Dutch-language literature
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Similar to other literary traditions Dutch literature is not restricted to the Netherlands alone. Dutch-language authors do not necessarily have to be from the Netherlands, as Dutch literature is or was also produced in other Dutch-speaking regions, such as Belgium, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, French Flanders and the former Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). In its earliest stages, Dutch literature is defined as those pieces of literary merit written in one of the Dutch dialects of the Low Countries. Before the seventeenth century, there was no unified standard language; the dialects that are considered Dutch diverged evolved from Old Frankish around the 5th century.
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The Twentieth Century
As in the rest of Europe, the Netherlands of the nineteenth century effectively continued unchanged until World War I (1914–1918). Belgium was invaded by the German Empire and the Netherlands faced severe economic difficulties due 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).
- Hendrik Marsman
- Ferdinand Bordewijk
- Willem Elsschot
- Adriaan Roland Holst
- J. van Oudshoorn
- Arthur van Schendel
- J. Slauerhoff
- Hendrik de Vries
- Simon Vestdijk
- Menno ter Braak
- E. du Perron
- Jan Campert
- Jacobus van Looy
- Nescio
Modern Times (1945–present)
Vijftigers, Hans Lodeizen, Lucebert, Jules Deelder, J.Bernlef, Remco Campert, Hella S. Haasse, M. Vasalis, Leo Vroman, Harry Mulisch, Willem Frederik Hermans, Gerard Reve, Jan Wolkers, Rudy Kousbroek, Cees Nooteboom, Maarten 't Hart, A.F.Th. van der Heijden, Rutger Kopland, H.H. ter Balkt, Gerrit Krol, Gerrit Komrij, Connie Palmen, Geert Mak, J.J. Voskuil
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Canon