User:OnBeyondZebrax/sandbox/Dutch-language literature

Until the end of the 11th century, Dutch literature - like literature elsewhere in Europe - was almost entirely oral and in the form of poetry. Early examples include the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms and the 12th-century poet Henric van Veldeke (1150 – after 1184). The Leiden Willeram is a translation into Old Dutch written at the end of the 11th century. The oldest known poetry was written around 1100. Another important source for Old Dutch is the so-called Rhinelandic Rhyming Bible from the early 12th century.nIn the 12th and 13th century, writers starting writing chivalric romances and hagiographies for noblemen. From the 13th century, literature became more didactic and developed a proto-national character, as it was written for the bourgeoisie. Courtly romance and poetry were popular literary genres during the Middle Ages. Beatrice of Nazareth (1200–1268) was the first known prose writer in the Dutch language. Another genre popular in the Middle Ages was the fable, the most notable of which was written around 1250. With the close of the 13th century a change appeared in Dutch literature. The Flemish and Hollandic towns began to prosper and a new sort of literary expression began. The most important exponent of this new development was Jacob van Maerlant (~1235–~1300).

Around 1440, literary guilds called rederijkerskamers ("Chambers of Rhetoric") arose which were usually middle-class in tone. Of these chambers, the earliest were almost entirely engaged in preparing mysteries and miracle plays for the people. Anna Bijns (c. 1494–1575) is an important figure who wrote in modern Dutch. The Reformation appeared in Dutch literature in a collection of Psalm translations in 1540 and in a 1566 New Testament translation in Dutch. Philips van Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde (1538–1598) was one of the leading spirits in the war of Dutch independence. Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert (1522–1590) was the Low Countries' first humanist writer. After Antwerp had fallen into Spanish hands in 1585, Amsterdam became the centre of all literary enterprise. In Amsterdam, a circle of poets and playwrights formed around Roemer Visscher (1547–1620). Other members of the circle included Tesselschade (1594–1649) and Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero (1585–1618).

The best-known of all Dutch writers is the Catholic playwright and poet Joost van den Vondel (1587–1679). A similar school to that in Amsterdam arose in Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, led by Jacob Cats (1577–1660). A well-known poet was Jan Luyken (1649–1712). A writer who revived especially an interest in literature was Justus van Effen (1684–1735). The year 1777 is considered a turning point in the history of letters in the Netherlands. It was in that year that Elizabeth “Betje” Wolff (1738–1804) and Agatha “Aagje” Deken (1741–1804) wrote together. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the Low Countries had gone through major political upheaval. The most prominent writers were Willem Bilderdijk (1756–1831), Hiëronymus van Alphen (1746–1803), and Rhijnvis Feith (1753–1824).nPiet Paaltjens (ps. of François Haverschmidt, 1835–1894) is considered one of the very few readable nineteenth-century poets, representing in Dutch the pure Romantic vein exemplified by Heine. Another important poet was Guido Gezelle (1830–1899). A new movement called Tachtigers or "Movement of (Eighteen-)Eighty", after the decade in which it arose. The Tachtigers wrote with intimate and visceral emotions. Louis Couperus (1863–1923) and Frederik van Eeden (1860–1932) were important writers.

One of the most important historical writers of the 20th century was Johan Huizinga, who is known abroad and translated in different languages and included in several great books lists. During the 1920s, a new group of writers who distanced themselves from the ornate style of the Movement of 1880 arose, led by Nescio (J.H.F. Grönloh, 1882–1961). During WW II, influential writers included Anne Frank (whose diary was published posthumously) died in a German concentration camp, as did crime fiction writer, journalist and poet Jan Campert. Writers who had lived through the atrocities of the Second World War reflected in their works on the changed perception of reality. Obviously many looked back on their experiences the way Anne Frank had done in her Diary, this was the case with Het bittere kruid (The bitter herb) of Marga Minco, and Kinderjaren (Childhood) of Jona Oberski. The renewal, which in literary history would be described as "ontluisterend realisme" (shocking realism), is mainly associated with three authors: Gerard Reve, W.F. Hermans and Anna Blaman.