Abell, Kjeld

(1901-1961)

   A Danish dramatist and novelist, Abell had his origins in the middle class, toward which he had a critical attitude throughout his life. He first got a degree in political science, after which he traveled to Paris and London in order to study theater. Back in Denmark he gained additional experience by working as a scenographer.

   Abell's first play, Melodien der blev væk (1935; tr. The Melody That Got Lost, 1939), takes a critical look at Danish middle-class life in the 1930s, introducing a character named Larsen, who has since become the archetype of the low-level white-collar worker in Denmark and Norway. In the play Eva aftjener sin Barnepligt (1936; Eve Does National Service as a Child) Abell's satirical critique of the ways of the middle class is continued, and this time with special focus on its child-rearing practices. The drama Anna Sophie Hedvig (1939; tr. 1944) takes the middle class to task for not being sufficiently aware of the threat of Nazism; it also expresses Abell's sympathy with the anti-Franco Spanish freedom fighters.

   During World War II Abell wrote the play Dronningen gaar igen (1943, but published 1955; tr. The Queen on Tour, 1955), which contained a hidden call to resistance against the Germans. After the war Danish critics exaggerated his Marxist leanings, and he never regained his prewar position in Danish cultural life. His last play, Skriget (1961; The Cry), castigates the middle class for its passivity in the face of the authoritarianism of the right during the Cold War. Abell also wrote the novel De tre fra Minikoi (1957; tr. Three from Minikoi, 1960), which was based on his two visits to the People's Republic of China.