ABSTRACT
31This chapter explains methods and approaches for the study of popular visual culture before 1914. The objective of the following study is to shed light on a semiotic process: the attribution of meaning to cultural artefacts, which result in supposed common knowledge and, as part of it, national clichés. The concepts “performative” and “performance” as well as “intermediality” are introduced as suitable approaches for investigating visual material in conjunction with its textual comments. The outlined research frame is designed to his- toricize the categories (Dutch, Dutchness, and the Netherlands), the visual content (the image-objects, motifs, and clichés), and the attributed meaning (textual comment performed at specific venues).
