Dutch-language literature

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Dutch language literature (

evolved from 17th-century Dutch. The term Dutch literature may either indicate in a narrow sense literature from the Netherlands, or alternatively Dutch-language literature (as it is understood in this article).

Until the end of the 11th century, Dutch literature, like literature elsewhere in Europe, was almost entirely

(1587–1679).

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the Low Countries had gone through major political upheaval. The most prominent writers were

as the "Big Three" of Dutch postwar literature.

Old Dutch texts (500–1150)

Around 500 AD,

and as a consequence most texts written in the Netherlands were written in Latin rather than Old Dutch. Extant Dutch texts from this period are rare.

In the earliest stages of the Dutch language, a considerable degree of mutual intelligibility with most other West Germanic dialects was present, and some fragments and authors can be claimed by both Dutch and

Henric van Veldeke

(1150 – after 1184).

The Leiden Willeram

The

in modern North Holland, whence the manuscript's other name Egmond Willeram.

Hebban olla vogala

The oldest known poetry was written by a West-Flemish

Old Kentish, though there is no consensus on this hypothesis. At that time, Old (West) Dutch

and Old English were very similar.

The Rhinelandic Rhyming Bible

Another important source for Old Dutch is the so-called Rhinelandic Rhyming Bible (Dutch: Rijnlandse Rijmbijbel and German: Rheinische Reimbibel). This is a verse translation of biblical histories, attested only in a series of fragments, which was composed in a mixed dialect containing Low German, Old Dutch and High German (Rhine-Franconian) elements.^[3] It was likely composed in north-west Germany in the early 12th century, possibly in Werden Abbey, near Essen.

Middle Dutch literature (1150–1500)

Main article:

Medieval Dutch literature

See also:

Dutch folklore

In the 12th and 13th century, writers starting writing

Brabant, Flanders and Limburg

.

In the first stages of Dutch literature, poetry was the predominant form of literary expression. It was both in the

courtly romance and poetry were popular literary genres during the Middle Ages. One Minnesanger was the aforementioned Van Veldeke, the first Dutch-language writer known by name, who also wrote epic poetry and hagiographies.^[4] The chivalric romance was a popular genre as well, often featuring King Arthur or Charlemagne as protagonist

.

As the political and cultural emphasis at the time lay in the southern provinces, most of the works handed down from the early Middle Ages were written in southern Low Franconian dialects such as

Brabantic

. The first Dutch language writer known by name is Van Veldeke, who wrote courtly love poetry, and epics.

John of Ruysbroeck, 1293/4–1381) followed Beatrice in taking prose out of the economic and political realms and using it for literary purposes. He wrote sermons filled with mystic

thought.

A number of the surviving Dutch language epic works, especially the

courtly romances, were copies from or expansions of earlier German or French efforts, but there are examples of truly original works (such as the anonymous Karel ende Elegast) and even Dutch-language works that formed the basis for version in other languages (such as the morality play Elckerlijc that formed the basis for Everyman). Another genre popular in the Middle Ages was the fable, and the most elaborate fable produced by Dutch literature was an expanded adaptation of the Reynard the Fox

tale, Vanden vos Reynaerde ("Of Reynard the Fox"), written around 1250 by a person only identified as Willem.

Until the 13th century, the

Middle Dutch language output mainly serviced the aristocratic and monastic orders, recording the traditions of chivalry and of religion, but scarcely addressed the bulk of the population. With the close of the 13th century a change appeared in Dutch literature. The Flemish and Hollandic towns began to prosper and to assert their commercial supremacy over the North Sea

, and these cities won privileges amounting almost to political independence. With this liberty there arose a new sort of literary expression.

The most important exponent of this new development was Jacob van Maerlant (~1235–~1300), a Flemish scholar who worked in Holland for part of his career. His key works are Der Naturen Bloeme ("The Flower of Nature", c. 1263), a collection of moral and satirical addresses to all classes of society, and De Spieghel Historiael ("The Mirror of History", c. 1284). Jacob van Maerlant straddles the cultural divide between the northern and southern provinces. Up until now, the northern provinces had produced little of worth, and this would largely remain the case until the fall of Antwerp during the Eighty Years' War shifted focus to Amsterdam. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of Dutch poetry", "a title he merits for productivity if for no other reason."^[5]

Around 1440, literary

patronized it. The Chambers' plays very rarely dealt with historical or even Biblical personages, but entirely with allegorical and moral abstractions and were didactic in nature. The most notable examples of Rederijker theatre include Mariken van Nieumeghen ("Mary of Nijmegen") and Elckerlijc (which was translated into English as Everyman

).

