De vrije vogel en zijn kooien. Twee vormen van idealisme in het werk van Simon Vestdijk

Samenvatting

The Dutch author Simon Vestdijk (1898-1971) had a thorough knowledge of modern philosophy which he regularly applied in his essays, for example in Het eeuwige telaat, Het wezen van de angst and De toekomst der religie. This paper argues that Vestdijk’s philosophical interest also shows itself in his poetry and fiction. In particular, we aim to demonstrate that some of his best known works, such as De koperen tuin and the Anton Wachter series, are heavily influenced by European idealist ideas and Nietzschean philosophy. The well-known ‘Ina Damman-motif’ is only one form of a more general idealist purport of Vestdijk’s work, wherein both a passive Platonic and Schopenhauerian idealism as well as an active and creative Nietzschean idealism are present. Since idealist ideas present themselves in Vestdijk’s essays as well as in his poetry and fiction and since this is the case over the entire span of his literary career, approaching Vestdijk from the perspective of philosophical idealism will contribute to a better understanding of his work.