Journal of Dutch Literature (2025)

28/07/2017

New article! Peter Verstraten analyzes Frans Weisz's adaptation of Remco Campert's 'Het gangstermeisje':

‘My Very Own Citizen Kane’, Inspired by Godard and Fellini: Frans Weisz’s Adaptation of Remco Campert’s Het gangstermeisje

14/05/2017

Two new articles in the first issue of 2017. Rob van de Schoor and Fieke de Hartog write about nineteenth-century novels' competition with travel guides, while Alexandra Stoicescu discusses the supra-national writing of Herta Müller and Hafid Bouazza.

Http://www.journalofdutchliterature.org/index.php/jdl/issue/view/18

The Journal of Dutch Literature is the first English language, peer reviewed journal dedicated to the study of Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to the present day. It is a platform for contributions of various methodological and theoretical backgrounds. It covers literary phenomena in the Dutch...

19/10/2016

What happens if one reads 'De Stijl' without focusing primarily on Theo van Doesburg's poetics? Sascha Bru and Tom Willaert explore this question in our latest article:

A Centrifugal Reading of De Stijl’s Constructivist Poetics: On the Literature of Blaise Cendrars, Georges Vantongerloo, Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and László Moholy-Nagy

29/06/2016

New article! A quantitative approach to (the lack of) ethnic and gender diversity in the Dutch literary domain:

Mapping the Demographic Landscape of Characters in Recent Dutch Prose: A Quantitative Approach to Literary Representation / Het demografisch landschap van literaire personages in de recente Nederlandse roman: een kwantitatieve benadering van literaire representaties

03/05/2016

Now online: our first article in 2016. Ernst van Alphen on the allegorical impulse in Frans Kellendonk:

Frans Kellendonk’s Allegorical Impulse - Frans Kellendonks allegorische impuls

04/04/2016

Ina Rilke translated Willem Frederik Hermans's "Unsympathetic Fictional Characters":

Appendix 2: Willem Frederik Hermans: ‘Unsympathetic Fictional Characters’

07/03/2016

"Listening to Céline’s petite musique, Hearing Hermans as well": Arnold Heumakers on aesthetic autonomy.

Listening to Céline’s petite musique, Hearing Hermans as well - Luisterend naar Célines kleine muziek, daarbij ook Hermans horend

24/02/2016

Marc De Kesel on (the relation between) ethical reprehensibility and beauty in a story by Willem Frederik Hermans:

The Morals of a Song. Ethics of Literature in W.F. Hermans’s ‘An Emancipation’ - De moraal van een lied: literaire ethiek in W.F. Hermans’ ‘Een ontvoogding’

03/02/2016

Laurens Ham shows that literary autonomy functions as a discourse, through which authors claim a social position:

The Specialism of Unspecificity: Autonomy Claims and the Authority of Modern Writers - Het specialisme van onspecificiteit: Autonomieclaims en de autoriteit van moderne schrijvers

22/01/2016

Interesting read: Aukje van Rooden explores an ontological approach to the ethics of literature.

Our Engagement with Literature: On Literature as a Way of Being - Ons engagement met literatuur: Over literatuur als een wijze van Zijn

11/01/2016

CALL FOR PAPERS!
Special Issue of Journal of Dutch Literature:
“Germany and Dutch Literature”

On the occasion of the Guest-of-Honorship of Flanders and the Netherlands at the Frankfurter Buchmesse in October 2016, the Journal of Dutch Literature (JDL) devotes a special issue to the bond between Germany and Dutch Literature. Possible topics and research questions can be, but are not limited to, the following:

- What is the relevance of this Guest-of-Honorship for Dutch Literature?
Without any doubt, being a Guest of Honor will prove to be an excellent opportunity to enhance the visibility of Dutch literature on the international stage. Not only will it offer authors possibilities of
reaching a wider audience, publishers will be able to promote
translations, exchange experiences, and extend their network. But does it in fact offer the opportunities it promises and where is that noticeable? The previous Guests-of-Honorship, in 1993, can serve as a case study here.

- Which institutions are responsible for the spreading of Dutch literature in Germany and, vice versa, how is Dutch literature disseminated in the Low Countries? Specific case studies of publishing houses and the production process of translations can be addressed here.

- In what ways is Germany, in all its various forms and aspects, depicted in Dutch literature and, vice versa, how and where does German literature devote attention to Flanders and the Netherlands? Which topics are addressed and which authors are relevant in this context?

Interested scholars should send an abstract of approximately 300 words, detailing their proposed contribution and area(s) of interest, with a list of five keywords. We request articles of 5000 to 7000 words, written in standard MHRA format, double spaced, using 12 pt. Times New Roman font.

Deadline for abstract submissions is 15 February, 2016. We will
acknowledge the receiving of all abstract submissions; notice of final acceptance for papers will be 1 March, 2016. Deadline for submission of final papers is June 15, 2016. Submissions will be subjected to a process of double blind peer-review.

