Codex Historiae - Religion & Faith - Summer 2021

Religion & Faith

CODEX Jaargang 42 | Nummer 2 | 2021

Historiae

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Redactioneel Het nieuwe nummer van CODEX Historiae draait helemaal om Religion & Faith! Religie en geloof zijn abstracte begrippen, waarvan de betekenissen voor iedere persoon, samenleving en tijd verschillen. Religies zijn veranderlijk: zij voegen samen of splitsen zich op; nemen kenmerken van andere geloven over of innoveren uit zichzelf; en verspreiden zich of krimpen. Toch geeft religie veel mensen een stabiliteit en een houvast in een nog sneller veranderende wereld. Geloof is een nog abstracter concept en gaat verder dan religie. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan het geloof in wetenschap en de ‘heilige’ zoektocht naar kennis. Denk ook aan geloof in geld, de beurs en de markt; die munten en briefjes die wij over de kassa aangeven zijn niets waard en de getallen die op onze bankrekeningen staan al helemaal niet, maar toch hebben we een complexe economie gebaseerd op het geloof dat het wél iets waard is. Uiteindelijk is alle cultuur gebaseerd op de onvermijdelijkheid van de dood. De wens van de mens om onze eigen dood, evenals die van onze geliefden, een plekje te geven en betekenis te geven aan de dood en het leven is wat alle menselijke culturen met elkaar gemeen hebben.

Codex achtte het een goed idee even stil te staan bij deze onderwerpen en publiceert daarom dit nummer, boordevol met interessante artikelen, opiniestukken, Op de VU en een spannende thematische quiz! Lees alles over de rol van religie in het stichten van een nieuw rijk, het geloof in de toekomst van de mens, het belang van vrijheid van meningsuiting en de Reagan doctrine en nog veel meer. Onze docenten vertellen over hun onderzoek naar de Joodse gemeenschap in Amstelveen en het innoveren van het christendom in tijden van ‘verlichting’. Wie goed oplet, kan verspreid door dit nummer teksten vinden die fundamenteel zijn voor religie, filosofie en wetenschap in verschillende talen.

Codex is er om studenten ervaring te bieden met het publiceren van artikelen en om hun skills te helpen verscherpen. Heb jij iets geschreven voor een vak of ben je geïnteresseerd om iets nieuws te schrijven voor het volgende nummer? Twijfel niet, stuur het naar ons op!

De deadline voor het aanleveren van artikelen voor ons volgend nummer, ‘Labour’, is 29 augustus

This issue of CODEX Historiae is all about Religion & Faith! Both are abstract concepts, whose meaning is different for every person, society and time. Religions are dynamic: they can merge or divide; assume characteristics of other religions and innovate on their own; and spread out or shrink. Still, religions give people a sense of stability and something to hold on to in an even more dynamic world. Faith is an even broader subject, and it touches on far more topics than religion alone. Consider faith in the sciences and the ‘holy’ quest for knowledge, or faith in money and the (stock)market. Cash has almost no intrinsic value, and virtual money has none, yet we trust in a complex economic system based on the belief that it is worth something.

Religion and faith are fundamental concepts for human culture. Our belief that the dead deserve respect and care for in an afterlife is one of the few behaviours we can consider absolutely universal among our species alone. Some argue that human fear of death and need to cope was what stimulated what we call ‘culture’ to arise in the first place.

We at Codex thought these subjects deserved consideration, which is why this issue is filled with tons of fascinating articles, opinion pieces, a huge Op de VU, and an exciting quiz about Religion & Faith! Read everything about the role of religion in the founding of a new empire, the faith in humanity’s future, harmful Jewish stereotypes in Barbie movies, the Reagan doctrine and much, much more. Our teachers write about their research on the Jewish community in Amstelveen and how Christians in the Netherlands have constantly worked to renew their religion and faith in the past two centuries. The observing reader will also find that the backgrounds to our textboxes are made up of fundamental religious, philosophical and scientific texts in various languages.

Codex exists to offer students experience in publishing articles and helping to improve their writing and researching skills.

Have you written a paper for a course, or are you interested in writing something new for the next issue? Do not hesitate to send it to us!

The deadline for submission of articles for our next issue, ‘Labour’, is the 29th of August

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In dit nummer The CODEX Quiz

Pagina 4

Amerika vs. de ‘Evil Empire’ Hoe de Reagan Doctrine tijdens de Koude Oorlog werd ingezet in de strijd tegen de Sovjet-Unie Tim Schröder

Pagina 7

The Dawn of an Empire How Usman dan Fodio Became the First Leader of the Sokoto Caliphate Ellen van Heteren

Pagina 10

Antisemitisme in een Barbiejurk Eeuwenoude stereotypen in kinderfilms Claire Majoor

Pagina 15

Interview “Natuurlijk maak ik mij zorgen om mijn vader, maar ik laat me niet het zwijgen opleggen” Amanda van Dord

Pagina 18

Op de VU Voor Lale Niels Koopmans

Pagina 20

Merlijnpagina - Hello, Goodbye The old and new boards

Pagina 22

Another Enlightenment?

Fred van Lieburg

Pagina 24

Onderzoek naar een joodse groeikern: de casus-Amstelveen Bart Wallet

Pagina 28

Filmrecensie The Secrets We Keep Amanda van Dord

Pagina 32

Far Beyond the Stars Science Fiction’s Faith and Doubt in Humanity’s Future Daan Jansen & Lucas Smarius

Pagina 34

Reading Between the Lines The discovery and conservation of the Archimedes Palimpsest in a medieval Prayer Book Ellen van Heteren

Pagina 39

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The CODEX Quiz A

history magazine is all well and good, but sometimes we’ve had enough of telling you what we know. It’s time to see what you know! We’ve compiled random trivia questions centered on this issue’s theme. Most are historical questions, but not all! Let’s see what you know. You’re very welcome to email us your answers or send them to us on social media!

I – How often did Henry IV of France (1553-1610) switch faiths?

A 3 times: in 1572, 1576 and 1593 B 4 times: Twice in 1562, once in 1576 and 1593 C 5 times: Twice in 1562, once in 1572, 1576 and 1593

II – What is the name of the long-forgotten and repressed mother goddess in the Canaanite pantheon?

A Asherah, the consort of ‘El B Ahurani, the goddess of the waters C Farore, the goddess of courage D All of the above. The Canaanites believed in many mothers.

III – The French Revolution was eager to rid the country of all traces of the Christian faith and usher in a new age of reason. Which of these measures was NOT taken?

A The Gregorian calendar was replaced by the

Republican calendar, consisting of 12 months with

each 3 weeks of 10 days.

B A great cenotaph was erected in honour of Isaac

Newton, larger than the pyramids of Giza, as symbol

of the Enlightenment. It was torn down by Napoleon.

C Catholic churches were seized and forced to make

room for a new “religion”: the Cult of Reason.

D None of these measures were taken.

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VII – Which religious figure was NOT hanged in some way?

A Odin.

B Jesus Christ.

C Hera D All of the above were hanged in some way.

IV – In ancient Mesopotamia, what was common practice towards the revered statues of gods of conquered cities?

A The statues were defaced, blinding the gods to the

atrocities the conquerors committed.

B The statues were left alone, because wars were mortal

affairs, far below the purview of the gods.

C The statues were taken to the conqueror’s capital, the

gods effectively held hostage to dissuade rebellion.

V – Which of these factors played the largest role in the loss of faith in the capitalist system which caused the Great Recession of 2008?

A Financial institutions took on too much risk in handing

out loans, and nearly went bankrupt when people

couldn’t pay their mortgages.

B Continual islamist terror attacks in America, The

United Kingdom, Russia and elsewhere made people

fearful to make any long-term investments.

C Since its release in 2006, people had been playing Wii

Sports so much that the global economy simply collapsed.

D All of the above

VI – Which country was the first to put their faith in the abstract value of money, instead of grains or metals?

A Qin China, in the 3rd century BCE B Lydia, in the 7th century BCE C Lagash, in the 21st century BCE

VIII – In astrology, each of the twelve zodiac signs is associated with one of the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. The qualities of the elements are believed to relate directly to the qualities of the signs. Which three elements are connected to the element earth and are so-called ‘earth signs’?

A Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio B Aries, Leo, Sagittarius C Gemini, Libra, Aquarius D Taurus,Virgo, Capricorn

IX – What does the Ichthys represent in Christianity?

A The Christian ideal of brotherly love. Jesus fed the

people by multiplying a fish.

B The Ichthys is a Greek acronym for Jesus

Christ, the son of God, our saviour.

C Fish are holy in Christianity and

the symbol was used as a secret

sign to recognise other Christians.

D All of the above

X – For which of these subjects do Catholics have a saint?

A Women experiencing hair-loss B Coffee C Beekeepers D All the above

6 Image: Steve Kaiser via Wikimedia Commons

XIII – In the Völuspá the seeress reveals to Odin the creation of the world and its coming destruction.

After the battles of the gods, what would be found on the grass?

A Silver statues of the fallen warrior heroes.

B Golden tables belonging to the gods.

C Bronze books containing the story of Ragnarök.

D All of the above

IX B X D XI A XII C XIII B XIV C XV A

XII – According to ancient Babylonian cuneiform clay tablets, which shape did the Ark from the famous deluge story take?

A Flat, like a raft.

B Square, like a house.

C Rounded, like a basket.

XV – What is the origin of the word ‘Bible’?

A The Greek word βιβλία, meaning books B The Dutch Bij-bel, the name emphasizing the unity of

Christianity as well as the various books which make

up the Bible C The Lebanese city Byblos, where the first Bible was compiled

Answers: I C II A III B IV C V A VI B VII D VIII D

XI – In 2011, protestors took to the streets worldwide, demanding economic equality and democracy. What was this movement called?

A Occupy B Project X C Eat the Rich D All of the above

XIV – What country has the largest islamic population in the world?

A Bangladesh B Saudi Arabia C Indonesia D Pakistan

7 Tim Schröder

Amerika vs. het ‘Evil Empire’

Hoe de Reagan Doctrine tijdens de Koude Oorlog werd ingezet in de strijd tegen de Sovjet-Unie

D

e Truman Doctrine zal bij velen wel een belletje laten rinkelen. De Reagan Doctrine daarentegen zal men minder bekend in de oren klinken. De Reagan Doctrine werd door Ronald Reagan ingezet tijdens zijn tweede termijn (1985-1989) als president van Amerika. Reagan introduceerde de doctrine in 1985 in zijn ‘State of the Union’ speech, de traditionele jaarlijkse toespraak waarin de Amerikaanse president het woord tot de natie richt. Charles Krauthammer was de bedenker van de term ‘Reagan Doctrine’, waar hij in een artikel in Time Magazine mee kwam. Krauthammer verwees naar de volgende quote van Reagan: ‘We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives - on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua - to defy Soviet aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth. Support for freedom fighters is self-defense’.1 Het belangrijkste gedeelte uit dit citaat is het gedeelte over de ‘vrijheidsstrijders’. Het steunen van de zogenaamde ‘vrijheidsstrijders’ over de hele wereld is in principe wat de Reagan Doctrine inhoudt. Dit concept is echter nog enigszins vaag. Wat was de Reagan Doctrine precies? Op welke wijze werd de doctrine uitgevoerd? En was het eigenlijk succesvol?

