‘Evenknie van de buitenlandsche organen’: het (inter)nationale profiel van Critisch Bulletin (1930-1941)

Abstract

At the time of its foundation in 1930, the periodical Critisch Bulletin (‘Critical Bulletin’) was presented as an alternative for the existing literary magazines on the Dutch market. Its founder Anthonie Donker (pseudonym of N.A. Donkersloot) drew his inspiration from foreign examples like The Times Literary Supplement (1902) and Die literarische Welt (1925) and wanted to create a comparable Dutch weekly, which was supposed to become an authority in the reviewing of national and foreign literature and culture. Despite this international perspective, the underlying objectives of Critisch Bulletin were of a rather national nature: Donker wanted to strengthen the Dutch national community by improving the Dutch readers’ knowledge of their own literature and culture. Furthermore, he wanted to improve the quality of Dutch literature by comparing it to international standards. In this paper I will examine the tension between national and international aspects underlying the foundation and critical profile of Critisch Bulletin. I will use the concept of middlebrow to give an explanation for this apparent discrepancy.