Belgian literature

Belgian literature

Introduction
 the body of written works produced by Belgians and written in Flemish, which is equivalent to the Standard Dutch (Dutch language) (Netherlandic) language of The Netherlands, and in Standard French (French language), which are the two main divisions of literature by language of Belgium. A lesser-known literature of Belgium, Walloon literature, is written in local dialects of French and Latin origin that are spoken in Wallonia (the provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Namur, Luxembourg, and Walloon Brabant). Flemish literature is often discussed with Dutch literature and Belgium's French-language literature with other French literature. The French-, Flemish-, and Walloon-language literatures of Belgium are discussed in this article.

Early literature
Relationship with Dutch literature
      Any consideration of the Dutch-language literature of Belgium must take into account that the Belgian territories were broadly united with the Netherlands politically, economically, and culturally until 1579, when, as a result of the Reformation, the northern (Reformed) provinces seceded from the Roman Catholic south. Thus until the early 17th century the literature of Flanders and Holland must be considered as a whole (see Dutch literature). It was in Flanders that the literature of the medieval Low Countries flowered most profusely. It was, moreover, in Flanders and Brabant that learning showed new vigour under the influence of the Renaissance and the Reformation. In literature inspired by the Reformation the tone was set by the glowing satiric verse of the Catholic Anna Bijns and the polemical satire, Biencorf der H. Roomsche Kercke (1569; “The Beehive of the Roman Catholic Church”), of the Calvinist Philips van Marnix, heer van Sint Aldegonde (Marnix, Philips van, Heer Van Sint Aldegonde). The Renaissance in the Netherlands began with Lucas de Heere, Carel van Mander (Mander, Carel van), and Jan Baptista van der Noot (Noot, Jan Baptista van der), all of whom, significantly, had fled from the south for religious reasons.

      Many left the south before 1579 as a result of the regional religious and political troubles, and the budding literary revival in Flanders and Brabant was interrupted. Whereas Holland was approaching its golden age, in the south a decline set in. But Justus de Harduwijn, a lyrical poet in the Classical style of the French Pléiade (Pléiade, La); Richard Verstegen, a polemicist; Adriaen Poirters, a popular moralist; the dramatists Willem Ogier and Cornelis de Bie; and, especially, Michiel de Swaen, the last important Baroque poet and playwright, who was deeply inspired by his religion, compare favourably with most writers of their time. The decline was most noticeable in the early 18th century, when the aristocracy and intellectual elite came increasingly under French influence.

      Before the end of the 18th century, however, Willem Verhoeven and Jan Baptist Verlooy had started a reaction against this French influence. Like contemporary historical and scientific writers they reverted to the work of the 16th-century humanists but neglected the medieval masterpieces. Revival was helped by the rederijkers (rhetoricians; see rederijkerskamer), who continued, more or less successfully, to use Dutch, not French. Karel Broeckaert wrote dialogues modeled on Joseph Addison's Spectator (Spectator, The) essays in a spirit of rational liberalism, creating a literary figure, “Gysken,” the ironic representative of the ancien régime; he also wrote the first Flemish prose story, Jellen en Mietje (1811; “Jellen and Mietje”). The poet Pieter Joost de Borchgrave embodied the transition from Classicism to Romanticism, and Jan Baptist Hofman, a prolific playwright, introduced middle-class sentimental tragedy, or drame bourgeois.

19th-century literary trends
The Romantic movement
      Romanticism made its influence felt in the 19th century and was linked to a revival of nationalist consciousness. The older generation of mostly philologists—Jan Frans Willems (Willems, Jan Frans), Jan Baptist David, Philip Blommaert, and Ferdinand Snellaert—rediscovered the rich medieval inheritance. To their group belonged two important poets of the new age, Karel Lodewijk Ledeganck and Prudens van Duyse. The younger generation was more spontaneously Romantic, as was illustrated by the work of Hendrik Conscience (Conscience, Hendrik), creator of the Flemish novel. Theodoor van Rijswijck and Johan Alfried de Laet freed poetry from classical concepts and forms, and the ultra-Romantic stories of Eugeen Zetternam and Pieter Frans van Kerckhoven denounced social evils.

Realism and other post-Romantic trends
      Led by a Realist, Domien Sleeckx, a reaction against Romanticism set in about 1860. Writing became characterized by acute observation, description of local scenery, humour, and, not infrequently, a pervasive pessimism, as could be seen in novels such as Anton Bergmann's Ernest Staes (1874) and Virginie Loveling's Een dure eed (1892; “A Solemn Oath”). The poets Johan Michiel Dautzenberg, Jan van Beers, and Rosalie Loveling, together with the first important Flemish art and literary critic, Max Rooses, also reflected the new Realism. Their work shuns sentimentalism, didacticism, and over-idealization, opting instead for an everyday language, real-life settings, and the exploration of individual psychology.

