The Idea of Reconciliation between Whites and Blacks in De Mensengenezer by Koen Peeters Cover Image

Het idee van verzoening tussen blank en zwart in Koen Peeters’ De Mensengenezer
The Idea of Reconciliation between Whites and Blacks in De Mensengenezer by Koen Peeters

Author(s): Jelena Nešić
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Other Language Literature
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Flemish Congo-novel; Koen Peeters; relations; colonialism; postcolonialism

Summary/Abstract: The “Congo-novel” is an important subgenre in Flemish literature. Dutch texts from as early as the sixteenth century contain passages about Africa. Interest in this continent continued to grow over the following centuries. This article discusses one of the themes present in De Mensengenezer (“The People Healer”, 2017), a recently published Congo-novel by the contemporary Flemish author Koen Peeters (born 1959). The focus in this article is on the relationship between whites and blacks in the context of the Congo-novel. Most of the Flemish prose on the Congo from the twentieth century and earlier depicted the blacks as inferior to the whites. Instead, De Mensengenezer offers the idea of reconciliation between these two groups.

  • Issue Year: 69/2021
  • Issue No: 5S
  • Page Range: 135-145
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Dutch