ABSTRACT
From a purely scholarly point of view the history of Dutch ethnology construes as a fairly modest one. Though it can boast some interesting forerunners, its academic history starts as late as 1923, when the linguist and historian of religion Joseph Schrijnen (1869–1938) was appointed full professor in General Linguistics and Folklore Studies (volkskunde) at Nijmegen University. Important as the moment was, it did not herald a victorious march through the institutions. Until the 1990s the history of the discipline was one of a few scholars and numerous amateurs, of a limited interest in research and a heavy emphasis on documentation and popularisation. During much of the twentieth century Dutch academia was only mildly interested in the history and culture of its peasants and fisher folk. Outside its walls such interest was wide and lively, as is testified not only by the involvement of the amateurs but also by that of painters (the Hague School and its followers), of travel writers, open air museums and mass tourism (Stott 1998; De Jong 2001). It is this wider context of popularisation and artistic interest which makes the rather unassuming history of Dutch ethnology a fascinating one all the same. There are the early films, most of them made in the 1920s, by Dirk Jan van der Ven. And there is the novel (in seven volumes!) written by J.J. Voskuil, a former staff member at the Meertens Institute and devoted entirely to the thirty years of his involvement with the discipline (Voskuil 1996–2000). The book, a funny and witty roman à clef, published in the second half of the 1990s, was a huge success. Though as a scholar Voskuil always preferred a low profile, it suddenly lent ‘face’ both to the institute and its department of ethnology.
