Dutch literature: Contemporary Dutch literature

Teacher(s)

Vanasten Stéphanie;

Language

Dutch

Prerequisites

Have passed the bachelor courses in Dutch literature and have a good proficiency in Dutch (advanced level, B2 + of the Common European reference framework).

Main themes

The course aims to familiarize students with contemporary Dutch-speaking literature. We will study the profile and positioning of the subject selected, from the second half of the 20th century right up to the contemporary period. Attention will be paid to various genres (drama, novels, poetry, short stories, essays) and media (paper, digital , film, audio)  The themes are illustrated by the analysis of representative works.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of the course, students: -will have acquired a broad knowledge of Dutch literary culture. - will be able to explain the main developments in the history of Dutch-speaking literature of the contemporary period - will be able to analyze current literary texts taking into account various contexts,  demonstrating critical thinking related to the discussed topic. - will be able to track, report and process significant information from current literary developments with some critical background - will be able to produce a coherent and relevant discourse on a given problem, and articulate it accurately and clearly in both written and spoken form, and thus communicate their  knowledge to peers.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

A preliminary historiographical synthesis will be presented to the students.
As an introduction, we will question how contemporary Dutch Literature presents and constitutes itself. Which are its particularities, its pivots, its actors – the remarkable authors and oeuvres that assure its visibility? And to which other culture(s) and norm(s) does such an entity relate? We will present some actual paradigms of contemporary Dutch-language literary production, which will be discussed by making use of recent critical approaches.
We will subsequently concentrate on an in-depth study of authors and texts of various genres that are considered as prominent examples of contemporary Dutch-language literature.

Teaching methods

The course aims at a dynamic, motivating and interactive mode of learning. Familiarization with historiographical turning points by way of personal reading at home of chosen extracts from literary histories, interactive exercises and collective synthesis during the seminars.
Introductory Lectures. The presented critical paradigms and approaches define the methodological and conceptual framework within which the textual analyses can be pursued.
The chosen literary works are subsequently analysed in a profound manner. They are introduced by the teacher and prepared at home and in small groups by the students, in the light of a given research question. The students present the results of their analysis in interaction and collaboration with their colleagues and submit a written report to the teacher afterwards. Collaborative learning through Moodle, where a platform permits to the participants to share ideas, to interact and to stimulate the development of critical reflection.  

Evaluation methods

Continuous Assessment (50 %):
- All texts are read and prepared at home by all the students. Active participation in the discussions. Short overview of contemporary developments in Dutch-language literature. (10%)
- Group work (40%) which consists of a presentation about a chosen literary text from the corpus and a paper. For each group: defining a precise research question that has been validated by the teacher in advance, critical reading of relevant scientific articles about the subject, profound analysis of the literary text under study, extracts to support the analysis. Personal, original commentary that is well-documented in accordance with the expected academic conventions. Presentation and discussion for the other students.  The results of the debates are integrated into a synthetic paper that will be submitted through Moodle after validation.
Final Assessment (50 %):
Written exam in two parts (1) open book exam on the introductory historiographic synthesis (2) closed book exam on the recent paradigms of contemporary Dutch-language literature, on the discussed critical approaches and on the introduction of chosen authors and works. (40%)
Personal reading of a fictional text of contemporary Dutch-language literature, to be chosen from a list, oral interrogation. (10%)
The language level of the student will be taken into account during the exam, the evaluation is divided as follows: written exam (50%), oral exam about the personal reading (50%). For the latter, the modalities of evaluation of the group work apply.

Other information

Course material : literary texts and extracts from reference manuals; scientific articles, hand-outs and PowerPoints, pedagogical tools via Moodle.

Bibliography

• Hugo Brems, Altijd weer vogels die nesten beginnen. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2005.

voir Moodle

Teaching materials

• Hugo Brems, Altijd weer vogels die nesten beginnen. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2005.

Faculty or entity

LMOD