Onder de Reagan Doctrine steunde Amerika anticommunistische, anti-Sovjet rebellen in verschillende landen over de wereld. Met het steunen van deze ‘vrijheidsstrijders’ wilde Reagan de Sovjet-Unie verzwakken en uiteindelijk er ook voor zorgen dat er in deze landen democratieën gesticht zouden worden.2 Dit kwam voort uit een ideologische strijd tussen het kapitalisme en het communisme, die zich onder meer uitte in de invloedsferen van beide landen. Het voornaamste doel van de politiek van Reagan was om de Sovjet-Unie en haar ideologieën te bestrijden. Het liefst wilde Reagan de Sovjet-Unie volledig laten verdwijnen, zo stelt hij tenminste in zijn autobiografie: ‘The Soviet Economy was being held together with baling wire; it was a basket case, partly because of massive spending on armaments. ... I wondered how we as a nation could use these cracks in the Soviet system to accelerate the process of collapse’.3 De Reagan Doctrine was één van de manieren waarop dit doel bereikt moest worden. In de praktijk hield dit in dat bepaalde groeperingen in landen die binnen de invloedssfeer van de Sovjet Unie vielen of dreigden te vallen, financiële steun en wapens kregen.4

(I) Afghaanse Vrijheidsstrijder met Amerikaanse Stinger Missile

“...The idea was to prevent the Soviet Union from using the power and position it had won...”

In Afghanistan werd bijvoorbeeld de Moedjahedien gesteund, een coalitie van ongeveer zeven verschillende fracties met allemaal hun eigen politieke organisatie en leger, die vanaf 1985 één groepering vormden.5 De Afghaanse strijders kregen 650 miljoen dollar per jaar van Amerika.6 Verder ontvingen ze zeer geavanceerde wapens, zoals de ‘Stinger surface-to-air Missile’.7 In Nicaragua steunde Amerika de vrijheidsstrijders met tanks en gevechtshelikopters.8 Daarnaast kregen deze vrijheidsstrijders ook morele support, bijvoorbeeld in de vorm van diplomaten.9 De steun van het grote Amerika was voor deze groep-eringen van grote waarde, al was het alleen al voor het moreel.

De Reagan Doctrine paste binnen de al bestaande containmentpolitiek.

‘Containment, … was a series of attempts to deal with the consequences of that wartime Faustian bargain: the idea was to prevent the Soviet Union from using the power and position it won as a result of that conflict to reshape the postwar international order.10 George F. Kennan, een

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voormalig Amerikaans diplomaat, die aan de wieg stond van de containmentpolitiek, verwoordde het zelf als volgt: ‘A longterm, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies’.11 Containmentpolitiek hield in dat de Amerikaanse overheid de groei van de SovjetUnie en de verspreiding van het communisme probeerde te voorkomen, zowel door de inzet van geweld als door financiële en diplomatieke steun. Een aantal bekende gevolgen van de containmentpolitiek zijn de Koreaoorlog, de Cubacrisis en de Vietnamoorlog. In deze crisis en oorlogen mondde de (ideologische) strijd tussen de Verenigde Staten en de Sovjet-Unie daadwerkelijk uit in gewelddadige conflicten.

Men zou de Reagan Doctrine kunnen beschouwen als containment-plus De Reagan Doctrine volgde dit voorbeeld, maar ging zelfs nog een stap verder dan ‘containment’. Wat namelijk nieuw was aan de Reagan Doctrine was de zogeheten ‘roll-back’: het terugdringen van regeringen die al onder de invloedsfeer van de Sovjet-Unie waren gevallen.12 Dit was eveneens het geval in Afghanistan. De Sovjet-Unie had in 1978 een coup gepleegd en sindsdien was daar een communistische regering aan de macht, die werd gesteund door een bezettingsmacht van meer dan 100.000 Sovjetsoldaten.13 De macht van de Sovjet-Unie was doorgedrongen tot alle onderdelen van het bureaucratische systeem.

Voor de situatie in Afghanistan nam Reagan in 1985 een speciaal besluit: NSDD 166.14 Deze ‘National Security Decision Directive’ hield in dat de VS alles op alles zou zetten om de Sovjet-Unie in Afghanistan te verslaan.

Men zou de Reagan Doctrine kunnen beschouwen als containment-plus.

“I wondered how we as a nation could use these cracks in the Soviet system.”

De Reagan Doctrine was echter niet overal een even groot succes. Succes kan hier worden gedefinieerd als het verslaan en verwijderen van de Sovjet-Unie (of van een regime dat binnen de invloedsfeer van de Sovjet-Unie viel) in een land, het belangrijkste doel van de politiek. Uiteraard zijn als gevolg van de Amerikaanse interventie ook veel negatieve gevolgen voor deze landen te benoemen, maar dat staat los van het doel van de Reagan Doctrine zelf. Het beste voorbeeld dat binnen die definitie wel succesvol was, is Afghanistan. De Moedjahedien versloegen de troepen van Gorbatsjov en in 1988 werden de Sovjettroepen definitief teruggetrokken, een overwinning voor Reagan.15 In Nicaragua was het beleid van Reagan echter minder succesvol. Ten eerste bleek de gesteunde groep, een mix van verschillende groepen die onder de naam ‘Verenigde Nicaraguaanse Oppositie’ handelde, niet capabel genoeg om het zittende regime te verslaan.16 Daarnaast was de situatie zo dat het Amerikaanse congres geen toestemming had gegeven om de ‘vrijheidsstrijders’ in Nicaragua te steunen.17 Een van de redenen hiervoor was dat deze ‘vrijheidsstrijders’ een niet al te beste reputatie hadden.

Ze waren nogal gewelddadig en ondermijnden regelmatig mensenrechten.18 Critici classificeerden deze groep als terroristen. Reagans poging om in het geheim toch steun te bieden, mislukte al snel. In Iran was sprake van het Iran-Contra schandaal, waarbij kolonel Oliver North, Reagans Nationale

9 Tim Schröder

Veiligheid Adviseur, de winst uit de illegale handel van wapens met Iran gebruikte voor de steun aan de ‘vrijheidsstrijders’ zonder dat de president hiervan af wist.

Het schandaal dat hieruit ontstond, kostte veel mensen binnen het Witte Huis hun baan. Zelfs Reagan moest even vrezen voor een motie van wantrouwen, maar deze kreeg uiteindelijk niet genoeg steun.19 Een vraag die waarschijnlijk bij velen zal opkomen is: Waarom deed Reagan zo veel moeite? Hij haalde zich namelijk veel problemen op de hals om de Sovjet-Unie tegen te werken. Reagan deed al deze moeite omdat hij als ‘echte’ Republikein heilig geloofde in een laissez-faire economie en overtuigd was dat dit een van de grootste aantrekkingskrachten was van de Verenigde Staten.20 Zoals al uit eerdere quotes is gebleken was Reagan ervan overtuigd dat het systeem van communisme niet werkte. Volgens hem was het communisme een door en door gewelddadige vorm van ‘insanity’ die de menselijke natuur schond en daarom gestopt moest worden.21 De Sovjet-Unie was een ‘Evil Empire’ en ‘the focus of evil in the modern world’.22 De ideologische reden van Reagan is tegelijkertijd eigenlijk ook de politieke reden van de strijd.

Voordat Reagan president was, werd nog gesproken over ‘vreedzame co-existentie’, maar dit was voor Reagan geen optie, vanwege zijn overtuigingen. Voor Reagan waren containment en détente niet genoeg; het ging een stap verder.

Het doel van Amerika was om de dreiging van de SovjetUnie te laten verdwijnen.23 De Reagan Doctrine kan in dit aspect gezien worden als de toepassing van Reagans eigen anticommunisme in het politieke beleid van de Verenigde Staten overal ter wereld.

(II) Generaal Oliver North tijdens een hoorzitting over de Iran-Contra affaire.

North was betrapt met het illegaal bewapenen van contra’s in Nicaragua omdat hij per ongeluk een verkeerde bankrekening had opgegeven

Verwijzingen 1 Krauthammer. The Reagan Doctrine in Time Magazine.

(1985. April 1.).

2 Pee. The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and the transition to democracy promotion. (2019). 82.

3 Knott. Reagan’s Critics in The National Interest. (1996).

66.

4 Carpenter. U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The “Reagan Doctrine” and Its Pitfalls. (1986). 4.

5 Ibidem. 7.

6 Pach. The Reagan Doctrine: Principle, Pragmatism, and Policy in Presidential Studies Quarterly. 2006 Mar. Vol. 36. No. 1. 82.

7 Ibidem.

8 Carpenter. 6.

9 Ibidem. 12.

10 Gaddis. Strategies of Containment : A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy During the Cold War. (2005). 4.

11 Ibidem.

12 Acharya. The Reagan Doctrine and International Security in Peace Research. (1988). 24.

13 Carpenter. 3.

14 Pach. 82.

15 Ibidem. 83.

16 Carpenter. 10.

17 Neuchterlein. The Reagan doctrine in perspective in Perspectives on Political Science. (1990). Vol. 19. No.1 48.

18 Carpenter. 10.

19 Neuchterlein. 48.

20 Deudney, Ikenberry. Who Won The Cold War? In Foreign Policy. (1992). No. 87. 136.

21 Heclo. The mixed legacy of Ronald Reagan in Presidential Studies Quarterly. (2008). Vol. 38. No. 4.

563.

22 Busch. Ronald Reagan and the Defeat of the Soviet Empire in Presidential Studies Quarterly. Vol. 27. No. 3. (1997). 454.

23 Heclo. 563.

Afbeeldingen: (I) AP; Mir Wais (II) Encyclopedia Britannica

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(I) Location of the Sokoto Empire in West-Africa

The Dawn of an Empire

How Dan Fodio founded and led the Sokoto Caliphate

I

n 1804, the Hausa states, situated between the Niger River and Lake Chad, were attacked by jihadists under the leadership of urban scholar Usman Dan Fodio. He had gathered a following (called the Jama’a1) in the region amongst both Muslim and non-Muslim Fulani people.2 These followers were mostly shepherds and a minority group in cities. When the jihad was over in 1808, Dan Fodio became the first Sultan of the newly founded Sokoto Caliphate. Dan Fodio must have been a remarkable leader to not only mobilize so many Fulani but also win the holy war against several settled states.The power that such a leader and his successors had would depend entirely on his person and the ability of the successors to follow in his footsteps. How did Dan Fodio persuade people to follow him into jihad, and how would he legitimize his defiance, rebellion and eventual rule of the Sokoto Caliphate?

