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Literary relations between Flanders and the Netherlands.
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This research project focused on the changing literary relations between Flanders and the Netherlands in the period 1980-1994. Working with literary criticism and the evolutions in the world of publishing a first step was to establish corpus of literary criticism. The quantitative analysis of this corpus revealed that Flemish literature increasingly received critical attention and was held in increasingly higher esteem, in Flanders as well as in the Netherlands. Flemish-Dutch literary relations seemed to improve significantly, this analysis suggested.
Further research showed, however, that although critical attention for Flemish literature was growing and became more positive, this evolution could largely be attributed to the fact that an increasing number of Flemish authors had their work published by big, Dutch publishing houses.
The analysis then shifted towards the content of the corpus, which showed important and irrefutable contradictions between both literatures. Old clichés – which were again used widely – strengthened the image of two ‘clashing’ literatures, rather than two literatures growing towards one another and working towards a common goal.
This research project resulted in a doctoral dissertation titled Het karakter van mythen. Een onderzoek naar de literaire relaties tussen Vlaanderen en Nederland (1980-1994) (tr.: The Character of Myths. An analysis of the literary relations between Flanders and the Netherlands (1980-1994), which was defended successfully June, 25 2009.
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Project number:
3H080127
Duration of the project:
01.10.2007 - 25.06.2009
Funded research
Nederlands
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