134132 PS Narrating History. The Dutch 20th Century as Family Saga (2024S)

“The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. […] this is often a thematic device used to portray particular historical events, changes of social circumstances, or the ebb and flow of fortunes from a multitude of perspectives.” (Wikipedia) In his bestselling “Das Jahrhundert meines Vaters”, Geert Mak introduces the reader to the lives and doings of his own family against the background of major themes and events in the Dutch 20th Century. Or the other way around: Geert Mak introduces the reader to major events and themes of the Dutch 20th Century through the lives and doings of the members of the Mak family. Is this primarily a family saga or a historiographic account? The book has also been characterised as “a biography of the Netherlands through the lives of an average Dutch family”. Is this a biographic portrayal of a family, or of an entire nation? In this proseminar, we will read the book and consider this intersection of multiple genres. We will discuss the use of so-called egodocuments in writing history and analyse the narrative strategies of the author of representing the past to a present reader. Finally, we will evaluate our reading experiences.

Aims:
Students can identify narrative strategies in writing history.
Students are able to reflect on fact and fiction in representing the past in the present.
Students are familiar with the concept ‘egodocuments’ and their place in historiography.