Questions tagged [dutch-language]

For questions on literature originally written in the Dutch language. Please also make sure to use the applicable work and author tag.

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Origin of the phrase “back when the animals could still speak” in Dutch fables or fairy tales

In Dutch, some fables or fairy tales (or both) begin with the words "[lang geleden] toen de dieren nog spraken / konden spreken", i.e. "[a long time ago] back when the animals still ...
5 votes
1 answer
284 views

In Anne Frank's Diary, what does this quote mean? "Who besides me will ever read these letters? From whom but myself shall I get comfort?..."

What does this quote from Anne Frank's Diary mean? Who besides me will ever read these letters? From whom but myself shall I get comfort? As I need comforting often, I frequently feel weak, and ...
9 votes
2 answers
384 views

In what way is Dussel an unflattering nickname?

From 16 November 1942 onwards, Anne Frank had to share her room with the dentist Fritz Pfeffer, who had a number of habits that Anne couldn't stand. In the German biography Anne Frank (Reinbek bei ...
13 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why does Anne Frank have so many admirers at school?

Anne Frank writes: I have a throng of admirers who can't keep their adoring eyes off me and who sometimes have to resort to using a broken mirror to try and catch a glimpse of me in the classroom Is ...
22 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is the house plan in Anne Frank's diary an artistic rendition, or is it sketched by Anne?

There is this image in the "Friday, 9 July, 1942" section of Anne Frank's diary; a design of the house which is popularly called the Secret Annex. Did Anne's original diary have a (rough) ...
5 votes
0 answers
67 views

Sources for claims about the identity of Kitty, the addressee of Anne Frank's diary entries

Anne Frank addressed her diary entries to Kitty and there has been much conjecture whether this name referred to a real person or was inspired by one. The English Wikipedia article about The Diary of ...
4 votes
1 answer
256 views

What is the evidence that Flemish fables or fairy tales began with the words “back when the animals could still speak”?

In an answer to the question Why do many Korean folk tales start with “back when tigers smoked”?, user @Flater, who comes from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium (i.e. Flanders), claims that the Dutch ...
4 votes
1 answer
79 views

Dutch Novel: old retired actor who receives an anonymous letter offering him one last role

It was written by one of the four (or five) "Lions" of post-war Dutch literature. The story concerns an old retired actor who lives alone. He has had some mysterious dealings with his older (or ...
1 vote
1 answer
135 views

First Dutch children's bible

In the second half of 1943, Anne Frank received a children's bible from her father. Her older sister Margot objected to the idea of giving Anne a Bible on Hannukah, so her father thought giving it on ...
7 votes
0 answers
94 views

I'm looking for a (possibly Dutch) children's story about a king who was afraid of the dark

I'm looking for a children's novel, aimed at perhaps 7–10 year olds, that I read in the mid '90s; between 1993 and 2000. I must have read the story in Dutch. I believe the story was originally in ...
10 votes
1 answer
302 views

Where did Gerrit de Veer publish his diary?

Not so long ago I saw the film Nova Zembla, a fictionalized retelling of the voyage as described in Gerrit de Veer's diary. On his Wikipedia page, there is only one mention about his published diary: ...
5 votes
0 answers
63 views

Was Hendrik Conscience's novel The Lion of Flanders (De Leeuw van Vlaanderen) the first work inspired by the Battle of the Golden Spurs?

In 1838, the Flemish author Hendrik Conscience published the novel De Leeuw van Vlaenderen, of de Slag der Gulden Sporen ("The Lion of Flanders, or the Battle of the Golden Spurs"), which is based on ...
4 votes
1 answer
193 views

Relevance of Pliny the Younger quote in The Assault (De aanslag) by Harry Mulisch?

Harry Mulisch prefaces his novel De aanslag (The Assault) with a quote from C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus, i.e. Pliny the Younger: Overal was het al dag, maar hier was het nacht, neen, meer dan ...
5 votes
0 answers
89 views

Did Harry Mulisch plagiarise other works in his novel The Assault / De aanslag?

In 1986, Harry Mulisch's 1982 novel De aanslag / The Assault was turned in to a film directed by Fons Rademakers. Screenwriter Gerard Soeteman said about the novel: Ik heb het boek dan ook alleen ...
22 votes
1 answer
303 views

How did having a full pot of tea betray the doctor's lowly origins?

Memoires of gedenkschriften van minister Pieter Bas (The memoirs of Minister Pieter Bas) is a satirical biography of a fictional Minister of Education. The book is mostly about the man's youth in the ...