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Summary A History of Surinamese Literature
This study presents a history of Surinamese oral and written literature from the
earliest known sources up to the year of the independence of the Republic of
Suriname, 1975. In Suriname twenty two languages are being used, some of these
however only in non-literary registers like religious rituals. The three major
literary languages are (Surinamese)-Dutch, being the official language and also
the mother tongue to ever more people, the lingua franca Sranantongo (or
Sranan), language of slaves and their descendants but nowadays spoken by the
majority of the Surinamese, and Sarnami, language of the largest section of the
population, the Indians or Hindustani. Quantitatively Dutch is by far the most
important language for prose, while Dutch and Sranan balance each other in
poetry. Sarnami became important in literary texts only quite recently, after
1977. Surinamese-Javanese, language of the third largest community is used as a
written language rather sporadically, while oral literature in this language is
under heavy pressure, not to say on the verge of disappearing. All other
languages do not reach beyond some thousand or even a few hundred people and are
rarely used in written literature.
Theoretical part I deals with tracing down, describing and organizing sources and
on many other problems of writing a history of literature. Specific attention is
paid to the way scolars in areas with multicultural constellations comparable to
the Surinamese one, have tried to describe literature, in South-Africa, India
and the Caribbean. Subsequently a number of epistemological principles are being
discussed, notably ideas on colonial and postcolonial literatures. The position
of the historian of literature is discussed, as is his ideology, the meaning of
writing a national history of literature, the framing of the corpus, the
position of colonial literature and the transformation of organized material
into a narrative structure. Resulting from all this is a definition of
Surinamese literature:
Surinamese literature encloses all oral and written texts and other
communicative expressions (interactions) having an aspect of literarity, created
in one or more languages of the communities of Suriname, and taking part in the
retro-active historical process of contributing to one of the traditions who
constitute Surinamese national identity.
In the final paragraphs of part I a model of writing a history of literature will
be presented. In short this model amounts to this. Point of departure is that
there are all kinds of approaches to literature (from sociology, structuralism,
biografism etc.), and all these kinds of approaches generate information. What a
history of literature does, is bringing together pieces of this information,
ordering them and giving them a place in an analytical narrative. Small elements
form the building stones of a Profile: a series of characteristics giving a
coherent description of works of an author, or the literary activities of a
company. All Profiles taken together guide up to the Pattern: the broad lines of
the history of literature. If desired one might zoom in on one of the corner
stones making up the Profiles; this is done in so-called Close-ups.
The core of each Profile consists of four building materials, simply: language,
style, structure and contents of a text. These materials may be varied
endlessly. This means that an adequate description of these four elements can
identify a text as a unique work of art. Around these are more
building materials backing up the description, but none of these make up the
core of the literary text, but they belong to the context: the affinity between
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authors, the way texts are received by the audience and
critics, the production and promotion of a book by printers and editing houses
etc.
Now every literature, and indeed Surinamese's, may only be well understood within
a cultural-historical framework, drawing in broad lines the developments in
society. Thus in every chapter is considered the general history (political,
economical, social and mental), the demographic history, the cultural
orientation and organisation of the Surinamese people, language politics and
education, developments in the field of arts and entertainment, and main
developments within the Surinamese migrants community in the Netherlands.
Subsequently the economics of literature of each period is sketched: printing
and editing houses, book and book trade, libraries, newspapers and periodicals,
reading audience and reader's associations, writers organizations and literary
awards.
This history of literature does not aim merely at a collection of positivist
facts, but tries to bring facts into a logical interconnection and moreover in a
narrative context. It's then inevitable to conclude that objectivity does not
exist, because choices have to be made at all levels. I have tried to find a
basis of my approach in the philosophical pluralism of H. Procee. He starts from
the impossibility to lay down once and for all the neverending dynamics of
interactions, and seeks the quality of those interactions in the possibility to
continue them. A counterpart within the theory of literature can be found in the
intercultural study of literature, offering a starting point to render
explanation in the best possible way of the position of the literary historian,
his background and cultural-historical context, his way of gathering knowledge
and the occurance of possible gaps, and his set of norms, if one wishes: his
shortcomings in judgment.
To describe Surinamese literature in the best way possible, I try to take as a
starting point the Caribbean region (to this purpose Jack Corzani has introduced
the concept of recentrage). In this way of describing some
notions may be of use, having stripped them of their western connotations:
multilingualism, multi-etnicity, multiculturalism, in-between-position,
creoleness, roots, orality, resistance.
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Oral literatures
Part II of this study deals with oral literature. Non-written literatures
have been extremely vital, authentic and essential domaines of expression,
and they still are up to the present day. The influence of oral culture on
written literature is substantial; leaving out oral literature could never
lead to an adequate description of written literature. The introductory
paragraph of part II is going into this delicate relationship between oral
and written literature.
In the introduction first the esthetic function of oral literature is
discussed. Pointed out is the holistic framework oral texts are functioning
in: the distinction between sacred and profane texts, amusement and
education is in general less sharp than it is in western cultures. There is
a complex connection between status and structure of oral texts, very
important is the way texts are performed, the ‘ritual performance’, and
texts nearly always belong to a larger unity with song and dance.