      Running parallel to this reactionary Realism was a remarkable revival in poetry in West Flanders, headed by Guido Gezelle (Gezelle, Guido), a Roman Catholic priest who was the greatest Flemish poet of the 19th century. He displayed his unique linguistic virtuosity in evocative nature poems and a highly personal lyricism. Albrecht Rodenbach (Rodenbach, Albrecht) wrote militant songs, thoughtful lyrics, monumental epics, and the verse tragedy Gudrun (1882).

      The review Van Nu en Straks (1893–1901; “Of Now and Later”), which was to make Flemish literature of European importance, was influenced more by Gezelle and Rodenbach than by the Dutch generation of the 1880s. Led by Pol de Mont, an already complex modern poet, the writers of the 1880s had, however, widened horizons and, by emphasizing individualism and “art for art's sake,” prepared the ground for their successors.

The 20th century
The turn of the 19th century
      The writers grouped around Van Nu en Straks (Van Nu en Straks circle) helped to bring about a revival and internationalization of Flemish culture. Though they held a wide variety of opinions, they all strove for an art that would comprehend all human activity, and in which individual feelings would be given universal significance. In his masterly essays and his symbolic novel De wandelende Jood (1906; “The Wandering Jew”), their leader, August Vermeylen, advocated a rationalism infused with idealism. Prosper van Langendonck, on the other hand, interpreted the incurable suffering of the poète maudit. In 1898 Emmanuel de Bom published Wrakken (“Wrecks”), the first modern Flemish psychological and urban novel, and Starkadd, an early Wagnerian drama by Alfred Hegenscheidt, was produced.

      The poetry and prose of Karel van de Woestijne (Woestijne, Karel van de) formed a symbolic autobiography of a typical fin de siècle personality, the sophisticated, world-weary sensualist striving for spiritual detachment. His work, a passionate confession of human frailty, represents one of the great achievements of European Symbolism.

      Stijn Streuvels (Streuvels, Stijn), a master of prose, made the West Flemish rural landscape his microcosm, presenting in such novels as De Vlaschaard (1907; The Flaxfield) a visionary world in which man is dwarfed by nature. The polished work of Herman Teirlinck (Teirlinck, Herman), novelist, dramatist, and essayist, was characterized by imagination, sensuality, and a sonorous vocabulary. In the stylistically refined stories of F.V. Toussaint van Boelaere there were often tragic undertones.

      Flemish Naturalism emerged in the work of Reimond Stijns in the first decade of the 20th century. It reached its height in the robust tales and pithy plays of Cyriel Buysse (Buysse, Cyriel) and in the regional novel, as exemplified by the evocations of Bruges by Maurits Sabbe and the vivid treatment of Antwerp life by Lode Baekelmans. At the end of the 20th century, Buysse, to whom Maurice Maeterlinck referred as “our Maupassant,” still attracted critical attention and public interest.

      The group associated with the review De Boomgaard (1909–11; “The Orchard”), which included André de Ridder and Paul Gustave van Hecke, strove to be more cosmopolitan than Van Nu en Straks and defended a more dilettante attitude to culture. The elegiac poet Jan van Nijlen (Nijlen, Jan van) had affinities with this group.

After World War I
      During World War I there was a new flowering of the picturesque regional tale: Pallieter (1916) by Felix Timmermans (Timmermans, Felix) and the roguish De witte (1920; Whitey) by Ernest Claes (Claes, Ernest) became known outside Flanders. From the poetry of August van Cauwelaert and the prose of Franz de Backer it was obvious that the generation that fought in the war emphasized realism over romanticism. But a trend first revealed during the German occupation found its most direct outlet in revolutionary Expressionism, as seen in the manifesto of the review Ruimte (1920–21; “Space”): ethics must take priority over aesthetics, and the art of the community over that of the individual. Expressionism was most apparent in lyrical poetry and drama. Wies Moens's early poetry reflected this humanitarian trend, whereas Gaston Burssens remained less pathetic and more playful. The outstanding lyricist of the movement was Paul van Ostaijen (Ostaijen, Paul van), who had expressed faith in humanity in Het sienjaal (1918; “The Signal”) but soon went through a Dadaist (Dada) crisis of philosophical and artistic nihilism. Van Ostaijen experimented with visually expressive form—he called it rhythmic typography, as in his Bezette stad (1921; “Occupied City”)—and finally wrote “pure poetry” (concentrating on word and sound), grotesque verse and prose, and penetrating essays on art and poetry. The review 't Fonteintje (1921–24; “The Little Fountain”), whose editors included Richard Minne and Maurice Roelants, reacted against Expressionism. Nevertheless, drama also was given new life by Expressionism. In the 1920s the Flemish Popular Theatre became one of the foremost avant-garde theatres in Europe. Herman Teirlinck was particularly important in the revitalization of the Flemish theatre, and he raised the standards of both playwriting and, by his interest in the training of actors, performance.

