The Chair of Dutch Language and Literature
The Low Countries
A multidisciplinary approach to Flanders and the Netherlands
9 May 2012 –Lublin
/ Chair of Dutch Language and LiteratureAssociation of Dutch Philology Students
of the John Paul II University of Lublin
The Low Countries
A multidisciplinary approach to Flanders and the Netherlands
9 May 2012–Lublin
The Chair of Dutch Language and Literature and the Association of Dutch Philology Students warmly welcome you on the conference “The Low Countries. A multidisciplinary approach to Flanders and the Netherlands”.
The aim of the conference is to present Flanders and the Netherlands from a broad perspective. The lecturerswill not only offer linguistic, literary and cultural topics but also historical and economical ones.
The conference is not only intended for Dutch scholars and students of Dutch, but also for a wider audience that wants to enrich its knowledge about the Low Countries. All lectures will be held in English.
We wish you a pleasant and extremely interesting day!
Partners:
Sponsors:
Conference programme:
9.30 / Registration10.00 / Welcome
Prof. dr. Maarten Klein (Director of the Dutch Chair)
Sir Jonas Lagrou (Representative of the Province of West-Flanders)
10.15 / Prof. dr Jaap L. Goedegebuure (Leiden) – World War II in Dutch literature
10. 45 / Mgr Przemysław Paluszek (Wrocław) - Literary metacriticism: Constantijn Huygens rediscovered? The picture of Constantijn Huygens in the 19th century Dutch literary criticism
11.15 / Marzena Anna Wójtowicz (Wrocław) - Kochanowski vs Vondel. One psalm in two interpretations
11.30 / Coffee break
12.00 / Prof. dr hab. Ryszard Żelichowski (Warszawa) - From Brzeziny to Tuschinski Theaters. In memory of Abraham I. Tuschinski (1886-1942)
12.30 / Lunch break
14.00 / Prof. dr Flip G. Droste –The Low Countries: the once united 17 provinces
14.30 / Mgr Jo Sterckx (Poznań) - The image of Poland/Poles in Dutch cultural texts (2000-10)
15.00 / Mgr Cyprian Matysiewicz (Capgemini) - Polish, Dutch and Flemish outsourcing business coorporation
15.30 / Coffee break
16.00 / Mgr Anna Wiśnicka (Lublin) - Holland and the emergence of modernism. Rietveld Schröder House as an example of modern thought transformed into architecture and design
16.30 / Mgr Katarzyna Wiercińska (Poznań) - Flemish interlanguage (Vlaamse tussentaal): Flemish identity vs. the linguistic picture of reality as shown in ‘The Misfortunates’ (‘De Helaasheid der Dingen’)
17.00 / Mgr Oksana Duchak (Lublin) - Strategic methods for improvement of higher education, research and science policy in the Netherlands
17.30 / Conclusion by Prof. dr. Maarten Klein
Place: Aula C-1031, Collegium Jana Pawła II, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Al. Racławickie 14, Lublin
Lectures:
World War II in Dutch literatureProf. dr Jaap L. Goedegebuure (Leiden)
After 1945 no other subject has had such a dominating influence on Dutch Literature as World War II. Almost all renowned writers (only to name Vestdijk, Hermans, Mulish, Reve, Kouwenaars, Wolkers, Armando, Ferron) have payed attention to this subject in their works. Apart from the German invasion and occupation and the activities of the resistance,the persecution of the Jews is also a very frequently discusses subject. There are also many literary representations of the experiences of the so-called Indian Dutch, who from 1942 to 1945 lived through the Japanese occupation of what then still was colonised Indonesia.
During this lecture we will verify if there are any constant features in the literary processing of World War II and if there are apparent similarities or differences between Dutch and Flemish literature.
Literary metacriticism: Constantijn Huygens rediscovered? The picture of Constantijn Huygens in the 19th century Dutch literary criticism
Mgr Przemysław Paluszek (Wrocław)
"Hooft, Vondel, [and] Pieter Nieuwland" (396), according to G.J. Vis, these were the most prominent figures in Dutch literature and science, mentioned in M. Siegenbeek's inauguralspeech as "professor eloquentiae hollandicae extraordinarius"(395). As far as the first two names are concerned, Siegenbeek's rather subjective choices made in 1797,seem to have been repeated by the later literary historians.
Constantijn Huygens might have been, among the "numerous others" (Vis 396), also mentioned in Siegenbeek's address. Only "might have" because the artistic persona of Huygens seems to have been (re)discovered in the second half of the 19th century.
