LITERATURE

belgian literature, taken in the widest sense of the term, falls into three groups, consisting of works written respectively in flemish, walloon and french. the earlier flemish authors are treated under dutch literature; the revival of flemish literature (q.v.) since the separation of belgium from the netherlands in 1830, and walloon literature (q.v.), are each separately noticed. the earlier french writers born on what is now belgian territory--e.g. adenes le rois, jean froissart, jean lemaire des belges and others--are included in the general history of french literature (q.v.). it remains to consider the literature written by belgians in french during the 19th century, and its rapid development since the revolution of 1831. belgian writers were commonly charged with provincialism, but the prejudice against them has been destroyed by the brilliant writers of 1870-1880. it was also asserted that belgian french literature lacked a national basis, and was merely a reflection of parisian models. the most important section of it, however, has a distinctive quality of its own. many of its most distinguished exponents are flemings by birth, and their writings reflect the characteristic flemish scenery; they have the sensuousness, the colour and the realism of flemish art; and on the other hand the tendency to mysticism, to abstraction, is far removed from the lucidity and definiteness associated with french literature properly so-called. this profoundly national character disengaged itself gradually, and has been more strikingly evident since 1870. the earlier writers of the century were content to follow french tradition. the events of 1830-1831 gave a great stimulus to belgian letters, but the country possessed writers of considerable merit before that date. adolphe mathieu (1802-1876) belongs to the earlier half of the century, although the tenth and last volume of his _oeuvres en vers_ was only printed in 1870. his later works show the influence of the romantic revival. auguste clavareau (1787-1864), a mediocre poet, an imitator of the french and dutch, produced some successful comedies, but he ceased to write plays before 1830. edouard smits (1789-1852) showed romantic tendencies in his tragedies of _marie de bourgogne_ (1823), _elfrida_ (1825), and _jeanne de flandre_ (1828). the first of these had a great success, partly no doubt because of its patriotic subject. for four years before 1830 andre van hasselt (q.v.) had been publishing his verses in the _sentinelle des pays-bas_, and from 1829 onwards he was an ardent romanticist. a burst of literary and artistic activity followed the revolution; and van hasselt's house became a centre of poets, artists and musicians of the romantic school. the best work of the belgian romanticists is in the rich and picturesque prose of the 16th century romance of charles de coster (see de coster), and in the melancholy and semi-philosophical writings of the moralist octave pirmez (q.v.). the _poesies_ (1841) and the _chansons_ (1866) of antoine clesse (1816-1889), have been compared with the work of beranger; and the catholic party found a champion against the liberals and revolutionists in the satirical poet, benoit quinet (b. 1819). among the famous dramatic pieces of this epoch was the _andre chenier_ (1843) of edouard wacken (1819-1861), who was a lyric rather than a dramatic poet; also the comedies of louis labarre (1810-1892) and of henri delmotte (1822-1884). charles potvin (1818-1902), a poet and a dramatist, is best known by a patriotic _histoire des lettres en belgique_, forming vol. iv. of the belgian compilation, _cinquante ans de liberte_ (1882), and by his essays in literary history. eugene van bemmel (1824-1880) established an excellent historical tradition in his _histoire de la belgique_ (1880), reproducing textually the original authorities, and also edited a belgian encyclopaedia (1873-1875), the _patria belgica_. baron e.c. de gerlache (1785-1871) wrote the history of the netherlands from the ultramontane standpoint. the romanticists were attacked in an amusing satire, _les voyages et aventures de m. alfred nicolas_ (1835), by francois grandgagnage (1797-1877), who was a nationalist in the narrowest sense, and regarded the movement as an indefensible invasion of foreign ideas. the best of the novelists of this period, excluding charles de coster, was perhaps estelle ruelens (_nee_ crevecoeur; 1821-1878); she wrote under the pseudonym of "caroline graviere." her tales were collected by the bibliophile "p.l. jacob" (paris, 1873-1874). the whole of this literature derived more or less from foreign sources, and, with the exception of charles de coster and octave pirmez, produced no striking figures. de coster died in 1879, and pirmez in 1883, and the new movement in belgian literature dates from the banquet given in the latter year to camille lemonnier (q.v.) whose powerful personality did much to turn "young belgium" into a national channel. lemonnier himself cannot be exclusively claimed by any of the conflicting schools of young writers. he was by turns naturalist, lyrist and symbolist; and it has been claimed that the germs of all the later developments in belgian letters may be traced in his work. the quinquennial prize of literature had been refused to his _un male_, and the younger generation of artists and men of letters gave him a banquet which was recognized as a protest against the official literature, represented