The chapter traces what kind of texts and related ways of expression
originating from oral tradition are known by different sections of the
Surinamese population. A synchronic | |
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description is given of
all forms of oral literature still existing within two Surinamese village
communities, the Amerindian community of Galibi (Caribs) and the Maroon
village of Yaw-Yaw (Saramaccan). The results of this inventory are linked
with the information given in research sources on the subjects. For other
Amerindian and Maroon tribes this history of literature is based on existing
research papers, written for the major part by anthropologists. In those
paragraphs the historiographic state of affairs is given and scientific
findings are communicated on the basis of existing recordings on tape and
paper, completed with new information of specialists.
The oldest inhabitants of Suriname are the Amerindians. The two largest
tribes are the Kari'na (or Caribs) and the Lokonon (or Arhawaks) who, like
the much smaller tribe of Warao, find their habitat in the coastal area.
Tarëno (or Trio), Wayana and Akuriyo are all living deep into the interior
of the country, not far from the Brazilian border. Each of these peoples get
a general social-cultural description, preceding an extensive inventory of
their stories, songs and proverbs and the way these function. Stories and
songs with special magical power are known only to the pyjai or shaman who plays a crucial role in all tribes. Analyses of an
Arhawak and a Trio story make clear how natural and supernatural, human and
animal form one inseparable unity to all Amerindians.
Afro-Surinamese, descendants of African slaves brought in chaines to the New
World, are distinguished into Maroons (living in the interior of the
country) and Creoles (living in the capital and the coastal area). Their
oral culture exists strongly in the sign of winti, the Afro-American
religion and way of living. Among the six Maroon peoples Saramaccan and
Ndyuka are by far the largest groups, while Matawai, Paamaka, Aluku (or
Boni) and Kwinti are smaller. An inventory of stories, songs, dances,
proverbs and riddles is made for each of these peoples. The special way of
story telling and singing and dancing is depicted. Different oral genres of
the Creoles are reviewed as well. Special attention is paid to the
Anansitori, stories brought from Africa, the spider Anansi playing the major
role. This trickster figure became an identification character in slavery
times, and has ever since been a very popular figure in all his appearances.
Two story tellers, Aleks de Drie and Harry Jong Loy are portrayed. There is a
description of the sacred dance ritual known to Creoles as wintiprei, followed by the depiction of the development and
function of different kinds of profane plays, which all carried elements of
creole resistance against colonial suppression. The Du
[Do] is a dramatized play with fixed characters and was present as a great
musical comedy already in slavery times. Lobisingi
[Lovesong] and Laku are of more recent origin. Immigrant
groups arriving later also brought in their own cultural heritage, giving it
in the course of time an ever more Surinamese appearance. In the culture of
British-Indian contract labourers and their descendants old religious
thinking and ancient eopopees like the
Rāmāyana
and
Mahābhārata
played a vital role, and still do so up to the present day. Yearly
performances of the
Rāmlīlā
[The Play of Ram], have always attracted huge crowds. Many story,
theatre and song forms were strongly affected by the experiences of contract
time.
Baithak gáná
[seated singing] got very popular, in the beginning accompaniment
music for theatrical performances, but in the course of time developing into
a special genre based on Surinamese texts. An analysis of a story explains
how contract labourers from Java too have given their culturale heritage a
specific Surinamese appearance. Their cultural baggage manifested itself in
singing, wayang [shadow theatre], theatre, cabaret and
dance (jaran képang [horse dance] being the most
spectacular). Other sections of the Surinamese population (Chinese,
Lebanese, Jews) have | |
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presented themselves less manifestically
in the spectrum of Surinamese cultures.
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Written literatures
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16th and 17th century
From the end of the eighteenth century onwards one might speak of an
indigenous written literature of Suriname. As far as
the colonial era is concerned, this history of literature confines
itself primarily to texts produced within the literary infrastructure of
Suriname, or texts having had direct significance for the Surinamese
situation (for instance in debates on the abolition of slavery). Some
Dutch texts are discussed having functioned within literary debates in
Suriname, thus throwing more light on Suriname's own literary value
system.
Out of the encounter with the oldest inhabitants of Guiana came a
mythological representation of the ‘Amerindians’. Without doubt early
travel accounts have contributed to the belief in the existence of the
gold lake Parima (Eldorado), thus enlargening the attractiveness of the
area to adventurours. At the end of the seventeenth century the ongoing
quarrels between European powers were brought to a provisional end, when
the Treaty of Breda of 1667 adjudged the territory of present-day
Suriname and a huge part of Guiana to the Republic of the United
Netherlands. As yet the - sometimes imagined - contours of Suriname
arose only from European, especially Dutch sources, which for that
reason belong to the story of the earliest phase of the birth of
Surinamese literature. It is still too early to speak of a ‘Surinamese’
written literature; textual material consisted of all kinds of reports,
diaries, pamphlets and sailor songs, witnessing embryonic colonial
society. No doubts about slavery were expressed, for the line of Cham
had been predestinated to subjection. No fiction was written in these
centuries, although one can not deny the esthetic quality of some texts,
like the diary of Elisabeth van der Woude, dating from 1676.
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1700-1775
A huge part of the eigteenth century was dominated by the
plantation-sweeping attacks of runaways and the costly patrols
undertaken against them. These events have been depicted in several
descriptions of the colony, but slave society was primarily charted by
three non-Dutch authors: Aphra Behn, Voltaire and John Gabriel Stedman.
