Migration, literature and cultural memory
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Abstract
The current appreciation of migrants’ literary work in the Netherlands shows that this literature is becoming established and is no longer limited to a few isolated successes. Migrant writers belong simultaneously to two cultures, a fact inevitably reflected in their work. The migration of entire communities has caused borders to fade, while cultures cease to be bound to so-called ‘fixed cartographies’. Literature is no longer studied as an autonomous phenomenon, disconnected from its context, and it is now generally accepted that authors write about or allude to real events, mixing fact and fiction and interweaving various discourses. This article asks to what extent Dutch migrant literature reflects the specific history of groups of migrants. To what extent does this literature relate to the cultural collective memory of authors who have links with two cultures? And, more generally, what is the role of literature in historical consciousness?