For further questions and inquiries, please contact [email protected].

31/12/2015

Why not end 2015 reading another JDL-article? Thomas Vaessens rejects the customary, but essentialist concepts of ‘the autonomous text’ and ‘the autonomous author’:

Autonomy and/as Faith - Autonomie en/als geloof

30/12/2015

Interesting read! Using W.F. Hermans as a case study, Frans Ruiter and Wilbert Smulders connect Bourdieu's concept of autonomy to Attridge's concept of singularity:

Autonomy, Universality and Singularity: Bourdieu, Attridge, and Hermans - Autonomie, universaliteit en singulariteit: Bourdieu, Attridge en Hermans

23/12/2015

University of York professor Derek Attridge examines singularity and multilingualism in Hermans' 'Nooit meer slapen' ('Beyond sleep'):

Autonomy, the Singular Literary Work, and the Multilingualism of Hermans’s ‚Nooit meer slapen‘ - Autonomie, het singuliere literaire werk en de meertaligheid in Hermans’ ‚Nooit meer slapen‘

21/12/2015

Andrew Goldstone comments on autonomy and W.F. Hermans' 'Nooit meer slapen' (Beyond sleep):

Autonomy Proliferates - Autonomie bloeit

16/12/2015

Now online: the special "The Ethics of Autonomy. The Case of Willem Frederik Hermans" (guest editors: Wilbert Smulders and Frans Ruiter)!

The Journal of Dutch Literature is the first English language, peer reviewed journal dedicated to the study of Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to the present day. It is a platform for contributions of various methodological and theoretical backgrounds. It covers literary phenomena in the Dutch…

06/12/2015

Using notions of modern language theory, Martine Veldhuizen analyses medieval perceptions of the sins of the tongue. Now online!

‘Tong breect been’: The Sins of the Tongue in Middle Dutch Religious Didactic Writings - ‘Tong breect been’: De zonden van de tong in Middelnederlandse religieuze didactische geschriften

23/11/2015

Cultural memory and collaborationist history in Flemish literature: new article by editor Jan Lensen.

‘With a stretched arm. Like Superman, not like Hi**er’. The Politics of Commemorative Irreverence in Astronaut van Oranje (2013) by Andy Fierens and Michaël Brijs - 'Met gestrekte arm. Zoals Superman, niet zoals Hi**er'. De uitdagingen van het culturele geheugen in Astronaut van Oranje (2013) van An…

22/11/2015

New article by Cyd Surgess online: "Subtle Shifts, Sapphic Silences: Q***r Approaches to Female Same-Sex Desire in the Netherlands (1912-1940)".

Subtle Shifts, Sapphic Silences: Q***r Approaches to Female Same-Sex Desire in the Netherlands (1912-1940) - Subtiele verschuivingen, sapfische stiltes: een q***r benadering van vrouwelijke verlangens in Nederland (1912-1940)

11/11/2015

Our editor Geert Buelens' book "Everything to Nothing: The Poetry of the Great War" is the Book of the Week at Times Higher Education!

Book of the week: Deborah Longworth salutes the range and reach in a study of the interrelation of politics and poetry

02/11/2015

New article in comparative literature online!
Michał Wenderski - The Influence of Interpersonal Relationships on the Functioning of the Constructivist Network. A Case Study of Poland and the Low Countries.

The Influence of Interpersonal Relationships on the Functioning of the Constructivist Network. A Case Study of Poland and the Low Countries - De invloed van intermenselijke relaties op het functioneren van het constructivistische netwerk. Een case study van Polen en de Lage Landen.

06/10/2015

How did South(ern) African judiciary regulate literary publications in the period 1890-1948? Ted Laros explores:

Preparing the Ground for Artistic Freedom: Judicial Censorship of Publications in Pre-Apartheid South Africa, 1890-1948 (Het terrein voor artistieke vrijheid effenen – juridische censuur van publicaties in Zuid-Afrika vóór de apartheid)

02/10/2015

How do literary speech acts produce madness? Ernst van Altena explains, critically comparing works by Van Eeden, Musil, Dekker and Tolstoy:

‘Eigenschaften ohne Mann’: Madness and Introspection in Marcellus Emants’s 'Een nagelaten bekentenis' (1894) (‘Eigenschaften ohne Mann’: Waanzin en introspectie in Marcellus Emants’s 'Een nagelaten bekentenis' (1894)

28/09/2015

How can we understand the relatively important place of Dutch literature on the German bookmarket? Read the analysis by Pawel Zejas:

Before the ‘Nooteboom Effect’ - Dutch Literature at the Suhrkamp Publishing House (Vóór het Nooteboom-effect. Nederlandse literatuur in de uitgeverij Suhrkamp)

24/09/2015

Keep in touch with our website! The next issue is expected to be published this November.