Chambers of rhetoric and other circles
If the small fishing village became a place of pilgrimage and then a town of importance thanks to the miracle of 1345, it was through the fervor of the Chambres de Rhétorique that Dutch literature went beyond oral tradition and tales of chivalry. In these assemblies, tableaux vivants were performed, theatrical troupes competed and New Year's songs were written. One of the most famous of these societies was L'Églantier, founded in Amsterdam at the very end of the 15th century. After a period of prohibition by the Spanish government, its prestige only increased with independence in 1581. Led by humanist Hendrik Spiegel (1549-1612), he left to posterity his poems and treatises advocating the improvement of Dutch, which until then had been plagued by numerous linguistic borrowings. His friend Dirck Coornhert, a butler turned notary, theologian, engraver and politician, wrote the preface to one of these works, and also contributed to cultural enrichment by translating the Bible and various classical authors, including Homer, Seneca and Erasmus.
Playwright Samuel Coster, author of the play Teeuwis de boer (Teeuwis the Peasant), was also a frequent visitor to the Rosebush, and when internal dissension arose, he decided to create the First Dutch Academy on August1, 1617. The institution's motto was "zeal", but it also taught the sciences, which didn't please the preachers at all. Nevertheless, a preparatory school was set up, which is the origin of today's University of Amsterdam. Finally, in 1635, the Eglantier and the Academy were merged, and the land that housed the Academy saw the construction of the city's first theater. Dramatic art was enjoying its golden age, and the need for a permanent venue was obvious to architect Jacob Van Campen. Here too, religious controversies succeeded in delaying the inauguration, but the play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel was performed on January 3, 1638. It had been commissioned from Joost Van Den Vondel, a poet born in Cologne in 1587, whose tragedies are as much remembered today as his biting sense of humor and his much-publicized conversion to Catholicism. His remains rest in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk, not far from those of his contemporary, Pieter Hooft (1581-1647). Born in Amstelloden, Pieter Hooft traveled to Italy and France, before becoming a senior civil servant and settling at Muiderslot Castle. It was here that he used to gather enlightened minds, intellectuals and artists, in the mythical "Muiden Circle". A historian of great stature, he also wrote poetry, some of it erotic, and was a perfect representative of the Renaissance in the Netherlands.
The period thrived on European influences, perhaps to the detriment of the creation of original works, although the 17th century was marked by the short life of Baruch Spinoza. Born in Amsterdam in 1632, this merchant's son was destined to become a rabbi, but took over his father's business on his father's death. Introduced to philosophy, particularly that of Descartes, he was excluded from the Jewish community and decided to leave the city. Much maligned during his short life, he wrote The Ethics, which is now one of our classics and a good introduction to his work.
In 1669, the Nil Volentibus Arduum association was formed around Francophilia, followed by English letters in the early 18th century, before German Romanticism influenced authors at the end of the century. In 1783, for example, Rhijinvis Feith published Julia, a sentimental drama in which a young woman refuses the advances of her suitor, fearing the sin of out-of-wedlock relationships. When her father finally grants her marriage, death strikes in the prime of her life. The country entered a period of political chaos, and the writings of Jan Frederik Helmers and Hendrik Tollens were tinged with nationalism. From 1817, the prolific poet Willem Bilderdijk taught a course in Dutch history, making Leiden the new literary center. His pupil was Isaäc da Costa, born in Amsterdam in 1796, who was to become his worthy successor, both in the field of literature and religion.
Make way for reality
Realism rubs shoulders with Romanticism, and this is particularly true of Multatuli's fictionalized autobiography published in 1860. Real name Eduard Douwes Dekker, the man was born in Amsterdam in 1820, but it was in Indonesia, then a Dutch colony, that he pursued his career until his resignation in 1856. In Max Havelaar ou les ventes de café de la compagnie commerciale des Pays-Bas (published by Babel), the author vigorously denounces the treatment inflicted on the Javanese and the financial oppression they had to endure. Although his life ended in Germany, Multatuli's house can still be visited at Korsjesportsteeg 20.
The tone also asserted itself on the poetry side, as the Tachtigers opposed the reverend writers for whom the spiritual message was the supreme objective. If the 1880s Generation is akin to naturalism, it remains close to Romanticism in its relationship with nature and its intention to express only the most intimate feelings. This movement was largely inspired by the young Jacques Perk, who died in 1881 aged just 22, and whose unhappy love affairs inspired his most beautiful verses. His works were published by Willem Kloos, leader of the movement, who also co-founded De Nieuwe Gids (The New Guide) in 1885. This fortnightly was intended as a manifesto in which to express one's modern conceptions of a fully sensitive poetry. This was the case for Herman Gorter (1864-1927), whose poem Mai provoked strong reactions. The transformation that literature was undergoing was summed up in Kloos's phrase: "the most individual expression of the most individual emotion". Internal quarrels marked the departure of Albert Verwey, who parted company with his mentor and pursued his own path, founding De Beweging (The Movement) in 1905, a magazine in which J.C. Bloem, Maurits Uygues and others would write. Bloem, Maurits Uyldert and Adriaan Roland Holst, "the prince of Dutch poets", who gave free rein to his penchant for symbolism.
