The  The Influence of the Kulturkampf on the Reception of Translated Dutch Literature in Slovenia after World War II

Anita Srebnik

doi:10.18290/rh25735.8

Published : 2025-08-04

Vol. 73 No. 5 (2025)

The The Influence of the Kulturkampf on the Reception of Translated Dutch Literature in Slovenia after World War II

Anita Srebnik

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8512-2303

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh25735.8

Abstract

The term Kulturkampf (cultural struggle) denotes the ideological and political conflict between liberal and Catholic forces within society. This study examines the impact of the Kulturkampf on the reception of Dutch-language literature in Slovenia from the end of World War II to 1990. By analyzing the historical development of Slovene translations of works written in Dutch, with particular attention to the writings of Gerrit Theodor Rotman, the egodocument of Dries van Coillie, and translated children’s literature and juvenile fiction, this study emphasizes how religious and political contexts shaped the publication and interpretation of these texts. The role of Catholic and liberal publishers, both before and after World War II, is highlighted, as well as how the communist regime intervened in the literary field after 1945 – through censorship and ideological control of literary content – leading to far-reaching consequences for the transfer, production, circulation, and ultimately, the reception of translated literature. A corpus analysis of Dutch-language works translated into Slovenene reveals that the Communist Party’s interventions were particularly focused on (the translations of) children’s and youth literature, which is a reflection of their broader ideological goals in shaping cultural narratives.

Keywords:

Kulturkampf, religion, communism, censorship, agitprop, Dutch literature, translation, Gerrit Theodor Rotman, Dries van Coillie, children's literature, juvenile fiction

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Antič, I. (2006). Rotman kot stripski ‘roman’. Revija SRP, 14(73–74), 102–103.

Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature. Columbia University Press.

Brems, E., Feldmann, T., Réthelyi, O., & van Kalmthout, T. (2020). The transnational trajectories of Dutch literature as a minor literature: A view from world literature and translation studies. Dutch Crossing, 44(2), 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/03096564.2020.1747005

Budimir, B. (2020). Peripheries in the global system of translation: A case study of Serbian translations of Dutch literature between 1991 and 2015. Dutch Crossing, 44(2), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/03096564.2020.1747012

Dolenc, E. (2010). Med kulturo in politiko: kulturnopolitična razhajanja v Sloveniji med svetovnima vojnama. Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino.

Dović, M. (2008). Totalitarna in post-totalitarna cenzura: od trde k mehki? / Totalitarian and post-totalitarian censorship: from hard to soft? Primerjalna književnost, 31, 9–20, 167–178. https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-VCAN71FX

Engelbrecht, W. (2020). “A good way to propagate communist thought”: Czech translations of Dutch historical novels during the communist regime or Orwell in practice. Dutch Crossing, 44(2), 201–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/03096564.2020.1747010

Engelbrecht, W. (2021). Van Siska van Rosemael tot Max Havelaar: Receptie van Nederlandstalige Literatuur in Tsjechische Vertaling tussen 1848 en 1948. Academia Press.

Gabrič, A. (1995). Socialistična kulturna revolucija: Slovenska kulturna politika 1953-1962. Cankarjeva založba.

Gabrič, A. (1998). Sprememba kulturnopolitične usmeritve po informbirojevskem sporu. Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino, 38(1–2), 137–150.

Gabrič, A. (2008). Cenzura v Sloveniji po drugi svetovni vojni: od komunističnega Index librorum prohibitorum do ukinitve verbalnega delikta / Censorship in Slovenia after the World War II. Primerjalna književnost, 31, 63–77, 221–236. https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-P9XDFJAG

Gabrič, A. (2018). Odnos komunistične oblasti do katoliških intelektualcev po letu 1945. In K. Ajlec, B. Balkovec, & B. Repe (Eds.), Nečakov zbornik: procesi, teme in dogodki iz 19. in 20. Stoletja. Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete. https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-83I8RSCK

Graave, J., & Michajlova, I. (Eds.). (2018). Transfer of Dutch, Flemish and Scandinavian literatures to Eastern Europe (1945-1990). Nauka.

Heilbron, J. (2000). Translation as a cultural world system. Perspectives, 8(1), 9–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2000.9961369

Heilbron, J. (2020). Obtaining world fame from the periphery. Dutch Crossing, 44(2), 136–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/03096564.2020.1747284

Janežič, H. (2019). Stop, cenzura!: cenzura in knjižnice 1945-1991. Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica.

Kocijančič Pokorn, N. (2012a). Post-socialist translation practices: Ideological struggle in children’s literature. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Kocijančič Pokorn, N. (2012b). Skrita ideologija v prevodih otroške literature. In A. Bjelčević (Ed.), Ideologije v slovenskem jeziku, literaturi in kulturi: zbornik predavanj. Seminar slovenskega jezika, literature in kulture 48. Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete. https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=127728

Kocijančič Pokorn, N. (2022). Ideological control in a Slovene socialist state publishing house: conformity and dissent. In C. Rundle, A. Lange, & D. Monticelli (Eds.), Translation under communism (207–240). Palgrave Macmillan.

Kocijančič Pokorn, N., Grošelj, R., Mikolič Južnič, T., & Pisanski Peterlin, A. (Eds.). (2023). Zgodovina slovenskega prevoda II: Slovenska literatura v dialogu s tujino. Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete.

Lefevere, A. (2017). Translation, rewriting, and the manipulation of literary fame. Routledge.

Minatti, I. (1984). A roundtable “Posvetovanje o prevodni mladinski književnosti: Iz razprave ob referatih.” Otrok in knjiga, 12(19), 65–75.

Mithans, G. (2017). Jugoslovanski konkordat: pacem in discordia ali jugoslovanski “kulturkampf”. Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino.

Mithans, G. (2020). Politizacija kulturnega polja na Slovenskem v obdobju prve Jugoslavije: katoliška in marksistična percepcija avtorske svobode. Poligrafi, 25(97–98), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2020.238

Novaković-Lopušina, J. (2010). Zuidslavische enthousiastelingen. In Matthias Hüning, J. Konst, & T. Holzhey (Eds.). Neerlandistiek in Europa. Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de universitaire neerlandistiek buiten Nederland en Vlaanderen (pp. 277–292). Waxmann.

Ožbot, M. (2014). Translation studies in Slovenia: The profile of a translation-oriented culture. Europa orientalis, 33, 195–206.

Režek, M. (2005). Ureditev odnosov z RKC. In J. Fišer (Ed.), Slovenska novejša zgodovina: Od programa Zedinjena Slovenija do mednarodnega priznanja Republike Slovenije, 1848–1992. Mladinska knjiga.

Rogel, C. (1968). The Slovenes and Cultural Yugoslavism on the eve of World War I. Canadian Slavic Studies, 2(1), 46–67

Smolik, M. (1998). Razkristjanjeni Karl May [Feuilletons 1–9]. Družina, 44(29–42).

Smolik, V. (1976). O Mohorskih knjigah za leto 1974. Znamenja, 1(76), 88–94.