Ethnic boundaries in American, Dutch and German national literary policies, 1965-2005

This article addresses the extent and ways in which ethnic diversity has been part of American, Dutch and German national literary policy from 1965 until 2005. By analyzing the content of policy documents of the National Endowment of the Arts and the Dutch and German Literary Fund, I found that ethnic boundaries were weak in the USA, moderate in the Netherlands and strong in Germany. First, national literary policy organizations made much, moderate and little use of ethnic discourse respectively. Cross-national and longitudinal variations were closely related to the need for political legitimacy. Second, ethnic minority granters and grantees were

Etnische grenzen in de literatuur? De representatie en classificatie van etnische minderheidsauteurs in Nederland en Duitsland

Inleiding Als gevolg van toegenomen immigratie is de bevolkingssamenstelling van Nederland en Duitsland sterk gewijzigd in de periode 1975-2005. Deze verandering heeft niet alleen zijn weerslag gehad op het politieke veld, zoals in de (media)discussie over de multiculturele samenleving en hoe daarmee om te gaan (Prins, 2004; Roggebrand & Vliegenthart, 2007; Thra¨ nhardt, 2002; Van der Vaart, 2010). Ook de literaire velden van beiden landen zijn ‘multicultureler’ geworden. Zo zouden de Nederlandse uitgevers ‘de allochtoon ontdekt’ hebben (Kuitert, 1999: 355) en heeft het aan publieke belangstelling voor migrantenschrijvers ‘geenszins ontbroken’ (Van der Poel, 2009: 14). Sommige Nederlandse critici betitelden deze in hun ogen bovenmatige aandacht voor allochtone schrijvers als een politiek correcte ‘hype’ (Anbeek, 1999). In Duitsland spraken literatuurcritici van een ‘Turkish turn’ in de literatuur (Adelson, 2005). De eerste effecten op de inhoud van de nationale literatuurgeschiedenissen zijn ook reeds zichtbaar. Zo benadrukt de begele

Lights, cameras… mentors

Many academic articles have described gender inequalities in music. Yet, we have far less understanding of how to bring about change. This interview addresses exactly this topic: how can we make changes towards more gender equality in the music industry? Moreover, instead of talking about women in music, this group interview expresses how three inspiring women have each in their own ways contributed to gender equality – in their own words

Rock against gender roles: Performing femininities and doing feminism among women punk performers in the Netherlands, 1976-1982

Intro On November 8, 1980, a collective of women—inspired by the Rock Against Sexism movement in the United Kingdom—organized the Rock tegen de Rollen festival (“Rock Against Gender Roles”) The Netherlands city of Utrecht. The lineup consisted of six all-women punk and new wave bands (The Nixe, The Pin-offs, Pink Plastic & Panties,1The Removers, The Softies, and The Broads) playing for a mixed-gender audience. Similar to The Ladyfests two decades later, the main goal was to counteract the gender disparity of musical pr

Gendered scrobbling: Listening behavior of young adults on Last.fm

Combining insights from the psychology and sociology of music, this article addresses the extent to which the listening behaviour of young adults differs between men and women with regard to (1) preferred music genres, (2) gender of music acts and (3) omnivorousness. Drawing on innovative data from the music-based social networking site Last.fm, the analyses show that young females listen more often to 'softer' and more mainstream music genres, to female acts and to a wider range of genres than males. Furthermore, by looking into actual listening behaviour and user-generated genre classifications - instead of self-reported preferences - this study contributes to research on gender stratification in music taste, showing that within male-dominated genres young women have carved out particular feminized niches, that women's pro-female bias is stronger within male-dominated music genres and that the gender difference in omnivorousness disappears when we examine only respondents' favourite music genres

Classification into the Literary Mainstream? Ethnic Boundaries in the Literary Fields of the United States, the Netherlands and Germany, 1955-2005

As a result of mass migration, the ethnic composition of western countries has become increasingly diverse. Both inside and outside academia, this development has led to heated discussions about whether ethnic minorities are - or even have to be - assimilated into mainstream society. In Assimilation into the Literary Mainstream, Pauwke Berkers addresses how literary critics, policy makers and textbook editors have dealt with ethnic diversity in the United States, the Netherlands and Germany between 1955 and 2005. How much newspaper coverage has been devoted to ethnic minority authors and how has this changed over time? And to what extent do reviewers discuss the ethnic background of such writers? Moreover, have national literary policy organizations actively stimulated or largely ignored ethnic diversity? Finally, to what degree are ethnic minority authors canonized in national literary histories? Examining the use of ethnic discourse, the numerical representation and the labels used to describe ethnic minority authors, the author demonstrates that ethnic boundaries are relatively weak, moderately strong and strong in the literary fields of the U.S., the Netherlands and Germany respectively. At a macro-level, these cross-national differences are related to different national repertoires of evaluation. However, within national literary fields, ethnic classifications differ, depending on the structural position that different literary institutions hold vis-à-vis the economic and political field

Ethnic boundaries in national literary histories: Classification of ethnic minority fiction authors in American, Dutch and German anthologies and literary history books, 1978-2006

This article compares the classification of ethnic minority fiction writers in American, Dutch and German literary anthologies and literary history books for the period of 1978-2006. Using content analyses, ethnic boundaries are much stronger in Dutch and German textbooks than in their American counterparts. While, across the entire period, Dutch and German textbooks under-represent ethnic minority authors - relative to the share of ethnic minorities in the population - and emphasize their ethnicity, American antho

Rock and roll or rock and fall? Gendered framing of the rock and roll lifestyles of Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty in British broadsheets

Combining insights from gender, popular music, and celebrity studies, this article addresses to what extent British broadsheets frame Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty differently with regard to their rock and roll lifestyle. Our content analyses of The Guardian and The Independent indicate clear gender differences. First, Doherty's excessive behavior is often framed in positive terms (rock and roll), while the media discuss Winehouse's conduct more negatively (rock and fall). Second, British newspaper journalists admire Doherty's courage to lead such a lifestyle, oftentimes justifying - or even negating - his behavior, arguing he is an independent individual or even a hero. Such adoration is absent when Winehouse's escapades are reported on; most articles treat her as a victim, expressing concern regarding her poor health. As such, our findings show how music journalists use relational complicit practices - admiration/justification/negation of male and victimization of female enactment of hegemonic masculinity - to maintain masculine monopoly over the archetypical rock and roll lifestyle

'Vooral in het preutse Amerika': De dagbladberichtgeving over de Vijftig tinten-trilogie in cross-nationaal perspectief

Reeds voordat Fifty Shades of Grey van de schrijfster E.L. James officieel in Nederland op de markt komt, maakt de NOS melding van ‘deze pornografische soort bouquetreeks, ook wel mommy porn genoemd’ die heel wat stof heeft doen opwaaien in Amerika. Het succes blijft niet beperkt tot de Verenigde Staten. Al snel na de verschijning (24 mei 2012) bereikt het boek ook in Nederland de status van bestseller. In de lijst van honderd bestverkochte boeken van 2012 staan Vijftig tinten grijs, Vijftig tinten donkerder en Vijftig tinten vrij re