      By 1930 the tide of Expressionism had run out, and the novel had come into its own. The regional novel was supplanted by the psychological novel, introduced by Roelants with Komen en gaan (1927; “Coming and Going”), and was raised to great stylistic heights by Maurice Gilliams (Elias, 1936), who was also a subtle poet and essayist. Lode Zielens wrote about the lives of the poor, and Gerard Walschap treated social, religious, and moral problems in a forceful, deliberately colloquial style.

      The focal point of these authors, even after World War II, was human complexity and the often deluded attempts to make sense of the world and of others. The skeptical Raymond Brulez, whose four-part fictionalized memoirs Mijn woningen (1950–54; “My Dwellings”)—composed of De haven (“The Harbour”), Het mirakel der rozen (“The Miracle of the Roses”), Het huis te Borgen (“The House at Borgen”), and Het pact der triumviren (“The Pact of the Triumvirate”)—combine stylistic sophistication with a cool intellectualism. Both Brulez and the disenchanted humanist Marnix Gijsen, who produced his best work in the symbolic Het boek van Joachim van Babylon (1947; “The Book of Joachim of Babylon”), are more or less detached observers of human weaknesses.

      In Willem Elsschot (Elsschot, Willem)'s short but superb novels, such as Lijmen (1924; Soft Soap) and Kaas (1933; “Cheese”), caustic irony and an astringent style mask the author's underlying compassion. The new tone was set by the “personalistic” poets of the Vormen (1936–40; “Forms”) group, of whom Pieter Geert Buckinx is representative.

After World War II
      The major writers of World War II and the postwar period were novelists. The range of subjects and styles in the novel was remarkable. A small sample includes the problem novels of Paul Lebeau and Gaston Duribreux; the “magic realism” of Johan Daisne and Hubert Lampo, who mingled the fantastic with everyday reality; the “social realism” of Piet van Aken (Het begeren, 1952; “Desire”) and Louis-Paul Boon (De kapellekensbaan, 1953; Chapel Road), who examined the bleak lives of the poor and downtrodden; the anguished Existentialism of Jan Walravens (Negatief, 1958; “Negative”); and the experimental novels of Hugo Claus (Claus, Hugo). Boon, Walravens, and Claus belonged to a review group called Tijd en Mens (1949–55; “Time and Man”), which was marked by postwar chaos, rebellion, and Experimentalism. Boon and Claus eventually became recognized as the outstanding postwar novelists. The former often combined formal experimentation with colloquial directness and a compassionate if unsentimental social awareness. Many of his historical novels are based on detailed archival research. Claus's prose fiction takes in every imaginable narrative mode, from the naturalistic to the surreal and the teasingly allusive. His major novel, the monumental Het verdriet van België (1983; The Sorrow of Belgium), paints an unflattering portrait of a Flemish collaborationist family in the years before, during, and after World War II, but it is also a Bildungsroman about a wayward adolescent who decides to become a writer.

      In the 1960s the experimental trend in the novel led to new prose either based on stream-of-consciousness association (as in the works of Hugo Raes, Ivo Michiels, and Paul de Wispelaere) or consisting of introverted “texts” dwelling largely on the act of writing itself (as in the works of Willy Roggeman and Daniel Robberechts). The latter gained posthumous recognition for his uncompromising break with the narrative tradition. Michiels embarked on a multivolume project that systematically explores different themes by manipulating corresponding modes of writing and symbolic figures. Nevertheless, the tradition proved to be fertile—e.g., in the satiric and allegorical novels by Ward Ruyslinck and in Jef Geeraerts's violent colonial novels. Walter van den Broeck later emerged as an accomplished writer, employing a mixture of autobiography and social history.

      In postwar Flemish poetry the impact of Experimentalism—the unconstrained lyricism and richly metaphorical style that also informed the Vijftigers (“Fifties Movement”) in The Netherlands—made itself felt in the work of Albert Bontridder and Hugo Claus, whose raw and sensuous Oostakkerse gedichten (1955; “Oostakker Poems”) has remained a milestone. The playful Paul Snoek and the sombre Hugues Pernath continued the experimental line. In the 1970s such writers as Herman de Coninck and Roland Jooris led a Neorealist reaction, which was followed by a Neoromantic revival, evident in the work of such writers as Eddy van Vliet and Luuk Gruwez. The poetry of Freddy de Vree, on the other hand, was more intellectual. The poet Christine D'haen also made her mark during this period.

      Postwar drama, at first still dominated by Teirlinck, saw new talent emerging in Jozef van Hoeck (Voorloping vonnis, 1957; “Provisional Verdict”), in the literary plays of Herwig Hensen, and in the political theatre of Tone Brulin, but especially in the many original plays and adaptations by Hugo Claus, such as Suiker (1958; “Sugar”) and Vrijdag (1969; Friday in Four Works for the Theatre, 1990). Van den Broeck later made his mark with socially committed and naturalistic work.