The image of Suriname as an extremely cruel slave colony was created by
them, although it is hard to tell whether they exercised their influnce
directly, or through well-known histories by Hartsinck, Van Hoëvell or Wolbers. Aphra Behn's
Oroonoko, or The royal slave
from 1688 for instance wasn't translated into Dutch before the
twentieth century. All the same with Oroonoko she created an archetype
for all versions of the noble slave in later fiction. The expedition
account of the Scottish captain Stedman
Narrative of a five years' expedition against the
revolted Negroes of Surinam
from 1796 set its stamp on the representation of slavery in
numerous nineteenth-century prose stories, thanks also to the engravings
in his | |
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book (the ‘photography’ of his times).
Two colonial personalities have written notable works: reverend J.W. Kals and governor J.J.
Maurcius. They didn't reject slavery as such, but they
brought charges against the excrescences of the slavery system and the
devious planters' coteries. With his satirical theatre piece
Het Surinaamsche Leeven
[Surinamese life] (1771) an author calling himself Don Experientia confirmed the image of a
society dominated by the rabble, for whom the only thing that mattered
was the pursuit of profit.
Enlightenment thinking gradually provided another image of plantation
society. No longer were negroes only uncivilized savages. The anonymous
Geschiedenis van een neger [History of a negro]
from around 1770 created the person of the good master, a character
worked out by Elisabeth Maria Post in
Reinhart
(1791-1792). This epistolary novel was the first Dutch text of
fiction treating colonial problems in depth.
In none of these texts the black man is the protagonist. The spectatorial
writing De denker [The thinker] from 1774 introduced
black perspective by giving word to an African, who in a subtle way
criticized the system of slavery. Most probably the work was written by
a white author. One who surely spoke for himself was Quassi of Timotibo,
whose erudition compels the admiration of many. Considered for a long
time as a questionable individual for his collaboration with colonial
powers, he now tends to be seen as the personifaction of an intelligent
and bold resistance against a subjugating system.
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1775-1800
With Enlightenment slavery had become and important theme in Dutch
literature, for the first time also in texts written in the colony
itself. The last decades of the eighteenth century brought the
historical path of written literature to a decisive fork. The earliest
initiatives for an indigenous Surinamese literature may be seen at this
time, although the Netherlands would remain an important point of
reference for imagination and cultural life.
In the last quarter of the eighteenth century the feastdays of Suriname
as a conquered colony had gone. Nevertheless a remarkable cultural
upspring was seen, explained by different factors: the creation of a
permanent population, growing interracial contacts, a stronger hold on
plantation economy from the capital Paramaribo, and a strong orientation
towards Europe where the Enlightenment gave impelling impulses to
intellectual life. Especially this last factor left deep marks in the
colony, where Jews contributed a lot to cultural life. They moved their
cultural center from Jodensavanne on the savannah to Paramaribo near the
coast, set up their own organisations, participating remarkably enough
at the same time in all non-jewish writers' societies. The Jews also
signed for an important historical source, the
Essai historique sur la colonie de Surinam
(1788) by David Nassy and others.
The earliest reports on theatre performances date from around 1770.
Christians and Jews principally played the same European tragedies and
comedies, but they each had their own theatre building and theatrical
group, jewish De Verreezene Phoenix [Phoenix arosen] being the most
distinguished one. Important linguistic results were made in the field
of Amerindian and Creole languages, but apart from a single text in
‘Negro-English’ | |
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(Sranan), all texts in vernaculars were
laid down for missionary purposes. Newspaper notices on auction sales of
books show how many upper-class people possessed large book collections.
Educational facilities were growing, although as yet not spectacular.
W.J. Beeldsnyder Matroos began the first
printing business in 1772 and two years later started the publication of
the first newspaper, de Weekelyksche Woensdaagsche
Surinaamse Courant [Weekly Wednesday Surinamese Newspaper]. It
was followed by several others, of which
De Surinaamsche Nieuwsvertelder
[The Surinamese Newsreporter] (1785-1793) caught the eye with
sharp, satirical articles. The Surinaamsche Courant
[Surinamese Newspaper], appearing for the first time in 1790, existed in
different editions until 1883. There were no real bookshops, yet in 1783
a first public library opened its doors. Society life flourished as
never before: masonic lodges shot up like mushrooms, several learned and
literary societies were founded, among othres De Surinaamsche
Lettervrinden [The Surinamese Friends of Literature]. It published four
collections
Letterkundige Uitspanningen
[Literary Demonstrations]. Within circles around this last
society we found three of the most remarkable men (women were not found
in this man's world): Jacob Voegen van
Engelen who published the magazine
De Surinaamsche Artz
[The Surinamese Medicine], Hendrik
Schouten, writer of a small number of satirical poems, and the
man with the largest oeuvre: Paul François
Roos. At least part of their texts are still very readable, be it
for their satirical power (Voegen van Engelen, Schouten), be it for
their lively art of description (Roos). In so far as their thinking is
concerned, all three were representatives of a colonial society bringing
its fruits to their country of birth, the Netherlands. But at the same
time all three were especially devoted to their new country, the first
two being more critical than the last, whose cream-coloured images made
an incorrect picture of slave reality. All three choose not to leave the
colony and died in Suriname. In considerable extent they contributed to
the fact that for the first time in the existence of Suriname one could
speak of a lively literary life and a real literary circuit. As yet no
coloured man or woman participated in this world.
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1800-1890
‘Development of literature’ is a concept the historian of
nineteenth-century Suriname isn't able to deal with. The Netherlands
remained the main point of orientation to cultural Suriname, while the
Netherlands measured Suriname in terms of economics. Until the
educational laws of 1876 ‘the motherland’ saw no mission of civilization
reserved for itself in the colony.
