Frogs and Cheeseheads
Poking fun at the Netherlands and the Dutch in foreign political cartoons
Research into the popular perception of the Dutch in foreign cartoons. What are the distinguishing features and characteristics that create a recognisable stereotype of a Dutch person?
About the project
This project collects, examines and analyses the various ways in which the Dutch are portrayed in foreign political cartoons. What are the national characteristics of a Dutch person, seen from a foreign perspective? Which physical features, political standpoints, customs and temperaments are regarded as typically Dutch? A corpus is being put together of English, French, German, Belgian, American and Japanese political cartoons in which the Dutch are stereotyped. The presentation is analysed within the historical and cultural context in which the print was made.
Aim of the project
What characterises a Dutch person? We ourselves love to point to such qualities as tolerant, straightforward and enterprising. But when it comes to the Dutch identity it is more revealing not to look at our self-image but to examine how others think of us. This study ties in with the recent popularity of the subject of identity, but seen from a new angle. It is precisely now, when we are taking a critical look at the past role of the Netherlands in history, that it is instructive to get an idea of foreigners’ different views of the Dutch. We are all too ready to voice our prejudices about foreigners, but what did they really think of us? This research project will result in a publication.
Related publications
- W. Cilleßen, Krieg der Bilder: Druckgraphik als Medium politischer Auseinandersetzung im Europa des Absolutismus, Berlijn 1997
- S. Elpers, Hollandser dan kaas. De geschiedenis van Frau Antje, Amsterdam 2009.
- E. Koolhaas-Grosfeld, De ontdekking van de Nederlander in boeken en prenten rond 1800, Zutphen 2010
- J. Leerssen, Spiegelpaleis Europa: Europese cultuur als mythe en beeldvorming, Nijmegen 2011
- S. Meyer, Die Ikonographie der Nation: Nationalstereotype in der englischen Druckgraphik des 18. Jahrhunderts, Münster/New York/München/Berlijn 2003
- D. Sturkenboom, ‘Understanding Emotional Identities The Dutch Phlegmatic Temperament as Historical Case-Study’. In: BMGN Low Countries Historical Review, 129 (2014), pp. 163-191.
Relates events
Possibly there will be a presentation of the cartoons in the five corner cabinets of the Rijksmuseum.
Staff
Daniel Horst
d.horst@rijksmuseum.nl
Scientific Staff Member of the History Department