by louis hymans (1829-1884), gustave frederix (b. 1834), the literary critic of _l'independance belge_, and others. the centres around which the young writers were grouped were two reviews, _l'art moderne_ and _la jeune belgique_. _l'art moderne_ was founded in 1882 by edmond picard, who had as his chief supporters victor arnould and octave maus. the first editor of _la jeune belgique_ was m. warlomont (1860-1889), known under the pen-name of "max waller." this review, which owed much of its success to waller's energy, defended the intense preoccupation of the new writers with questions of style, and became the depository of the parnassian tradition in belgium. it had among its early contributors georges eekhoud, albert giraud, iwan gilkin and georges rodenbach. edmond picard (b. 1836) was one of the foremost in the battle. he was well known as an advocate in brussels, and made a considerable contribution to jurisprudence as the chief writer of the _pandectes belges_ (1886-1890). his _pro arte_ (1886) was a kind of literary code for the young belgian writers. his novels, of which _la forge roussel_ (1881) is a good example, were succeeded in 1902-1903 by two plays, _jericho_ and _fatigue de vivre_. georges eekhoud, born at antwerp on the 27th of may 1854, was in some ways the most passionately flemish of the whole group. he described the life of the peasants of his native flanders with a bold realism, making himself the apologist of the vagabond and the outcast in a series of tragic stories:--_kees doorik_ (1883), _kermesses_ (1883), _nouvelles kermesses_ (1887), _le cycle patibulaire_ (1892), _mes communions_ (1895), _escal vigor_ (1899) and _la faneuse d'amour_ (1900), &c. _nouvelle carthage_ (1888) deals with modern antwerp. in 1892 he produced a striking book on english literature entitled _au siecle de shakespeare_, and has written french versions of beaumont and fletcher's _philaster_ (1895) and of marlow's _edward ii._ (1896). the earlier work of "young belgium" in poetry was experimental in character, and was marked by extravagances of style and a general exuberance which provoked much hostile criticism. the young writers of 1870 to 1880 had not long to wait, however, for recognition both at home and in paris, where many of them found hospitality in the pages of the _mercure de france_ from 1890 onwards. they divided their allegiance between the leaders of the french parnassus and the symbolists. the most powerful of the belgian poets, emile verhaeren (q.v.), is the most daring in his technical methods of expressing bizarre sensation, and has been called the "poet of paroxysm." his reputation extends far beyond the limits of his own country. many of the belgian poets adhere to the classical form. albert giraud (born at louvain in 1860) was faithful to the parnassian tradition in his _pierrot lunaire_ (1884), _pierrot narcisse_ (1891) and _hors du siecle_ (1886). in the earlier works of iwan gilkin (born at brussels in 1858) the influence of charles baudelaire is predominant. he wrote _damnation de l'artiste_ (1890), _tenebres_ (1892), _stances dorees_ (1893), _la nuit_ (1897) and _promethee_ (1899). the poems of valere gille (born at brussels in 1867), whose _cithare_ was crowned by the french academy in 1898, belong to the same group. emile van arenberghe (born at louvain in 1854) is the author of some exquisite sonnets. fernand severin (b. 1867) in his _poemes ingenus_ (1900) aims at simplicity of form, and seems to have learnt the art of his musical verse direct from racine. with severin is closely associated georges marlow (b. 1872), author of _l'ame en exil_ (1895). georges rodenbach (1855-1898) spent most of his life in paris and was an intimate of edmond de goncourt. he produced some parisian and purely imitative work; but the best part of his production is the outcome of a passionate idealism of the quiet flemish towns in which he had passed his childhood and early youth. in his best known work, _bruges la morte_ (1892), he explains that his aim is to evoke the town as a living being, associated with the moods of the spirit, counselling, dissuading from and prompting action. the most famous of all modern belgian writers, maurice maeterlinck (q.v.), made his debut in a parisian journal, the _pleiade_, in 1886. he succeeded more nearly than any of his predecessors in expressing or suggesting ideas and emotions which might have been supposed to be capable of translation only in terms of music. "the unconscious self, or rather the sub-conscious self," says emile verhaeren, "recognized in the verse and prose of maeterlinck its language or rather its stammering attempt at language." maeterlinck was a native of ghent, and the first poems of two of his fellow-townsmen also appeared in the _pleiade_. these were gregoire le roy (b. 1862), author of _la chanson d'un soir_ (1886), and _mon coeur pleure d'autrefois_ (1889); and charles van lerberghe (b. 1861), author of a play, _les flaireurs_ (1890) and a collection of _poemes_ (1897). max elskamp (born at antwerp in 1862) is the author of some volumes of religious poetry--_dominical_ (1892), _salutations, dont d'angeliques_ (1893), _en symbole vers l'apostolat_ (1895)--for which he has devised as background an imaginary city. eugene demolder (b.1862) also created a mythical city as a setting for his prose _contes_ in the _legende d'yperdamme_ (1897). belgian literary activity extends also to historical research. baron kervyn de