Afradikalisering: Romanen Barbara og erindringen om Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen

Two close friends of Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen (1900-1938), Christian Matras (1900-1988) and William Heinesen (1900-1991), both important intellectuals of the 20th century, were involved in the posthumous publication of the novel Barbara in 1939 and they were first to write about Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen after his death in 1938. Through their articles, they had a great influence on the way other scholars understood and wrote about Barbara in the 20th century - and up until this day. Based on Aleida Assmann’s ideas of cultural memory, the article discusses the characteristics and effects of this influence and argues that the novel and Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen’s writings in general have been made less radical and less modern than they actually are.