Bengt Holbek facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bengt Knud Holbek
Born	(1933-04-01)April 1, 1933 Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	August 27, 1992(1992-08-27) (aged 59) Faxe, Denmark

Bengt Holbek (April 1, 1933 – August 27, 1992) was a Danish folklorist known for his unorthodox approach to folklore theory. He wrote one of the definitive works of fairy tale scholarship entitled Interpretation of Fairy Tales (1987).

Biography

Bengt Knud Holbek was born 1 April 1933 in Copenhagen and was the fourth of ten children. His father, Hans Holbek, was a civil engineer and his mother was named Elsebeth. He grew up in Ørholm and graduated from Lyngby Statskole in 1951.

Holbek studied Danish and Latin at the University of Copenhagen, and eventually earned a M.A. in Nordic Folklore in 1962. After graduating, he worked as an archivist at the Danish Folklore Archives. In 1968 he also began work as the director of the Nordic Institute of Folklore, a post which he held until 1972. In 1970 he became an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen within the folklore department which he himself had graduated from. By 1972, he had been made a full-time professor. He received his Ph.D. in 1987 after defending his doctoral thesis, The Interpretation of Fairy Tales.

While studying at the University of Copenhagen, he married Bertha Dressel, a psychologist. The couple had three children. He died on 27 August 1992 while reading at his home in Denmark. His grave is located in Køge.

Selected works

• "Hjorten, faaret og ulven. En fabels historie", 1960
• Æsops levned og fabler: Christiern Pedersens overswettelse qaf Stainhöwels Æsop, 1962
• "On the Classification of Folktales", 1965
• "Strukturalisme og folkloristik: I anledning af Børge Hansens eventyranalyse", 1972
• "Den bugede kat: Forsøg paa en structuranalyse", 1973
• "The Ballad and the Folk", 1974
• "The Ethnic Joke in Denmark", 1975
• "Eventyr som folketradition: Bibliografi til eventyrforskningen", 1976
• "Formal and Structural Studies of Oral Narrative: A Bibliography", 1978
• "Oppositions and Contrasts in Folklore", 1980
• "Moderne folkloristik of historisk materiale", 1981
• "Prose Narratives: Nordic research in Popular Prose Narrative", 1983
• "Folklorens betydning: Oplæg baseret paa et igangværende eventyrprojekt", 1987
• Interpretation of Fairy Tales: Danish Folklore in a European Perspective, 1987
• Danske Trylleeventyr, 1989
• "The language of Fairy Tales", 1989
• "Hans Christian Andersen's Use of Folketales", 1990
• "Variation and Tale-Type", 1990
• "On the Comparative Method in Folklore Research", 1992
• "Tendencies in Modern Folk Narrative Research", 1992