Flemish literature
Flemish literature is literature from Flanders, historically a region comprising parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Until the early 19th century, this literature was regarded as an integral part of Dutch literature. After Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830, the term Flemish literature acquired a narrower meaning and refers to the Dutch-language literature produced in Belgium. It remains a part of Dutch-language literature.
Medieval Flemish literature
In the earliest stages of the Dutch language, a considerable degree of mutual intelligibility with some (what we now call)
In the first stages of Flemish literature, poetry was the predominant form of literary expression. In the
The first Dutch language writer known by name is the 12th-century
A number of the surviving 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 anonymously written Karel ende Elegast) and original Dutch-language works that were translated into other languages (notable Dutch morality play Elckerlijc formed the basis for the English play Everyman).
Apart from ancient tales embedded in Dutch
The
The earliest existing fragments of the epic of
The first lyrical writer of the Low Countries was John I, Duke of Brabant, who practised the minnelied with success. In 1544 the earliest collection of Dutch folk-songs saw the light, and in this volume one or two romances of the fourteenth century are preserved, of which "Het Daghet in den Oosten" is the best known.
Up until now, the
The founder and creator of this original Dutch literature was
From the very first the literary spirit in the Low Countries began to assert itself in a homely and utilitarian spirit. Thoroughly aristocratic in feeling was
As for
The poets of the Low Countries had already discovered in late medieval times the value of
Of these chambers, the earliest were almost entirely engaged in preparing
Between 1426 and 1620, at least 66 of these festivals were held. The grandest of all was the festival celebrated at Antwerp on August 3, 1561. The Brussels chamber sent 340 members, all on horseback and clad in crimson mantles. The town of Antwerp gave a ton of gold to be given in prizes, which were shared among 1,893 rhetoricians. This was the zenith of the splendour of the chambers, and after this time they soon fell into disfavour.
Their dramatic pieces produced by the chambers were of a didactic cast, with a strong farcical flavour, and continued the tradition of Jacob van Maerlant and his school. They very rarely dealt with historical or even Biblical personages, but entirely with allegorical and moral abstractions. The most notable examples of Rederijker theatre include Mariken van Nieumeghen ("Mary of Nijmegen") and Elckerlijc (which was translated into English as Everyman).
Of the pure
The chambers also encouraged the composition of songs, but with very little success; they produced no
The first writer who used the Dutch tongue with grace and precision of style was a woman and a professed opponent of
Split between North and South
Flanders formed a political and cultural whole with the Netherlands until 1579, when as a result of the
While the
During the 18th century, Flemish literary production was at a low tide. In 1761 Jan Des Roches who was born in The Hague published the Nieuwe Nederduytsche spraek-konst, a Dutch grammar that attempted to challenge the use of Latin as a culture language and French as the language of prestige by elaborating a standardized southern Dutch (Flemish) language. The Brussels lawyer Jan-Baptist Verlooy (1746–1797) wrote the Verhandeling op d'onacht der moederlyke tael in de Nederlanden (Treatise on the negligence of the mother tongue in the Netherlands) (1788), a report on the status of the Dutch language and the contempt with which it was treated in the past.
Other important authors include Willem Verhoeven (1738–1809), Charles Broeckaert (1767–1826) (author of the Flemish popular novel Jelle en Mietje), and Jan-Baptist Hofman (1758–1835), author of middle class tragedies.
Reunification and new split
After the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Belgium and the Netherlands were reunited in 1815 under Dutch rule as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The reunification lead to a wider recognition of the Dutch language in Belgium. Resentment of Dutch rule by the French-speaking elites and the Catholic Church created a climate in which the Belgians revolted against Dutch rule in 1830, an event which is known as the Belgian Revolution.
The immediate result of the Belgian Revolution was a reaction against everything associated with the Dutch, and a disposition to regard the French language as the speech of liberty and independence. The provisional government of 1830 suppressed the official use of the Dutch language, which was relegated to the rank of a patois.[1]
For some years before 1830
Philipp Blommaert, who was born in Ghent on 27 August 1809, founded in 1834 in his native town the Nederduitsche letteroefeningen, a review for new writers. This magazine was speedily followed by other Flemish organs, and by literary societies for the promotion of Dutch in Flanders. In 1851 a central organization for the Flemish propaganda was provided by a society, named after the father of the movement, the
The claims put forward by the Flemish school were justified by the appearance (1837) of In 't Wonderjaer 1566 (In the Wonderful year) of Hendrik Conscience, who roused national enthusiasm by describing the heroic struggles of the Flemings against the Spaniards. Conscience was eventually to make his greatest successes in the description of contemporary Flemish life, but his historical romances and his popular history of Flanders helped to give a popular basis to a movement which had been started by professors and scholars.[1]
The first poet of the new school was
