Fiction for Peace?:Domestic Identity, National Othering and Peace Education in Dutch Historical Novels for Children, 1914-1935

Historical fiction for children has long functioned as a continuation of history education. World War I brought about critique on history education in several Western European countries. The nationalistic and chauvinistic representation of historical events was claimed to have contributed to the outbreak of war. In the educational discourse a discussion arose about changing history education into peace education. In this article the impact of this discussion on historical novels for children is investigated. Dutch historical novels for children serve as a case study. The novels are contextualised within the educational debate from the perspective of imagology. Representations of the own identity and national others are analysed, supplemented with an analysis of references to war and peace. The article shows how historical fiction for children held on to the glorification of nationality for a long time, but joined the educational discourse by occasionally framing the represented battles in the spirit of peace education

Oude verhalen voor jonge lezers:Over bewerkingen van literaire klassiekers

Het hertalen en bewerken van literaire meesterwerken is een oude traditie. Zo wordt het literaire erfgoed doorgegeven aan volgende generaties. De redenen die hedendaagse hertalers geven voor het bewerken van klassieke teksten komen overeen met de redenen die daar meer dan een eeuw geleden voor werden gegeven. Veel gebruikte bewerkingsstrategieën zijn moderniseren en inkorten. Op deze manier wordt in bewerkingen die zijn bedoeld voor jonge lezers rekening gehouden met hun lees- en levenservaring en hun leef- en belevingswereld, maar ook met de opvattingen van volwassenen over wat goed en geschikt is voor jonge lezers. Om te laten zien dat zij aan die opvattingen tegemoet kwamen, plachten bewerkers in bewerkingen van internationale klassiekers, zoals Reynaert de Vos, Tijl Uilenspiegel, Robinson Crusoe en Gulliver’s travels, tussen 1850 en 1950 via intertekstuele ‘onderonsjes’ over de hoofden van de kinderen heen te knipogen naar volwassen meelezers

Freedom behind a fence:Outer place and inner space in Dutch classic primers (1902-1913)

Between 1902 and 1913 two acclaimed educational reformers wrote several series of children’s primers in the Netherlands. Jan Ligthart and Hindericus Scheepstra collaborated closely with the painter Cornelis Jetses who provided the illustrations. The series would become classics in both text and image. In this article the symbolic educational function of the places depicted on the illustrations are analysed. It shows how concrete locales inside the house, outside on the streets and in nature symbolise progressive educational ideas using existing models and metaphors of family life, schooling, and freedom and constraint

Hunting Reynard:How 'Reynard the Fox' tricked his way into English and Dutch children's literature

This article examines adaptations in their capacity of preserving literary heritage. It describes how the Middle Dutch beast epic Reynard the Fox lost its position in literature for adults and became part of a literary heritage that was no longer read but only studied for its historical value. Versions for children kept the story alive. A comparison of English and Dutch adaptations of the beast epic demonstrates the influence of different cultural contexts on transformation strategies used to cross the bridge between the rough medieval satire and children's literature. While English adaptations affiliated the story to other genres, its status as the embodiment of Dutch national character compelled Dutch rewriters to find a satisfying justification to provide children with a story lead by a remarkably scandalous hero

Is that us?:Dealing with the ‘Black’ Pages of History in Historical Fiction for Children (1996–2010)

History has been in the centre of political interest over the last two decades; claimed as a vehicle to strengthen social cohesion, especially among future citizens. At the same time an acknowledgement of episodes such as slavery and colonialism are asked for. This article investigates the tension that results with those two appeals to history in the literary representation of the black pages of history in children's books. It analyses the strategies used to allow children to identify with a contemporary view on this aspect of history. The Netherlands serves as a case study. Five literary strategies are discerned, placing the books on a scale from national heroization to national alienation: monophonic accounts of Western superiority, child protagonists as mediators between past and present, polyphony, multitemporality and narrative alienation

Remediating history: Assessing the past in Dutch historical fiction for children c. 1960–1980

Historical fiction is a powerful way of transmitting national history to later generations. It emerged in the nineteenth century as a means of building identity and fostering solidarity. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, former representations of history were deconstructed. Instead of glorifying the nation, social evils were exposed. As a consequence of this, western European histories of children’s literature claim a shift in children’s books from an emphasis on political to social history. Historical heroes and triumphs were replaced by accounts of the lives of common people and how they were touched by great events. This article investigates the influence of this changed perception and representation of history on images of nationality in Dutch historical children’s books. Two groups are identified: a group of books that are critical of historical practices and events, focus on the lives of common people, and project emancipatory ideals on historical characters; and a group of books that transmit a conventional image of the past which was introduced in former periods, in which nation-building and the formulation of a national character reigned. However, images of nationality transgress these categories