The end of the 20th century

      Following the explosion of literary talent and innovation in the previous decades, surprisingly few new writers made their appearance in the 1970s. Those that did were hardly noticed, giving rise to the label “the silent generation.” About 1980, however, the impasse was broken when such writers as Leo Pleysier, Pol Hoste, Eriek Verpale, Eric de Kuyper, and Monika van Paemel either made their debuts or reached a wider audience, mostly with autobiographically inspired work. Van Paemel went on to write a masterpiece, the fast-paced epic De vermaledijde vaders (1985; “The Accursed Fathers”), a complex novel as much about the workings of memory as about the Second World War and its aftermath as seen from a feminist viewpoint.

      In the mid-1980s a number of younger prose writers gained attention. They include Kristien Hemmerechts, who wrote about loss and sexual tensions in an understated manner, the more philosophical Patricia de Martelaere, and the inventive Koen Peeters. Such authors as Tom Lanoye and Stefan Hertmans made their mark in more than one genre. Lanoye was a performing poet and a passionate, often iconoclastic critic as well as a fiction writer. Hertmans's critical essays are cosmopolitan and erudite, his poetry hermetic, and his fiction hallucinatory.

      The new generation of emergent writers of the 1980s was bolstered by the magazines Kreatief, Yang, and De Brakke Hond, as well as by the critical work of Hugo Brems, Hugo Bousset, and Herman de Coninck. Brems proved an astute and skeptical chronicler of contemporary literature in general, Bousset championed postmodernist fragmentation and formal experimentation in prose fiction, and de Coninck became the most eloquent advocate of the muted, accessible, and ironic poetry of Neorealist vintage.

      As regards fiction, the writers who came to the fore in the 1970s and '80s still dominated the scene at the end of the 20th century. Apart from the towering figures of Hugo Claus and Monika van Paemel, Kristien Hemmerechts continued to explore feminist issues, Eric de Kuyper the autobiographical dimension, Leo Pleysier the modulations of the spoken voice, and Pol Hoste the complexities of memory and the creative process, while Herman Brusselmans practiced an illusionless, deliberately clichéd and camp-inspired form of anti-literature. The range of contemporary prose writing is perhaps best indicated with reference to two extremes: at one end the bewilderingly postmodern, hallucinatory fabulations of Peter Verhelst (Tongkat, 1999; “Tongue-cat”), and, at the other, the psychological subtlety and stylistic refinement of Erwin Mortier's domestic still lifes (Marcel, 1999).

      In the last decades of the 20th century, the most singular poetic voice in Flanders was that of Leonard Nolens, whose work evolved from experimental to classical, as his earlier obsessive self-definition gave way to more serene reflections on relations with loved ones and others. His introverted diaries offer a sustained reflection on poetic creation. Nolens's high seriousness contrasts with the more playful and ironic postmodernism of slightly younger poets, such as Dirk van Bastelaere, Erik Spinoy, Peter Verhelst, and Marc Tritsmans. The ambivalence of language as an instrument to create new meanings and as a deceptive interpreter of the world, constitutes their central theme.

Other forms
      Drama revived in the work of Arne Sierens, Jan Fabre, and Josse de Pauw; the latter two are also active in other art forms, the visual arts and dance (Fabre) and film (de Pauw), respectively. Lieve Joris writes outstanding travel literature, and Geert van Istendael excels at passionate, witty, self-deprecating essayistic and fictional prose.

René Felix Lissens Theo Jozef Hermans

French

Beginnings
      In the history of French literature, that written by Belgian writers in French forms an important chapter. Even before Belgium achieved independence in 1830, many outstanding works had been written in French by writers of Flemish origin. They were responsible for some of the medieval chansons de geste (chanson de geste) and had a hand in writing the didactic, religious, and lyrical poetry, plays, and chronicles that issued from this period. The names of Jean Le Bel, Jean Froissart (Froissart, Jean), Georges Chastellain (Chastellain, Georges), and Philippe de Commynes (Commynes, Philippe de) indicate the wealth of early historiography by Flemish writers, while Jean Lemaire de Belges (Lemaire de Belges, Jean) was one of the great late medieval poets and rhetoricians (rhétoriqueurs (rhétoriqueur)).

      The death of Margaret Of Austria (1530) was followed by a period of literary sterility, which was prolonged until the end of the ancien régime by unstable economic conditions, the indifference to native culture of successive foreign governments, and the strong influence of 17th- and 18th-century French literature. Only a few writers are remembered, and notable among them is Charles-Joseph, prince de Ligne (Ligne, Charles-Joseph, prince de).

      Between the end of the 18th century and 1880 attempts were made to create an original, native literature. This was particularly true of the period following the founding of the modern Belgian nation in 1830 under the rule of a French-speaking liberal bourgeoisie. In an era marked by a lack of outstanding writers, the exception was Charles de Coster (Coster, Charles de), whose unconventional picaresque novel Légende … d'Ulenspiegel (1867; The Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel) has attained the status of an epic of Flanders. Meanwhile, the influential essayist Octave Pirmez looked forward to a new generation of writers.