In the first half of the century Surinamese society was strongly
dominated by colonial censorship. This situation didn't offer a good
breeding-ground for ambitious initiatives, although now and then
individuals did give some impulses to literary life. H.C. Focke for instance was most likely the author of the
note-worthy ‘Proof of Negro-English Poetry’ entitled
Njoe-jaari-singi Voe Cesaari
[New Year's Song for Cesar] in the middle of the thirties.
Focke was one of the most active members of the Maatschappij tot Nut van
't Algemeen [Society for Public Welfare] which was the most important
instigator of intellectual activity. Focke was also the author of a
first ever printed Negro-English Dictionary in 1855. From 1838 through
1839 J.J. Engelbrecht edited the
cultural-social monthly
De kolonist
[The colonist], printing off interesting essays. E.A. Jellico van Gogh and E. | |
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Soesman thought the colony should have a
literature-loving society and founded in 1835 Oefening Kweekt Kennis
[Exercise Breeds Knowledge]. In 1856 it published a yearbook with a
piece of prose by transient Christina van
Gogh, which stood emphatically in function of christian ethics,
and contributions by Soesman and Van Gogh. Jellico
van Gogh situated his psychological novelette
De gouden sleutel
[The golden key] - the first in Surinamese literature - in the
colony. Reverend Cornelis van Schaick, who
stayed in Suriname from 1852 to 1861, stood out as an energetic
publicist with articles in Surinamese newspapers, with a collection of
poems for the Surinamese youth and the novel
De manja
[The mango], a remarkable piece of work full of liberal ideas.
Van Schaick and Focke were among the founders of
West-Indië
[West-Indies] (1854-1858), which turned out to be a worthly
successor to De kolonist. We do not find any
programmed standpoints on literature in this magazine, likewise the
absence of any reflection on what was written shows an impressive vacuum
in the entire nineteenth-century. Ch. Landré
and F.A.C. Dumontier, both editors of West-Indië, took in 1857 the initative to the
Surinamese Colonial Library, which stayed the most important book
collection for the century to come.
In the works of Van Gogh and Soesman one might discover a late attempt to
join in Romanticism, but the great international literary movements
apparently weren't strong enough to reach Suriname against the
Amazon-current. That nineteenth-century concepts of literature had
changed drastically, that the writer's personality got another
individuality: in Suriname no one seemed to know and nobody seemed to
care. There were welfare societies and lodges though, but no chambers of
rhetoric able to pick up international debates and give them drive.
Theatre life however for the major part of the century showed striking
activity. Dramatic art in the first decades was dominated by groups like
Oeffening Kweekt Kunst [Exercise Breeds Art] and De Verreezene Phoenix
[Phoenix Arisen]. A group broke away from De Verreezene Phoenix and
continued under the name of Theatre Graave Straat. After a period of
malaise in the thirties, the new theatre company Thalia opened the doors
of its new-built theatre in 1840. The predominantly jewish company
started a glorious history, already from 1853 onward marked by
never-ending problems with decay and restoration of its building.
Theatre programming was almost always after the European fashion.
Theatre writing of Surinamese origin during the nineteenth century has
been characterized by its extreme discontinuity. A handful of original
plays are known as well as a small number of adaptations of European
theatre pieces.
The abolition debate raged in the Netherlands since the early nineteenth
century. Nevertheless when we draw up the balance of the first half of
the century, it becomes clear that no great, influential text has ever
been written on Surinamese slavery. There has never been a prominent
book capable of drawing the attention of the audience at large on the
crying abuses in the West-Indies, let alone a work affecting public
opinion. Not until W.R. baron van Hoëvell in
1854 published his
Slaven en vrijen onder de Nederlandsche wet
[Slaves and free men under Dutch law], a larger public in the
Netherlands had their eyes opened to a situation already belonging to
the past in most of the colonies of other imperialist powers.
The abolition of slavery in 1863 first of all provided for a revival of
journalism. Greatest gain scored in the century has been the expansion
of education: at the start of the century there were only a few private
schools for whites and mulattoes belonging to the | |
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higher
classes, while in 1876 there were numerous schools and compulsory
education was proclaimed.
In the years following the abolition of slavery some exceptional writers
showed up. Kwamina (pseudonym of W. Lionarons) wrote notable novels taking place
in his own age.
Jetta
(1869) and
Nanni of Vruchten van het vooroordeel
[Nanni or the Fruits of Prejudice] (1881) are situated in a
decor of decaying plantations and a colony trying to move towards a new
economic system. To that purpose Kwamina introduced for the first time
within Surinamese literature a character well-known in the Caribbean
context: the mulatress. The author pleads for human working conditions
for the labourers, but his idea of the world is essentially not
different from earlier Dutch-colonial authors. Nevertheless Kwamina was
a native Surinamese from an old Surinamese family, and his work - in
Dutch with dialogues in ‘Negro-English’ - belongs to Surinamse
literature, as does that of the Matawai Maroon Johannes King. King wrote thousands of pages in Sranan,
among them some sensational visions. With his travel accounts and
diaries King was shown to be as evangelical as the major part of the
writers of his century.
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1890-1923
The part of the colony Suriname constituting the literate city culture,
showed a renaissance of cultural life after 1890, only known a hundred
years earlier. Although this feast took place within the borders of
Paramaribo, the ‘upper’ was no longer exclusively white and had long
since integrated other races, and had widened considerably. New groups
of immigrants from British-India and Java stayed outside for the time
being.
