• Source: Ferdinand Bordewijk

Ferdinand Bordewijk (10 October 1884 – 28 April 1965) was a Dutch author. His style, which is terse and symbolic, is considered to belong to New Objectivity and magic realism. He was awarded the P. C. Hooft Award in 1953 and the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1957. He wrote novels and short stories; of his novels, his 1938 Character is canonical in the Netherlands, and was the basis for a 1997 film of the same name.




Biography


Ferdinand Bordewijk was born in Amsterdam, and moved with his family to The Hague when he was ten. He studied law at Leiden University. After graduation, he worked first at a Rotterdam law firm and became an independent lawyer in Schiedam in 1919, remaining an inhabitant of The Hague all of his life. He was married to the composer Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman. He wrote the libretto for her opera Rotonde (1941).




Works


His first published work was a volume of poetry titled Paddestoelen ("Mushrooms") under the pseudonym Ton Ven. It was not particularly well received.
His breakthrough came with the short novels Blokken ("Blocks", 1931), Knorrende Beesten ("Growling Animals", 1933) and Bint (1934), later frequently published together as a set of three, followed by the longer works Rood paleis ("Red Palace", 1936) and Karakter (1938, translated into English as Character in 1966). Blokken was a dystopian work which was perceived as a criticism of communism. It is comparable to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, which appeared one year later and which Bordewijk deemed to be junk ("een enorme prul").




Bibliography



1916 – Paddestoelen (under the pseudonym Ton Ven)
1918 – Een koning van de frase (A king of the phrase) in: Groot Nederland
1919 – Fantastische vertellingen, verhalen (Fantastic tales), short stories
1923 – Fantastische vertellingen, tweede bundel (Fantastic tales II), short stories
1924 – Fantastische vertellingen, derde bundel (Fantastic tales III), short stories
1931 – Blokken (Cubes), novel
1933 – Knorrende beesten; de roman van een parkeerseizoen (novel)
1934 – Bint, de roman van een zender (novel)
1935 – De laatste eer, grafrede (The last honor, eulogy)
1935 – 't Ongure Huissens
1936 – Rood paleis; ondergang van een eeuw (Red palace, downfall of the century)
1936 – IJzeren agaven; studie in zwart met kleuren
1937 – De wingerdrank (short stories)
1938 – Karakter; roman van zoon en vader (novel); English translation: Character, from Dutch by E. M. Prince; London, Peter Owen, 1966, etc. Filmed as 1997 Dutch/Belgian film, directed by Mike van Diem.
1940 – De Korenharp
1940 – Drie toneelstukken (Three plays)
1941 – Apollyon
1946 – Eiken van Dodona (Oaks of Dodona)
1946 – Veuve Vesuvius
1947 – Bij gaslicht (By gaslight)
1947 – Vijf fantastische vertellingen (Five fantastic tales)
1948 – Noorderlicht
1948 – Plato's dood, symfonisch gedicht (Plato's death, symphonic poem)
1948 – Rotonde (opera)
1949 – Blokken, Knorrende beesten, Bint (Cubes, grunting animals, Bint), compilation
1949 – Het eiberschild
1949 – Nachtelijk paardengetrappel
1949 – Zwanenpolder; twintig verhalen
1950 – Vertellingen van generzijds (Tales from the other side)
1951 – De korenharp, nieuwe reeks
1951 – Studiën in volksstructuur
1952 – De doopvont
1954 – Haagse mijmeringen
1954 – Mevrouw en meneer Richebois; twintig korte verhalen (Misses and mister Richebois; twenty short stories)
1955 – Arenlezing uit De korenharp (compendium)
1955 – Bloesemtak
1955 – Onderweg naar Beacons; twaalf korte verhalen
1956 – Geachte confrère; splendeurs en misères van het beroep van advocaat
1956 – Halte Noordstad; vermeerderd met drie eenacters en een monoloog (play)
1956 – Tien verhalen (Ten stories)
1957 – Idem; tien parodieën (Idem; ten parodies)
1958 – De aktentas, tien korte verhalen
1959 – De zigeuners; twaalf korte verhalen en een schets (The gypsies; twelve short stories and a sketch)
1960 – Centrum van stilte; vijf verhalen (Centre of silence; five stories)
1961 – Tijding van ver (Faraway tidings)
1961 – Paddestoelen (raad in) rijm (under the pseudonym Ton Ven)
1964 – Lente; zeven verhalen (Spring, seven stories)
1964 – Jade, jaspis en de jitterbug (under the pseudonym Ton Ven)
1965 – De Golbertons
1981 – Dreverhaven en Katadreuffe
1982 – Zeven fantastische vertellingen; nagelaten feuilletons (Seven fantastic tales)
1982–1991 – Verzameld werk (Complete works, thirteen parts)
1983 – Vijf kleine verhalen (Five little stories)




See also


Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize




References



Augustinus P. Dierick: "Aspects of Myth in Ferdinand Bordewijk's Karakter. In: The Low Countries: Multidisciplinary Studies (ed. Margriet Bruijn Lacy). Lanham, New York, London: University Press of America, 1990, 147-155.

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Character (film 1997)
• Mike van Diem
• F. Springer
• Jeroen Brouwers
• Max Croiset
• Daftar komponis
• Ferdinand Bordewijk
• Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize
• Character (film)
• Character
• Arnon Grunberg
• Rituals (novel)
• Château en Espagne
• Tommy Wieringa
• Late Visitors to Pompeii
• Mike van Diem