Ludvig Holberg's Mobile Novel
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Promotor Prof. dr. Wim Verbaal Vakgroep Letterkunde, Universiteit Gent Decaan Prof. dr. Marc Boone Rector Prof. dr. Rik Van de Walle Ludvig Holberg’s Mobile Novel Niels Klim’s Travels Underground (1741-1745) A Functionalistic Approach to its Place in European Literary History Thomas Velle Proefschrift voorgelegd tot het behalen van de graad van Doctor in de Letterkunde 2018 Dutch translation of title: Ludvig Holbergs beweeglijke roman De onderaardse reis van Niels Klim (1741-1745). Een functionalistische benadering tot zijn plaats in de literaire geschiedenis van Europa. Cover images from left to right: Stamp printed in Romania (c. 1967) showing a portrait of Jonathan Swift. Copyright: https://nl.123rf.com/profile_samsem, image ID: 38659587. Stamp printed in USSR (c. 1966) showing a portrait of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and an image of the main characters of his novel Don Quixote, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Copyright: https://www.123rf.com/profile_gors4730, image ID: 30767193 Stamp printed in Monaco (c. 1982) showing portrait of Vergil and a bust of Julius Caesar, issued for the two thousandth anniversary of the death of Vergil. Copyright: https://www.123rf.com/profile_lefpap, image ID: 33108768. Stamp printed in France (c. 2005) showing an image from Jules Verne’s novel Voyage au centre de la terre. Copyright: https://www.123rf.com/profile_neftali77, image ID: 11439160. Stamp printed in Denmark (c. 1984), drawing by Wilhelm Marstrand showing a meeting between Ludvig Holberg and two characters of his comedies, Jacob von Thyboe and Jean de France. Copyright: https://nl.123rf.com/profile_rook76, image ID: 36605801 Acknowledgements Like the main character in Jules Verne’s Voyage au centre de la Terre, Axel, I started this marvellous journey as an enthusiastic and motivated young student, though unknown to what would come at me. I went into the underground and back to present my research to the world. The universes Axel and I discovered were not hell, but rather places that both fascinated because of their novelty and posed specific challenges no one had met before. The dangers I faced were considerably more modest than in Axel’s case, but allow me to stretch the comparison slightly further to thank my fellow travellers. Axel’s main travel companion is Professor Lidenbrock. The latter’s enthusiasm and nose for new things leads him in his research, but, as one of the most important parts of his process, he wants others to come along with him. Lidenbrock discusses with his nephew and pupil which step to take next, appreciates his contribution and values his companionship. At the beginning of Verne’s novel, Lidenbrock is Axel’s superior, not only in academic experience and knowledge of the topic but also in wisdom of life. By the end, he still is, but Alex appreciates his mentor and his craft more with every meter they descend together into the underground. My deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor, or better Doktorvater, Wim Verbaal who not only encouraged me to start my journey and pass on my research results to the world, but also was present at every step of the way. Largely thanks to him periods of joy and motivation outweighed the moments of desperation and doubt while preparing this thesis. When following Axel’s adventures into the depths, one easily forgets the third travel companion: the Danish-speaking hunter, Hans Bjelke, whom Axel and Lidenbrock picked up in Iceland as a guide. Hans is not a man of many words, but of great strength. To me, Hans personifies a large group of people who supported me along the way. Some of them helped in decisive ways, others were rather silent but unconditionally present. The intellectual and moral support of Lidenbrock would have never been enough to reach the inner earth with his nephew, if this trustworthy figure was not around. I first want to thank my beloved colleagues in Ghent who made research (and so much more) fun on a daily basis. My partner in crime, Maxim, closely followed by Tim, Dinah, Stijn, Berenice, Klazina, Paolo, Jeroen, Koen (formerly known as Mr. Wylin), Frédéric, and vii many more colleagues of the department of literature in Ghent, in particular the sections of Latin, Greek and Dutch. They supported me in various ways throughout the years and created a pleasant atmosphere at the Blandijn. Special thanks goes to Dinah and Jeroen, who were so kind to revise my English. Further, from the Scandinavian connection, I want to thank in particular Karen Skovgaard-Petersen, who gave me the chance to present my master research in Copenhagen five years ago and has not seized to invest in me ever since. It cannot be a coincidence that the first stop on Axel’s journey