For centuries, the Hausa people had organized themselves into various states, like Gobir, Kano and Katsina. They lived mostly in cities, where they could govern themselves and concentrate their military defense. In these cities, they sold their cotton cloths, gold and other locally made products and hosted markets, where a wide variety of produce and products were traded. Merchants and pilgrims brought in all kinds of products and (religious) ideas from important centres like Timbuctoo from across the Sahara desert.3 Outside the cities, people herded cattle or worked on their farms.These rural people belonged to different tribes all belonging to the Hausa people, such as the Fulani, who played a central role in the jihad.4 Islam was introduced in the area in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, after new paths of communication opened to the Arab world. This development also helped make Hausaland an important region for trade. While many people were converted to Islam, the religion was

mainly practiced in the urban areas. Although Islam was not particularly widespread until the eighteenth century, it proved an important factor in the development of Hausaland. Since the Islam is centred around the Quran, it encouraged people to become literate. Muslim teachers founded schools which formed the base for an educated society.5 This is also how centres of learning originated in West-Africa amongst the Hausa and Fulani. Learned men and women specialized in mainly religious and legal knowledge and became Malammai, distinguished Muslim scholars, or Torodbe, Muslim clerics.6 It was often somewhat unclear what was expected from Muslims in West-Africa, so many continued to exercise some of their old rituals alongside Islamic ones.7 These ritual practices were often criticized by other scholars who had closely studied the Quran and pursued a strictly monotheistic approach to Islam. One of these scholars was Usman Dan Fodio, born into a family of Torodbe in

11 Ellen van Heteren (II) The first page of Dan Fodio’s The Foundations of Justice for Legal Guardians, Governors, Princes, Meritorious Rulers, and Kings

Gobir in 1754. Dan Fodio started traveling and preaching at age twenty, when he formed his political opinions about some religious issues. His views on these and other affairs eventually set off the jihad in 1804.8

It was often somewhat unclear what was expected from Muslims in WestAfrica, so many continued to exercise some of their old rituals alongside Islamic ones Like many other boys in West-Africa, the young Usman began his education at home around the age of seven, on the subjects of religion, reading and writing. One of Dan Fodio’s masters was his uncle Binduri, whose teachings had a great influence on his religious and political development; he had taught him to ‘[enjoin] the right and [forbid] the wrong’.9 Another influential teacher was Jibril, who taught him very strict Islamic standards.10 By the time Dan Fodio reached the age of twenty in 1775, his masters found him mature enough to start preaching in Degel. This moment was also the starting point for Dan Fodio to begin to think about religious reform. He

was concerned about the mixed form of paganism and Islam that was practiced among the population of WestAfrica. In view of its syncretism with local beliefs, Islam existed in many different forms, varying from one place to another. Dan Fodio, being one of the Malammai in this area, naturally wanted to spread the religion and practices of Islam as fixed in the Quran. He wanted to end superstition and traces of the old religions like Yoruba, and promoted religious devotion to Islam in one of his books.11 An inevitable consequence of his opinions on religious matters was interference with political matters, since a division between religion and state in Islamic societies was nonexistent. Furthermore, Islam is not only a religion, but also a lifestyle, which sometimes contradicted local political (pagan) law. Therefore, preaching for religious reform in this context was always a critique on state policy.12 Another book appeared in which Dan Fodio stated his criticisms of the ruling classes in the courts. These disapprovals were not limited to merely affairs of worship, but also worldly affairs; he made complaints about oppression, corruption, self-indulgence and offences against the Islam. The first of these accusations he expanded the most upon; he charged the courts with raising taxes that were not sanctioned by the Sharia, oppressing women, seizing cattle and money from their subjects and similar offences. The self-indulgence Dan Fodio accused the noblemen of included forbidden dancing, keeping enormous harems, and enjoying an overall excessively luxurious lifestyle. Furthermore, the upper classes ate and drank forbidden food and beverages and wore clothes that offended Islamic codes. One especially serious charge is that the courts did not practice the laws they issued. Dan Fodio blamed not only the courts, but also other Uluma, as he made clear in another of his writings.13

Religion in West-Africa Before the introduction of the Islam to West-Africa in the 10th century, many people in the Hausa States followed the Yoruba. This religion was based on a personal connection to spirits, those of deceased relatives and others within a community to be precise, called egungun. When Arabs came to West-Africa, they practiced their religion as far as local law allowed. Due to these favourable circumstances, the Uluma ( Muslim clergy) moved to Hausaland and preached on funding from local elites. In return, these elites were taught by these Uluma in subjects such as writing, the Arabic language and the efficient Islamic tax system, which the elites later started to let go in favour of more stringent systems. This means that Islam was a religion for the elites for a long time. This changed when Islamic brotherhoods started preaching among the other classes of society and in rural areas. By reason of their emphasis on a spiritual connection to God, which had previously attracted people to Yoruba, many people converted to Islam.This is broadly why Islam was more widespread among the Fulani people than the urban elites by the time Dan Fodio started thinking about his reforms.26

12 Dan Fodio’s preaching and later also that of his students was heard by a broad public of different cultures and classes.

Although he expressed his political and religious opinions in his books, his sermons were simple, practical and easy to understand. Dan Fodio usually preached about happiness, sin, punishment, the unity of god and paradise, and he taught the more practical everyday Islamic rituals of prayer, marriage, vows, taxes and fasting. Surprisingly, Dan Fodio did not actively try to convert people to Islam. Instead, he wanted the Muslims in the area to deepen their belief by converting to orthodox Islam and obeying the Sharia.

He was helped greatly by his charisma; he was known to always greet his followers three times before preaching and patiently answer all their questions afterwards. He usually preached in Fulbe or Hausa, the language of the locals, instead of Arabic, so that uneducated people could understand what he had to say.14

Preaching for religious reform in this context was always a critique on state policy Besides these personal assets, some cultural circumstances made the Fulani people want to support Dan Fodio in his religious and political reforms. The Fulani were mainly nomads, thereby differing from the more urban Hausa people living in the area and therefore more subjected to more political obligations, such as taxes. They also, generally speaking, differed in character; they tended to be more serious, hold scholarship in higher esteem and be more radical. Furthermore, they had been converted to Islam to a greater extent, making them more susceptible to Dan Fodio’s sermons about religious reform. The Fulani did not enjoy the same rights as the Hausa, making Dan Fodio’s criticism of illegal taxes an important point to rally around.15 These factors would all contribute when tensions between Dan Fodio and the kings of Hausaland rose in the lead-up to the outbreak of war.

Dan Fodio had long refrained from facing the kings of Hausaland, but when the size of his following had increased significantly, he went to the court of Gobir and preached to the Sultan himself, Sarki (Hausa for ‘king’) Bawa. Several years later, in 1788 or 1789, Bawa summoned him to the id al-kabir festivities and allegedly intended to kill him. A possible motivation for the attempted murder would be that the Sultan had long ruled his land by the old tradition of mixed local religion and Islam, and Dan Fodio’s criticism of this tradition brought the legitimacy of his rule into question.What made him reconsider was probably the fact

that all learned men present at the assembly joined Dan Fodio, so that his Jama’a on site numbered over a thousand.

Undoubtedly swayed by this display, Bawa instead offered him a huge sum of money, which Dan Fodio refused to accept. Dan Fodio declared that all he and his followers needed was that he be allowed to preach in Gobir; that no-one was to be stopped to respond to his call; that all men who wore a turban were to be treated with respect; and that Bawa’s subjects not be burdened with illegal taxes.

Bawa accepted these demands. This was an important milestone in Dan Fodio’s journey, since he was regarded as the true leader of a growing reform movement from that moment on.16 During the next few years, Dan Fodio travelled to neighbouring countries, gaining many more followers outside of Gobir. As he travelled, he continued to expose the corruption of the Hausa governments.This angered the new Sultan of Gobir, Nafata, who also became anxious of Dan Fodio’s ever-growing Jama’a. He reacted by forbidding all Islamic preaching, except for Dan Fodio himself to avoid conflict; he ordered every converted Muslim to return to their original faith and prohibited wearing typical Islamic clothing. Nafata’s successor, Yunfa, escalated this hostility by attempting to shoot Dan Fodio, and later ordered an expedition against some of Dan Fodio’s followers who had emigrated to the neighbouring Kebbi and refused to return. He threatened to do the same thing to the settlement of Degel, which had become a home and a base of operations for Dan Fodio and his Jama’a, and suggested that Dan Fodio and his family flee the village. In response, Dan Fodio and his followers emigrated to an oasis in the desert, outside of Gobir. When more followers set out to meet him there, Yunfa prevented them from reaching him, and when Dan Fodio asked him to make several reforms to issue the return of confiscated property and accepting

13 Ellen van Heteren the ‘true faith’, Yunfa declared war on him.17 His army was defeated by the much smaller army of the Jama’a at the lake near Tabkin Kwatto in 1804.18

Defeating the army of Gobir must have confirmed the followers’ belief in Dan Fodio and his divine directive During the prelude to the jihad described above, several factors contributed to the Jama’a believing Dan Fodio to truly be the ‘Commander of the faithful’. Firstly, the WestAfrican Messianic Tradition, dating back to the eleventh century, taught that God would send a reformer at the turn of each century (of the Islamic calendar). When Dan Fodio became a leading figure in the reform movement, many of his followers believed he was sent to Earth by God Himself. Secondly, he himself also believed he was the chosen one after having a vision in which God gave him the ‘sword of truth’ and ordered him to restore faith.

Furthermore, his emigration from Degel to the desert was paralleled to the original hijra of the prophet Mohammed at the beginning of the Islamic era.19 Defeating the army of Gobir must have confirmed the followers’ belief in Dan Fodio and his divine directive.

After this victory, more followers were willing to take arms and join the Jama’a. The jihad had now certainly begun and was fought simultaneously in different states by the followers of Dan Fodio.20 The old Hausa states fell one by one, respectively Kebbi, Katsina, Daura, Kano and finally Gobir in 1808. The states were transformed into emirates, which all pledged allegiance to the Sultan of Sokoto. The jihad then continued to rage north and south of Hausaland, adding more emirates to the list.When most of the fighting was over, the emirates were divided between the brother

and son of Dan Fodio, while he resigned to continue his scholarly work.21 The caliphate that was established featured a complex, decentralised political system that eventually housed over 36 emirates. The caliph lived in Sokoto, from where he would govern the caliphate. The emirates were governed by emirs, who were usually followers who had pledged allegiance to the caliph. The wazir would travel the emirates to function as link between the caliph and the emirs, inspecting whether the wishes and orders of the caliph were executed. Because Dan Fodio relied so heavily on his ties to the prophet and Islamic law, so did the caliphate.

All grounds for legitimation of the state were essentially based on the caliph and so his family made considerable efforts to remind people of his connection to the divine.

