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The Modern Breakthrough (Danish:Det moderne gennembrud;Norwegian:Det moderne gjennombrudd;Swedish:Det moderna genombrottet) is the common name of the strong movement ofnaturalism and debating literature ofScandinavia which replacedromanticism near the end of the 19th century.
The term "The Modern Breakthrough" is used about the period 1870-1890 in the history of literature inScandinavia, which in this period had a breakthrough from the rest ofEurope. Danish theoristGeorg Brandes is often considered to be the "wire-puller" behind the movement, although some of the authors had already begun to write in a realistic style before he formulated the aesthetic paradigm of the movement. His lectures atCopenhagen University starting 1871 and his workMain Currents in 19th Century Literature (Danish:Hovedstrømninger i det 19. Aarhundredes Litteratur) mark the beginning of the period.
The authors during the Modern Breakthrough revolted against traditional cultural themes, especially the literary period ofromanticism. The writers of the Modern Breakthrough adopted a more realistic bent. The authors of the Breakthrough also adopted more liberal views on such topics assexuality andreligion, and expressed openly their interest in scientific breakthroughs such asCharles Darwin'stheory of evolution. Female writers also gained unprecedented influence during this time.
The very beginning of The Modern is usually attributed toGeorg Brandes, who already in 1869 translated the controversial essayThe Subjection of Women byJohn Stuart Mill into Danish. In the following years, Brandes lectured atCopenhagen University and after that in most of Europe with criticism of romanticism. He also wrote books and articles on the subject, and especiallyMain Currents in 19th Century Literature, which was published in several volumes from 1872 important as a theoretical basis for the literature of the time.
A number of the other authors of the period had international contacts, and many of them lived abroad in shorter periods. In this way, there were small colonies of Scandinavian artists in cities such asParis,Berlin andRome, and some of the artists published literature directly in foreign languages. In any case, their works were translated much faster than previously, and the movement thus had its breakthrough.
In the 1890s, the movement was in part replaced bySymbolism, originating in many of the authors' interest in subjects of a religious or spiritual nature. But the realism in the Modern Breakthrough has influenced later authors such asSelma Lagerlöf,Johannes V. Jensen andMartin Andersen Nexø in the following years (1900–1920), which some callthe popular breakthrough (Danish: "Det Folkelige Gennembrud"), because the authors in this period write about the lower rungs of society, e.g. Martin Andersen Nexø'sPelle the Conqueror, which was adapted intoa film in 1987.
Thecultural radical movement of 1920–1940 is often characterized as the continuation of the Modern Breakthrough, or the Modern Breakthrough as the beginning of Cultural Radicalism.
Among famous authors in the Modern Breakthrough are: