Why We Will Never Agree About Dutch
Linguist and Professor of Dutch Marc van Oostendorp debunks the consensus that Dutch would be a pluricentric language.
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High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands
Linguist and Professor of Dutch Marc van Oostendorp debunks the consensus that Dutch would be a pluricentric language.
Whale oil was a good substitute for vegetable oils and fats, so merchants in the Netherlands saw opportunities to earn good money with whaling. The Dutch hunted whales from 1612 to 1964.
Twenty-four Flemish writers and poets wrote each other letters during the first weeks of the coronavirus lockdown. This is the correspondence between Jeroen Olyslaegers and Siel Verhanneman.
If a vaccine against COVID-19 is ever developed, there is a good chance it will happen in Belgium.
There is something about the development of the Indonesian language that irritates journalist Joss Wibisono - it is being mixed with English.
Don’t start shouting that ‘we’re back in the 1930s again’, writes Fraihi. That sort of warning is counterproductive and even risks gaining the status of forbidden fruit.
The new director of Ons Erfdeel regrets that the debate about Flemish self-awareness has degenerated into a polarisation between the populist right and the tendentious left.
For three centuries, the barge between Bruges and Ghent was a popular and luxurious means of transport.
No fewer than 76 different flowers and plants have already been identified on the Ghent Altarpiece. And all that greenery is rich with significance.
Even in the Low Countries, not everyone is convinced that the anniversary should be celebrated with much fanfare.
When architect Victor Horta was forced to flee during WWI, he travelled to the United States to give lectures. America influenced his ideas about architecture, urban planning, and society.
Belgium has an interim minority government to deal with the corona crisis. The emergency has exacerbated the division in the country. Will Belgium fall apart, or is it actually a laboratory for Europe?
The Dutch bestselling author is back with a novel on European identity, nostalgia and the end of an era.
An exhibition at the In Flanders Fields Museum shows how missing soldiers of the First World War have got their identity back thanks to archaeological and historical research.
International interest in Dutch sources is huge and, thanks to digitalisation, there are more texts available than ever. But human know-how is lagging behind technological progress.
With its large collection of works from the Golden Age, Mauritshuis is one of the most important museums in the Netherlands. Important but not without controversy.
Humour is right there in the boxing ring of our society. So, there is much more to jokes and witticisms than just getting a laugh. But how does humour relate to power?
Migration offers good pickings for populists, while those who take an honest look at the subject find they are up against a headwind. A double interview with migration specialists.
With the Congo Commission, Belgium took a different path from the Netherlands, which had its colonial past in Indonesia investigated by three institutes. What does this mean for dealing with a fraught history?
Many a filmmaker has been inspired by Vermeer's work. A story about the impossible love between master and maid.
After the First World War, architect Huib Hoste helped rebuild the Flemish Westhoek. But his innovative ideas quickly clashed with residents and their yearning for the past.
Five hundred years after his birth, publishers can still learn from his cultural entrepreneurship.
Where are the official apologies for the sufferings the Dutch and Belgians caused in their former colonies?
Tourism is increasingly becoming more of a curse than a blessing in Amsterdam, Bruges, Maastricht and numerous other places in the Low Countries.
The distorted image that many Dutch people have of the overseas territories during the colonial occupation is often based on movies.