Although a widespread educational programme did not exist, efforts of these and other scholars contributed to the sustainability of the reformist ideas beyond the first generation.22

Subjects of both the caliphate and neighbouring regions were quick to pledge loyalty to the caliph The tasks of the caliph were numerous: he was to be Imam, promoter of Islam outside the borders of the caliphate, responsible for raising taxes, and political leader.Therefore, Dan Fodio relied on the emirs to govern their emirates, which they would do in his name after pledging allegiance to him. In turn, the emirs relied entirely on the reputation of the caliph, since his authority is what kept them accepted as rulers in the emirates. This circle of mutual dependence ensured the loyalty between the caliph and emirs. Usually, Dan Fodio chose emirs from his students, so that a stable relationship was already in place.23 Subjects of both the caliphate and neighbouring regions were quick to pledge loyalty to the caliph. This was not least due to the fact that he was the most important Imam in the region, which meant that Muslims were obliged to look to him as their religious leader. Many of them did so willingly, making their loyalty towards the caliph a gift. People had also noticed that their new ruler kept

(III) Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar is the 20th sultan of Sokoto, who now fulfills the role of religious leader of Islam in Nigeria

14

his word regarding the strict obedience of the Sharia, stimulating Islamic piety and opposing illegalities according to the Quran. The loyalty that was granted to the caliph was fragile, since much of his legitimacy rested on his honour and breaking any of his promises could lead to disobedience and revolts.24 When Dan Fodio passed away, his brother and later his son succeeded him as caliph. Most of the emirs remained loyal to the successors and repeated their vow of loyalty to them. Revolts against the Sultans of Sokoto were rare, only four having ever taken place and none seriously threatening the stability of the caliphate.25 Brother and son, as well as the rulers that succeeded them, depended on the image and fame of the first caliph of Sokoto. The religious role of the Sokoto Caliphate lives on in the person of the Sultan of Sokoto – the direct descendent of Dan Fodio, who continues to hold considerable sway in Nigerian Islam and politics.

References 1 Jama’a is the Hausa word for community and usually referred to the followers of Dan Fodio.

2 The jihad is a campaign that Muslims are obliged to wage against unbelievers, cf. Last, M., The Sokoto Caliphate (Londen 1967) lix.

3 Davidson, B., A History of West Africa 1000-1800 (Signapore 1985), 105-107, 150-159; Last, The Sokoto Caliphate, lxiv.

4 H. A. S. Johnston, The Fulani Empire of Sokoto (Londen 1967), 25-26.

5 Davidson, A History of West Africa 1000-1800, 137.

6 Malam is the Hausa version of the Arabic word Ulama (plural: Uluma), which refers to Muslim clerics; cf Baba, N, M, ´Islamic Schools, the Ulama, and the State in the Educational Development of Northern Nigeria´, in: Bulletin de l’APAD 33 (2011), 1, footnote 1.

7 Last,The Sokoto Caliphate, lxxvi.

8 Johnston, The Fulani Empire of Sokoto, 27-32; Lapidus, I. M., A history of Islamic Societies (Cambridge 2014), 469470; Last,The Sokoto Caliphate, lxviii-lxx, lxxx-lxxxii.

9 El-Masri, F.H., ‘The Life of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Before the Jihad’, in: Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 2:4 (1963) 436-437.

10 Ibidem, 438; Last, The Sokoto Caliphate, 5.

11 Ibidem, 9; Kane, O. O., Beyond Timbuktu. An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa (Londen 2016), 107.

12 Adeleye, R. A., Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria 1804-1903. The Sokoto Caliphate and its Enemies (Londen 1971), 10.

13 Johnston,The Fulani Empire of Sokoto, 30-32.

14 Ibidem, 36; Kane, Beyond Timbuktu, 71.

15 Johnston, The Fulani Empire of Sokoto, 26; Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 10-22.

16 Ibidem; Last, The Sokoto Caliphate, 7; El-Masri, ‘The Life of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Before the Jihad’, 441.

17 Johnston, The Fulani Empire of Sokoto, 38-39; Last, The Sokoto Caliphate, 14-16.

18 Johnston vividly describes this event from the declaration of war exclaimed by Yunfa to the unexpected victory of the Jama’a, and explains how this could happen. Apart from military and technical differences, he believed the consistent faith of the Jama’a to be an important factor.

19 Johnston, The Fulani Empire of Sokoto, 34-35; El-Masri, ‘The Life of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Before the Jihad’, 442; Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 13-14; Last, The Sokoto Caliphate, 15, footnote 62.

20 Cf. Smaldone, J. P., Warfare in the Sokoto Caliphate.

Historical and Sociological Perspectives (New York 1977) for a detailed account on the military revolution that preceded the jihad and the military strategies that were used during the jihad.

21 Maishanu, H. M. and Maishanu, I. M., ‘The Jihad and the Formation of the Sokoto Caliphate’, in: Islamic Studies 38:1 (1999) 128-129.

22 Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 4548; Baba, ‘Islamic Schools, the Ulama, and the State’, 4; Boyd, J. and Last, M., ‘The role of Women as ‘Agents Religieux’ in Sokoto’, in: Canadian Journal of African Studies 19:2 (1985) 287-288.

23 Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 38, 45-47, 94.

24 The wazir traveled through the emirates with pieces of blank paper, carrying the seal of the caliph, so he could compose orders and legally bind arrangements at the caliph’s absence. Cf. Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 44, 46, 50.

25 Ibidem, 95.

26 J. D.Y. Peel, Christianity, Islam and Orisa-Religion (Oakland 2016),7-8, 74-77; S. M. Grienfield, and A. F. Droogers, Reinventing Religions. Syncretism and Transformation in Africa and the Americas (Oxford 2001), 49; M. Brett, ‘Islam and Trade in the Bilad Al-Sudan. Tenth-Eleventh Century A.D.’, in: The Journal of African History 24:4 (1983), 435-437; N. M. Baba, ‘Islamic Schools, the Ulama, and the State in the Educational Development of Northern Nigeria’, in: Bulletin de l’APAD 33 (2011), 2-3.

Image Sources: (I) Map drawn by author (II) Wikimedia commons (III) Ibidem

15 Claire Majoor

Antisemitisme in een Barbiejurk

Eeuwenoude stereotypen in kinderfilms

B

arbiefilms zijn een iconische jeugdherinnering voor menig millennial of Gen Z’er.Wie opgegroeid is met de films kan zich de roze sprookjeswerelden, prachtige jurken en de tiara’s nog voor de geest halen. Wat veel jonge kijkers echter niet opmerkten zijn eeuwenoude, Joodse stereotyperingen. Twee films zijn uitzonderlijk problematisch in dit opzicht: Barbie en het Zwanenmeer (2003) en Barbie als de Prinses en de Bedelaar (2004).

Barbie en het Zwanenmeer Barbie en het Zwanenmeer is uitgebracht in 2003 door speelgoedfabrikant Mattel samen met Rainmaker studios.

De film is geïnspireerd op het gelijknamige ballet van Tsjaikovski. Barbie en het Zwanenmeer vertelt het verhaal van bakkersdochter Odette, die op een dag een eenhoorn door het dorp ziet rennen. Ze besluit het dier te volgen en belandt zo in het magische woud. Daar ontdekt ze dat het woud betoverd is door een kwaadaardige tovenaar: Rothbart. Odette is de enige die het woud en zijn inwoners weer kan bevrijden van de magie en terreur van Rothbart.

Het geïmpliceerde antisemitisme bij de film zit hem in zijn antagonisten Rothbart en zijn dochter Odile. Ten eerste is Rothbart een naam van Joodse origine. Het is een Joodse familienaam uit het zeventiende-eeuwse Duitsland.1 Nu is dit enkel een naam natuurlijk, die ook in het originele verhaal gebruikt is, maar gepaard met zijn uiterlijk en karakter is Rothbart een wandelend Joods stereotype.

(I) Barbie en eenhoorn Lila ontmoeten Rothbart in het woud

Rothbart kreeg geen machtspositie toegewezen, waardoor hij woedend het woud vervloekte met zwarte magie. Hij is klaarblijkelijk een agressieve, hebberige man die uit is op macht zonder daar het recht op te hebben, wat tevens een berucht Joods stereotype is.2 Dit stereotype is leidend voor de gehele film. Rothbart probeert Odette klein te krijgen zodat hij de macht over kan nemen in het woud. De macht over het woud is helaas niet genoeg om Rothbart tevreden te stellen. Hij is bovendien uit op de kroon van het koninkrijk waarin het woud gelegen is. Via Odette, die de interesse gewekt heeft van de knappe prins, probeert hij meer invloed op het koninkrijk te krijgen. Rothbart tovert zijn dochter Odile om tot Odette. Door zijn dochter zo te koppelen aan de prins, hoopt Rothbart nog meer macht naar zich toe te trekken.

Wanneer je Rothbart in beeld ziet, kan je niet om zijn gigantische neus heen. Een grote, gehaakte neus is een van de bekendste Joodse stereotypen. Het werd door de

16

Nazi’s ook wel de Joodse zes genoemd; voornamelijk om zijn vorm.3 Men zou echter kunnen beargumenteren dat de tovenaar zo een grote neus gekregen heeft, omdat hij zichzelf meermaals verandert in een arend of ander soort roofvogel. Tegelijkertijd komt dat ook overeen met een antisemitische legende, die vertelt dat Joden in staat zijn van gedaante te verwisselen.4 Dan is er nog Rothbarts dochter: Odile. Ze heeft donkere, kraaiachtige ogen en donker haar.5 Nog een detail is dat Odile’s stem ingesproken is door de Joodse Maggie Wheeler (bekend als Janice in Friends (1994)), met een herkenbaar Amerikaans-Joods accent. De makers hebben Odile gevormd naar het stereotype van de Joodse dochter; de Jewish American Princess (JAP). Dit stereotype werd vooral populair vanaf de jaren vijftig en zestig van de vorige eeuw.

Een JAP is een veeleisende, verwende, materialistische Joodse dochter, wiens wensen vaak vervuld worden door haar vader.6 Odile’s materialisme wordt sterk benadrukt in de film. In een scène graait ze verveeld en ontevreden door een schatkist vol met sieraden en edelstenen. Ze heeft naar eigen zeggen niets moois meer om te dragen. Wanneer haar vader de kroon van Odette ter sprake brengt, leeft ze op: ‘A crown? I dont have one of those...get it for me daddy! I want one!’. Naast dat Odile dus een prototype JAP is, bevestigt de berg met goud, sieraden en edelstenen nog een joods stereotype. Joden zouden boven alles uit zijn op geld, goud en welke andere vorm van financiële verrijking dan ook.7 Wanneer we kijken naar de bredere verhaallijn hebben sommige verhaalelementen verdere uitleg nodig. Er

kan beargumenteerd worden dat het motief van een bloedsprookje, of blood-libel, te vinden is in de film. Dit is een antisemitisch verhaalmotief dat zijn oorsprong vindt in Europa in de twaalfde eeuw. Volgens het bloedsprookje zouden Joden niet-Joodse kinderen ontvoeren en gebruiken voor hun rituelen. In een versie van het bloedsprookje zouden kinderen bijvoorbeeld gekruisigd worden tijdens Pesach.8 Daarnaast werden Joden beschuldigd van zwarte magie en gedaanteverwisselingen.9 Deze motieven zijn allen terug te vinden in deze Barbiefilm. Rothbart tovert kinderen om tot dieren en zorgt ervoor dat ze het woud nooit meer kunnen verlaten. Ook de constante tovenarij en gedaanteverwisselingen (van mens naar vogel), zijn antisemitische motieven. De gedaanteverwisselingen zouden er op hun beurt voor zorgen dat Joden onherkenbaar werden, en zo een nog grotere bedreiging vormden voor het niet-Joodse volk.10 Barbie als de Prinses en de Bedelaar Barbie als de Prinses en de Bedelaar is eveneens door Mattel en Rainmaker studio’s uitgebracht, slechts een jaar na Barbie en het Zwanenmeer. Barbie als de Prinses en de Bedelaar is gebaseerd op het Amerikaanse kinderboek The Prince and the Pauper van Mark Twain uit 1881. In het boek is Hugh Hendon de slechterik. Hugh heeft vele negatieve eigenschappen, die terug te vinden zijn in Joodse stereotypen. Zijn broer Miles verklaart in het boek bijvoorbeeld: ‘...he had a smooth persuasive tongue, with an admirable gift of lying ­and these be qualities which do mightily assist a blind affection to cozen itself.’11 Hij voegde toe: ‘Hugh, younger than I, a mean spirit, covetous, treacherous, vicious, underhanded—a reptile. Such was he

17 Claire Majoor

References (II) Preminger uit Barbie als prinses en de bedelaar (2004) from the cradle; such was he ten years past, when I last saw him’.12 Hugh is intelligent, maar sluw en manipulatief. Hij is uit op geld en macht en heeft geen moeite om te liegen om deze dingen te krijgen.

