Author:

Abstract:

This dissertation, part of a larger FWO-project on proto-Belgian literary journals between 1750 and 1830, under the supervision of prof. Beatrijs Vanacker and prof. Tom Verschaffel, examines French- and Dutch-language literary journals in the Southern Netherlands between 1815 and 1830. It specifically focuses on (multilingual) cultural transfers that shape the content of these journals, their position within the cultural field, as well as their form and structure. To study these transfers, the introductory section develops a methodology for this understudied corpus, taking into account, on the one hand, the specificity of each individual journal, and on the other hand, the evolution of the journal as a medium in general. In the first analytical section, the field of "Belgian" journals in the early nineteenth century is delineated using three parameters that influence the development of the Belgian press: politico-cultural, linguistic, and journalistic. We further explore whether we can speak of a periodical "field" with its own personnel, institutions, and periodical forms, within which one or more types of literary journals can be identified. This typology leads to the corpus that will be examined in depth in the following two sections. The second section looks at the content of four literary journals: De Argus, Letter- en Staatkundig Dagblad, le Mercure belge, and l'Aristarque. Around 1800, ideas about and definitions of literature and literary genres underwent profound changes. It is therefore important to understand what was considered literary within the context of a journal. What texts do we find in these journals? What topics are debated? What national, linguistic, and generic boundaries are imposed on this literature? More specifically, this section examines the (growing) role of literary criticism during this period. Journals and newspapers increasingly adopt a specific discourse on the literature of their time and play a significant role in the success of a book. How do journalists of this period analyze books, poetry collections, and plays? What are their selection criteria and how do they justify them? In the third section, the poetics of the literary journal in the Southern Netherlands is reconstructed. The literary journal balances between different poles: it can be defined along the axis between the (daily) newspaper and the (perpetual) book. On the one hand, it seeks to comment on current (literary) events, and on the other, to serve as an archive for the future. In this capacity, the journal simultaneously forms part of both the press and literary fields. This intermediary position makes the journal the subject of numerous reflections, which are expressed in its communication strategies, sections, and design. All these levels are combined to study the journal as a whole, composed of sometimes contradictory but always highly heterogeneous elements. Our analyses reveals two major models upon which "Belgian" literary journals are based or to which they (un)intentionally refer: the "French" and/or "Dutch" models are strategically emphasized or concealed to shape a readership and a literary field in which the journal positions itself as coherent and indispensable, playing a well-defined role within it.