gender and genre in Dutch children's about the Dutch East Indies, 1890-1930
- Categories
- Article/Artikel
- Magazine Title
- BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review
- Magazine Year
- 2020
- Magazine Number
- 3-4
- Creator
- Wesseling, Elisabeth
- Thesaurus
- kinderliteratuur, mobiliteit, meisjes, jongens, genres, kolonialisme, Nederlands-Indië, 1890-1899, 19e eeuw, 20e eeuw
- Description
- This article discusses children's novels of the Dutch East Indies in the period 1890-1930. Specifically, it focuses on literature about the displacement of Eurasian children to the Netherlands for the purpose of reformation and/or education. While the novel's main characters often were girls, in reality those children who were sent to secundary education in the Netherlands were Eurasian boys. The article explains this discrepancy and studies how the fictional representation of child mobility within the colonial context is deflected by the narrative conventions of literature genres.