Reflections on literary history and Netherlandic cultural identity in the medieval period

Abstract

I have flown 4000 miles to share with you two interrelated questions I find extremely perplexing. The two questions are the following: Did Dutch literature have an identity of its own as early as the Middle Ages? And if so, does this bear any relation to characteristics that are considered typical of Dutch literature in later periods, possibly even of Dutch literature today, and -who knows- even of the Dutch national character as such?