Getting Forgotten. Film Critic Elisabeth de Roos and Dutch Culture Before World War II

Abstract

Elisabeth de Roos (1903-1981) was one of the most intelligent Dutch film critics of her time. From 1925 onwards, she published on French cinema and she contributed regularly to the Filmliga journal. Franse filmkunst [french cinema] was published in 1931. She lost her professional fascination with cinema with the coming of sound. In 1932 she married writer Eddy du Perron. “How could de Roos’s work be so entirely forgotten?” and “How exactly has this process of disappearance and oblivion taken place?” were the leading questions. Elisabeth’s life and reputation can be studied through the biographies and correspondence of her husband and his best friend Menno ter Braak. They were aware of their strategic positions, while de Roos did not care about her position in the literary landscape. Though, her personal relationship to cinema and literature and her search for authorship is very consistent, but De Roos never felt the urge to anthologize or reflect on her own writings. She dedicated herself to du Perron’s work and to raising their son. Financial troubles forced her to write as much as she could for money. Not even those women who were so active in history are granted an ongoing renown.