The advent of modern life in the capital was seen in electric street
lamps, wireless telegraphy and the first movies. The quality of printing
had improved, it was the printer and publisher H.B.
Heyde who showed up with a whole range of important book
publications. The library system grew exponentially and, like
journalistic life, was developed along three lines: evangelical,
catholic and neutral. Numerous new newspapers appeared and had their
mutual debates. The Nieuwe Surinaamsche Courant [New
Surinamese Newspaper] usually came up with an entire page of news on
Suriname in section like ‘City news’ and ‘Art and literature’. The
contours of a serious art criticism became clearer. Ideas on the
function of criticism were exchanged; in this respect also a
contribution was made by one of the many new reader's clubs with its
periodical Kennis Adelt [Knowledge Ennobles]. In
almost all reviews, regardless of the denomination of the newspaper, one
could see a combination of an ethical norm concerning the text, with an
artistic opinion on the actor's performance. Guidelines were always
drawn from what Holland had to say in this respect. Those keeping in
touch with Holland actively, united in the Group Suriname of the
Algemeen Nederlandsch Verbond [General Dutch Union].
In the mean time in Dutch eyes Suriname had moved to the periphery of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands farther away than ever before. It is true
that J. de Liefde in his short novel
De geschiedenis van een kankantrieboom
[The history of a giant cottontree] from 1891 put behind the
stereotypical way of describing Surinamese colonial history, but the
representation of Suriname and the Surinamese in Dutch literature on the
whole - and especially in missionary literature - stuck to old schemes,
not to say racist clichés.
Surinamese readers seeing themselves in this mirror, will certainly not
be encouraged | |
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to correct their self-image. The strong
neerlandocentric cultural policy after 1876 won't have cooperated in
this respect either.
In the opening years of the twentieth century several writings as a
reaction to the decay of plantation agriculture, showed a tendency
towards looking back on the nineteenth century with a certain nostalgia.
The decay of the agricultural colony gives reason to lamentations on
‘the good old days’ in memoir-like texts.
Nevertheless some signs pointed towards a very gradual mental
reorientation. The little diplomatic demeanour of governor De Savornin Lohman caused a strenghtening of
national feelings, expressed in many occasional poems. In Surinamese
history and folk-life the material was found for new genre, usually work
of realistic nature. Three personalities left their mark on literary
life in a special way. G.G.T. Rustwijk
published
Matrozenrozen
[Hibiscus] (1915), the first collection of poetry by a poet
born in Suriname. J.G. Spalburg came with the
first collection of Surinamese prose sketches:
Bruine Mina de koto-missi
[Brown Mina the girl in the creole dress] (1913). With
Een Beschavingswerk
[A Work of Civilisation] (1923), published under the name of
Ultimus, Richard O'Ferrall wrote Surinamese
first roman à clef; the satirical nature of the story makes it a
remarkable book within the limits of its time. The work by these three
writers still bears numerous reminiscences to slavery and agricultural
economy, but all three also look further ahead. As representatives of
the rational thought and modernity, they contributed to the rejuvenated
intellectual life of their days.
The orientation towards the Netherlands has been furthermore strongly
contradicted by the work of five men publishing after 1900. F.H. Rikken published in the daily De Surinamer [The Surinamese] in serial form three extensive
and much-read historical novels, showing him to be the most talented
writer of his time. Jacques Samuels wrote a
series of prose pieces, which weren't collected until 1946 in
Schetsen en typen uit Suriname
[Sketches and types from Suriname]. Johann
F. Heymans with his historical novel
Suriname als ballingsoord of Wat een vrouw vermag
[Suriname as country of exile, or What a woman is capable of]
(1911), E.J. Bartelink with planter's memories, A.W.
Marcus with poetry and speeches and some writers of
naturalistic sketches marked up a literary production bearing a clear
Surinamese hallmark. In their texts one sees the earliest experiments
with Surinamese-Dutch - something they were not always thanked for. With
the colourful street singer Goedoe Goedoe
Thijm oral and written literatures find their link: he sang about
current events, but also had his songs printed as leaflets.
Clergyman C.P. Rier signed for high quality
work in ‘Negro-English’ with Bible translations and songs. Sranan turned
up a few times in poems or cabaret texts, but texts in other vernaculars
remained very rare outside religious life and oral literature.
Theatre life after 1890 was less well organized than in the preceding
century. Thalia saw turbulent years ahead. It kept bringing repertory
pieces, although no longer in subscriber's series. Renewal of theatre
life had to be sought in other companies like Oefening Baart Kennis
[Exercise Bears Knowledge] and several others, who in general existed
only for a short time. The first Surinamese plays were written and
staged:
Lucij
by R.A.P.C. O'Ferrall in 1896,
Te laat of De wraak van een' Boer
[Too late or The revenge of a farmer] by Jacques Samuels in
1900 en de Wagnerian-mythical
Het pand der goden
[The Pledge of the Gods] by J.N.
Helstone in 1906. Joh.C. Marcus with
his
Deugd en belooning of Hoogmoed komt voor den val
[Virtue or reward, or Haughtiness is over- | |
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thrown]
made clear how Dutch theatre still supplied the example in 1910: the
play did not have any reference whatsoever to Suriname and proved to be
a variant on nineteenth-century Dutch play-writing on the
father/judge-theme. The riotous atmosphere during the presentations of
the play shows it certainly wasn't a recommendation to be a homegrown
playwright.
