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Klaus Rifbjerg was until the end passionately interested in Danish culture and the debate about it. A little over a year ago he gave an interview to Politiken, in which he criticized both the current government, the Danish People's Party, Jyllands-Posten and the debate about whether the Muhammad cartoons were an expression of liberalism and freedom of expression or not. "It's difficult to argue with the liberal fundamentalists of the time.
If you, for example, tell them that you don't think it was smart with those Muhammad cartoons, then they see freedom of expression disappearing into a giant hole in the ground. The hysteria is going all the way," said Klaus Rifbjerg, among other things, calling the DF "reactionary as hell."
And to the current SR government it was - with a thinly veiled criticism of the previous bourgeois government: "It is very anonymous and does not come forward with prominent profiles that set agendas.
The Fogh governments were much more prominent, some scam artists and Berlusconis - but prominent. The counterplay to the spirit of the times is very mixed, very inconspicuous."
Throughout his life, Klaus Rifbjerg has expressed his opinions, which can be read in his many essays - including Hovedbogen from 2005 and Karakterbogen from 1992 - as well as in the countless interviews he has given throughout his life. And with text publications in the form of poems, essays, short stories or novels almost annually from the 1960s until the turn of the millennium, it was clear that he possessed distinctive opinions - and equally distinctive statements.
Last October, he made a name for himself in an interview with DR's Adam Holm by calling the majority of the Danish population stupid: "Stupidity is thriving in the Western consciousness at the moment. You could be quite rude and say that there are 2,000 gifted people in Denmark, and the rest are stupid.
Politically stupid, humanly stupid. Incompetent. Some gyrations." "That's a tough sentence to pass," Adam Holm said after a moment of silence.
"I can't say that 100 percent either, but I can say it," Klaus Rifbjerg replied.
He has previously spoken about this “stupidity” and linked it to the tabloid media. “Today’s lunch newspaper, a little morbid teasing of an otherwise frozen subconscious, a little stupidity here, a little malice there and a big, widespread, fattened up fondness for the latent stupidity,” he is quoted as saying in Gyldendal’s Citatleksikon by Peter Legård Nielsen.
Klaus Rifbjerg has also addressed the more existential questions of life, relationships and growing older. “Every long-term relationship is give-and-take. There has to be a certain maturity, because things can’t be the same from the second you fall in love until you’ve been married for 60 years.
A mutual understanding and solidarity grows that can’t be broken,” he told Billed-Bladet about his lifelong marriage to Inge Rifbjerg.
538 / 5.000
When he turned 80 in 2010 and Politiken asked for an interview, he said over the phone that it should be “cheerful” and “not sentimental”. It did become a little sentimental, though, which must be hard to avoid when you have to look back on a whole life.
“Getting old is greatly overrated. When I was 70, I threw up my arms and said: Oh my! We can do it. Because I thought I would be like this for the rest of my life. But when you get to 80, things happen. The vortex that takes you down into the black hole.”
Klaus Rifbjerg's controversial and distinctive personality has been with him since he was a child, and was expressed, among other things, in the student speech that he had to give to his entire high school in 1950. He was chosen by the other 3.g students because he had the audacity to challenge the authorities, he said in the interview with Politiken.
However, the content of the speech was too much for his mother, who had chosen to remove the most naughty parts of it and move some sections around a few hours beforehand, so that he could not change it.
His entire "comedy side", as he calls it, was founded in elementary school - to be accepted and avoid getting beaten.
"I was naughty. And I have been that way ever since."
jyllands-posten.dk
__________________________________________
I believe it's important to read and listen to writers, not just newspapers and tabloid type of news that makes headlines. But I do not believe our politicians are reading books and learning lessons.
So it's great to discover writers like Klaus, whether I agree with all their POV is debateable, but sometimes their freedom of expression is spot on.
If you, for example, tell them that you don't think it was smart with those Muhammad cartoons, then they see freedom of expression disappearing into a giant hole in the ground. The hysteria is going all the way," said Klaus Rifbjerg, among other things, calling the DF "reactionary as hell."
And to the current SR government it was - with a thinly veiled criticism of the previous bourgeois government: "It is very anonymous and does not come forward with prominent profiles that set agendas.
The Fogh governments were much more prominent, some scam artists and Berlusconis - but prominent. The counterplay to the spirit of the times is very mixed, very inconspicuous."
Throughout his life, Klaus Rifbjerg has expressed his opinions, which can be read in his many essays - including Hovedbogen from 2005 and Karakterbogen from 1992 - as well as in the countless interviews he has given throughout his life. And with text publications in the form of poems, essays, short stories or novels almost annually from the 1960s until the turn of the millennium, it was clear that he possessed distinctive opinions - and equally distinctive statements.
Last October, he made a name for himself in an interview with DR's Adam Holm by calling the majority of the Danish population stupid: "Stupidity is thriving in the Western consciousness at the moment. You could be quite rude and say that there are 2,000 gifted people in Denmark, and the rest are stupid.
Politically stupid, humanly stupid. Incompetent. Some gyrations." "That's a tough sentence to pass," Adam Holm said after a moment of silence.
"I can't say that 100 percent either, but I can say it," Klaus Rifbjerg replied.
He has previously spoken about this “stupidity” and linked it to the tabloid media. “Today’s lunch newspaper, a little morbid teasing of an otherwise frozen subconscious, a little stupidity here, a little malice there and a big, widespread, fattened up fondness for the latent stupidity,” he is quoted as saying in Gyldendal’s Citatleksikon by Peter Legård Nielsen.
Klaus Rifbjerg has also addressed the more existential questions of life, relationships and growing older. “Every long-term relationship is give-and-take. There has to be a certain maturity, because things can’t be the same from the second you fall in love until you’ve been married for 60 years.
A mutual understanding and solidarity grows that can’t be broken,” he told Billed-Bladet about his lifelong marriage to Inge Rifbjerg.
538 / 5.000
When he turned 80 in 2010 and Politiken asked for an interview, he said over the phone that it should be “cheerful” and “not sentimental”. It did become a little sentimental, though, which must be hard to avoid when you have to look back on a whole life.
“Getting old is greatly overrated. When I was 70, I threw up my arms and said: Oh my! We can do it. Because I thought I would be like this for the rest of my life. But when you get to 80, things happen. The vortex that takes you down into the black hole.”
Klaus Rifbjerg's controversial and distinctive personality has been with him since he was a child, and was expressed, among other things, in the student speech that he had to give to his entire high school in 1950. He was chosen by the other 3.g students because he had the audacity to challenge the authorities, he said in the interview with Politiken.
However, the content of the speech was too much for his mother, who had chosen to remove the most naughty parts of it and move some sections around a few hours beforehand, so that he could not change it.
His entire "comedy side", as he calls it, was founded in elementary school - to be accepted and avoid getting beaten.
"I was naughty. And I have been that way ever since."
Rifbjerg: "Der er 2.000 begavede mennesker i Danmark"
Den danske forfatter Klaus Rifbjerg har aldrig holdt sig tilbage fra at udtrykke markante holdninger.
jyllands-posten.dk
__________________________________________
I believe it's important to read and listen to writers, not just newspapers and tabloid type of news that makes headlines. But I do not believe our politicians are reading books and learning lessons.
So it's great to discover writers like Klaus, whether I agree with all their POV is debateable, but sometimes their freedom of expression is spot on.