Thispaper aims to examine the picture of Constantijn Huygens in the Dutch histories of literature (from Hofdijk's 1857 school handbook to Ten Brink's 1897 Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche letterkunde) and selected critical writings from the latter half of the 19th century in order to investigate the writer's position in the 19th century Dutch literary canon. Various types of texts (school handbooks, histories of literature proper, introductions to publications, critical studies) make it possible to analyse different aspects of the development of the literary canon. All the same, the impact that not only generic but also linguistic diversity of Huygens's oeuvre had on this process cannot be omitted. Hopefully, the analysis will help to determine when (and, at least partially, why) the writings of Constantijn Huygens entered the canon of Dutch literature.
Kochanowski vs Vondel. One psalm in two interpretations
Marzena Anna Wójtowicz (Wrocław)
The number of differences between the milieus of Jan Kochanowski and Joost van den Vondel is enormous, and both authors made similar attempts to translate the Book of Psalms based on the Latin text of Vulgata into their native language. Psałterz Dawidów, writen by Kochanowski in the catholic Kingdom of Poland, appeared in1579, in the time of high Renaissance in Poland, in the Golden Age. Vondel’s Koning Davids harpzangen left the printing-house in 1657 in the Golden Age of the Netherlands, when the DutchRepublic banned the Catholic religion and send their faithful believers to chapels hidden in the attics. Further there were even more tensions: Vondel - converted Mennonite and Kochanowski, whose translation was recognized by both: Catholics and Protestants. All those facts form a interesting starting point for comparative study. In my paper I aim to compare and contrast Kochanowski’s and Vondel’s translations (and interpretations) of Psalm 43 (42) Iudica me to show how different or how similar the translations in the two different languages, from two different cultures and by two different authors can be.
From Brzeziny to Tuschinski Theaters. In memory of Abraham I. Tuschinski (1886-1942)
Prof. dr hab. Ryszard Żelichowski (Warszawa)
Abraham Icek Tuschinskiwas born in Brzeziny nearŁódź on May 14, 1886. He was a Dutch businessman of Jewish-Polishdescent. While emigrating to theUnited Statesin 1903 he decided to remain inRotterdam. Fascinated by the magic of the cinema art he raised money to fulfill his dream – a movie theatre of his own. He opened first four cinemas in 1911: the Thalia, Cinema Royal, Scala and Olympia in Rotterdam. His most luxurious cinema the Grand Theater in Rotterdam was opened in 1928.
The jewel in his ‘cinema crown’ was the Tuschinski Theater in Amsterdam, opened on October 28, 1921. The design of this building represents a unique mixture of three modern styles:Amsterdamse school,Art DecoandJugendstil. Tuschinski also opened another famed Amsterdam cinema, the Roxy Theater, in 1928. WhenWorld War IIbroke out, Tuschinski lost all his cinemas in Rotterdam when the city was bombed on May 14, 1940. During the Nazi occupation he was deprived from the rest of his property. On July 1, 1942 Tuschinski was transported to theWesterborkconcentration camp in the northeast of the Netherlands, and from there toAuschwitz, where he was murdered on September 17, 1942.
The Tushinski Theater in Amsterdam was restored to its former glory in 1998-2002. It is located at Reguliersbreestraat and is the most unique and attractive cinema in Amsterdam.
The Low Countries: the once united 17 provinces
Prof. dr Flip G. Droste
Understanding the differences between Holland and Belgium/Flanders, implies a thorough researchof the past, as far back as the middle ages or even further, back to the Roman empire and, further still: the migration of the Celts, more than 2000 years ago. It will become visible that Danube and Rhine not only did constitute the border of their expansion, but that until today this 'water front' divides Europe in two parts, let us say a Latin and a Germanic part.
The image of Poland/Poles in Dutch cultural texts (2000-10)
Mgr Jo Sterckx (Poznań)
The Polish community in the Netherlands, consisting of approximately 136.000 registered people, has become a considerable and recognizable minority. Over the last ten years, the “Polish plumber” has personified the conceived threat to the Western European job markets, and social security systems as a result of the eastward EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007. This article analyzes the hetero-image of Poland and Polish labor migrants in Dutch cultural texts and political discourse in the 2000-11 period.
A cultural text is defined as all practices that signify; it concerns the production of meaning via texts, images, sounds, objects and activities. Cultural texts are polysemic since various readings of the text are possible. Included in the corpus are literary texts (travel literature, handbooks), news media texts (newspaper and magazine articles) and tv programmes. My basic assumption is that imagological methods and approaches can also be applied to these cultural products, next to conventional literary texts. Therefore, no use will be made of critical discourse analysis methods. The central question is whether in the representation of Poland/Poles in Dutch cultural texts we can find a euro-orientalistic discourse, i.e. an intra-European opposition between Western and Eastern Europe by stereotyping Central and Eastern European people and nations (e.g. civilized vs barbaric, normal vs deviant, capable vs incapable, etc.).