In de Barbiefilm komt dit personage ook voor, maar met een andere naam: Preminger. Ook dit is een HebreeuwsJoodse familienaam.13 Het is onduidelijk waarom Mattel en Rainmaker Studio’s de originele naam niet hebben aangehouden. Preminger kent dezelfde eigenschappen als Hugh uit het boek; hij maakt continu plannen om de kroon in handen te krijgen en steelt stiekem al het goud uit de staatskas. Deze karaktereigenschappen gaan bovendien gepaard met een, in vergelijking tot de andere personages, in het oog springende neus. Preminger is dus een personage met een opvallende neus en een onstilbare honger voor macht en financiële rijkdom. Waar Hugh uit het boek een man van Britse adel moest voorstellen, lijkt dit niet het geval te zijn bij Preminger, die naar eigen zeggen een ‘peasant boy’ is.

Met deze twee films als voorbeeld kan men zich afvragen hoe onschuldig kinderfilms zijn. Natuurlijk zou men kunnen zeggen dat Barbie en het Zwanenmeer gebaseerd is op een ballet uit 1877 en dat voor het verhaal van het ballet gebruik is gemaakt van nog oudere volksverhalen, waardoor stereotypen en verouderde denkbeelden onontkoombaar zijn.14 Hetzelfde geldt voor de andere Barbiefilm, die gebaseerd is op een boek uit 1881. Maar dat een verhaal al eeuwenlang meegaat, betekent in bovengenoemde gevallen wel dat stereotypen en verouderde denkbeelden ook worden doorgegeven, generatie op generatie. Als we oude verhalen opnieuw willen vertellen en door willen geven aan volgende generaties, moeten we een kritische blik werpen op zowel het originele als het nieuwe verhaal.

(III) Rothbart en Odile uit Barbie en het zwanenmeer (2003)

1 Auteur onbekend, ‘ROTHBART’, op: Museum of the Jewish people, geraadpleegd op 26-04-2021, via: https:// dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e155285/Family_ Name/ROTHBART. 2 S.E. Bronner, A Rumor about the Jews Conspiracy, AntiSemitism, and the Protocols of Zion, 14-15.

3 R. Goldblatt, ‘As Plain as the Nose on Your Face: The Nose as the Organ of Othering’, in: American Studies, vol. 48, nr. 4 (2003), 565.

4 S. Bell, Anti-semitic folklore motif index, (Utah; 2009), 20.

5 Bell, Anti-semitic folklore motif index, 17.

6 S. Baskind,‘The Fockerized jew?: Questioning jewishness as cool in American popular entertainment’, in: Shofar vol. 25 nr. 4 (2007), 6-7.

7 Bronner, A Rumor about the Jews Conspiracy, AntiSemitism, and the Protocols of Zion, 13.

8 Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Blood libel.”

Encyclopedia Britannica, January 17, 2011. https:// www.britannica.com/topic/blood-libel.

9 Bell, ‘Anti-Semitic Folklore Motif Index’, 11.

10 Ibidem, 10-11.

11 M. Twain, Prince and the pauper, (1881), 35.

12 Twain, Prince and the pauper, 47.

13 Auteur onbekend, ‘PREMINGER’, op: Museum of the Jewish people, geraadpleegd op 26-04-2021, via: https:// dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e215077/Family_ Name/PREMINGER. 14 A.Green, ‘History of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake: The History of Tchaikovsky’s Great Ballet’, Live about (2018), geraadpleegd op 06-05-2021, via: https:// www.liveabout.com/history-of-tchaikovskys-swanlake-724173.

18

Interview

“Natuurlijk maak ik mij zorgen om mijn vader, maar ik laat me niet het zwijgen opleggen”

D

e kogel is eindelijk door de kerk. Op 25 februari heeft een Kamermeerderheid gesproken: China maakt zich schuldig aan genocide. De zich opeenstapelende berichten van mensenrechtenschending jegens de Islamitische Oeigoeren, een etnische minderheidsgroep, zijn niet langer te negeren. Martelingen, seksueel misbruik van de gevangen en gedwongen sterilisatie van Oeigoerse vrouwen zijn aan de orde van de dag in de eufemistisch aangeduide heropvoedingskampen. De 21-jarige Alerk Ablikim, filosofiestudent van Oeigoerse afkomst, juicht de motie toe: “We hebben er als gemeenschap lang voor moeten vechten.”

Alerk komt oorspronkelijk uit de Chinese provincie Xinjiang, een gebied waar veel Oeigoeren wonen. Op 7-jarige leeftijd verhuist hij met zijn moeder naar het Hollandse Hilversum, nadat zijn moeder, een arts, getuige was geweest van een verontrustend menselijk experiment: tijdens veldwerk ontdekte zij dat de Chinese overheid Oeigoerse burgers liet injecteren met verscheidene virussen. Zijn vader zag hij voor het laatst in 2009. “Voor zover ik weet zit hij sinds 2017 vast in een gevangeniskamp, maar veel meer informatie heb ik helaas niet. Contact is niet mogelijk met gevangenen.” Alerk zet zich al een paar jaar als activist voor de zaak van de Oeigoeren.

Officieel zou zijn vader opgepakt zijn omdat hij iemand zou hebben geholpen het gebied te ontvluchten, maar Alerk plaatst hier vraagtekens bij. “Oeigoeren worden om de meest arbitraire redenen opgepakt.

Wanneer je bijvoorbeeld een hoofddoek draagt, een opvallende baard hebt of weigert om alcohol te drinken, dan wordt dat als extremistisch beschouwd. Islamitische uitingen zijn verboden.” De Chinese overheid suggereert dat de overwegend Islamitische Oeigoeren nauwe banden met de terroristische organisatie Al Qaida zouden hebben en daarom stevig heropgevoed moeten worden. Alerk vermoedt echter dat deze angst voor terrorisme slechts

een excuus is: “Communistisch China ziet de Oeigoerse minderheid als een bedreiging. We houden ons vast aan de eigen cultuur en taal en streven naar een eigen staat. Een totalitaire staat als China staat dit niet toe.”

China ziet de Oeigoerse minderheid als een bedreiging Sinister “De getuigenissen die naar buiten komen zijn gruwelijk. De gevangenen in detentiekampen worden geëlektrocuteerd, geslagen met ijzeren stokken en ook verkrachting komt regelmatig voor.” Uit het onderzoek van het Australian Strategic Policy Institute blijkt dat China gebruik maakt van een draconisch puntensysteem om de gevangen te indoctrineren.Wie bijvoorbeeld correct Mandarijn spreekt verdient punten. Door voldoende punten te verdienen kan men (hopelijk) naar huis. Dit systeem lijkt helaas slechts het topje van de ijsberg te zijn. Een sinisterder ontdekking is de gedwongen sterilisatie van Oeigoerse vrouwen in de Chinese ‘goelags’.1 Volgens Alerk is dit de druppel die de emmer deed overlopen: “Niks heropvoeding, dit laat duidelijk zien dat er sprake is van een genocide. Ze proberen een hele bevolkingsgroep uit te roeien.”

19 Amanda van Dord

(I) Een protest tegen Chinese onderdrukking van de Oeigoeren in Berlijn, 2009 Bitterzoet China blijft ondertussen glashard ontkennen. De motie van de Tweede Kamer werd afgedaan als ‘opzettelijke laster en een grove inmenging in een binnenlandse aangelegenheid’.

Ook noemde het land de EU-strafmaatregelen die afgelopen februari werden opgelegd aan verschillende Chinese functionarissen een ‘flagrante schending van het internationaal recht’.2 Hiernaast maakt China ook gebruik van haar economische macht om kritiek van zowel landen als bedrijven de kop in te drukken. “Wie openlijke kritiek levert, kan flinke sancties verwachten en bedrijven die hun mond open durven te doen lopen risico buitengesloten te worden van de gigantische Chinese markt. De verliezen kunnen in de miljarden lopen.”

Op globaal niveau bleef het lang stil rondom de situatie van de Oeigoeren. Pas de laatste jaren lijkt de genocide meer publiciteit in de westerse media te krijgen. “Het westen heeft lange tijd een erg naïef beeld van China gehad.

Het werd vooral gezien als een plek waar veel geld te verdienen was”, vertelt Alerk. “Dit beeld lijkt gelukkig wel te veranderen. We worden steeds achterdochtiger voor China als een oprukkend machtscentrum.” Die verandering lijkt gepaard te gaan met een groeiende aandacht voor de situatie van de Oeigoeren. “Hoewel ik blij ben met deze ontwikkeling, voelt het ook bitterzoet. Nu China niet meer enkel winstgevend is doet Nederland plotseling haar ogen open.”

Snotneusje Zelfs in Nederland lijken de Oeigoeren niet veilig te zijn. De ongeveer 3000 Oeigoeren die in Nederland wonen, worden nauwlettend in de gaten gehouden. Hun telefoons worden afgeluisterd en ze krijgen soms zelfs dreigtelefoontjes.3 Als ze kritiek uiten op het beleid van China kan dit tragische consequenties voor hun achtergebleven familie hebben. Deze ‘Big Brother’-praktijken hebben tot een ware zwijgcultuur onder Nederlandse Oeigoeren geleid. Niemand durft zich uit te spreken.

Alerk herinnert zich een incident uit 2009: “Ik werd door het jeugdjournaal geïnterviewd over de situatie van de Oeigoeren. Na de uitzending werd ik al snel gebeld door verschillende familieleden uit Sinkiang die mij smeekten om hier alsjeblieft niet meer over te praten. Dat de Chinese overheid zich toen al zo erg druk maakte om de uitspraken van een snotneusje van negen jaar aan de andere kant van de wereld spreekt boekdelen.”

Een ander incident voltrok zich recenter. Alerk ontving vorig jaar een dreigtelefoontje. “Ik hoorde keihard Chinees geschreeuw en later angstig gehijg aan de andere kant van de lijn. Mijn gedachten gingen natuurlijk meteen naar mijn vader.” Hoewel Alerk weet wat voor risico’s eraan verbonden zitten, blijft hij zich dapper inzetten als activist.

“Natuurlijk maak ik me zorgen om mijn vader, maar ik laat me niet het zwijgen opleggen. Deze misstanden moeten gestopt worden.”