is Copenhagen, where he climbs the dizzying tower of the Church of Our Savour in Christianshavn, equally afraid as I was. Further I want to express my deep gratitude to Stefano Fogelberg Rota, Anna Blennow, Mette Birkedal Bruun, and Jørgen Magnus Sejersted for their ceaseless interest and support in my research, and for giving me opportunities that were far beyond my expectations. People I met along the way supported me in different ways and made the journey all the more pleasurable. Some meetings were unexpected, some meant to be, some brief, others lasting. I want to thank in particular Victor Plahte Tschudi, Unn Falkeid, Lars Nørgaard, Kristian Mejrup, Peter Zeeberg, Cecilie Flugt, Tim Berndtsson and Agnes Kotka, Inga Henriette Undheim and Christian Olsen, Thomas Ewen Daltveit Slettebø, Pål Bjørby, Anders Kristian Strand, Bernd Roling, who (re)ignited my enthusiasm for Niels Klim, Thomas Hart, Love Forssberg Malm, Kjersti Aarstein, Anna Kosinova and Valeriy Vashchenko, Faye Lam, and finally Gudrun Rawoens and Geertrui Hofman for teaching me the basics of respectively Danish and Swedish. While Axel was on his journey, the figure of Martha made sure Axel could return to a pleasant home. Likewise, I had the pleasure not only to write this thesis in the most wonderful work-environment, but also to come home to a loving and caring group of people, both family and friends. Thank you, mum and dad, for your full support. Needless to say you were for many reasons the sine qua non of this entire endeavour, for which I cannot thank you enough. Elisabeth, Dieter and Julien for welcome distractions and talks. Lieve and Philip, Wout, Lore, for your cares throughout the years and for creating a second home. Julien ‘pepe’ Steenbeke and Jef ‘grootva’ Velle, perhaps my greatest fans. My thoughts also go to Christelle Steenbeke, Steven Velle, Janna Defloor and Marie- Jeanne Roose. A warm thanks for the past years, Xavier, Laura, David, Anouck, Seppe, Nina, Isaac, Emmelie, Jonas, Camille, Julie, Dries, Sarah-Helena, other Nina, and Titus. It has been a blast. Your repeated interest in what I do and how I lived up to this point were priceless. Special thanks I reserved for the last in the Martha-simile, and goes to my brother Matthias. His advice, warnings and his healthy and laudable look to the world in general always motivated and guided me, and will continue to do so. I look up to you as no other. Finally, we have Axel’s dearest, Graüben. Fran, as there is no way to describe your tremendous role in this adventure, I will keep it short. I might (pretend to) be as protean, viii whimsical and cosmopolitan as I present Holberg in this thesis, but Holberg stayed single. So, thank you for keeping up with me during these years, supporting me on every step of the way and making me see the purpose of the journey rather than the purpose of this text. This entire voyage, including research stays abroad and the participation in international conferences, was made possible by the generous financial support of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). What I found at the end of my journey was a discovery of which the value has yet to be reviewed, but I am already fortunate enough that I could depart on my way to the underground and came back alive, as Axel and so many other fictional or mythical figures have done before me. ix Note to the Reader Several parts of this thesis are an elaboration of what I have written before in one form or the other. Ideas from my master thesis, entitled Metafiction in Ludvig Holberg’s ‘Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum’ (Ghent University, 2013), which was a first narratological and structural analysis of Niels Klim, found their way into the different parts of the present dissertation, most notably in the narratological chapters 3 and 5. A part of chapter 3, namely the analysis of the preface to Klim’s sea voyage, was published as a discussion of unreliability in Niels Klim in the European Journal for Scandinavian Studies in 2016. 1 Reworked versions of chapter 2 and 6 are currently in press. They will be chapters in an edited volume on Neo-Latin literature and an interdisciplinary volume on solitude in the long seventeenth century, both planned for 2018.2 A last article that was accepted for publication, on Holberg’s description of his stay in Rome in his Third Autobiographical Letter, in the end was not included in the dissertation because I wanted to focus on Niels Klim.3 The relevance of Holberg’s Letters for my ideas on mobility in Holberg’s writings, though, will be hinted at in the conclusion of this thesis. When citing Holberg’s works, I use the online database Ludvig Holberg’s Writings (Ludvig Holbergs Skrifter) by the University of Bergen and the Society for Danish Language and Literature, unless it is stated otherwise.