In the summer of 1914, Antwerp is bombed from a zeppelin and the city falls into German hands shortly afterwards. Six years later, Paul van Ostaijen, an Antwerp native and modernist poet, captures the life and chaos of the occupied city in his famous work Occupied City.
In a unique 'rhythmic typography,' he uses fragments of songs, advertisements, shop signs, film images, and newspaper reports to evoke the images and sounds of occupied Antwerp in all their confused and alienating forms. His typographic experiments depict not only the bombardments and the fire, but also daily life during the occupation.
Features:- Modernist poetry with experimental typography
- Description of a city at war and its social context
- Unique artwork about occupation and resistance
Language and level:
Dutch, suitable for advanced readers with an interest in literature and history.
Application:
This work is ideal for education, self-study, and cultural understanding of Flemish modernist literature.
Paul van Ostaijen himself said: 'Occupied City was a poison, used as an antidote. The nihilism of Occupied City cured me of a dishonesty that I thought was honesty, and of external-lyrical high-chested posturing. After that, I became an ordinary poet, that is, someone who makes little poems for his pleasure, like a pigeon fancier keeps pigeons.'
Occupied City is regarded by critics as an absolute highlight of twentieth-century Dutch-language lyric poetry. It is a monument to a city at war that still fascinates with its vividness and historical significance.
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