In what theatres had to offer three kinds of performances draw most: the
‘soirées variées’ (cabaret shows with a mixed programme), children's
operettas and operettas. These three genres made the theatres become
houses for an evermore wider public. In their programming dancing- and
sportclubs brought cabaret, farces, sketches and sometimes small
tragedies too. They contributed to lowering the thresholds of the
theatre temples. For the major part the ‘lower classes’ still kept out
of the cultural business, but the transformation of oral folk culture to
popular theatre in the second half of the twentieth century, made a
decisive step forward in the changing art of performance in the first
half of the century.
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1923-1957
With the publication in 1923 of the collection of poems
De glorende dag
[The dawning day] by Lodewijk
Lichtveld - who became famous as Albert
Helman - a new phenomenon occurred. Books by Surinamese
writers had been published in the Netherlands before. But 1923 marks the
starting point of the Netherlands as the country of residence of many
writers. Surinamese migrants' literature was born, a literature having
much in common with that of Suriname, but distinguishing itself however
in many ways from native literature too. Authors being positioned quite
differently in the field of literary force and in the world at large,
see their perspective change. With changing perspectives and realities
new themes were brought up, often asking for other ways of treating
ideas. With
Zuid-Zuid-West
[South-South-West] (1926) Albert Helman wrote a classical
nostalgia novel, but the first generation of loners treated migrants'
themes in a not very pronounced way. It was not until the great
migrations in the sixties that these themes became common property of
writers. A possible explication may be found in the fact that the first
authors settling down in Holland - Albert Helman, Rudie van Lier, Hugo Pos -
culturally had belonged to the assimilated upper class of Surinamese
society and easily joined in with literary circles in Holland. A
separate position was held by Anton de Kom. He joined in the marxist
group of Links Richten [Orientate Left] and with
Wij slaven van Suriname
[We slaves of Suriname] (1934) attempted a rewriting of
Surinamese history as a charge against Dutch colonialism.
Helman built up a huge oeuvre, quantitatively and qualitatively by far
the most important of the twentieth century. With his departure, for a
long time no important texts in the Dutch language were written in
Suriname. Until about 1950 cultural life followed the beaten tracks of
religious denominations: catholic, evangelical, jewish and ever stronger
hindu and islamic. For the time being the quills brought forward rather
traditional toadyisms in stead of daring work of a personal nature,
still the churches played a role in sensitizing to word and literary
shape youngsters who made themselves heard later. The newspapers of the
interbellum offered almost the only means of publication to writers of
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the interbellum. With poems on the Dutch royal house,
serials made in Holland and art sections still dealing with Dutch
theatre and literature, the newspapers strenghtened the orientation of
the higher and upper middle class towards the so-called ‘motherland’.
The Second World War had decisive meaning to social-cultural life in the
period 1923-1957. The encampment of American troops and the cutting-off
from Holland made the Surinamese become aware of their own
potentialities and the possibility of getting an independent position
within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (which was put into effect
politically with the Charter of 1954). North-American influence had an
appreciable effect in many ways. Perhaps it would be going too far to
put down post-war zest to this influence, but it certainly wasn't
unrelated to it either.
Post-war bastion of the orientation towards the Netherlands became the
Foundation for Cultural Cooperation, Sticusa, domiciled in Holland, with
the Cultural Centre Suriname (CCS) as her executive organ in Paramaribo.
Little by little the CCS though has got significance for the
Surinamisation of cultural life.
In the fifties several new educational facilities were created. The
growing book business showed that books attracted ever larger ethnic and
social groups. Also the growth of the collection, the number of
affiliates and the number of loans of the CCS-library show how large the
reading audience had become. Media-activities fanned out in all
directions, thus doubtlessly contributing a lot to the cultural
flourishing of all sections of the population and at the same time the
enpowerment of group identity. The world of visual arts developed along
the same lines as the world of music and theatre: from sluggish
traditionalism in the interbellum to hectical searching after World War
II and energetic enthusiasm in the sixties.
After the repatriation of a few writers following World War II, literary
life in the Dutch language got a boost. In Suriname Albert Helman - active in many domaines, disputed in many as
well - wrote some of his most importants novels and plays. Hugo Pos and Wim
Salm supplied theatre life with fresh blood. The newspapers
followed them closely, made space for the world of literature and
cautiously explored the Caribbean region. There were no literary
magazines in the period 1923-1957, but there were two periodicals
functioning to a certain extent as such:
Spectrum
and
Opbouw
[Construction]. By far the most important cultural
Dutch-language periodical, with a serious component of literary
criticism, was
De West-Indische Gids
[The West-Indian Guide], appearing from 1919 through 1960.
The most important developments in the years 1923-1957 took place in the
vernaculars, and especially in Sranan, to a lesser extent also in
Surinamese-Dutch. In a country with an educational system based on the
Dutch pattern and with media - newspapers and since 1935 broadcoasting
station Avros - using the measuring rod of Official
Northsea-Dutch, it needed courage to use their own variant of Dutch,
Surinamese-Dutch. Still several writers had the nerve to do that. A
number of bench marks can be designated in the development of Dutch
towards Surinamese-Dutch: the play
Woeker
[Usury] by Wim Bos Verschuur in
1936, the short stories by Peter Schüngel in
the monthly Suriname-Zending [Suriname-Mission]
between 1942 and 1946, the novel
Viottoe
by Kees Neer from 1948, the
translation in 1954 of Marc Connelly's Green Pastures
by Albert Helman, the staging of Wim Salm's
Sjinnie
in 1956 and the memoirs by M.Th. Hijlaard
Zij en ik
[She and me] (printed in 1978).
