Bart Westgeest

Forfatter: Bart Westgeest

  • One Channel

    Imagine a man or a woman who owns the best and most modern television money can buy. A fancy wide screen with surround system sounds.. whatever…

    Now think that this person watches only one channel, say the first channel that appeared when the television was turned on the first time. A life long, one channel….

    We wouldn’t do that of course. We would quickly get curious and have a look at the other channels..

    What about our lives, are we aware that we have a huge influence upon the life we lead?

    We can believe something, or we can believe something else.

    It might demand some effort, but we have the possibility to think for ourselves, let our curiosity flow.

    Or we can choose to watch only one channel.

  • Lærer Urup, by Jakob Knudsen

    Lærer Urup, by Jakob Knudsen

    Lærer Urup (1906) Jakob Knudsen
    Edition: Gyldendal 1949

    Language: Danish

    Picture: Rødding: mindetavle for Jakob Knudsen – by Hubertus45 via Wikipedia.

    The stone on the picture can be found on the grounds of Rødding Højskole. It bears a text referring to Jakob Knudsen as his father was a teacher on this school and Jakob therefore born there.

    When I came across it on the internet I had never heard of Jakob Knudsen but the text on the stone made me curious. I read more about him on the “Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur” and a few days later I bought “Lærer Urup” in a second hand bookshop.

    The main character of the book, Lærer Urup, (“lærer” means teacher) is supposed to, more or less, mirror the views of the writer himself. Jakob Knudsen had some clear points that he wanted to make, and the book therefore has a clear theme right from the start. Not much time is waisted to explaining his theories with the help of examples interwoven into a storyline.

    To make it all digestible the book is written in a popular tone in a daily language, dialogues even written in several dialects.

    The story is about a teacher and his controversial theories about religion, society and education. These theories bring him into conflict with a. o.  the local priest of the village where Lærer Urup is starting out as a teacher, and the discussions between these two gives the writer plenty of opportunity to explain his views. Soon after his appointment the teacher gets criticised from different directions but he stays firm and true to his believes which result in complications that form the main elements of the storyline of the novel.

    The novel is interesting, it has its main strengths in the opinions and views of the main character. The story itself is not too well written in my opinion, some parts seem to be realistic and truthfully descriptive, other scenes are more theoretical and give a rather black and white description of characters and situations. I felt that too much was happening and as if that was done to attract a wider audience.

    Lærer Urups views are interesting however, and his bold statements make them very clear.

    “Jeg troer, at alt, hvad der kommer umiddelbart fra Gud til os – Naturens Verden tænker jeg ikke paa – det er Lys, Sandhed, Glæde, Frihed, Kjærlighed; alt hvad der hedder Straf, Strænghed, Lov, Tvang, Frygt – det hører Naturen og Menneskeverden til, men dér er det ogsaa fuldkommen nødvendigt, hvis vi Mennesker ikke skal raadne op i vor egen Elendighed, – ogsaa for at vi skal faa Trang til Gud. Det er Tidens Slaphed, den sjaskede Blødagtighed og Kraftesløshed, der volder, at den er ugudelig.”

    Lærer Urup, page 39.

    His religious views are based upon the idea that it is up to humanity to make life on earth bearable. God is light, truth, joy, freedom and love and he created the earth and its nature. But it is up to the humans to create a society and make it work. Strict rules are necessary, punishment and even force as well.

    “Aa ja, Moralen er ikke saa højtidelig i sin Begyndelse, som man troer. Tager man Angsten bort, saa forsvinder mindst Halvdelen af Moralen med det samme.”

    Lærer Urup, page 17.

    It is on the other hand important for Lærer Urup that people can make up their own mind and that they should not be forced to think or believe what society tells them. Physical and spiritual freedom are two opposites for him.

    His criticism upon society, written in 1906, can still be used for contemporary society, it might as well become popular again soon. The book discusses subjects that will probably never be out-dated.

  • Languages

    As you can see from this screenshot from today’s notes I have trouble on concentrating me on one language.

    When I read Dutch I spontaneously write in Dutch, and the same goes for English and Danish.

    I don’t really know what to do with this right now, it is not always practical but it happens.

    To write a blogpost about a Dutch book in Danish is a bit “unusual”, as is to write about a Danish book in Dutch or a Dutch book in English.

    Most native English speakers don’t master Dutch or Danish, but almost all Dutch or Danes speak English more or less fluently.

