Geeraerts dethroned: The image of Flemish postcolonial Congo literature according to Renders

Abstract

There are practically no comprehensive studies on the history of Flemish postcolonial literature.
A new book by Luc Renders, which was published in 2021 under the title De mislukking van de
beschavingsmissie. Het Nederlandstalige Congoproza van 1960 tot 2020 and is a continuation of
Koloniseren om te beschaven. Het Nederlandstalige Congoproza van 1596 tot 1960 (2019), aspires
to fill this gap. Renders’ pioneering work is the very first such detailed exploration of Flemish postcolonial
literature. Here, Renders provides a subjective view of postcolonial literature in Dutch, and
establishes his own hierarchy of what is valuable and important in this literature. One of his most
interesting (and controversial) reevaluations concerns the work of Jef Geeraerts and the status of
this writer within the postcolonial Flemisch literature about the Congo.