The Jeune Belgique movement
      Impetus for the long-awaited literary renaissance came from Max Waller (Waller, Max), founder in 1881 of an influential review, La Jeune Belgique (Jeune Belgique, La) (“Young Belgium”), which suggested a national literary consciousness; in reality, however, the review was the vehicle of expression of individual writers dedicated to the idea of art for art's sake (see Aestheticism).

      Of novelists early associated with the movement, Camille Lemonnier (Lemonnier, Camille) (Un Mâle, 1881; “A Male”) was the leading Belgian exponent of Naturalism; a vibrant Flemish regionalism distinguished the work of Georges Eekhoud (Eekhoud, Georges); and Eugène Demolder (Demolder, Eugène) was influenced by art in his novels and stories. A later Jeune Belgique novelist was Georges Rodenbach (Rodenbach, Georges), celebrator of silence and spirituality, whose Bruges-la-morte (1892; Eng. trans. Bruges-La-Morte) was the epitome of decadent fiction.

      Stimulated by the Jeune Belgique movement was a group of poets much concerned with style and language. Among them were Grégoire Le Roy, a gifted lyrical Symbolist poet; Charles Van Lerberghe (Van Lerberghe, Charles), who explored the potential of Symbolist verse; and Albert Mockel, founder of an influential Symbolist review, La Wallonie.

      They were overshadowed, however, by three poets of international stature: Émile Verhaeren (Verhaeren, Émile), Maurice Maeterlinck (Maeterlinck, Maurice), and Max Elskamp (Elskamp, Max). Verhaeren, whose poetry ranged in mood from sorrow to joy, from despair at rural depopulation to delight in the modern metropolis, extolled humanity's struggle toward social justice in such volumes as Les Villes tentaculaires (1895; “The Tentacular Cities”); Elskamp fused legendary themes and Antwerp folklore with a devout Catholicism; and Maeterlinck attempted to illuminate life's inner meaning.

      Maeterlinck was also the outstanding dramatist of the period. In such plays as Monna Vanna (1902; Eng. trans. Monna Vanna), he created Symbolist poetic drama. In 1911 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Edmond Picard, a playwright, novelist, and critic, founded the socially conscious review L'Art Moderne. Art and literary criticism flourished, and the period saw the beginning, in the work of Godefroid Kurth, of modern historiography; one of the outstanding historians was Henri Pirenne (Pirenne, Henri). This atmosphere of budding scholarship culminated in 1920 with the founding of the Belgian Académie Royale de Langue et de Littérature Françaises.

The modern period
Between World Wars I and II
      A new generation of Belgians who wrote in French arose between World Wars I and II. Some were francophone Flemings: André Baillon (Baillon, André), whose novels showed his keen yet compassionate observation of life, Roger Avermaete, and Michel Seuphor. Regionalism evolved in the short stories of Louis Delattre. Jean Tousseul was concerned with the suffering of people from humble backgrounds, as was Neel Doff, who wrote about her own experiences in such works as Keetje (1919). Other female writers were Marie Gevers (Gevers, Marie), who showed strong attachment to rural roots, Madeleine Bourdouxhe (author of La Femme de Gilles, 1937; Eng. trans. La Femme de Gilles), and Madeleine Ley (Olivia, 1936), who was also a poet. A maverick spirit characterized the prose and verse of Jean de Boschère. Inspired initially by left-wing politics, Charles Plisnier (Plisnier, Charles) wrote powerfully analytical novels, and with the publication of Faux Passeports (1937; Memoirs of a Secret Revolutionary), he became the first non-French winner of the Prix Goncourt. Political awareness also characterized Belgian Surrealist literature, which was divided into two groups: one centred in Brussels and including Paul Nougé (Nougé, Paul), Marcel Lecomte, and Louis Scutenaire, and the other in the province of Hainaut, including Fernand Dumont, Achille Chavée, and the ex-miner Constant Malva. Franz Hellens (Hellens, Franz), Plisnier, and others made up the “Groupe du lundi” (1936–39), named after their Monday meetings in Brussels. In 1937 this group issued a literary manifesto, rejecting Belgian regionalism and nationalism in favour of French literature. Jean Ray was a pioneer of fantastic literature in Belgium. Somewhat later, Georges Simenon (Simenon, Georges) imbued the detective story with exceptional psychological penetration. Another outstanding practitioner of the detective genre was Stanislas-André Steeman.

      The poetry of this period was characterized by increased stylistic experiment and the development of fluent individual styles. The revolutionary poetic language of Henri Michaux (Michaux, Henri) was influenced by Surrealism, whereas Clément Pansaers (Pansaers, Clément) and Paul Neuhuys were influenced by the nihilistic Dada movement. Chief exponents of an experimental use of words were Marcel Thiry (Thiry, Marcel), whose lyrical style was rooted in a candid realism; Géo Norge (Norge, Géo), who wrote idiosyncratic, warm-hearted verse; and Robert Goffin, who was open to cosmopolitan, especially American, influences. Another group of poets was headed by Odilon-Jean Périer, himself an original poet of unusual clarity who was the leading light of his generation.