lettenhove (1817-1891) wrote a _histoire de flandre_ (7 vols., 1847-1855), and a number of monographs on separate points in flemish and english history. though an accurate historian, he allowed himself lo be prejudiced by his extreme catholic views. he was a vehement defender of mary stuart. louis gachard (1800-1885) wrote many valuable works on 16th century history; mgr. nameche (1810-1893) completed the 29th volume of his _cours d'histoire nationale_ before his death; charles piot (b. 1812) edited the correspondence of cardinal de granvelle; alphonse wauters (1818-1898), archivist of brussels, published many archaeological works; and charles rahlenbeck (1823-1903) wrote enthusiastically of the history of protestantism in belgium. one of the most masterly writers of french in belgium was the economist emile de laveleye (q.v.). in aesthetics should be noted the historian of music, francois joseph fetis (1784-1871); f.a. gevaert (1828-1908), author of _histoire et theorie de la musique d'antiquite_ (2 vols., 1875-1881); and victor mahillon (b. 1841) for his work in acoustics and his descriptive catalogue (1893-1900) of the museum of musical instruments belonging to the brussels conservatoire. in psychology joseph delboeuf (1831-1896) enjoyed a great reputation outside belgium; elisee reclus (b. 1830), though a frenchman by birth, completed his _geographie universelle_ (1875-1894) in exile at brussels; and ernest nys has written many standard works on international law. in the history of literature an important work is compiled by ferdinand van der haeghen and others in the _bibliotheca belgica_ (1880, &c.), comprising a description of all the books printed in the netherlands in the 15th and 16th centuries. the vicomte de spoelberch de lovenjoul (1836-1907) was well known in france as the author of _sainte-beuve inconnu_ (1901), _la genese d'un roman de balzac_ (1901), _une page perdue de h. de balzac_ (1903), and of numerous bibliographical works. see f.v. goethals, _histoire des lettres, des sciences et des arts en belgique_ (4 vols., 1840-1844); fr. masoin, _histoire de la litterature francaise en belgique de 1815 a 1830_ (1903); f. nautet, _histoire des lettres belges d'expression francaise_ (3 vols., 1892 et seq.), written from the point of view of young belgium, and by no means impartial; a. de koninck, _bibliographie nationale_ brought down to 1880; _biographie nationale de belgique_ (1866, &c.) in progress; see also articles by emile verhaeren in the _revue des revues_ (15th june 1896), by albert mockel in the _revue encyclopedique_ (24th july 1897); a collection of criticisms chiefly on belgian writers by eugene gilbert, _france et belgique; etudes litteraires_ (1905); frederic faber, _histoire du theatre francais en belgique_ (5 vols., 1878-1880). an excellent anthology of belgian poets was published by k. pol de mont with the title of _modernites_ (1898). (e. g.) footnote: [1] see for earlier history netherlands, flanders, brabant, liege, &c. belgrade (servian, _biograd_ or _beograd_, i.e. "white castle"), the capital of servia. pop. (1900) 69,097. belgrade occupies a triangular ridge or foreland, washed on the north-west by the save, and on the north-east by the danube; these rivers flowing respectively from the south-west and north-west. the sides of the triangle slope down abruptly towards the west, more gradually towards the east; at the base stands the cone of avala hill, the last outpost of the rudnik mountains, which extend far away to the south; and, at the apex, a cliff of tertiary chalk, 200 ft. high, overlooks the confluence of the two rivers, the large, flat island of veliki voyn and several smaller islets. this cliff is crowned by the walls and towers of the citadel, once white, but now maroon with age, and, though useful as a prison and barracks, no longer of any military value. behind the citadel, and along its _glacis_ on the southern side, are the gardens of kalemegdan, commanding a famous view across the river; behind kalemegdan comes belgrade itself, a city of white houses, among which a few great public buildings, like the high school, national bank, national theatre and the so-called new palace, stand forth prominently. the town was formerly divided into three parts, namely, the old town, the russian town (_sava-makhala_ or save district), and the turkish town (_dorcol_, or cross-road). a great change, however, took place in the course of the 19th century, and the old divisions are only partially applicable, while there has to be added the tirazia, an important suburban extension along the line of the aqueduct or _tirazi_. a few old turkish houses, built of plaster, with red-tiled roofs, are left among the ill-paved and insanitary districts bordering upon the rivers, but as the royal residence, the seat of government, and the centre of the import trade, belgrade was, after 1869, rapidly transformed into a modern european town, with wide streets, electric tramways and electric lighting. only the multitude of small gardens, planted with limes, acacias and lilacs, and the bright costumes of the servian or hungarian peasants, remain to distinguish it from a western capital. for a town of such importance, which is also the seat of the metropolitan of servia, belgrade has very few churches, and these are of a somewhat modest type. there were, in 1900, four servian orthodox churches, including the cathedral, one roman catholic chapel, one evangelical chapel (german), two synagogues and one mosque. this last is kept up entirely at the expense of the servian government. the highest educational establishments are to be found in belgrade: the _velika shkola_ (a small university with three faculties), the military academy, the theological seminary, the high school for girls, a commercial academy, and several schools for secondary education on german models. a commercial tribunal, a court of appeal and the court of cassation are also in belgrade. there is a fine monument to prince michael (1860-1868) who succeeded in removing the turkish garrison from the belgrade citadel and obtaining other turkish fortresses in servia by skilful diplomacy. there are also an interesting national museum, with roman antiquities and numismatic collections, a national library with a wealth of old servian mss. among its 40,000 volumes, and a botanical garden, rich in specimens of the balkan flora. to promote commerce there are a stock and produce exchange (_berza_), a national bank, privileged to issue notes, and several other banking establishments. the insurance work is done by foreign companies. the bulk of the foreign trade of servia passes through belgrade, but the industrial output of the city itself is not large, owing to the scarcity both of labour and capital. the principal industries are brewing, iron-founding and the manufacture of cloth, boots, leather, cigarettes, matches, pottery, preserved meat and confectionery. the railway from budapest to constantinople crosses the save by a fine bridge on the south-west, above the landing-place for steamers. farther south is the park of _topchider_, with an old turkish kiosk built for prince milosh (1818-1839) in the beautifully laid-out grounds. in the adjoining forest of lime-trees, called _koshutnyak_ or the "deer-park," prince michael was assassinated in 1868. just opposite the citadel, in a north-westerly direction, half-an-hour by steamer across the danube, lies the hungarian town of semlin. for administrative purposes, belgrade forms a separate department of the kingdom. the first fortification of the rock, at the confluence of the save and the danube, was made by the celts in the 3rd century b.c. they gave it the name of _singidunum_, by which belgrade was known until the 7th century a.d. the romans took it from the celts, and replaced their fort by a regular roman _castrum_, placing in it a strong garrison. roman bricks, dug up in the fortress, bear the inscription, _legio iv. flavia felix_. from the 4th to the beginning of the 6th century a.d. it often changed its masters (huns, sarmatians, goths, gepids); then the emperor justinian brought it once more under roman rule and fortified and embellished it. towards the end of the 8th century it was taken by the franks of charlemagne. in the 9th century it was captured by the bulgarians, and held by them until the beginning of the 11th century, when the byzantine emperor basil ii. reconquered it for the greek empire. the hungarians, under king stephen, took it from the greeks in 1124. from that time it was constantly changing hands--greeks, bulgarians, hungarians, replacing each other in turn. the city was considered to be the key of hungary, and its possession was believed to secure possession of servia, besides giving command of the traffic between the upper and the lower danube. it has, in consequence, seen more battles under its walls than most fortresses in europe. the turks used to call it _darol-i-jehad_, "the home of wars for faith." during the 14th century it was in the hands of the servian kings. the servian prince george brankovich ceded it to the hungarians in 1427. the turkish forces unsuccessfully besieged the city in 1444 and 1456, on which last occasion a glorious victory was obtained by the christian garrison, led by the famous john hunyady and the enthusiastic monk john capistran. in 1521 sultan suleiman took it from the hungarians, and from that year it remained in turkish possession until 1688, when the austrians captured it, only to lose it again in 1690. in 1717 prince eugene of savoy conquered it for austria, which kept it until 1739, improving the fortifications and giving great impulse to the commercial development of the town. from 1739 to 1789 the turks were again its masters, when, in that last year, the austrians under general laudon carried it by assault, only to lose it again in 1792. in 1807 the servians, having risen for their independence, forced the turkish garrison to capitulate, and became masters of belgrade, which they kept until the end of september 1813, when they abandoned it to the turks. up to the year 1862 not only was the fortress of belgrade garrisoned by turkish troops, but the danubian slope of the town was inhabited by turks, living under a special turkish administration, while the modern part of the town (the plateau of the ridge and the western slope) was inhabited by servians living under their own authorities. this dual government was a constant cause of friction between the servians and the turks, and on the occasion of one conflict between the two parties the turkish commander of the fortress bombarded the servian part of the town (june 1862). the indirect consequence of this incident was that in 1866, on the categoric demand of prince michael of servia, and under the diplomatic pressure of the great powers, the sultan withdrew the turkish garrison from the citadel and delivered it to the servians. (c. mi.)