In the 19th century, farmers had to live up to conflicting ideals: maintain authentic Dutch traditions on the one hand, and modernise in order to remain useful to the country on the other. This is the conclusion of research by literary scholar Anneloek Scholten, who will defend her PhD thesis at Radboud University on 14 January. "Rural literature shows that the stereotypical authentic countryside doesn’t actually exist: there are always external influences."
These days, a lot of reviewers don’t take rural literature very seriously, Scholten observes. For that reason, little research has been done on it. "Books about the countryside that are very well received, such as De Beesten by Gijs Wilbrink, are not seen as rural literature. Reviewers would say, for example, that you’d be selling the novel short by calling it Achterhoeks [ed.: a rural region close to Germany]."
In the nineteenth century, things were different. Reviewers often found rural life ’backwards’, but still took rural texts seriously. They praised texts in which they believed an authentic image was being portrayed. The negative image of the genre emerged later on, as views of what literature is or should be shifted.
Authentic countryside
For her PhD research, the literary scholar delved into rural literature from 1843 to 1919. During that period, local stories gained prominence, she explains. "Village stories became increasingly popular. In the beginning, they were partly intended to introduce Dutch city dwellers to other regions, to create a sense of national community so that as a city dweller, you could also read what it was like in rural Drenthe."
This kind of literature was also often a backlash against urbanisation and rapid industrialisation. Such books often depicted the countryside as the ’core of the homeland’, where authentic Dutch ways of life and values still existed. The writers sometimes criticised the cities, which they said were too focused on Europe. One writer, for example, complained that staff in Amsterdam hotels often addressed their guests in French.
Many stories were therefore critical of farmers who moved to the city or abroad. Scholten: "There was a clear anti-emigration sentiment, which is quite striking given that there is actually more criticism of immigration now. It was less so then. In the 19th century, for example, people wrote about French refugees who became distinguished families in the region." Yet rural areas were also often portrayed negatively in books, as backwards and uncivilised. "Many writers felt that farmers needed to modernise to continue producing enough for their country."
Rural life and the rest of the world
According to the researcher, rural literature shows that rural areas were much more connected to the rest of the country and abroad than is often thought. "Rural identities have strongly been shaped by external influences. We can see this, for example, in the fashion in the village of Marken in the nineteenth century, which played an important role in village stories: this clothing had originally come from Spain and had ended up in Marken through trade." Authors even took inspiration from foreign writers and some local Dutch texts were translated into German, French and English.
In this, too, Scholten sees parallels with modern times. "Even now, a certain image of the countryside is portrayed, not only in books, but also on TV, for example. Farm life is often presented as an idyllic existence in family farms that provide food for our country. The fact that much of agricultural production is intended for export is not always emphasised, even in politics. As in the 19th century, globalisation is rapidly increasing in this era, and so interest in rural life is growing too. But rural areas have always been much more connected to the rest of the world than some stories would have us believe."