Verwijzingen 1 Xinjiang: Large numbers of new detention camps uncovered in report - https://www.bbc.com/news/ world-asia-china-5427743, (geraadpleegd 19-5-2021).

2 China veroordeelt Oeigoeren-motie, verwijt Kamer ‘hypen’ van kwestie- Xinjiang - https://nos. nl/artikel/2370330-china-veroordeelt-oeigoerenmotie-verwijt-kamer-hypen-van-kwestie-xinjiang (geraadpleegd 19-5-2021).

3 Amnesty International, Nowhere Feels Safe: Uyghurs tell of China-led Intimidation Campaign Abroad (London 2020), 7.

Afbeeldingen: (I) Claudia Himmelreich, via Wikimedia commons

(II) Portret van Alerk

20 Op de VU

Op de VU Voor (iedere) Lale. Opdat niemand een nacht minder zal slapen – of een dag minder zal dromen – om het spreken van hun mening of het zijn wie zij zijn.1 Normaal gesproken ben ik wat stiller rond maatschappelijke kwesties, maar als onderdeel van de ‘A Broader Mind’cursus aan de VU moet ik voor het thema ‘Rebellie’ een rebelse daad verrichten, dus sta mij toe bij deze mijn gedachten te ordenen, mijn tong te scherpen en mijn hart uit te storten.

In een divers en vrij land bestaan voor mij, in het bijzonder, twee nauw verbonden en grote goeden: vrijheid van godsdienst en vrijheid van meningsuiting – en het daarbij ingekapselde recht van kritiek op cultuur. Het is belangrijk dat het recht om te spreken en gehoord te worden wijdverspreid is in een land met zoveel verschillende levensopvattingen, meningen en culturen. Zonder kritiek op cultuur is bovendien geen progressie mogelijk.

Beide fenomenen zijn echter in de praktijk niet oneindig, omdat hun grenzen (inter)cultureel en wettelijk worden bepaald. Soms levert dit wrijving op wanneer een kritische noot niet in harmonie klinkt met de sonate van de meerderheid. Des te meer in een land van vele vervlochten culturen met ieder hun eigen normen en waarden, omdat het daar vaak lastig is om aan een plethora van parallelle of uiteenlopende verwachtingen te voldoen. Wat juist of wenselijk is binnen de ene cultuur is verkeerd en onwenselijk binnen de andere, en vice versa. Individuen die met beide benen in verschillende werelden staan spelen een veeleisend spelletje twister.

Lale Gül, VU studente, maakte gebruik van haar recht op vrijheid van meningsuiting om kritiek te leveren op haar eigen cultuur en de impact daarvan op haar leven en

keuzevrijheid – iets wat feministen in Nederland al decennia met succes en resultaat hebben gedaan. Ze klom in de pen en produceerde het boek Ik ga leven (2021). Daarin beschrijft Lale het leven op de breuklijn van twee culturen, enerzijds haar streng-islamitische Turks-Nederlandse en anderzijds haar Westerse achtergrond, met een kracht van minstens vijf op de schaal van Richter: ‘Muziek mag niet, daten is verboden, het hebben van vrienden van het andere geslacht is onwettig, je leuk kleden en opmaken is ongepast, ’s avonds buiten zijn is niet geoorloofd, “vieze, immorele” films en series kijken is onaanvaardbaar (en dan bedoel ik geen porno, gewoon een film waarin wordt gezoend), het vieren van verjaardagen of andere heidense feestdagen mag niet, werken met mannen kan niet en ook uitgaan en feesten op festivals is verboden.’2 Zo luidt de vlammende samenvatting van haar roman.

Na het uitbrengen van haar boek kreeg ze de nodige steun, soms uit onverwachte hoek. Maar ze stuitte ook op een muur van kritiek en werd online door angstdwazen met de dood bedreigd. Ondanks dat enkele van hen inmiddels zijn gearresteerd, woont Lale sinds zij haar ouderlijk huis vaarwel zei op een schuiladres. Ben je het niet met haar eens? Die mogelijkheid bestaat en dat recht heb je, maar dan schrijf je een weerwoord.Wanneer door een collectief de vrijheid van godsdienst – artikel 6 van de grondwet – wordt gebruikt om mensen van andere individuele rechten te ontdoen wordt één belangrijk element van de wet vergeten: Vrijheid van godsdienst betekent ook vrijheid van godsdienst. Het recht van eenieder om niet te geloven, oftewel een ‘geloofsvrij’ leven te leiden.

21 Niels Koopmans Ik kan Lale goed begrijpen, want een flink deel van mijn moeders familie is lid van de Jehova’s getuigen. Dat zijn lieve mensen, maar ook met een sterke you-are-either-inor-out-mentaliteit. Als het kwartje even anders was geland, dan had ik wellicht vanmiddag voor uw deur gestaan, in plaats van dit artikel te schrijven. In dat geval had ik niet anders geweten, maar met de kennis van hier en nu ben ik dankbaar voor mijn keuzevrijheid. Ik heb dit artikel niet geschreven omdat iedereen Lale moet zijn en al haar keuzes opgedrongen moet krijgen, maar om de grondwettelijke rechten van iedere Lale te benadrukken en hun vrijheden te waarborgen als zijnde vanzelfsprekend.

Daarbij ben ik dankbaar voor de broodnodige uitgesproken steun door de Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen van de VU: ‘Als universiteit beschermen wij het vrije onderzoek.

We moeten onthouden dat afwijkende meningen een onmisbaar onderdeel zijn van het democratisch debat.

Op haar eigen wijze geeft Lale Gül in haar roman daaraan uitdrukking. Daarom beschermen we onze studente en zal de VU alles in het werk stellen om haar te ondersteunen bij het vervolg van haar academische carrière.’3 Liefs en gezondheid, Niels Koopmans – eerstejaars Bachelor Geschiedenis.

Verwijzingen 1 Niels Koopmans, Actief Herinneren:Wat kost ons alsmaar groeiende geheugen? (Inzending essay competitie: The importance of being wrong, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam 2021).

2 Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/ 57018068-ik-ga-leven (geraadpleegd 15 mei 2021).

3 VU Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam – Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, https://www.fgw.vu.nl/nl/ nieuws-agenda/nieuwsarchief/2021/jan-mrt/210312statement-vrije-universiteit-naar-aanleiding-vanverschijning-boek-ik-ga-leven-van-lale-gul.aspx (geraadpleegd 4 mei 2021).

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22 Op de VU

Update from Merlijn From the Current Board

W

hat an academic year it has been! We cannot believe how fast it went by and that it is already time for a new board for Merlijn. Even though everything was different this year – which, sadly for Merlijn, meant that a lot of things weren’t possible – we still had some great events where we saw new faces, but also old ones returning to Merlijn.

We started the year off bowling when physical events were still possible, and after that we were forced to organise our events online. Although at first it felt like a disappointment, we still had some great online events with our wonderful and enthusiastic members. Our game nights, the disco bingo with the other student associations in the faculty, and the online cocktail class at the end of the year were also very fun and a great way to meet each other. We hope that you enjoyed them too!

these challenging times. We leave Merlijn behind in a way we are proud and happy to say good-bye as the board of 2020/2021 and we wish the new board the best of luck!

Altogether we look back on a unique board year and we are very glad that we could keep Merlijn going even in

With greetings from the board,

By the time you are reading this, we will have had our last awesome event as the current board on the 25th of June – a picnic in the Amsterdamse Bos, where we will finally have met you all in real life – and it will have been lots of fun.

Hope you were there! Thanks for everything.

Indy, Iris and Dana

From the Upcoming Board

Revolution!

Sorry, time for a serious introduction. During this exceptional first year of studying at the VU, the Zoom evenings with Merlijn were a light in the dark. Whether we were shaking during cocktail-making, transforming into werewolves after dark, or releasing our inner child playing ‘Draw-Something’, it was merry escapism from studying, and from the crazier world of lockdowns, mouth masks and social distancing. As the next-in-line board of Merlijn, we wish to show our gratitude to Indy, Iris and Dana and the members of Merlijn for making us feel welcome at the VU. You’re the best! Now it is time to introduce the new board.

23 Beau (Chairman) After a year of “unstable connections” between Merlijn and its members due to the pandemic, I am proud to have been chosen as chairman for the new board. I know the options in the Merlijn elections for the board may have felt similar to North Korean elections, but that does not reduce any of our enthusiasm or excitement. For our current and coming members we will do our best to organize fun activities, show all members interesting places and, most importantly, create lasting memories. I hope to see you all soon, and this time as more than just a rectangle on ZOOM.

Marin (Treasurer) Though the past year may have been quite challenging and even a bit boring, the activities with Merlijn and getting to know the other members were a lot of fun. Big thanks to this year’s board of Merlijn! I am happy to be the treasurer for Merlijn the coming year and I hope that we can make this next year more fun for you. I can’t wait to (finally) meet all of you next year!

Niels (Coordinator external activities) Merlijn’s board obviously needed a grumpy old wizard for completeness sake. Despite having shaved my beard, I think I’ll fit that bill nicely. Our predecessors left us some big shoes to fill, so we will work hard to continue their legacy. After being locked up for a year everyone must be roaring for action, and as a coordinator of external activities it is my duty to get us back on our feet! I am looking forward to creating some adventurous and educational activities for you all. Let’s meet up and have fun!

Louise (secretary) Last year was a weird year to be a college student, but the people in my programme and the members of our study association made it much, much better. Even though the meetings with Merlijn were online, they were full of laughter and good conversations. Merlijn helped me make some amazing friends this year and by being part of the board, I hope I (and we) can do the same for the new students. I’m really looking forward to being part of the Merlijn board, and as secretary I will of course see you all on Instagram ;)

Rosa (Coordinator internal activities) To begin, I would (again) like to thank the previous board of Merlijn who, despite this year, succeeded in entertaining us and still made it very fun. They organized some great events during the somewhat boring first year. You guys actually made me excited to join this new board and I am looking forward to working with my fellow board members to create great activities for everyone. In addition, I hope we can all be more connected to each other, get to know the people who are actually studying with me this year and all the other students as well. For me that will be the focus of the beginning of the year, have drinks together and create a bond.

Looking forward to next year!

If you are looking to join Merlijn as a member, don’t be shy and please mail us at merlijn.fgw@vu.nl, or hop into the Social Room on the 12th floor. We’d also love to hear about your ideas for activities. See you in the new year!

24 Op de VU

Another Enlightenment?

T

he Age of Enlightenment (Aufklärung,Verlichting) is, of course, a big chapter in intellectual, religious and general history. Roughly speaking, it is a long-term success story of reason and science from a modern or secular point of view. The risk of such a linear perspective is, however, some short-sightedness with regard to cultural movements that made progress in a different, partial or slower way. Some groups of people followed their own path to modernity while preserving their traditions or religions. In historiography, such trajectories have been marginalized under labels like Pietism, Revivalism, Awakening, Evangelicalism or Rechristianization, which obscure the critical reflection and thought inherent to them. In this article, I seek to demonstrate that this ‘counter’ or ‘other’ side of Enlightenment should be fully integrated in our view of the past. In other words: modernity includes religiosity. I will focus on three consecutive fields of current research: Revivalism (c. 17801870), orthodox Protestantism (c. 1870-1970) and conservative Bible Belt culture (since c. 1970).