      Poetry is also laced through the dramas of Fernand Crommelynck (Crommelynck, Fernand), who wrote savage farces. Michel de Ghelderode (Ghelderode, Michel de), whose plays have been widely translated into English, astonished audiences with his love of anachronistic situations and puppetlike characters. The playwright Herman Closson reinterpreted historical events and characters.

Developments after World War II
      Several literary events occurred in the aftermath of World War II. The writer Christian Dotremont (Dotremont, Christian) helped establish the international art group COBRA (1948–51), writing portraits of various members of the group and text for their exhibition catalogs. In 1952 a biennial international conference of poets and critics was founded, held at Knokke-Het Zoute and later at Liège. Furthermore, the poet and critic Fernand Verhesen established the Centre International d'Etudes Poétiques in 1954. It is also notable that literary periodicals, which were usually organs for political or literary groups of writers, continued to be influential, especially Le Journal des Poètes.

      The novel became less regional than formerly, and in fact was often set in foreign surroundings; generally it subordinated action to detailed analysis of characters' reactions in somewhat contrived situations. Albert Ayguesparse, earlier associated with proletarian literature, built upon the realism of the interwar period, while Hubert Juin combined Ardennes regionalism with social and psychological awareness. Female writers such as Dominique Rolin (Rolin, Dominique), Jacqueline Harpman, Maud Frère, and Louis Dubrau (pseudonym of Louise Scheidt) were concerned primarily with the problems of personal relationships. Rolin's insistent and incisive explorations of personal origins and family life often utilized experimental language and form, as in Le Gâteau des morts (1982; The Deathday Cake). Breadth of subject matter and meticulous style characterized the work of Suzanne Lilar (Lilar, Suzanne), author of La Confession anonyme (1960; “The Anonymous Confession”) and others. Lilar's daughter, Françoise Mallet-Joris (Mallet-Joris, Françoise), established her reputation with Le Rempart des béguines (1951; Into the Labyrinth), the first part of an Antwerp trilogy. History, mythology, and psychoanalysis were merged in the work of the psychoanalyst Henry Bauchau (Bauchau, Henry) in such novels as Œdipe sur la route (1990; Oedipus on the Road). Jacques-Gérard Linze and Guy Vaes (Octobre long dimanche, 1956; October Long Sunday), on the other hand, were particularly influenced by modernist fictional forms. Thomas Owen continued the fantastic tradition begun by Jean Ray. The fiction of Gaston Compère was both extravagant and intense. Notable younger novelists included Pierre Mertens (Mertens, Pierre) and Conrad Detrez (Detrez, Conrad) (both of whose writing is marked by an international political awareness), Jean-Claude Pirotte, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Eugène Savitzkaya and Francis Dannemark (both of whom also wrote poetry), and the fiercely iconoclastic Marcel Moreau. The most successful young Belgian novelist of the 1990s was Amélie Nothomb, two of whose novels of the '90s—Le Sabotage amoureux (1993; Loving Sabotage) and Stupeur et tremblements (1999; Fear and Trembling)—were translated into English at the turn of the 21st century.

      Postwar poetry was at first dominated by a Neoclassical tendency in which such poets as Robert Vivier, Géo Libbrecht, Jean Tordeur, and Edmond Vandercammen often reverted to regular metrical forms in poems on eternal themes. Liliane Wouters, Lucienne Desnoues, Jeanine Moulin, and Andrée Sodenkamp helped to legitimate poetry written by women. Maurice Carême and the chansonnier Jacques Brel gained international fame for the popular appeal of their lyrics. With limpid irony, Franƈois Jacqmin wrote elemental, philosophical poetry. Christian Dotremont developed his own unique calligraphic poems known as “logograms.” The lucid verse of André Schmitz offered a fusion of traditional and modern forms. In the 1970s new investigations of the frontiers of poetic language marked the work of Jean Daive, Jacques Izoard, Werner Lambersy, Jacques Crickillon, and Christian Hubin, while Jean-Pierre Verheggen combined avant-gardism with Walloon populism. Among the most talented younger poets were William Cliff and Guy Goffette.

      Outstanding dramatists, generally writing in an ethical rather than historical vein, were Georges Sion, Jean Mogin, and Charles Bertin, whose Prétendants (1947), a modern version of the Ulysses story, was played abroad as Love in a Labyrinth. Other dramatists of note were Jean Sigrid and Jean Louvet, who drew on his working-class Walloon background. Jewish and Flemish, respectively, the playwrights René Kalisky (Kalisky, René) and Paul Willems (Willems, Paul) explored questions of personal and national identity in highly idiosyncratic dramatic forms. During the 1980s Paul Emond (an accomplished novelist) and Jean-Marie Piemme also established reputations in the theatre.

