The Flemish author, bilingual mediator, and multilingual translator Frans Rens and the modest transfer of Francophone literature in 19th-century Belgium

In order to study the role of cultural mediators in Belgium, I focus on the translation scene in 19th century Flanders; more specifically on translations and adaptations from French, and the poet and editor Frans Rens's motivations as a translator and mediator. By situating his adaptations and mediating activities in the bigger picture of translation flows in the 19th century Flemish literary field, and studying the intercrossings with contemporary Belgian francophone authors, translators and mediators such as Joseph Octave Delepierre and Joseph-Ernest Buschmann, I shed a light on the early intersections between francophones and neerlandophones in the young nation, and illustrate how Rens uses translations to nourish the Belgian literature in Dutch. The article shows that Rens's efforts to promote the Dutch language and the Flemish culture are reflected both in the choice of his allies as in his particular mediation of their work

Vrouwen in de Vlaamse avant-garde : anarchisme in het literaire veld van het fin de siècle

Avant-garde periodicals in late nineteenth-century America, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands, often show a heightened interest in anarchism and a larger number of female contributors. This article offers an overview of the participation of women in Flemish avant-garde periodicals during the fin the siecle. It includes a focus on the contributions of Jacques Mesnil, a confirmed believer in anarchism and free love who published his work in the Flemish avant-garde reviews Van Nu en Straks and Ontwaking. The central question is to what extent anarchist ideas affected the opportunities of women writers to publish in the avant-garde press