One-and-a-half centuries ago, the renowned Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen passed away, leaving behind a trove of literary treasures that still captivate and delight readers in the twenty-first century. This enduring appeal is not without reason. Andersen’s central theme of hope triumphing over fear in times of adversity and despair possesses the remarkable ability to transcend time and space, resonating with readers across the globe.

One of Andersen’s iconic creations is the little match girl from the eponymous fairy- tale published in 1845. On a snowy New Year’s Eve, a barefoot girl wanders the streets, having lost her mother’s large slippers. Unable to sell a single match throughout the day, the girl fears returning home to face her father’s wrath. Her home, full of holes, does not keep out the cold from outside. Huddled in a corner between two houses, the girl lights a match. Instantly, she feels the warmth of a stove beside her, a comfort that vanishes when the flame extinguishes. With each match she lights, the little girl experiences fleeting visions – a roasted goose offering a meal, a Christmas tree adorned with tapers and pic- tures, and a vision of her beloved grandmother, the only one who ever loved her. As she burns through her matches, her final vision reunites her with her grandmother, offering an afterlife as they ascend together above the sky. On New Year’s morning, the girl’s body is found, with burnt matches in her hand and a peaceful smile on her face as she rests against the wall (Andersen 142-144).

Written in the third-person limited point of view in the past tense, the story centres around the little girl, Andersen’s sole character in this fairytale that explores the conflict between hope and fear. The match girl knows she will not make it through the cold. Instead of succumbing to anguish and despair, she chooses survivance through remembrance and storytelling. By engaging in these practices, she maintains a glimmer of hope, albeit in the realm of memory and hallucination. The literary manifestation of survivance serves as a testament to the human spirit’s resilience.

Survivance through storytelling not only brings forth the past but also serves as a natural practice. It represents a striving for presence in the afterlife (Vizenor 86-89). Survivance embodies the afterlife, granting survivors the right of succession to the bygone past. It is the state and condition of actively maintaining existence, often through the struggle of the past through storytelling. Both the act of coming into being and death are measures of presence in the world. However, death is mitigated by survivance (Vizenor 97-102). Andersen’s match girl embodies this fictional manifestation, set in a time of widespread poverty and the prevalence of hunger and exposure-related deaths. Regardless of the brevity of their lives, everyone has a story to tell. The girl’s final hours depict a vivid struggle of survivance as she recalls the warmth and comfort she has only imagined but never experienced. Her ultimate act of survivance involves reuniting with her beloved grandmother in the afterlife, a pursuit that may be known only to God. In her final hours, she naturally engages in survivance, even in utter solitude. Her survivance through sto- rytelling and recollection of life’s sweetest moments tilts the fairytale’s conflict towards hope prevailing over fear. This enduring spirit transcends time and space, resonating even today, 150 years after Andersen’s passing. This spirit originates from its Danish cultural roots and spread to various host cultures globally, even as Andersen’s native Denmark has experienced economic prosperity.

Numerous literary works across different genres bear a resemblance to the works of Andersen. Approximately half a century prior, the British poet William Blake penned The Chimney Sweeper, a narrative akin to Andersen’s tales. Published in 1789 as part of his collection Songs of Innocence, the poem narrates the harrowing plight of child labor- ers exploited as chimney sweepers, lacking safety protections. Many of these children succumb to their circumstances, ending up entombed in black coffins. Within the poem, the narrator’s companion, little Tom Dacre, dreams of angels who liberate the deceased chimney sweepers from their coffins. These liberated souls frolic in green fields, basking in the sunlight, play in earthly rivers, and ascend to the sky. The angel reassures Tom, dispelling his fear and urging him to fulfill his duties, assuring him that God will be by his guiding light in times of peril. The following morning, Tom awakens unafraid, despite the hazardous work conditions persisting. In the companion poem from Songs of Experience published in 1794, the chimney sweeper is depicted as a diminutive figure amidst snowfall, expressing his anguish through melancholic notes. Narrated in the first person, the child laborer confronts his miseries with resolute smiles, dances, and songs, adorned in deathly garments provided by his parents, who instead seek solace in church prayer.

In an era where childhood survival was uncertain, particularly for child laborers engaged in perilous tasks, these chimney sweepers found solace and resilience in storytelling, even within the confines of dreams and solitude. Angelic awakenings mitigated death, while persevering hope counteracted despair, ultimately tipping the poem’s conflict of hope versus fear towards the triumph of hope, albeit not necessarily in the tangible realm. This resolute spirit in the face of adversity undoubtedly transcends time and space, traversing from the originating culture to various host cultures, enriching the tapestry of world lit- erature. Although poetry may not be as readily translatable as prose fiction, its enduring impact on the literary landscape cannot be denied.

Similarly, Anton Chekhov, a Russian writer and playwright who lived during the same era as Andersen, authored a realistic story called Misery. Published in 1886, the story follows Iona Potapov, a sledge-driver in Petersburg. Iona, who has recently lost his son to a fever, finds solace in recounting his son’s tales. On a wintry night amid heavy snowfall, his only passengers are an army officer and a group of three drunken dandies. Despite facing indifference and derision from his passengers regarding his attempts to share his son’s story, Iona perseveres with grace, bearing the weight of grief and misery. Returning home to a dilapidated street with a large, dirty stove and sleeping figures, he once again tries to narrate his son’s tale to a fellow street sleeper, who falls asleep mid-story. Over- whelmed by loneliness, Iona seeks solace in the stable, finding comfort in confiding his sorrow to his mare (Chekhov). Iona’s son lives on through his storytelling, even though finding an empathetic listener proves elusive. Seeking solace in an animal is not a sign of weakness but a form of survivance in the afterlife. Even the faintest glimmer of hope can dispel fear, tipping the short story’s conflict towards hope’s triumph, albeit with great poignancy. Misery, too, resonates globally, transcending its cultural origins to touch the hearts of individuals in various host cultures due to its universal theme that transcends time and space.

Throughout history, in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Russia, and beyond, whether in fantastical or realistic settings, in times of poverty and abundance, past and present, the enduring power of hope and resilience over misery stands as a spiritual force that dispels fear, breaks boundaries, and renders the seemingly impossible attainable.