Sranan and Creole folk culture got a strong push forward by the committee
Pohama | |
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organizing ‘Sranannetie’: cultural shows with songs
and recitations in Sranan. During no less than ten years, from 1946
through 1956, the committee published
Foetoe-boi
[Messenger boy], a monthly in which consequently all aspects of
Sranan and of Creole culture were highlighted. It was the first broadly
cultural magazine in Sranan, made by ordinary people, putting up a
barrier against the Neerlandocentric orientation of the higher classes.
The driving force behind all these activities was schoolmaster J.G.A. Koenders. With numerous essays, school
books and song collections he pleaded for the revival of ‘Surinaams’ and
a radical transformation of an educational system, which, colonial as
ever, ‘upset our minds and shriveled up our brains’.
Wie Eegie Sanie [Our own Things] became Koenders' most important heir.
This group of students and workers gathering around charismatic Eddy
Bruma, came into being in the Netherlands around 1950 and moved to
Suriname some years later. There it breathed new life into the
‘Sranannetie’ with plays on slave history and backyard life. Wie Eegie
Sanie brought an important impulse to a change in the cultural climate
and historical consciousness of the Creole population.
In Sranan the best results were shown in drama. Sophie Redmond wrote educational plays, and Paula Velder's translation of Shakespeare's Midsummernight's dream became an important moment in
the emancipation of literary Sranan. The stage showed best how
Surinamese culture got more and more multiformal, how the transition
from oral to written culture took place. The choice of language was
reassessed, the national cultural heritage deployed in theatrical
imagination and the casts of plays clearly showed the ongoing process of
Surinamisation.
Theatre company Thalia again got through a period of revival after the
war. Led by Hugo Pos the doors were opened
for other than jewish and white actors, Caribbean plays were staged, or
foreign plays adapted to the Surinamese audience. Still the emphasis was
on plays from Europe and North-America.
Gradually however more and more plays other than the ‘Thalia-plays’ were
seen in the theatres, tempting lower-class public to come to the
theaters. In the first half of the century Johannes
Kruisland's one-man-shows always included acts in
‘Negro-English’. Evenings of varied entertainment were very popular and
in the twenties and thirties short sketches in Sranan were introduced,
written by Albertina Rijssel. Thus the Creole
popular theatre came up, rooted in the oral tradition of
Banya, Du, Laku
and
Lobisingi
, but completely reshaped for stage. Already in 1927 the black
women's theatre company Excelsior conducted by J. Vriese, leader of the
The Negro Association in Suriname, staged plays in the district town of
Moengo. Another company of black women, De Echo [The Echo], arranged
productions in Thalia in 1929, causing much upheaval among an audience
keen on scandals. After World War II young groups attracted ever more
people from the working classes. They strenghtened the genre of the
Creole popular theatre, plays primarily in Sranan with snatches in
Surinamese-Dutch. This type of theatre is based on a combination of
tragedy and humour, a realistic display of everyday problems with
hilarious effects. Since the text is hardly ever written down
completely, there is always the possibility of improvisation and
anticipating on current events. The newspapers, appearing daily after
the war, with their regular theatre reviews have certainly contributed
to the growth of the interest in theatre.
Indian plays were staged for 99% in the district areas. In the twenties
the first historical plays were performed, based on drama by Indians,
but somewhat adapted by | |
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Surinamese authors to local
circumstances. Hindi was the most important theatre language (Hindi and
other Indian languages were also used by the first Hindustani poet,
immigrant Rahmān Khān). The old Indian
tragedies with their religious themes dominated the scene, but in the
course of time texts were simplified, Sarnami being used more frequently
and plays of current and realistic contents being staged.
In 1950 a group of Maroons made their appearance in theatre Bellevue, a
significant moment in the theatralization and secularization of Maroon
culture. As yet the contribution to theatre of Maroons, but also of
Javanese, Chinese and Amerindians still remained very limited. The
period 1923-1957 did see a strong growth of social-cultural
organisations of practically all sections of the population.
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1957-1975
Never before a search for reorientation on the nation's characteristics
was seen as in the years after 1957, never before identity was so
intrusive an object of literary imagination. Elements of all oral
traditions were brought within the new context of written texts.
Nevertheless these oral traditions had less meaning as a barrier against
the influence of European culture, as in the very same time oral
elements in the written literature of the Netherlands Antilles had. An
explanation for this might be, that oral traditions among the different
etnic groups in Suriname were still very much alive and didn't need the
revitalisation of the nearly completely forgotten oral literature of the
Antilles.
With his collection of poems
Trotji
[Upbeat] Trefossa presented the
overture to a gamut of literary activities. Several poets testified to
the inspiration brought by his poetry, but there were numerous factors
which in a complex connection and mutual reinforcement have been
decisive to the extraordinary dynamics in literature. Around 1950 the
educational system was transformed and renewal began to yield profit.
The libraries boosted and served tens of thousands of readers in city
and district. Paramaribo counted more printers than ever before, a
factor not te be underestimated in a situation of literary production
under the own control of the writers (editing houses were only of
marginal significance). The Sticusa and CCS had the means to support
writers with travel grants, scholarships, purchases of their works and
awards. Never before the newspapers made so much space for critics
following cultural developments devotedly. Lively literary debates -
poet Corly Verlooghen often playing the major
role - filled up the columns.