At the close of the early period,

Middle Dutch closes and the modern Dutch begins (see also History of the Dutch language

).

Renaissance and the Golden Age (1550–1670)

Main article: Dutch Renaissance and Golden Age literature

The first ripples of the

songbook

of 1588, Een Geusen Lied Boecxken ("A Gueux Songbook"), was full of heroic sentiment.

theologians, who completed it. This translation formed the starting point for the Statenvertaling

or "States' Translation", a full Bible translation into Dutch ordered by the Synod. In order to be intelliglible to all Dutchmen, the Statenvertaling included elements of all main Dutch dialects and so became the cornerstone of modern standard Dutch.

Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert (1522–1590) was the Low Countries' first truly humanist writer. In 1586 he produced his original masterpiece, the Zedekunst ("Art of Ethics"), a philosophical treatise in prose. Coornhert's humanism unites the Bible, Plutarch and Marcus Aurelius

in one grand system of ethics.

By this time, the religious and political upheaval in the Low Countries had resulted in the 1581 Act of Abjuration, deposing their king, Philip II of Spain and the subsequent eighty years' struggle to confirm that declaration. As a result, the southern provinces, some of which had supported the declaration, were separated from the northern provinces as they remained under Spanish rule. Ultimately, this would result in the present-day states of Belgium (south) and the Netherlands (north). After Antwerp had fallen into Spanish hands in 1585, Amsterdam became the centre of all literary enterprise as all intelligentsia fled towards the north. This meant both a cultural renaissance in the north and a sharp decline in the south at the same time, regarding the level of Dutch literature practised. The north received a cultural and intellectual boost whereas in the south, Dutch was largely replaced by French as the language of culture and administration.

P.C. Hooft

In Amsterdam, a circle of poets and playwrights formed around

Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero (1585–1618, romantic plays and comedies), whose best-known piece is De Spaansche Brabanber Jerolimo ("Jerolimo, the Spanish Brabanter"), a satire upon the refugees from the south. A versatile poet loosely associated with the Circle of Muiden was the diplomat Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687), perhaps best known for his witty epigrams

. Huygens' style was bright and vivacious and he was a consummate artist in metrical form.

The greatest of all Dutch writers is widely considered to be the playwright and poet

Calvinists of Dordrecht. In 1637 Vondel wrote of his most popular works on the occasion of the opening of a new Amsterdam theatre: Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, a play on a local historical figure loosely modeled on material from the Aeneid that is still staged to this day. In 1654 Vondel brought out what most consider the best of all his works, the tragedy of Lucifer, from which it is said Milton

drew inspiration. Vondel is considered the typical example of Dutch creativity and imagination at their highest development.

A similar school to that in Amsterdam arose in Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, led by Jacob Cats (1577–1660). In Cats the genuine Dutch habit of thought, the utilitarian and didactic spirit reached its zenith of fluency and popularity. During early middle life he produced the most important of his writings, his didactic poems, the Maechdenplicht ("Duty of Maidens") and the Sinne- en Minnebeelden ("Images of Allegory and Love"). In 1624 he moved from Middelburg to Dordrecht, where he soon after published his ethical work called Houwelick ("Marriage"); and this was followed by an entire series of moral pieces. Cats is considered somewhat dull and prosaic by some, yet his popularity with the middle classes in the Netherlands has always been immense.

As with contemporary

Nikolaes Heinsius the Younger, whose Mirandor (1695) resembles but precedes Lesage

's Gil Blas.

The period from 1600 to 1650 was the blossoming time in Dutch literature. During this period the names of greatest genius were first made known to the public and the vigour and grace of literary expression reached their highest development. It happened, however, that three men of particularly commanding talent survived to an extreme old age, and under the shadow of Vondel, Cats and Huygens sprang up a new generation which sustained the great tradition until around 1670, when decline set in sharply.

1670–1795

After the great division of the

Republican literature", as the Dutch language fell into disfavour with the southern rulers. A notable exception was the Dunkirk writer Michiel de Swaen (1654–1707), who wrote comedies, moralities and biblical poetry. During his lifetime (1678) the Spanish lost Dunkirk to the French and so De Swaen is also the first French-Flemish

writer of importance.

