7 who was appointed professor in 1845 and was active until his death in 1878. This marked the beginning of an era of professorships in Indian philology at the universities in Copenhagen and Aarhus during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Sand 1994). This article will not follow the historical development of Hinduism in Denmark, but will concentrate on representations of Hinduism in contemporary Danish society. It will present the main findings that were published in the article on Hinduism in Denmark in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism in 2013 (Fibiger 2013) and discuss some of the changes that have occurred since then.
KW - Hinduism in Europe
KW - Hinduism in Denmark
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115071227&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 978-90-04-42942-0
VL - 2
T3 - Handbuch der Orientalistik. 2. Abteilung. Indien
SP - 946
EP - 961
BT - Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2, South Asia
A2 - Jacobsen, Knut A.
A2 - Sardella, Ferdinando
PB - Brill
CY - Leiden
ER -