For Religion, Education and Literature: a Comparative Study of Changes in the Strategy and Profile of Traditionally Religious Publishing Houses in Belgium and the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This article goes into the history of five originally Catholic and Protestant publishers of Dutch‐language educational literature: Averbode and Davidsfonds of Flanders and Zwijsen, Malmberg and Callenbach of the Netherlands, all still active today. Their original mission was to make a contribution to religion, education and literature. In order to achieve success in this threefold mission, they had to gain recognition from three different types of institutions, namely religious and clerical, pedagogic and literary. The history of the publishing houses is studied by means of a comparative study of three periods, namely the interwar years, the years 1960–1975, and the years 1985–2000. The changing composition of their publishing lists during these three periods was shaped by internal as well as by external factors. The external factors relate to the national dimension, the religious dimension and changing pedagogic practices, for example new education policies involving the introduction of new teaching methods and learning goals. Internal factors relate to the policy and strategy of the publishing houses themselves. The threefold religious, educational and literary mission evolved in different directions. During the periods studied, acquisitions and reorganizations led to expansion, forcing the publishing houses to reposition themselves in relation to other partners in the publishing market. The merger of the Flemish publishing houses Davidsfonds and Infodok in 1991 not only resulted in a larger company but also clearly influenced the ideological position of the new company. Something similar happened in the Netherlands. In 1964, Malmberg acquired the list of the former Haarlem publishing house De Spaarnestad, and became part of Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeversbedrijven (United Dutch Publishers, VNU). The Zwijsen list was extended in 1991 when Elzenga became an imprint, and in 1992 Zwijsen became part of the Weekbladpers Groep. Callenbach also lost its independence in 1998 when it became part of J. H. Kok. Each of the five publishing houses was involved in different processes of change between 1900 and 2000, due to the internal and external factors mentioned above. The successions of strategic decisions that had to be taken meant that each house evolved in a different direction. This study traces the development of their profiles during the course of the twentieth century, using several sources including the publishers’ lists. Changes in the structure of the lists can be closely monitored through the catalogues and other information issued every year. Announcements of new titles and advertisements in the daily and weekly press were a further source of information. Publications available in archives or libraries were also used to reconstruct the lists. The theoretical framework of the study consists of the polysystem and field theories on the development of publishing houses, and theories of pillarization and depillarization in order to explain the religious factor.