The Politics of Humour and Nostalgia in Dutch Cabaret

Abstract

In this paper, I analyse the conservative implications of nostalgia in the famous Dutch cabaret song ‘Het Dorp’ as well as the humorous deconstruction of nostalgia’s conservative politics in two recent parodies of this song. Dutch cabaret is a popular form of theatre comedy which might involve joke-telling, sketches and songs, and in which social critique plays a pivotal role. In recent years, comedians have increasingly questioned the conservative political narratives expressed in past cabaret performances. Taking Wim Sonneveld’s ‘Het Dorp’ (1965) and parodies of this song by Alex Klaasen/Jurrian van Dongen and Erik van Muiswinkel (2004) and Kyle Seconna/Elisha Zeeman (2017) as my case study, I argue that ‘Het Dorp’ presents a conservative worldview in which nostalgia is mobilized to mourn the loss of order and traditional values in the present, modernized world. Building on Svetlana Boym’s distinction between ‘restorative’ and ‘reflective’ nostalgia and Merijn Oudenampsen’s analysis of Dutch conservatism, I argue that Sonneveld’s original presents a ‘restorative’ nostalgia that has strong conservative implications. Furthermore, I argue that both parodies of the song use change of setting, humorous incongruity and playful citation to reveal and criticize the conservative implications of nostalgia in ‘Het Dorp’, thereby creating a more ironic, ‘reflective’ nostalgia and ‘repoliticizing’ a song that hides and depoliticizes its conservative political claims.