KAMPMANN, CHRISTIAN

(1939-1987)

A Danish novelist and short story writer, Kampmann took middle-class life as his subject and explored it in a large number of short stories and novels. He had his literary debut with the short story collectionBlandt venner(1962; Among Friends), which was followed by another collection,Ly(1965; Shelter). An important issue in these stories is that bourgeois values simply do not promote people's real involvement with each other. The need for security is the theme of Kampmann's earliest novels.Sammen(1967; Together),Nærved og næsten(1969; Near and Nearly), and the short story collection"Vi elsker mere"(1970; "We Love More") are all marked by the irony of their titles.Nok til hele ugen(1971; Enough for the Whole Week) documents the marital crisis of a middle-aged woman who gets her sense of meaning from reading weekly magazines.

Kampmann's greatest artistic achievement is a series ofnovels that depict the life of the upper middle class in Denmark during the period 1954-1974. Consisting of the volumesVisse hensyn(1973; Certain Considerations),Faste forhold(1974; Regular Relationships),Rene linjer(1975; Clear Lines), andAndre mader(1975; Other Ways), this tetralogy about the life of the fictional Gregersen family has been very popular among the Danish reading public and has also been filmed. The series is a saga about the changes that Danish society underwent during these two decades, from the rather quiet lives of people in the 1950s to a time when traditional marriage was being questioned while people's material prosperity was growing rapidly, but with the presence of the energy crisis of the 1970s hanging as a shadow over their paradise of consumption.

Before Kampmann was murdered in 1987, he wrote an autobiographical trilogy consisting ofFornemmelser(1977; Sensations),Videre trods alt(1979; Onward in Spite of Everything), andI glimt(1980; Seen as Glimpses), as well as other books. The novelGyldne løfter(1986; Golden Promises) tells about an attempt to solve one's problems in life through meditation.