The literary magazines
Tongoni
[Tell me!],
Soela
[Rapids],
Moetete
[Carrier bag] and
Kolibri
[Hummingbird] offered a platform to young writers, as did the
literary page of the daily Suriname appearing every
two weeks from 1967 to 1969, and in the Netherlands the magazine
Mamjo
[Patchwork]. With the exception of
Kolibri
and
Mamjo
, both kicking against the sluggishness of a preboiled literary
nationalism, all periodicals functioned as anthologies without
sharp-drawn programmed literary principles. There was hardly any
continuity in the contributions to these magazines. Making up an
inventory shows a number of 72 authors. Only two of them have
contributed to more than two of these periodicals: Shrinivási and Michaël Slory,
nowadays regarded as canonized writers of poetry keeping in balance
political engagement and personal expression. The magazines themselves
didn't show much continuity either: with seven issues Soela has been the longest living.
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Young directors brought powerful new impulses to theatre life in the
beginning of the seventies. Thus Henk Tjon
started a fruitful cooperation with playwright Thea
Doelwijt in their ‘Doe-theatre’. It is clear however that
popular drama attracted by far the largest crowds; companies to be
mentioned are Naks of Eugène Drenthe and Jagritie of
Goeroedath Kallasingh.
For years Avros-broadcasting had been ruling the air,
but suddenly a whole range of radio stations joined in, giving a
substantial role to vernaculars in their programming and creating space
for radio plays and cultural programmes. In 1965 Suriname got its own
television broadcast as well, but there has never been a substantial
drama production for television.
The collapse of the last Pengel-government in 1969 marked the beginning
of a very turbulent time. With pure and simple militant poetry for the
masses most poets made themselves the mouthpiece of social unrest and
the longing for political independence. From the midst of the sixties
onward R. Dobru supplied the poetical model
for many of the engagés. His poem ‘Wan bon’ [One tree] became the
best-known expression of the desire for unification and solidarity among
the Surinamese people.
Strikingly enough - and not wholy in line with the unitarian belief of
those years - literary production was limited to work in Dutch (René de Rooy, Corly
Verlooghen, Shrinivąsi, Bernardo Ashetu) and Sranan (Eugène Rellum, Johanna
Schouten-Elsenhout, Michaël
Slory), many writers also writing in both languages. Shrinivási
wrote the first poems in Sarnami, Akanamba the earliest poetry in
Saamaka and André Pakosie in Ndyuka, but no complete collections of
poems were published in any of these languages. Little by little Sarnami
got more important as a theatre language; the most important Indian
playwright, Goeroedath Kallasingh,
manifestically presented Indian cultural heritage as part of the
national heritage.
In his poetry Trefossa introduced also
migrants' themes and he was not the only one who did so. Many authors in
the period 1957-1975 lived for years abroad and underwent the influence
of their stay overseas. Paul Marlee for instance wrote a novel in the
international modernist tradition, to be analysed as a web of
intertextal references:
Proefkonijn
[Guinea-pig] (published in 1985). In the Netherlands Surinamese
authors were found in the students' magazine
Mamjo
(featuring John Leefmans and Rudi Kross as the sharpest essayists), around
the club Ons Suriname [Our Suriname] with its yearly
Fri
[Free] and the Surinaams Verbond [Surinamese Union] with its
two-monthly
Djogo
[Beer bottle]. After 1968 Leo
Ferrier and Bea Vianen gave an
enormous boom to the socially engaged still psychologically refined
novel, the genre taking its highest flight since Albert Helman. He himself, still present with new books and
all kinds of activities, was sharply cririzied by the young generation
for being a follower of Dutch ideas.
Several Surinamese poets built up an extensive oeuvre and were awarded
several times. Prose revived, especially the short story, but in the end
few prose writers could cope with the expectations. After their first
publications Coen Ooft, Nel Bradley, Benny Ooft, Thea Doelwijt, Ruud
Mungroo and Rodney Russel didn't
publish much more, or - like Thea Doelwijt - confined themselves to
other genres. The rocket-like entry of Leo
Ferrier in Surinamese literature with his novel
Átman
in 1968 was brusquely broken off after his novel
El sisilobi
. Only Bea Vianen stayed present for
almost a decade as a criticaster of Surinamese corruption with five
novels and several collections of poetry.
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The miraculous deployment of poetical talent, following the time Suriname
had not more but versemongers, had its shadow side too however. Lacking
a good literary infrastructure, even the best poets published their
books under their own control. Absolutely anything, ripe and green was
lying side by side in the bookshops. In the year 1975 almost every week
a new collection of poems was published. The market threatened to become
saturated.
Among migrants' writers some serious cases of psychosis occurred. This
alarming phenomenon may be explained by a complex set of social-cultural
and psychological factors like the ‘multilateral cultural ties’ and the
problematic identification by black people with a mirror image supplied
by whites.
Finally, of a totally different nature is the question in what way the
politically engaged work of the sixties and seventies got somewhere.
Something like a unifying force seemed to haunt Suriname, certainly if
we go by what we can find in literary texts. But looking back on
Suriname before 1975, many authors stroke a sceptical note. Two
important writers of the new generation had made their debut already
around 1970: Edgar Cairo and Astrid Roemer. They would put their stamp mark
on Surinamese literature in the Netherlands in the eighties and
nineties, their work thus becoming part of Surinamese migrants'
literature of post-independence times, a literature showing more
self-criticism than ever before.
Translation by the author
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