The

, which his death in 1735 soon brought to a close. Still, what he composed during the last four years of his life is considered by many to constitute the most valuable legacy to Dutch literature that the middle of the 18th century left behind.

The year 1777 is considered a turning point in the history of letters in the Netherlands. It was in that year that Elizabeth “Betje” Wolff (1738–1804), a widow lady in Amsterdam, persuaded her friend Agatha “Aagje” Deken (1741–1804), a poor but intelligent governess, to throw up her situation and live with her. For nearly thirty years these women continued together, writing in combination. In 1782 the ladies, inspired partly by Goethe, published their first novel, Sara Burgerhart, which was enthusiastically received. Two further, less successful novels appeared before Wolff and Deken had to flee France, their country of residence, due to persecution by the Directory.

The last years of the 18th century were marked by a general revival of intellectual force. The romantic movement in Germany made itself deeply felt in all branches of Dutch literature and German lyricism took the place hitherto held by French classicism, in spite of the country falling to French expansionism (see also History of the Netherlands).

The 19th century

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the Low Countries had gone through major political upheaval. The

. It had little influence in literature, and in the new state of Belgium, the status of the Dutch language remained largely unchanged as all governmental and educational affairs were conducted in French.

Against this backdrop, the most prominent writer was

.

In

.

The Dutch language of the north resisted the pressure of German from the outside and from within broke through its long stagnation and enriched itself, as a medium for literary expression, with a multitude of fresh and colloquial forms. At the same time, no very great genius arose in the Netherlands in any branch of literature. For the thirty or forty years preceding 1880 the course of literature in the Netherlands was smooth and even sluggish. The Dutch writers had slipped into a conventionality of treatment and a strict limitation of form from which even the most striking talents among them could scarcely escape.

Poetry and a large part of prose was dominated by the so-called school of ministers, as the leading writers all were or had been

.

A poet of power and promise was lost in the early death of

.

Under the influence of romantic nationalism, writers in

.

After the restoration in 1815 to the Dutch state of the Dutch East Indies, works of literature continued to be produced there. With the rise of social consciousness regarding the administration of the colonies and the treatment of their inhabitants, an influential voice rose from the Indies in the form of Multatuli (ps. of Eduard Douwes Dekker, 1820–1887), whose Max Havelaar (1860) is a scathing indictment of colonial mismanagement and one of the few nineteenth-century prose works still widely considered readable today.

The principles of the 1830–1880 period were summed up in

(1826–1886), leading critic of the day; he had been during all those years the fearless and trusty watch-dog of Dutch letters as he understood them. He lived just long enough to become aware that a revolution was approaching, not to comprehend its character; but his accomplished fidelity to literary principle and his wide knowledge have been honoured even by the most bitter of the younger school.

In November 1881 Jacques Perk (born 1860) died. He was no sooner dead, however, than his posthumous poems, and in particular a cycle of sonnets called Mathilde, were published (1882) and awakened extraordinary emotion. Perk had rejected all the formulas of rhetorical poetry, and had broken up the conventional rhythms. There had been heard no music like his in the Netherlands for two hundred years. A group of young men collected around his name and were joined by the poet-novelist-dramatist Marcellus Emants (1848–1923). Emants had written a symbolical poem called "Lilith" in 1879 that had been stigmatised as audacious and meaningless; encouraged by the admiration of his juniors, Emants published in 1881 a treatise in which the first open attack was made on the old school.

The next appearance was that of Willem Kloos (1857–1938), who had been the editor and intimate friend of Perk, and who now led the new movement. His violent attacks on recognized authority in aesthetics created a considerable scandal. For some time the new poets and critics found a great difficulty in being heard, but in 1884 they founded a review, De Nieuwe Gids ("The New Guide"), which was able to offer a direct challenge to the old guard's periodicals. The new movement was called Tachtigers or "Movement of (Eighteen-)Eighty", after the decade in which it arose. The Tachtigers insisted that style must match content, and that intimate and visceral emotions can only be expressed using an intimate and visceral writing style. Prime influences of the Tachtigers were U.K. poets such as Shelley and the French naturalists.