      The 1970s and '80s brought new critical awareness of French-language Belgian literature as a distinctive presence within international francophone culture. The term “belgitude” enjoyed currency as a unifying concept but was soon perceived as an unhelpful stereotype. A number of critics—such as Marc Quaghebeur, Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, Paul Aron, Christian Berg, and Frans De Haes—continued to reassess the history and quality of Belgian literature in French while recognizing its linguistic and cultural diversity.

J. Philip Mosley

Early writings
      The origins of dialect literature in Wallonia are obscure. From the 9th to the 11th century Latin held sway in the abbeys, the only intellectual centres of the period. With the exception of the Cantilène de Sainte Eulalie (c. 900), the first vernacular writings date only from the middle of the 12th century. They are chiefly anonymous tracts, among which the Poème moral, consisting of nearly 4,000 alexandrines, stands out. During the next three centuries Walloon literature is marked by the importance of its local chronicles and certain aspects of its religious drama.

      At the beginning of the 17th century, Wallonia—particularly the district of Liège—became conscious of the literary possibilities of dialect, and from then on the number of writings increased. An “Ode” in the Liège dialect appeared in 1620, and pasquèyes (paskeyes, paskeilles), poems describing local life and history, enjoyed a vogue.

The 18th and 19th centuries
      Use of the patois broadened in the 18th century. The success of comic opera at Liège resulted in several noteworthy librettos. Li Voyadjue di Tchaudfontaine (1757; “The Journey to Chaudfontaine”), Li Lîdjwès egagî (“The Enlisted Liégeois”), and Les Hypocondres (“The Hypochondriacs”) resulted in the formation of the Théâtre Liégeois. In lyric poetry the cramignon (a type of song for dancing) and the Noëls (Christmas carols and dialogue) adopted a genuine realism.

      The number of Walloon poets and other dialect writers increased during the 19th century. Charles-Nicolas Simonon wrote the moving stanzas of “Li Côpareye” (the name of the clock of the cathedral of Saint-Lambert), François Bailleux his charming “Mareye,” and the first great Walloon lyric poet, Nicolas Defrêcheux, his famous “Leyiz-m'plorer” (1854; “Let Me Weep”). The establishment at Liège, in 1856, of the Société Liégeoise de Littérature Wallonne had considerable influence on both language and literature. The number of poems, songs, plays, and even translations into Walloon of such authors as La Fontaine, Ovid, and Horace increased.

      Other parts of Belgium, apart from prolific Liège, still remained active centres of dialect writing. In the 19th century, Namur could boast especially of Charles Wérotte and Nicolas Bosret, poet of the touching song “Bia Bouquet.” The works of Jean-Baptiste Descamps and others originated in Hainaut. Walloon Brabant was the home of a truculent Abbé Michel Renard.

      By the end of the 19th century many writers working in Walloon dialects chose a rather doctrinaire Realism to depict workaday existence and remained somewhat hidebound by social conventions. Poets included Joseph Vrindts and, above all, Henri Simon, who sang of working peasantry. Successful playwrights included André Delchef and Édouard Remouchamps, whose vaudeville comedy in verse, Tâtî l'pèriquî (performed 1885; “Tati the Hairdresser”), married close observation and technical dexterity.

The 20th century
      Walloon literature explored new paths during the course of the 20th century. Scholars undertook dialect studies, and standardization of spelling and grammar extended the literary possibilities of the dialect, as did attempts by Émile Lempereur and some other writers to renew the sources of inspiration. Alongside several veteran authors, such as the talented prose writer Joseph Calozet of Namur, the younger generations sought to achieve a strict unity of thought and technique. Among poets the following especially were to be noted: Franz Dewandelaer, Charles Geerts, Willy Bal, Henri Collette, Émile Gilliard, Jean Guillaume, Marcel Hicter, Albert Maquet, Georges Smal, and Jenny d'Invérno. Storytellers and novelists whose achievements were widely praised included Léon Mahy, Dieudonné Boverie, and Léon Maret, among many others. The dramatists included François Roland, Jules Evrard, Georges Charles, Charles-Henri Derache, François Masset, and J. Rathmès. The work of dialect writers continued to be assisted by the Société de Littérature Wallonne, with its associations and publishing centres at Liège, Namur, Mons, La Louvière, Nivelles, and Brussels.