Antwerp produced a realistic novelist in Jan Lambrecht Domien Sleeckx (1818–1901). An inspector of schools by profession, he was an indefatigable journalist and literary critic. He was one of the founders in 1844 of the Vlaemsch Belgie, the first daily paper in the Flemish interest. His works include a long list of plays, among them Jan Steen (1852), a comedy; Gretry, which gained a national prize in 1861; Vissers van Blankenberge (1863); and the patriotic drama of Zannekin (1865). His talent as a novelist was diametrically opposed to the idealism of Conscience. He was precise, sober and concrete in his methods, relying for his effect on the accumulation of carefully observed detail. He was particularly successful in describing the life of the shipping quarter of his native town. Among his novels are: In't Schipperskwartier (1856), Dirk Meyer (1860), Tybaerts en Cie (1867), Kunst en Liefde (Art and Love, 1870), and Vesalius in Spanje (1895). His complete works were collected in 17 volumes (1877–1884).[1]
Jan Renier Snieders (1812–1888) wrote novels dealing with North Brabant; his brother, August Snieders (1825–1904), began by writing historical novels in the manner of Conscience, but his later novels are satires of contemporary society. A more original talent was displayed by Anton Bergmann (1835–1874), who, under the pseudonym of Tony, wrote Ernest Staas, Advocaat, which gained the quennial prize of literature in 1874. In the same year appeared the Novellen of the sisters Rosalie (1834–1875) and Virginie Loveling (1836–1923). These simple and touching stories were followed by a second collection in 1876. The sisters had published a volume of poems in 1870. Virginie Lovelings gifts of fine and exact observation soon placed her in the front rank of Flemish novelists. Her political sketches, In onze Vlaamsche gewesten (1877), were published under the name of W. G. E. Walter. Sophie (1885), Een dure Eed (1892), and Het Land der Verbeelding (1896) are among the more famous of her later works. Reimond Stijns (1850–1905) and Isidoor Teirlinck (1851–1934) produced in collaboration one very popular novel, Arm Vlaanderen (1884), and some others, and have since written separately. Cyriel Buysse, a nephew of Virginie Loveling, is a disciple of Émile Zola. Het Recht van den Sterkste (The Right of the Strongest, 1893) is a picture of vagabond life in Flanders; Schoppenboer (The Knave of Spades, 1898) deals with brutalized peasant life; and Sursum corda (1895) describes the narrowness and religiosity of village life.[1]
In poetry,
Mention should also be made of the history of Ghent (Gent van den vroegsten Tijd tot heden, 1882-1889) by
20th century
In the twentieth Century Flemish literature evolved further and was influenced by the international literary evolution.
After
.The renewal of the Flemish prose immediately after World War II was the work of Hugo Claus and
Other contemporary authors are Ward Ruyslinck and Jef Geeraerts, Patrick Conrad, Kristien Hemmerechts, Eric de Kuyper, Stefan Hertmans, Pol Hoste, Paul Claes, Jan Lauwereyns, Anne Provoost and Jos Vandeloo. In the nineties the Generation X, with Herman Brusselmans and Tom Lanoye made their debut on the Flemish literary scene.
Overview
- Johan Anthierens (1937–2000)
- Pieter Aspe (Pierre Aspeslag, 1953–2021)
- Aster Berkhof (Lode Van Den Bergh, born 1920)
- Louis Paul Boon (1912–1979)
- Herman Brusselmans (born 1957)
- Libera Carlier (1926-2007)
- Ernest Claes (1885-1968)
- Paul Claes (born 1943)
- Hugo Claus (1929–2008)
- Patrick Conrad (born 1945)
- Johan Daisne (Herman Thiery, 1912–1978)
- Herman De Coninck(1944–1997)
- Saskia de Coster(born 1976)
- Filip De Pillecyn (1891–1962)
- Rita Demeester (1946–1993)
- Willem Elsschot (1882-1960)
- Fritz Francken (1893-1969)
- Marnix Gijsen (1899-1984)
- Maurice Gilliams (1900–1982)
- Luuk Gruwez (born 1953)
- Kristien Hemmerechts (born 1955)
- Stefan Hertmans (born 1951)
- Karel Jonckheere (1906–1993)
- Paul Kenis (1885–1934)
- Eric de Kuyper (born 1942)
- Hubert Lampo (1920–2006)
- Tom Lanoye (born 1958)
- Jan Lauwereyns (born 1969)
- Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)
- Tom Naegels (born 1975)
- Alice Nahon (1896–1933)
- Leo Pleysier (born 1945)
- Anne Provoost (born 1964)
- Jean Ray (John Flanders) (1887–1964)
- Willem Roggeman (born 1935)
- Maria Rosseels (1916-2005)
- Maurits Sabbe (1873–1938)
- Paul Snoek (1933–1981)
- Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969)
- Herman Teirlinck (1879–1967)
- Jotie T'Hooft (1956-1977)
- Felix Timmermans (1886–1947)
- Ernest Van der Hallen (1898-1948)
- Marcel van Maele (1931–2009)
- Paul van Ostaijen (1896–1928)
- Paul Verhaeghen (born 1965)
- Peter Verhelst (born 1962)
- Gerard Walschap (1898-1989)
- Lode Zielens (1901–1944)
See also
- Antwerp Book Fair
- Archive and Museum for the Flemish Culture
- Belgian literature
- Chamber of rhetoric
- Dutch literature
- List of Dutch writers
- Medieval Dutch literature
- Nineteenth-century Dutch literature
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Gosse 1911, p. 495.
- ^ Gosse 1911, pp. 495–496.
- ^ Gosse 1911, p. 496.
References (from 19th century)
- Gosse, Edmund William (1911). "Flemish Literature". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 495–496. This article in turn cites:
- Ida van Düringsfeld, Von der Schelde bis zur Mass. Des geistige Leben der Vlamingen (Leipzig, 3 vols., 1861)
- J. Stecher, Histoire de la littérature néerlandaise en Belgique (1886)
- Theodoor Coopman and L. Scharpé, Geschiedenis der Vlaamsche Letterkunde van het jaar 1830 tot heden (1899)
- A. de Koninck, Bibliographie nationale (3 vols., 1886–1897)
- Paul Hamelius, Histoire poétique et littéraire du mouvement flamand (1894)
- Frans de Potter, Vlaamsche Bibliographie, issued by the Flemish Academy of Ghent — contains a list of publications between 1830 and 1890
- W. J. A. Huberts et al., Biographisch woordenboeck der Noord- en Zuid-Nederlandsche Letterkunde (1878)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the