Literature: Dutch Short Stories

Undeservedly undervalued Dutch literature has received less attention in Britain than either French or German literature in the last one hundred years, and it may be that the names of our short story writers are unknown to you. This course will argue for the urgency of Dutch literature, and how it has made an important contribution to literature in Western Europe reaching back into the nineteenth century.

The stories have been selected to reflect a range of male and female voices, and to involve different genres of the short story mode. This will allow us to gain an overview into Dutch writing in the twentieth century, and will hopefully prompt you to investigate further.

The stories explore the Dutch landscape, society and questions of identity, and this is amplified by the themes of memory to be found in several of the stories, which is allied to a discussion of how and why we, authors and characters as narrators, tell tales.

After completing the course, you will wonder why these authors are not better known outside the Netherlands, as each contributes a unique perspective on the unloveliness and loveliness of twentieth century lives.