These days the call for internationalisation is getting ever louder and more urgent. That is true for Dutch literary research too. That is why there is now the English language Journal of Dutch Literature which is aimed at making scholarly study of our literature known beyond the borders of the language area. So Spiegel der letteren and Nederlandse letterkunde are going to have a younger brother that speaks English.  

The journal, which includes Thomas Vaessens and Geert Buelens in its editorial team, will appear twice a year and will be available in full on the internet (via the so-called ‘open access’ formula). 

Internationalisation

Vaessens stresses that the English language journal neither wants to nor will sound the death knell of Dutch as a research language. Obviously you cannot carry out in-depth analysis of a long text in another language just like that. So the journal will not focus on that type of research. The Journal of Dutch Literature will take a more modern, more international angle, like that of postcolonial and cultural studies.  

The use of the lingua franca will increase the value and relevance of the articles. Besides, it will open the door to more international and interdisciplinary partnerships. In the first number, for example, Geert Buelens compares the perception of the Second World War in different art forms, such as film and literature.  

Vaessens puts it like this: “Due to constant specialisation the study of Dutch literature has turned in on itself a bit in recent decades. We have to open up the windows again. As experts on Dutch we’re big in the Netherlands, but the minute we take one step over the border that’s finished. Our identity shouldn’t become a prison. There’s a lot to be gained, people are working on the same themes all over the world. That international contact is tremendously enriching.”  

Drystubble

The first edition of the journal contains six articles dealing with subjects drawn from the whole of Dutch literary history. There is an article dedicated to the international star Multatuli – in which, incidentally, Droogstoppel has become Drystubble, but the 19^th century Lodewijk Van Deyssel and the theatre of the 17^th and 18^th century are in there too.  

The Journal of Dutch Literature is published with the support of DeBuren, University of Antwerp, OGC Utrecht, Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Liège and ICG University of Amsterdam.