Van nationaal belang: De functie van het Nederlandse literaire erfgoed in de eerste helft van de negentiende eeuw

Abstract

At the end of the 18th century the interest in the literary past emerged in the Netherlands. In this article I will try to explain why all of a sudden the literary past became an object of study. First of all the authors from the past were used to improve the contemporary Dutch literature. Another reason was the belief that patriotic feelings could be disseminated through literature. After 1813 the literary past became vital for engendering a national recovery. The focus came to lie upon the restoration of the national identity and the literature, especially the literature from the seventeenth century, had an important role to play in this.