The presence of Polish and other Central and Eastern European labor migrants led to the creation of several Dutch neologisms (e.g. Polenproblematiek). In addition to the confirmation of old national stereotypes (e.g. backwardness), new hetero-images (e.g. strong personal ambition) gained prominence in news media texts. War rhetoric slipped into the Dutch political discourse on Polish migrants; both left-wing and right-wing parties occasionally presented the Pole as a threat to Dutch society. Literary texts are characterized by a search for authenticity, while alleged intercultural guides display a typical euro-orientalistic discourse.
Polish, Dutch and Flemish outsourcing business coorporation
Mgr Cyprian Matysiewicz (Capgemini)
Introduction to Capgemini. Projects and positions with Dutch/Flemish language at Capgemini Poland. Company prospects for the coming years. Dutch, Polish, Flemish business culture differences.
Holland and the emergence of modernism. Rietveld Schröder House as an example of modern thought transformed into architecture and design
Mgr Anna Wiśnicka (Lublin)
One of the most well-known examples of residential architecture coming from modernism is the Rietveld Schröder House. It is located in Utrecht and it was designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld in the years 1923-1924. In fact, the commissioner and the owner of the house was Frits Schröder’s wife – Truus Schröder-Schräder. Throughout the realization of the entire project the contact between the architect and the commissioner was imperative as Mrs Schröder-Schräder was an art-lover herself and had a clear vision as to what the house should look like. The plans and drafts that were being drawn up created a sort of laboratory in which a brand new vision of living space came to life.
In 2000 the building and its equipment were both inscribed on the Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO). Currently the Rietveld Schröder House serves as a museum in association with Centraal Museum Utrecht. The villa is still a unique example of the new architectural spirit which was supposed to be a beginning of the new wave called modernism and which nowaydays is a national monument with a wide educational mission.
The presentation will focus on the general ideas of de Stijl movement and the way they were used by Rietveld to create a brand new vision of living space. Because the villa itself is not just a piece of architecture, it is a proof of how modernity has been transmitted to a common life in early 20th century Holland. Moreover, the relationship between the architect and the commissioner shows how crucial individual needs are for the new building style.
Flemish interlanguage (Vlaamse tussentaal): Flemish identity vs. the linguistic picture of reality as shown in ‘The Misfortunates’ (‘De Helaasheid der Dingen’)
Mgr Katarzyna Wiercińska (Poznań)
The identity of a given community is said to determineits linguistic performance(Halliday 1981:35) and to be formed by social conditions (Kroeber andKluckhohn1956:125). Therefore, identity can be understood as identification with the community one lives in which is co-expressed by the language one uses.
It is also assumed that the reality that exists around the language user, is interpreted by the structural properties of language (lexical, grammatical). The analysis of one’s linguistic performance should then provide information about their perception of the world and reality. Emphasising the importance of the linguistic picture of reality in the language of the community in question, Bartmiński (2000) characterises it as a common property that arises from the community's cultural and historical development. Therefore, language can be seen as reflection of culture and identity.
This paper aims to reconstruct the linguistic picture of the Flemish reality as shown in ‘The Misfortunates’ (‘De Helaasheid der Dingen’). Attention will be paid to the language structures that belong to Flemish interlanguage (the semantic,grammaticalandmorphologicalcategories will be taken intoaccount). On that basis it couldbe determinedto what extentthe imageof realityis formed bynamingthingsin Flemish interlanguage. Furthermore, the analysis will help to conclude whether it is appropriate to consider Flemish interlanguage a linguistic exponent of Flemish culture and identity.
Strategic methods for improvement of higher education, research and science policy in the Netherlands
Mgr Oksana Duchak (Lublin)
We live in a complex society that requires people who are able to deal with this complexity. Progress is achieved particularly by the results of scientific breakthroughs and innovative activity introduced by people performing at a high level.
This report includes common objectives with a particular focus on the most important problems highlighted in, for instance, the recent OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) review of Dutch higher education and research. However, in addition to common objectives, there must also be scope for the personal ambitions of students and for the individual profiles of institutions. After all, real enthusiasm is the powerhouse behind innovation and progress. In order to generate and stimulate that enthusiasm, an ambitious learning culture and an excellent research climate are necessary.
Current issues relating to the policy areas are reflected in the government policy programme “Working together, living together 2007-2011”. In this report we examine the ambitions of that policy programme using three questions that form the basis of every joint undertaking:
1.Where do they stand?
2.Where are they intending to go?
an ambitious language culture; an excellent research climate.
3.How are they going to handle the organization?