On the occasion of Hans Christian Andersen's bicentenary the theme chosen was Hans Christian Andersen between Children's Literature and Adult Literature. At previous conferences focus had been exclusively on Andersen as poet and writer for adults, in which capacity he wrote novels, theatre plays, poems, and travel books, just as his fairy tales and stories were meant for all ages. But faced with the world-wide celebration in 2005 it seemed proper to include the child aspects of his works in the scholarly discussion. In its wide range of themes dealing with both adult and child aspects of Andersen's texts, this volume, consisting of papers read at the Odense Conference in 2005, endeavours to do justice to the whole of Andersen, whose immortal genius has a message for young and old all over the world.
