BELGIAN LITERATURE, FLEMISH

<although during the years immediately preceding the world war, flemish literature was in a very flourishing condition, it continued to maintain the tradition inaugurated in the ’nineties by the review van nu en straks. this latter movement had definitely liberated flemish writers from antiquated traditions and was the begin- ning of the modern era in flanders. thus, apart from cyricl buysse (b. 1859), the most notable figures of this period were 349 the poets and prose-writers born in the ’seventies; their only seri- ous rival of the younger generation being felix timmermans (b. 1886). on the whole—although there are certain exceptions, notably karel van de woestyne—the literature of this period is distin- guished by its emotional intensity and vitality rather than by wealth of ideas, and this is probably the reason why it is still little known abroad. the best works are difficult to translate. none the less, the literature of ideas gained ground; criticism, in par- ticular, was subject to more serious treatment. moreover, when one takes into consideration the smallness of the country, the literary output is really remarkable. it is impossible in a short article to give every writer his due, and therefore only outstand- ing figures can be mentioned. poetry.—the poetry of rene de clercq (b. 1877) has a fresh and vivid spontaneity; his invocations of nature, his lyrics of pity or anger, with their warm democratic feeling, are full of vitality. his later works, however, show a falling-off; the poetic ideas have not been allowed to mature, and his style is sometimes too loose. the greatest modern flemish poet is indubitably karel van de woestyne (b. 1878) who, from the appearance of his first volume in 1903, preserved a consistently high level of production. it is safe to say that his complex and sibylline per- sonality has struck a new note in european literature. he is the poet of the soul, racked by suffering, torn by conflict and inspired by a passionate longing for the things of the spirit; and in the sublimation of the ego he has transfigured the heart and senses of man and shown the perpetual conflict between mind and matter, between reality and the soul’s dream ‘of eternity. jan van nflen (b. 1879) and firmin van hecke (b. 1884) by their rare purity of style, are closer to him than any other contempo- rary poets. prose writers —the masters of narrative prose, cyriel buysse and styn streuvels, are dealt with in separate articles; the former as an objective realist, has delineated most truthfully tlemish popular life; the latter, by his poetical treatment, idealises it. maurits sabbe (b. 1873), with his warm sensitive semi-tones, best reproduces the atmosphere of bruges. lode baekelmans (b. 1879), whose humour is broader, brings to life the dock quarter and the picturesque characters of the antwerp streets. the tales of fernand toussaint (b. 1875) are distin- guished by a delicate nuance of technique. the novels of her- man teirlinck (b. 1879) depart from strict realism; they are imbued with an individual fantasy, which delights in exquisite arabesques. in van de woestyne, who has also written several volumes of prose on symbolic themes, the creative imagination reigns alone, re:note from reality. new tendencies, however, are visible in the younger wniters of the post-war era. certain poets, as urbain van de voorde (b. 1893), remain true to traditional versification, but others such as wies moens (b. 1898) completely break with all tra- dition and proclaim absolute liberty of rhythm and image; while paul van ostayen (b. 1896), discarding all logical phrases and even all idea of “‘ subject,” endeavours to express himself by sound values alone. ernest claes (b. 1885) may be mentioned amongst the vivid narrators of the present, but the novelist, felix timmermans, achieved the greatest popularity, and at the same time won the appreciation of literary critics. his bright, spontaneous style, full of unexpected images which surprise by their very aptness, is combined with delicacy of perception and the true tang of nature. his pallieter (1916) expresses an exuberant joie de vivre, the equal of which would be hard to find. het kindeken jezus i vlaanderen (1918) and de p.istoor mit den bloeyenden wyne- guerdt (1923) are among his most important works. they are essentially flemish in their mixture of frank sensuality and mystical tenderness. in the theatre, gaston martens (b. 1884) at times relieves the old realism by a picturesque fantasy and produces an almost extravagant effect. hermann teirlinck, of the former genera- tion, however, made, in his later years, the most serious attempt toward a dramatic renaissance: drawing his inspiration simul- 350 taneously from the medieval moralitics and the cinema, he re- leased the drama from the confines of the unities. wis char- acters are types and mainly allegorical, and thus present all the spiritual elements of action moving in visible form. (a. v.)