The turn of the century saw the emergence of several prose trends. Arthur Van Schendel tried his hand at neo-romanticism in his first books, which he set in the Middle Ages, while Louis Couperus turned to historical novels and naturalism, although La Force des ténèbres (1900), a new denunciation of colonization in Java, was tinged with irrationalism. As for Nescio (J.H.F. Grönloh), he initiated the New Objectivity movement in the Netherlands. His short tales are mingled with a sense of absurdity in the face of existential questions, and some of them were translated by Gallimard in 2005 under the title Le Pique-assiette et autres récits. In 1932, Simon Vestdijk made a radical decision to abandon medicine and devote himself solely to writing. He soon became an acclaimed author whose productivity earned him the reputation of writing "faster than God can read". Winner of numerous Dutch prizes, he has only rarely been published in French, by Gallimard and Phébus. In his early years, he had also contributed to Forum - periodicals still occupying an important place in intellectual life, as confirmed by the continued existence of De Vrije Blade - a magazine founded by his friends Eddy du Perron, born in Jakarta in 1899, and Menno ter Braak, an eminent literary critic. Neither survived the Second World War, the former succumbing to the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the latter committing suicide the same year. If the country had managed to remain neutral during the Great War, this new global conflict was not to spare it.
The most moving and tragic account of this dark period of occupation is The Diary of Anne Frank. From 1942 to 1944, the 13-year-old girl found refuge in a crudely furnished hiding place to escape the Nazi roundups. Perhaps denounced, the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Anne Frank died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen a few months later. The only survivor, her father decided to publish these intimate writings. A museum now bears the teenager's name and can be visited on the premises where L'Annexe once stood.
Contemporary literature
Survivor writers have no words too harsh to describe their experiences, and literature enters the era of shocking realism, which also scratches the surface of the disillusionment of the years that follow. In 1947, Gerard Reve (1923-2006) published De Avonden, Les Soirs (Gallimard). In this pure existentialist novel, the reader follows in the footsteps of a perfect anti-hero, Fritz van Egters, for ten chapters and as many days, whose only ambition seems to be to take a sharp look at his family. A book that plays on provocation, like its author, who had a profound impact on the Provo protest movement of the 70s. Willem Frederik Hermans, born in Amsterdam in 1921, is also a cynic. His La Chambre noire de Damoclès (The Black Chamber of Damocles ) is set during the world conflict, and reads like a thriller as you wonder whether the main character, Henri Osewoudt, is guilty or a victim. But the novelist who was most affected by the events was certainly Harry Mulisch (1927-2010), who went so far as to declare: "The Second World War was mine". Born of a Jewish mother and a father who collaborated with the Nazis, he wrote L'Affaire 40/61 after witnessing the trial of the Nazi Eichmann, but it was above all for his novels, notably La Découverte du ciel (The Discovery of Heaven ), which recounts the improbable meeting between two men whom everything separated, that Harry Mulisch earned his reputation as a writer, sometimes hermetic, but always brilliant.
The end of the century was generous, literary magazines and supplements flourished, the authors who signed the Manifesto of the 1970s advocated opening up to the general public, and women became emancipated. Postmodernism and ultra-realism encouraged the emergence of individual voices, the boundaries between reality and fiction became porous, and literature opened up to the world. Cees Nooteboom entered the international scene, and never left it again. An eclectic performer, Nooteboom's novels and short stories(Le Matelot sans lèvres, 1958; Rituels, 1980) are highly accomplished, but he is no stranger to poetry or unclassifiable essays(533 Le livre des jours, Actes Sud, 2019). Anna Enquist, born in 1945, is also a talented poet, but it was the translation of her first novel, Le Chef-d'œuvre, that made her known in France. Music and the loss of a child, a tragedy she herself experienced, are the recurring themes of her books, which continue to enjoy great success. Another name that has become familiar to us is Arnon Grunberg, whose Blue Mondays marked the end of the millennium. Although he now lives in New York, he regularly wins rave reviews in his homeland. The latest literary sensation is Lale Gül, a Dutch writer of Turkish origin who will publish her hard-hitting book Ikga leven (I'm going to live) in 2021.
When it comes to comics, the Netherlands may not be as famous as its Belgian cousin, but it can boast that Gustave Verbeck (1867-1937), one of the fathers of the ninth art, was of Dutch nationality, even though he was born in Nagasaki and died in New York. Considered the country's first comic strip artist, Henk Backer gained popularity in the press, notably with his series featuring two children, Tripje en Liezeberth. His contemporary, Harmsen van der Beek (1897-1953), illustrated the adventures of Enid Blyton's Oui-Oui. But the most famous Dutch cartoonist is Marten Toonder, the "Dutch Walt Disney". The son of a sea captain, he discovered comics in the American illustrated books his father brought home. Born in 1912, he began working for newspapers in 1933, making a name for himself with his Tom Poes (Tom Thumb), before setting up his own studio. A prize was created in his name, but was only awarded three times due to a lack of funds: in 2010 to Jan Kruis, in 2011 to Peter Pontiac and in 2012 to Joost Swarte.
