Buitenlandse literatuur als katalysator in het poëticale debat Berthold. Auerbach en het genre van de dorpsvertelling in het Nederlandse literaire systeem (1845-1885)

Samenvatting

Abstract – In the 19th century the German author Berthold Auerbach was well known in the Netherlands. His novels and short stories were translated into Dutch very soon after their original publication and in cultural periodicals his name was mentioned regularly. Auerbach’s works, like those of his German contemporaries were considered to be ‘healthy’ alternatives to the ‘obscenities’ of French realism. Initially the Dutch debate about Auerbachs ‘Dorfsgeschichte’ (village tale) centres around the didactic function but gradually the genre’s esthetic value receives more attention. In the process of the development of a more or less autonomous literary system, the reception of foreign literature appears to have had a catalyzing function.