The Low Countries. Jaargang 19

Colophon

Association

This nineteenth yearbook is published by the Flemish-Netherlands Association ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (The Hague), the Flemish Ministry of Culture (Brussels) and the Provinces of West and East Flanders. The Association ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’ also publishes the Dutch-language periodical Ons Erfdeel and the French-language periodical Septentrion. Arts, lettres et culture de Flandre et des Pays-Bas, the bilingual yearbook De Franse Nederlanden - Les Pays-Bas Français and a series of books in several languages covering various aspects of the culture of the Low Countries.

The Board of Directors of ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’

President:

Herman Balthazar

Managing Director:

Luc Devoldere

Directors:

Honorary President:

Philip Houben

Address of the Editorial Board and the Administration

‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’, Murissonstraat 260,

8930 Rekkem, Flanders, Belgium

T +32 56 41 12 01, F +32 56 41 47 07

www.onserfdeel.be, www.onserfdeel.nl

thelowcountriesblog.onserfdeel.be

VAT BE 0410.723.635

Kevin Vandenbussche Head of Administration

Adinda Houttekier Administrative Secretary

Aims

With The Low Countries, a yearbook founded by Jozef Deleu (Chief Editor from 1993 until 2002), the editors and publisher aim to present to the world the culture and society of the Dutch-speaking area which embraces both the Netherlands and also Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.

The articles in this yearbook survey the living, contemporary culture of the Low Countries as well as their cultural heritage. In its words and pictures The Low Countries provides information about literature and the arts, but also about broad social and historical developments in Flanders and the Netherlands.

The culture of Flanders and the Netherlands is not an isolated phenomenon; its development over the centuries has been one of continuous interaction with the outside world. In consequence the yearbook also pays due attention to the centuries-old continuing cultural interplay between the Low Countries and the world beyond their borders.

By drawing attention to the diversity, vitality and international dimension of the culture of Flanders and the Netherlands, The Low Countries hopes to contribute to a lively dialogue between differing cultures.

ISSN 0779-5815

ISBN 978-90-79705-078

Statutory deposit no. D/2011/3006/1

NUR 612

Copyright © 2011 ‘Ons Erfdeel vzw’

Printed by Die Keure, Bruges, Flanders, Belgium

Design by Luc De Meyer (Die Keure)

All rights reserved. No-part-of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

The Low Countries arts and society in flanders and the netherlands

(Self-) Images of the Low Countries

Orange: a Colour that Unites and Divides

Catholic and Protestant

Burgundians and Calvinists

The Sorrow of Belgium and The Legend of Ulenspiegel

Max Havelaar and Turkish Delight

And Everything You Always Wanted to Know about

Rock Festivals in the Low Countries

Gerard Reve and England

a Handful of Maeterlinck from Wales

in Praise of Folly

belfries

the Graphic Novel in Flanders

the Changing Face of the Monarchy in Belgium

and the Netherlands

Belgium and its Language Border

a Neuro Calvinist

the Church losing its Stranglehold

Gabriel Metsu and Jan Gossart

political Surrealism

etc, etc.