Leading representatives of the Tachtigers are:

• Willem Kloos
• Albert Verwey
• Frederik van Eeden
• Marcellus Emants
• Lodewijk van Deyssel
• Herman Gorter

Around the same time,

(1860–1932) in De kleine Johannes ("Little Johnny", 1887) and in Van de koele meren des doods ("From the Cold Pools of Death", 1901), a melancholy novel.

After 1887 the condition of modern Dutch literature remained comparatively stationary, and within the last decade of the 19th century was definitely declining. In 1889 a new poet,

P.C. Boutens

(1870–1943), whose Verzen ("Verses") in 1898 were received with great respect.

Kloos collected his poems in 1894. The others, with the exception of Couperus, showed symptoms of sinking into silence. The entire school, now that the struggle for recognition was over, rested on its triumphs and soon limited itself to a repetition of its old experiments.

The leading

Op Hoop van Zegen

("Trusting Our Fate in the Hands of God"), which is still staged, remains his most popular play.

The 20th century

In common with the rest of Europe, the Netherlands of the nineteenth century effectively remained unchanged until World War I (1914–1918). Belgium was invaded by the German Empire; the Netherlands faced severe economic difficulties owing to its policy of neutrality and consequent political isolation, wedged as it was between the two warring sides.

Both the Belgian and Dutch societies emerged from the war pillarised, meaning that each of the main religious and ideological movements (Protestant, Catholic, Socialist and Liberal) stood independent of the rest, each operating its own newspapers, magazines, schools, broadcasting organizations and so on in a form of self-imposed, non-racial segregation. This in turn affected literary movements, as writers gathered around the literary magazines of each of the four "pillars" (limited to three in Belgium, as Protestantism never took root there).

One of the most important historical writers of the 20th century was

lists. His written works were influenced by the literary figures of the early 20th century.

• Hendrik Marsman
• Adriaan Roland Holst
• J. van Oudshoorn
• Arthur van Schendel
• Hendrik de Vries
• Jacobus van Looy

New Objectivity and the Forum Group (1925–1940)

During the 1920s, a new group of writers who distanced themselves from the ornate style of the Movement of 1880 arose, claiming it to be too self-centered and distanced from real life. Their movement was called "Nieuwe Zakelijkheid", or New Objectivity. An isolated forerunner is the figure of Nescio (J.H.F. Grönloh, 1882–1961), who published his few short stories in the 1910s. A prime example of New Objectivity is F. Bordewijk (1884–1965), whose short story Bint (1931) and terse writing epitomise the style.

An offshoot of the New Objectivity movement centered on the Forum magazine, which appeared in the years 1932–1935 and was edited by the leading Dutch

.

Second World War and Occupation (1940–1945)

The

resistance member

awaiting his execution, has become the most famous example of war-related Dutch literature.

Modern times (1945–present)

Hella S. Haasse

Writers who had lived through the atrocities of the Second World War reflected in their works on the changed perception of reality. Obviously many looked back on their experiences the way

were the main representatives of this new literary trend.

• Netherlands:
  Maria Dermout, Adriaan van Dis
  .
• Flanders: Gerard Walschap, Louis Paul Boon, Hugo Claus, Jef Geeraerts, Tom Lanoye, Erwin Mortier, Dimitri Verhulst, Jotie T'Hooft, Herman Brusselmans, Tom Naegels, Kristien Hemmerechts, Herman de Coninck, Marnix Gijsen, Jos Vandeloo
• Suriname: Wim Bos Verschuur, Hugo Pos, Corly Verlooghen, Ellen Ombre

See also

• Middle Dutch literature
• Dutch folklore
• Canon of Dutch Literature
• Dutch Indies literature
• Belgian literature
• Surinamese literature
• Afrikaans literature
• List of Dutch language writers
• Geographical distribution of Dutch speakers

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gosse, Edmund (1911). "Dutch Literature". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 719–729.
• Augustinus P. Dierick: "Modernist Tendencies in the Literature of the Low Countries 1880-1920." In The Low Countries/Fin de Siècle (eds. Robert Siebelhoff & Augustinus P. Dierick. Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies IX, ii-X, i (Fall 1988-Spring 1989), 9-32.

External links

• (in Dutch) The digital library of Dutch literature study, contains the full text of many books and reference works
• Project Laurens Janszoon Coster a collection of Dutch high literature on the web
• Journal of Dutch Literature Open Access academic journal dedicated to the study of Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to the present day