Frank Hugus

Professor Emeritus

Emeriti Faculty
portrait of Frank Hugus
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Location
506 Herter Hall

OFFICE HOURS
By Appointment

Frank Hugus earned his doctorate in Germanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago. He has been offering courses in Scandinavian and German subjects at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 1970. Over the years he has taught a wide variety of courses ranging from "Old Norse" to “Scandinavian Mythology” to "Hans Christian Andersen" to "The History of the German Language" to "Trolls, Giants, and Dwarves" (to name only a few). He has received several research grants (including Fulbright, American Council of Learned Societies, and National Endowment for the Humanities awards) for research projects in Denmark and Iceland. His main area of research is currently 19th and 20th century Danish literature, but he has also published articles on a variety of medieval Icelandic literary topics. In addition Hugus has translated a number of novels and short stories from Danish into English. He is currently completing a translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s debut novel, “The Improvisatore” (1835).

Education

  • PhD 1972, University of Chicago
  • MA 1965, Pennsylvania State University
  • BS 1963, Pennsylvania State University

Research Areas

  • Old Norse/Icelandic Literature
  • Hans Christian Andersen
  • 19th and 20th-century Scandinavian Literature

Publications

  • “La critique sociale dans les romans de H.C. Andersen,” Etudes Germaniques, 58ième année, numéro 4, pp. 621-635, 2003.
  • "H.C. Andersen Adapts Eugene Scribe for the Danish Stage,” H.C. Andersen: Old Problems and New Readings, Hans Christian Andersen Center, Brigham Young University, pp. 117-144, 2004. 
  • "Hans Christian Andersen: traducteur et adaptateur,” (Re-)lire Andersen: Modernité de l’œuvre, Klincksieck, pp. 297-316, 2007.
  • "Some Thoughts about One Danish Novelist’s Observations on the Human Condition,” Vox Germanica: Essays in Germanic Languages and Literature in Honor of James E. Cathey, eds. Stephen J. Harris, Michael Moynihan, and Sherrill Harbison, ACMRS: Tempe, 2012.

Courses Recently Taught

  • Scandinavian 290A: Hans Christian Andersen [Gen.Ed.: AL]
  • Scandinavian 297G: Trolls, Giants and Dwarves: German and Scandinavian Folk and Fairy Tales
  • Scandinavian 397A: Tales for a Dark Winter Night
  • Scandinavian 397B: Humor and Social Satire in Scandinavian Literature
  • German 597A: Old Norse