A central theme in almost all my research is 'border thinking': the notion that we are confronted with the limits of our own thinking when we encounter different ways of thinking − different cultures, unforeseen experiences, uncanny art − and are made aware of the arbitrariness of the categories we use to understand the world. My first publications dealt with the role of art in multicultural and globalised societies, and this is a theme I have continued to explore.
The main focus of my current research lies on further developing what I call 'applied narratology': using insights from the the academic study of narrative in, for instance, literary criticism, to help improve practices of storytelling, translating those insights into practical methodologies. I also still publish on literary issues (see publications).
Between 1990 and 2005, the clash between ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ increasingly
became the topic of conversation in the Netherlands. In my
PhD thesis, Depraved Borderlands. Meetings between Muslims and
non-Muslims in Dutch Literature (1990-2005), I examine the how four
Dutch authors – Kader Abdolah, Abdelkader Benali, Hafid Bouazza and Robert
Anker –staged this clash in their literary work. How they give meaning to categories
such as ‘Muslims’ and ‘westerners’ and how they explored the boundaries of
these in literature. Attention is also given to essays, opinion pieces, columns
and interviews on these same topics by these four authors. In this way,
I sketched the cultural matrix from which these texts arose and look at which
images, prejudices and fantasies existed about the relationship between ‘Islam’
and ‘the West’. I also investigate what is specifically literary about the
social interventions that are established through the work of these authors.
In the thesis, I describe how the literary works discussed in my study widen the boundaries between cultures. The result is a true ‘multicultural drama’, sometimes hilarious, sometimes rather sinister. At the same time, these stories testify of a utopian longing for a place or discourse where the difference between ‘Muslim’ and ‘Western’ is transcended. That ties in with the social function that literature has according to these authors: the literary work is itself a utopia as well, a ‘borderland’ in which ‘Muslim’ and ‘Western’ can meet in ways that are impossible in reality.
The thesis was supervised by Prof. dr. E.J. Korthals Altes and Dr E.C.S. Jongeneel. More information can be found here.
Current themes (2011-present)
The main focus of my current research lies on further developing what I call 'applied narratology': using insights from the the academic study of narrative in, for instance, literary criticism, to help improve practices of storytelling, translating those insights into practical methodologies. I also still publish on literary issues (see publications).
PhD Research (2005-2010)
Between 1990 and 2005, the clash between ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ increasingly
became the topic of conversation in the Netherlands. In my
PhD thesis, Depraved Borderlands. Meetings between Muslims and
non-Muslims in Dutch Literature (1990-2005), I examine the how four
Dutch authors – Kader Abdolah, Abdelkader Benali, Hafid Bouazza and Robert
Anker –staged this clash in their literary work. How they give meaning to categories
such as ‘Muslims’ and ‘westerners’ and how they explored the boundaries of
these in literature. Attention is also given to essays, opinion pieces, columns
and interviews on these same topics by these four authors. In this way,
I sketched the cultural matrix from which these texts arose and look at which
images, prejudices and fantasies existed about the relationship between ‘Islam’
and ‘the West’. I also investigate what is specifically literary about the
social interventions that are established through the work of these authors.In the thesis, I describe how the literary works discussed in my study widen the boundaries between cultures. The result is a true ‘multicultural drama’, sometimes hilarious, sometimes rather sinister. At the same time, these stories testify of a utopian longing for a place or discourse where the difference between ‘Muslim’ and ‘Western’ is transcended. That ties in with the social function that literature has according to these authors: the literary work is itself a utopia as well, a ‘borderland’ in which ‘Muslim’ and ‘Western’ can meet in ways that are impossible in reality.
The thesis was supervised by Prof. dr. E.J. Korthals Altes and Dr E.C.S. Jongeneel. More information can be found here.
