A 'farewell to literature' in 1860? The problem of literariness in the work of Multatuli (1820-1887)

Abstract

Today, Multatuli (1820-1887) is considered as one of the most important Dutch writers. His stance towards literature, however, was highly ambivalent. At the one hand, he realised that writing fiction was the best way to gain personal and political attention. At the same time, he highly mistrusted the instrument of (sentimental) fiction to engage readers. The same ambivalence dominates his presentation as a writer: Multatuli mythologized himself, but he also argued for a sincere, ‘authentic’ writership. In my presentation, I want to analyze these seemly contradictory ideas about fictionalizing the world and the self. Some concepts in literary sociology, such as ‘posture’ (Jérôme Meizoz) or ‘the double life of writers’ (Bernard Lahire) help to understand the logic of Multatuli’s ideas about fiction.