Revanche of conflict? Pleidooi voor een agonistische literatuurstudie

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the academic debate concerning the legitimation of the study of contemporary Dutch literature. In the twentieth century literary scholarship appealed to a model of negation for legitimation: (the study of) literature was conceived in terms of critique and emancipation. In recent years this model has been succeeded by a model of assimilation: (the study of) literature tends to conform to the hegemonic organization of society. Two recent studies bear witness of this model: De revanche van de roman (2009) by Thomas Vaessens en ‘De revanche van de populaire cultuur’ (2012) by Ben de Bruyn and Pieter Verstraeten. These scholars seek the so-called ‘revenge’ in social commitment and popular (literary) culture respectively. In a critical analysis of both texts this article aims to show that insufficient attention is paid to ideological and hegemonic processes. As an alternative, the article proposes a critical revision of the model of negation: an agonistic study of literature in which the irreducibly conflictual heterogeneity of conceptions of literature and literary scholarship serves as legitimation. To conclude, the authors discuss their own contribution to this model: the critique of ideology.