Literary Studies in The Netherlands

Comparative literature in The Netherlands has been strongly affected by the so-called “Bologna” agreement, the outcome of a 1999 summit on higher education during which the member states of the European Union, joined by a substantial number of non- eu nations, some of which have since joined the Union, agreed to create one single—and transparent—model for European higher education by the year 2010. The model that the ministers of education who met in Bologna agreed on is essentially the Anglo-American Bachelor-Master model, with the Bachelor phase taking either three years (in traditional universities) or four years (in professional schools and other institutions of tertiary education that prior to Bologna were not allowed to call themselves universities), and the Master phase taking either one or two years, depending on the generosity of the minister of education in question. It is worth pointing out, by the way, that such generosity is always extended to the sciences, but not always to arts and humanities programs. In any case, the enormously diverse and heterogeneous landscape of European higher education has in the new millennium been replaced, or is in the process of being replaced, by a far more homogeneous academic horizon. That landscape, however, has not been completely effaced. In fact, virtually every participant in this wholesale restructuring has succeeded in creating special features that are as baffling as the original diversity they sought to supplant—in The Netherlands, for instance, Masters programs in literary studies come in three varieties: one year, one-and-a-half year, and two years. There is no denying that things have considerably improved with regard to important issues such as the exchange of students—the agreement also included one uniform credit system ( ects —European Credit Transfer System—for which the French surely have a different acronym)—and the reciprocal acceptance of degrees.

In The Netherlands the restructuring of all programs that was necessitated by the introduction of the Bachelor-Master model made it possible to tackle a problem that had begun to manifest itself in the early 1990s: the ever decreasing interest in language programs and, within those programs, the decreasing interest in literary studies. To give one example: in The Netherlands new majors in German language and literature programs, which are offered by six universities, totaled around 120 in 1991. In 2001 the number of new majors was less than 30, with one program reduced to only two new majors, one of whom out of sheer frustration transferred to another university. (This has all the appearance of a tall story, but its source is the student in question himself, who was interviewed by a student newspaper.) All modern languages, including Dutch, were hit by what can only be called an enrollment disaster and were all forced to downsize through the 1990s and the early 2000s.

Since keeping small programs afloat is a costly business, the restructuring that had to take place anyway led in a good many institutions to greater cooperation among the various language programs. Here, perhaps, I should point out that practically all Dutch academics have a reasonable or even good command of English, German, and French, which makes such cooperation easier. Moreover, Comparative Literature now holds a far more prominent position, both in the undergraduate and at the graduate level. As a matter of fact, all so-called Master of Philology programs in literature, programs leading to a research rather than a teaching degree, have de facto, if not necessarily de iure, become comparative literature programs, usually called literary studies programs in order not to offend anyone. Thanks to wholly external circumstances, comparative literature is doing a brisk business in The Netherlands.

What is that business like? Well, diverse. Although Comparative Literature was never affected as strongly by the poststructuralization of literary studies, as were foreign language programs and remained both fairly traditional and focused on literature, Comparative Literature in The Netherlands certainly did absorb some of poststructuralism’s interests, especially those interests that fitted a comparatist agenda. To offer a prominent example, given the Dutch colonial past—in 1945 The Netherlands still was the third colonial power, after...