    Danes don’t speak Dutch as a rule, and Dutch don’t understand Danish well.

    So English is the only language that most people in Europa (and elsewhere) understand.

    I could of course write in Dutch about Dutch books etc, but, how good is my Dutch, or Danish at the moment?

    Google Translate can be a helpful tool, but it is not perfect yet and turns many sentences into nonsense:

    Het is makkelijk te krijgen insanely afgeleid in ons leven vol van informatie en impulsen, maar waar komt het laat ons?

    Når jeg skriver, jeg højtideligt besøge mig.

    I suppose I will continue in English so that everybody can read it, but a quote can be in one of the languages.

    Quotes are often not so easy to translate and regularly serve as an illustration rather than a vital part of the story.

  • Monotony

    Monotony


    Thomas Nydahl quotes regularly on his blog Occident from Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet. Three days ago the quote was about monotony, stating that an existence should be monotonous in order not to be monotonous. When life is lived the same way every day, then every little thing becomes important, and every little change huge. Therefore one will notice and admire every idea, sound, motion.

    It is insanely easy to get distracted in our life full of information and impulses, but where does it leave us?

    This is linked to the idea that one can gain freedom by limiting oneself. Freedom is something inside of us, hence Pessoa’s quote from the same book:

    Liberty is the possibility of isolation.

    * Original: A liberdade é a possibilidade do isolamento.

    * Source: “A Factless Autobiography”. Richard Zenith Edition, Lisbon, 2006, p. 246 via Wikiquote

    Writing is done in isolation, so:

    When I write, I solemnly visit myself.

    * Original: Quando escrevo, visito-me solenemente.

    * Source: “A Factless Autobiography”. Richard Zenith Edition, Lisbon, 2006, p. 287 via Wikiquote

    These ideas are simple and old… and forgotten?

    I suppose that most people are keen on rushing away from liberty and isolation in order to avoid hearing their own thoughts. It is indeed questionable whether on can function well in our society if one hears its own voice, if one truly feels and thinks. I doubt it will make you rich for example.

    But what about happiness, satisfaction, tranquility?

    For me, one of the most impressive moments in my life, the most intense, was when I became aware of the beauty and the strength of seeing that one, small plant flowering in the middle of the vast Icelandic desert of rocks and dust. In that  breath-taking monotony the experience of seeing this plant became so strong and clear that it had and has a key influence upon my life.

  • Enlightenment

    “Enlightenment is man’s leaving his self-caused immaturity. Immaturity is the incapacity to use one’s intelligence without the guidance of another. Such immaturity is self-caused if it is not caused by lack of intelligence, but by lack of determination and courage to use one’s intelligence without being guided by another. Sapere Aude! [Dare to know!] Have the courage to use your own intelligence! is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.”

    Immanuel Kant “What is enlightenment?” 1784.

  • Vejle Kunstmuseum

    I recently visited Vejle Kunstmuseum again. My previous visit had been some years ago, when it still was just one building, the old library.
    At that time there wasn’t too much space but I nevertheless liked the atmosphere and thought it had been a nice visit. Sometimes you get more out of a small museum than a big one, as you have to concentrate on the few things that are exhibited. But of course in a small museum it is very important what the current exhibition displays.
    I know Vejle museum has a large amount of high quality prints and drawings which were at that time only visible on demand during the opening hours of the library. When I saw on their homepage that the museum has been extended with 2 other buildings I was hoping that there would be some room now for an permanent exhibition of some of the prints and drawings. Unfortunately there wasn’t really anything visible in the normal museum exhibition, but it is possible to see some fine Rembrandt etchings on request. They are in a separate, locked room and absolutely worth the trouble asking for permission to see them.
    The current special exhibition at the moment (until the 10th of January) is a fairly big exhibition of the museums works and private works of the local artist Albert Bertelsen. I knew he makes very interesting graphical works, both abstract or for example with themes from Færøerne so this was a good opportunity to visit the museum in its new state. And I liked just about everything about the museum and the Bertelsen exhibition. The main exhibition shows local works and other works from different periods, as there for example is a classical room with views upon Vejle or a small room with works by Svavar Gudnason followed by a Cobra inspired room with among others Asger Jorn, Richard Mortensen and Else Alfelts. I didn’t see any foreign (non-Danish) works in the museum as far as I remember.
    Albert Bertelsen was great, just as I had expected. He knows his job, has an excellent technique and a fine sense of humour, composition and mood.