Revivalism A good example of one-sidedness in general historiography is the Age of Revolutions between 1780 and 1820. It is obvious that ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood gained influence in North America and in Western Europe: new regimes fostered religious tolerance by replacing privilege of one church or confession with freedom for all denominations. At the same time, citizens went into action for revitalization of old piety in their own country or in the colonies.Various groups of people collaborated in founding missionary and Bible societies, such as clergymen, influential politicians, lawyers and merchants. Among these societies were the Nederlandsch Zendeling Genootschap (1797) and the Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap (1814). In the latter case, the prominent statesman Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp – who drafted the 1813 Dutch Constitution – promoted the

distribution of cheap Bibles and translations of the Bible (called the ‘Book of Enlightenment’) into Asian languages to evangelize and ‘civilize’ people in the Netherlands as well as in the Dutch East Indies. Religion was constitutive for the early modern confessional state and it would continue to play a significant role in shaping the cultural conditions of the nineteenth-century nation-state.

After I published a book on the history of the Netherlands Bible Society at its second centennial in 2014, I continued to investigate the underlying networks of people who were both committed to traditional piety and influenced

by Enlightenment ideals. They were very active as organizers and moneylenders in the domains of poor relief, adult education, book distribution, et cetera.

25 Fred van Lieburg (I) International Conference of the Evangelical Alliance, held in Amsterdam in August 1867 Several years ago, some students explored archives of local missionary and Bible organizations. Last year, Theo Mulder wrote his master thesis about the Dutch relations of the international church of Hernhutters or Evangelical Brethren (including sisters). Originally a Czech movement for supra-confessional religiosity, it inspired many new church communities all over the world. The archives of the congregation and missionary society in Zeist contain a wealth of personal documents that cast new light on as-yet-unknown manifestations of religious life in the Netherlands in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Dutch historiography often refers to the French-Swiss ‘Réveil’ Movement, which manifested in the Netherlands among orthodox Protestant aristocrats like Willem Bilderdijk, Isaac da Costa and Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer. Their Christian critique of the Enlightenment and call for orthodox renewal has been investigated extensively, but the questions of which people embraced them and what influence they had in politics and society are just as relevant, yet remain unanswered. In the so-called Réveil Archives (housed in University of Amsterdam’s Allard Pierson library), a wealth of manuscripts of individuals and families from the upper middle class is waiting for investigation and use in historical scholarship.

To mention another research topic awaiting attention, the Evangelical Alliance was founded in London in 1846, and soon spread to many other countries. The Alliance occasionally convened at international conferences, for example in Amsterdam in 1867 (postponed after a cholera epidemic the year before). Intern Ardjan Boersma has begun analyzing the discussions at these large meetings in relation to the identities of their participants. All these networks mirror the dynamic changes in Dutch society and religion between 1820 and 1870.

Orthodox Protestantism After 1870, political and religious leaders gained more popular support for their specific ideals. Profiting from new mass media and national infrastructures, they managed to mobilize large groups of people. In the Netherlands, theologian and journalist Abraham Kuyper led a social

(II) Map of People’s Petition in 1878, also a visualization of the so-called Dutch Bible Belt

movement based on orthodox Protestant principles.

One of his first acts concerned ‘schools with the Bible’ as an alternative to publicly financed liberal schools or ‘hotbeds of Enlightenment’. In 1878, Kuyper organized a hugely successful petition campaign against a new liberal school law, collecting more than 305,000 signatures from sympathizers across the country. Roman Catholic activists followed the example and collected 164,000 additional signatures. When these petitions were handed to King William III, they did not have an immediate effect, as the law was adopted despite the nation-wide protests. Later, however, this action would prove to have a huge impact on Dutch politics. In 1879, the national Anti-Revolutionary Party was established and managed to break down the decades-old liberal power monopoly within only a few decades thanks to a coalition with Roman Catholic brothers-in-arms.

After the 1878 Popular Petition, Kuyper also gave shape to his ambition to counter the Enlightenment through a complete redesign of Christian science. As the government did not want to finance a Christian university, the only way to achieve this dream was through crowdfunding among Protestant sympathizers. The most generous sponsor was the Amsterdam beer brewer Willem Hovy, but thousands of people were willing to donate small or large sums of money to the Society for Higher Education on Reformed Basis. These ‘silent citizens’ or kleine luyden (‘little people’)

26 Op de VU included rich entrepreneurs and noble widows as well as many lower-class people from all parts of the country. Two of these campaigns were organized, the first in 1880 and the second in 1890.The campaigns resulted in the founding of a university free from government funding, the Vrije Universiteit.

Over the past years, I conducted a VU project (in collaboration with Radboud University Nijmegen) to record all the names and other personal data of all signatories of the 1878 petitions as stored in the National Archives. The digital facilities of the crowd-sourcing platform ‘Vele Handen’ were used to set up the database with the help of many volunteers. The results made it possible to map Protestant and Catholic grassroots movements in detail (see map below). Several master students have used this map as a staging point to carry out local in-depth studies of political group formations and popular action along confessional lines. Much more can still be done, especially by linking (parts of) the dataset to other digital corpora about religious groups, events or texts in order to track key figures or families in various networks during the nineteenth century. I also lead a project on the supporters of the first crowdfunding campaign for the Vrije Universiteit, reconstructing their political, social and religious backgrounds. In addition, a general project on Dutch philanthropy is undertaken in co-operation with the VU Faculty of Social Sciences. It will result in a comparative study of ‘Giving in the Netherlands’ in 1880 and 2020, highlighting the motives of citizens to donate money or free time to charities in society and culture.

Bible Belt culture It might be surprising to hear that I consider the strictest Protestant variant of today’s religion one of the manifestations of the ‘other Enlightenment’. Strong conservative subcultures can be seen as resulting from the success of emancipatory movements through the freedoms provided by of democratic nation states. In Dutch historiography the term ‘pillarization’ has been coined for the political and social segmentation along diverging religious and ideological lines in the first half of the twentieth century. After World War II and the ‘roaring sixties’, the most prominent ‘pillars’ lost their specific identities, but the process of ‘depillarization’ evoked counter-movements of ‘repillarization’ of religious minorities trying to keep their cultural position in a liberal

society. This process is manifest in the reinvigoration or appearance of new orthodox Protestant schools, small political parties like the SGP (Political Reformed Party) and the CU (Christian Union), and special newspapers like the RD (Reformed Daily) and the ND (Netherlands Daily).

Interestingly, this religious segregation has a spatial dimension. This is by no means typically Dutch: think of the Bible Belt in the southern United States of America for example, which indicates the concentration of evangelical or fundamentalist Protestants in the countryside. Since the 1980s, certain regions in Europe have also been referred to as a ‘Bible Belt’. We often see such labels as secular framings of conservative groups in popular opinion, defining the own stance of modernity by debunking others as traditionalists or fundamentalists. Comparative research into the beliefs and practices of these religious minorities, and responses to them in society, is very fruitful in clarifying the confrontations, negotiations and compromises between ‘strong religion’ and secular society. For this purpose, the VU-based ‘Dutch Bible Belt Network’ has set up a research alliance with colleagues at Scandinavian and German universities.

From time to time, the people of the Dutch Bible Belt – meaning the strict Calvinists living predominantly in the strip from Zeeland, over the South Holland islands, the Utrechtse Heuvelrug and the Veluwe, to the Kop van Overijssel – are mentioned in the news because of the frictions between their religious lifestyle and mainstream culture, not to mention legal regulations. During the corona pandemic, media highlighted incidents around crowded church services or refusal of vaccination which

(III) Poster of Dutch Bible Belt exhibition in Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht in Summer 2019, visited by a record number of people in museum’s history

27 Fred van Lieburg

The department of history at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has always shown interest in the history of religion.

Historians like Arie van Deursen, Willem Frijhoff, Gerrit Schutte, Koen Goudriaan and Joris van Eijnatten have published on broad topics like medieval piety, Reformation movements, religious tolerance, et cetera – not only with regard to the Low Countries, but also to former Dutch colonies. Currently, staff members George Harinck, Bas ter Haar Romeny, Edwina Hagen, Erika Kuijpers, Bart Wallet and I provide for attention to religion and religious aspects in research and education. Since 2015 there has been a chair for religious history and our faculty also hosts the HDC Centre for Religious History.

The Dutch track of the history bachelor includes a second-year course in Religious History, in which a macro-perspective of religion in world history is combined with micro-perspectives of personal and local religious history. The history master’s programme offers a specialization ‘Religion and Society from the Antiquity to the Present’, in which students are encouraged to develop their own interest and approach in this branch of historical scholarship.

The research described in this article was part of the NWO internationalization project ‘European Bible Belts: understanding strong religion, social cohesion and cultural integration in Europe’ (running 2016-2019).

Other topics are covered by projects financed by foundations such as the Stichting Reveil Archief, the Stichting Dr. Abraham Kuyperfonds, and the VU Vereniging. Over the years, several VU history students have participated as research assistants, like Ellen van Heteren, Koos-jan de Jager, Derek Limberger, Joren Reichel en Matthijs van der Stoep.You are always welcome to join a project by writing a BA or MA thesis or following a tutorial in the (R)MA History specialization in religious history. some believers see as denial of God’s providential care.

Especially this medical issue reveals the dialectics between scientific progress and religious identity. In other words, the pandemic, among other phenomena, reveals the different paths various groups follow when dealing with the rapid social and intellectual changes of modern society.

This does not make some groups less modern than others, simply differently modern.

funding. In this article, I have discussed several projects I have been, or am, a participant in. An advantage of a flexible relationship between macro- and microscale research is that it allows students to contribute easily in papers and theses, investigating primary sources with an eye on a broader historical debate and using different methods.

Questioning the effects of the Enlightenment is just one approach of religious history – the field is dynamic and links can be made to many other dimensions of our past.

Research challenge A large part of academic historical research runs through well-planned programs with large grants, but shorter projects are also funded in the so-called third flow of

Further reading Fred van Lieburg (red.), Opwekking van de natie: het protestantse Réveil in Nederland (Hilversum 2012) Fred van Lieburg, De wereld in: het Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap 1814-2014 (Amsterdam 2014) Tanja Kootte en Fred van Lieburg (red.), Bij ons in de Biblebelt: nalezing op de tentoonstelling in Museum Catharijneconvent (Dordrecht 2020) Stefan Gelfgren and Daniel Lindmark (eds), Conservative Religion and Mainstream Culture: Opposition, Negotiation, and Adaptation (Palgrave Studies in Lived Religion and Societal Challenges, London 2021)

Websites www.reveilarchief.nl www.hdcvu.nl www.vp1878.nl www.dbbn.nl Image Sources: (I) Stichting Réveil Archief (II) Faculty of Humanities VU (formerly Faculteit der Letteren) (III) Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht

28 Op de VU

Onderzoek naar een joodse groeikern: de casus-Amstelveen

T

egenwoordig kent Amstelveen na Amsterdam het hoogste aantal Joden in Nederland. Dat is verrassend, want bij het begin van de jaren 1930 woonde nog maar een handvol Joden in wat destijds nog de Gemeente Nieuwer-Amstel heette. Sindsdien heeft zich een Joods gemeenschapsleven in de Amsterdamse buurgemeente gevormd, dat een heel eigen karakter heeft. In mijn onderzoek concentreer ik mij op de periode 1930-1970, die in drie blokken uiteenvalt: vooroorlogs, de oorlogsperiode en de naoorlogse wederopbouw. Bij elk van die delen wordt via de lens van de Amstelveense casus een aantal stellingen ontwikkeld die licht werpen op de bredere Joodse en Nederlandse geschiedenis in deze ‘age of extremes’. Hoe is dit onderzoek opgezet, met welke bronnen wordt gewerkt en wat zijn de voornaamste inzichten die naar boven komen? In dit korte artikel zal ik daar graag inzicht in geven en dat doe ik aan de hand van de drie tevoren genoemde periodes.