Additional Reading
Among works useful to the general reader are Suzanne Lilar, The Belgian Theater Since 1890, 3rd ed. (1962; originally published in French, 1952); Vernon Mallinson, Modern Belgian Literature, 1830–1960 (1966); Jean Weisgerber (ed.), Les Avant-Gardes Littéraires en Belgique: au confluent des arts et des langues, 1880–1950 (1991); and David Willinger (ed.), An Anthology of Contemporary Belgian Plays, 1970–1982 (1984).Studies of Flemish literature include Jan A. Goris, Belgian Letters, 3rd ed. (1950); R.F. Lissens, De Vlaamse letterkunde van 1780 tot heden, 4th rev. ed. (1967, reissued 1974); Theodore Weevers, Poetry of the Netherlands in Its European Context: 1170–1930 (1960); Jean Weisgerber, Formes et domaines du roman flamand, 1927–1960 (1963), also available in a Dutch version, Aspecten van de Vlaamse roman, 1927–1960, 3rd, supplemented ed. (1973); Reinder P. Meijer, Literature of the Low Countries, 2nd ed. (1978); M. Rutten and Jean Weisgerber (eds.), Van arm Vlaanderen tot de voorstad groeit: de opbloei van de Vlaamse literatuur van Teirlinck-Stijns tot L.P. Boon (1888–1946) (1988); Ada Deprez and Walter Gobbers (eds.), Vlaamse literatuur van de negentiende eeuw: dertien verkenningen (1990); Jaap Goedegebuure and Anne Marie Musschoot, Contemporary Fiction of the Low Countries, 2nd rev. ed. (1995); and M.A. Schenkeveld-Van der Dussen (ed.), Nederlandse literatuur, een geschiedenis (1993). Anthologies include Jethro Bithell (compiler and trans.), Contemporary Flemish Poetry (1917); Jan Greshoff (ed.), Harvest of the Lowlands (1945); Konrad Hopkins and Ronald Van Roekel (eds.), Quartet: An Anthology of Dutch and Flemish Poetry (1978); Joost de Wit and Stanley H. Barkan (compilers), 50 Dutch & Flemish Novelists (1979); Hans van de Waarsenburg (compiler), Five Contemporary Flemish Poets (1979); Manuel Van Loggem (compiler and ed.), New Worlds from the Lowlands: Fantasy and Science Fiction of Dutch and Flemish Writers (1982), a collection of post-World War II works; James S. Holmes and William Jay Smith (eds.), Dutch Interior: Postwar Poetry of The Netherlands and Flanders (1984); Hugo Brems and Ad Zuiderent (eds.), Contemporary Poetry of the Low Countries, 2nd rev. ed. (1995); Lucie Th. Vermij (ed.), Women Writers from The Netherlands and Flanders (1992); and vol. 14, no. 2 (Summer 1994), special issue of The Review of Contemporary Fiction on new Flemish fiction.Texts dealing with French-language Belgian literature are Camille Hanlet, Les Écrivains belges contemporains de langue française, 1800–1946, 2 vol. (1946); Andrew J. Mathews, La Wallonie, 1886–1892: The Symbolist Movement in Belgium (1947); Gustave Charlier and Joseph Hanse (eds.), Histoire illustrée des lettres françaises de Belgique (1958); Adrien Jans (ed.), Lettres vivantes: deux générations d'écrivains français en Belgique, 1945–1975 (1975); Robert Burniaux and Robert Frickx, La Littérature belge d'expression française, 2nd ed. (1980); Robert Frickx and Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, La Littérature française de Belgique (1980); Alberte Spinette (ed.), Alphabet des lettres belges de langue française (1982); René Andrianne, Ecrire en Belgique: essai sur les conditions de l'écriture en Belgique francophone (1983); René Andrianne (ed.), Ecriture française et identifications culturelles en Belgique (1984); Robert Frickx and Raymond Trousson (eds.), Lettres françaises de Belgique: dictionnaire des oeuvres, 4 vol. (1988–94); Marc Quaghebeur, Lettres belges entre absence et magie (1990); Michel Biron, La Modernité belge: littérature et société (1994); Renée Linkhorn (ed.), La Belgique telle qu'elle s'écrit: perspectives sur les lettres belges de langue française (1995); Colloque international francophone du canton de Payrac, Belgique Wallonie-Bruxelles: une littérature francophone (1999); Christian Berg and Pierre Halen (eds.), Littérature belges de langue française: histoire et perspectives, 1830–2000 (2000). Anthologies include Pierre Bourgeois and Fernand Verhesen (compilers), A Quarter Century of Poetry from Belgium (1970); Liliane Wouters (ed.), Panorama de la poésie françaises de Belgique (1976); Werner Lambersy (ed.), An Anthology of Young Belgian Poetry (1982); Maurice Maeterlinck, Fernand Crommelynck, and Michel de Ghelderode, An Anthology of Modern Belgian Theatre, trans. from the French by Alba Amoia, Bettina L. Knapp, and Nadine Dermoy-Savage (1982); Liliane Wouters and Alain Bosquet (eds.), La Poésie francophone de Belgique, 4 vol. (1985–92); David Willinger and Jeanine Parisier Plottel (eds.), Theatrical Gestures: From the Belgian Avant-Garde (1987); Donald Flanell Friedman (ed.), An Anthology of Belgian Symbolist Poets (1992); The Key to Our Aborted Dreams: Five Plays by Contemporary Belgian Women Writers (1998), trans. from the French by Anne-Marie Glasheen; Kim Connell (ed.), The Belgian School of the Bizarre: An Anthology of Short Stories (1998); Michel Joiret and Marie-Ange Bernard, Littérature belge de langue française (1999).René Felix Lissens Theo Jozef Hermans J. Philip Mosley Victor Nachtergaele

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