'Luim en jokkernij': satire over Abraham Kuyper in Uilenspiegel (1875-1883)

Abstract

Uilenspiegel (1870-1916) was a successful and long-lasting satirical journal during the last decades of the 19th century - a period that saw an increasing popularity of the satirical genre as a whole. Founded in a liberal environment, Uilenspiegel concentrated its wit on conservative and non-secular politics. This article focuses on Uilenspiegel's satirical coverage of the activities of Abraham Kuyper, the leader of the Dutch Anti Revolutionary Party, and of the founding of a protestant university. Uilenspiegel's critical views of Kuyper's aim to incorporate his religious ideas in politics and science not only produce a telling image of the way he was perceived in liberal circles, but also of the way the liberals contrasted themselves to their political opponents.