A 'Kort verhaal' on memory: the influence of Gerard Brandt's historical work on early modern memory cultures.

Abstract

The field of early memory studies has long been dominated by modernist theory, which does not do the early modern memory landscape justice. Kuijpers and Pollmann have provided an alternative view by focusing on three themes within memory studies: the politics of memory, mediality, and personal memory. It is the aim of this research to add to this theoretical framework by looking at how various editions of ‘Kort verhaal van de Reformatie en van den oorlog tegen Spanje’. This historical work, written by historian, poet, philologist, and remonstrant clergyman Gerard Brandt (1626-1685), will be used to examine the development of early modern memory over the course of a century. In order to do so, two out of three themes provided by Kuijpers and Pollmann will be taken into consideration, namely the politics of memory and mediality. Not only will this research demonstrate that Brand’t work was both a passive and active player in both religious and political memory cultures in the Dutch Republic, it will show that after his passing, his work and reputation made room for another memory culture in which Brandt himself becomes materialized and historicized.