Karin Lindeqvist:
Kirschblüten, Kurfürstendamm und kulturelle Freiräume
Cherry blossoms, Kurfürstendamm and spaces of cultural freedom
The representation of Weimar Germany in Agnete Holks novel Et Vilskud
English abstract
The Danish romantic novel Et Vildskud (A Wilde Shoot), published by Agnete Holk in 1941, is remarkable in many ways. The novel was published in German occupied Denmark and yet contains detailed descriptions of lesbian nightclubs in Berlin in the 1920s. After the war it was translated into English and was available in Great Britain as The Straggler from 1954 onwards and a year later in the USA under the title Strange Friends. The US-American version even saw a second imprint in 1963. Hence, the novel was pivotal in keeping the memory of the rich subculture of 1920s Berlin, before it was destroyed by the Nazis. Additionally, Holk’s novel does have a Happy End, contains descriptions of lesbian friendships, a lesbian family and a harmonious relationship of a lesbian and her mother. Therefore Et Vildskud can be considered as singular for its time. Until today, the identity of the pseudonymous author Agnete Holk could not be revealed. It is only known that the author was a woman who was born in Copenhagen in 1895. The Swedish literary scholar Karin Lindeqvist introduces this novel, largely unknown in German speaking Europe, for the first time. Lindquist also addresses the ways in which the novel represents Germany, the lesbian subculture of Berlin and the German population in general.