Nederlandse Joden, Duitse Joden Sinds 1900 liepen veel Joodse gemeenten op het platteland leeg en werd een heel aantal opgeheven. Dit kwam met name door een sterk proces van urbanisering, maar ook door afnemende betrokkenheid bij het jodendom. Alleen in de gemeenten die rond de steden liggen, was sprake van groei van de Joodse bevolking en ontstonden zelfs nieuwe Joodse gemeenschappen. Amstelveen past in dat patroon. Vooral Joden die op wat verdere afstand van het religieuze joodse gemeenschapsleven staan, verhuisden als eerst. Zij hoefden niet dichtbij de Joodse voorzieningen te wonen – synagogen, scholen, kosjere winkels – en vestigden zich daardoor gemakkelijker in nieuwe buurten en randgemeenten.

De pioniers van Joods Amstelveen waren onderdeel van precies deze categorie: vaak maatschappelijk succesvol, maar weinig Joods betrokken. Onder hen zijn toonaangevende journalisten, musici, juristen, veel

directeuren en medici; niet bepaald de groep die het initiatief nam tot de vorming van een Joodse gemeenschap.

Toch werden zij geconfronteerd met hun Joodse identiteit.

In de nieuwbouwwijken waar zij voornamelijk neerstreken, Elsrijk en Randwijk, bevond zich in diezelfde jaren 1930 namelijk ook een hoge concentratie van NSB’ers. Dat resulteerde in confrontaties op elk niveau: vlaggenoorlogen, colportagestrijd, handtekeningenacties en pamflettenstrijd.

In de jaren 1930 werd Amstelveen ook een geliefde vestigingsplaats voor Duitse Joden, die op de vlucht waren voor het naziregime en daarom naar Nederland kwamen. Opnieuw was dit geen dwarsdoorsnede van de Duits-Joodse samenleving, maar waren het vooral veel intellectuelen en zakenlieden. Sommigen vluchtten direct in 1933, vaak nog met medeneming van een groot deel

Bezoek van Mussert aan burgemeester Westendorf 22 juli 1944

29 Bart Wallet Ruth Loszynski-Reich (1916-2011) in de tuin van de woning van het gezin Rudawer, Randwijcklaan 33 te Amstelveen, juli 1940 van hun bezittingen en tegoeden, anderen kwamen na de Kristallnacht van 1938 berooid aan.

Uit deze twee groepen kwam uiteindelijk het initiatief tot vorming van een bescheiden lokale Joodse gemeenschap.

Na huiskamerbijeenkomsten werd een lokaal van de plaatselijke hervormde gemeente gehuurd waarin een synagoge werd gevestigd, die tevens voor lezingen en Joodse les voor de kinderen werd gebruikt. In het bestuur waren Nederlandse en Duitse Joden vertegenwoordigd.

Het was een uniek samenwerkingsproject in een periode waarin Duitse joden vaak weinig voet aan de grond kregen in de gevestigde Nederlands-Joodse gemeenschappen.

Een flink deel van de Amstelveense Joden participeerde overigens niet in deze Joodse gemeenschap, omdat zij op te grote afstand stonden van het religieuze Jodendom.

Oorlogsroutes Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog werden ook de Amstelveense Joden getroffen door het beleid van uitsluiting, isolatie, deportatie en moord van de nazi’s.

Toch heeft een relatief hoog aantal Amstelveense Joden de oorlog uiteindelijk overleefd, 56,6% tegenover het Nederlands gemiddelde van 29,6%. De vraag die in dit deel centraal staat, is hoe dit te verklaren valt. Bij het onderzoek zijn twee invalshoeken gedefinieerd. Ten eerste vertrekt veel onderzoek naar de Holocaust vanuit de bronnen van de bezetters, waardoor vaak onbewust Joden gereduceerd worden tot objecten. In dit onderzoek staat juist de ‘agency’ van de Amstelveense Joden centraal. Het is belangrijk om niet alleen hun stem, maar ook hun handelingsruimte in kaart te brengen.

Dat betekent, ten tweede, dat ik van alle Amstelveense Joden hun individuele oorlogstrajecten in kaart heb gebracht. Hiervoor is gebruikgemaakt van veel persoonlijke archieven, naast het lezen van de nazi-archieven ‘against the grain’. Hierdoor is een fijnmazig inzicht ontstaan in hoe Joden op tal van manieren, soms heel creatief, hebben

geprobeerd om de oorlog te overleven. Dat gebeurde door te vluchten naar Engeland, Zwitserland of Spanje en Portugal, of door de uiterst lastige route van legale emigratie te bewandelen. Velen doken onder, anderen namen illegale niet-joodse identiteiten aan, of wisten met valse papieren tot niet-Jood verklaard te worden. Ook het gemengde huwelijk was voor een aanzienlijk deel de reddingsboei die tot overleving leidde. De Joden die in een veelheid van kampen vermoord werden, bleken tevens vaak pogingen tot onderduik of vluchten ondernomen te hebben.

Uit het onderzoek komen twee factoren naar voren die het relatief hoge overlevingspercentage verklaren. Ten eerste het grote belang van een tijdig realiseren dat de anti-Joodse maatregelen desastreuse gevolgen zouden hebben. Nederlandse Joden hadden in het algemeen een groot vertrouwen in de overheid en geloofden heilig in de mythe van Nederlandse tolerantie, die uitsluiting van een minderheid onmogelijk zou maken. Met name de Duitse Joden in Amstelveen, maar ook veel van de Nederlandse

Omdat dit onderzoek zich goed laat opdelen in kleinere afgebakende stukken, laat het zich ook redelijk gemakkelijk inpassen in mijn agenda, die voor een belangrijk deel met colleges en met het leiding geven aan het HDC Centre for Religious History aan onze universiteit is gevuld. Daarnaast ben ik bevoorrecht met de hulp van een onderzoeksassistent, Julie Wijers, een oud-student van onze opleiding. Als klankbord fungeert daarnaast een team vrijwilligers vanuit ‘Amstelveen Oranje’, de historische vereniging en de Joodse gemeenschap. Het is de bedoeling dat volgend jaar voor 4 mei het eindresultaat, uitgegeven door Amsterdam University Press, gepresenteerd gaat worden: Hoop en wanhoop: Joden in Amstelveen 1930-1970.

30 Op de VU Joden die intensief met hen omgingen, wisten echter wat hen te wachten stond. Dit leidde ertoe dat al direct in 1940 tal van pogingen ondernomen werden om te vluchten of te emigreren, terwijl in een later stadium voor onderduik werd gekozen. Ten tweede hielp het sterk maatschappelijk geïntegreerde profiel van de Amstelveense Joden bij het vinden van ‘duikplaatsen’. Aan het begin van de keten van onderduikplaatsen stond vaak een bekende via werk, kennis of (niet-Joodse) familielid.

Wederopbouw Over de naoorlogse periode is veel minder documentatie voorhanden. Voor de overheid is de relatief kleine groep Joden niet erg interessant, terwijl er anderzijds de synagoge gesloten bleef en er geen officiële Joodse gemeenschap meer was. De Amstelveense Joden die religieus betrokken waren, bezochten Amsterdamse synagogen en participeerden in het hoofdstedelijke Joodse leven. Die symbiotische relatie met Amsterdam bleef, ook nadat er in Amstelveen een nieuw initiatief ontstond: de Algemeen Joodse Vereniging. Het nadrukkelijke doel daarvan was om voor alle Amstelveense Joden open te staan, religieus of niet-religieus. De vereniging organiseerde Joodse feesten, autorally’s en Joodse les voor de kinderen.

Gaandeweg werd dit pakket gecomplementeerd met synagogediensten voor de liefhebbers, met ondersteuning vanuit de Amsterdamse orthodoxe gemeente.

Verder lezen Blom, J. C. H., David J. Wertheim, Hetty Berg en Bart Wallet. Geschiedenis van de joden in Nederland Grondig vernieuwde en uitgebreide tweede editie. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Balans, 2017.

Finkel, Evgeny. Ordinary Jews : Choice and Survival During the Holocaust Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2017.

Rothberg, Michael. The Implicated Subject : Beyond Victims and Perpetrators Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2019.

Afbeeldingen: (I) Stadsarchief Amsterdam (II) Stadsarchief Amsterdam/ Jules Loszynski (III) Ibidem

(III) Ruth Loszynski-Reich en Jules Loszynski (1909-1944) in de tuin van de woning van het Oost-Europees joodse gezin Rudawer, Randwijcklaan 33 te Amstelveen (1940)

De Joodse bevolking van Amstelveen groeide tegen de verwachtingen in, waar in de rest van Nederland veel Joodse gemeenten definitief opgeheven werden. Dit kwam doordat Amstelveen een ruim vestigingsbeleid had, maar ook omdat veel overlevende Joden uit kleinere plaatsen in Nederland dichter bij de Joodse voorzieningen (scholen, kosjere winkels, synagogen) wilden wonen. De stap naar Amsterdam, met haar hecht georganiseerde en zelfbewuste Joodse gemeenschap, was voor veel Joden uit het platteland en kleine steden een stap te ver. Amstelveen was precies wat zij zochten: een landelijke context, op afstand van Amsterdam én toch in de gelegenheid om volop te profiteren van de Joodse voorzieningen in de hoofdstad.

Tot slot Voor elk van de drie periodes blijken de Amstelveense Joden uitzonderlijk: groei in de voor- en naoorlogse perioden en een relatief hoog percentage overlevenden tijdens de oorlog. Tegelijkertijd wordt door de studie naar Amstelveen een nieuw licht geworpen op de bredere Joodse geschiedenis, rond thema’s als suburbanisatie en Joodse gemeenschapsvorming en omgang met interne Joodse diversiteit qua achtergronden en religiositeit. Juist door een veelheid aan zeer uiteenlopende bronnen te gebruiken – Joodse archieven, overheidsarchieven, naziarchieven, privécollecties, oral history – wordt het mogelijk om een analyse in multiperspectief te geven, om zo recht te doen aan de eigen aard en diversiteit van de pioniers van Joods Amstelveen.

31

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32

Filmrecensie

The Secrets We Keep

K

inderen spelen op een vers gemaaid gazon. De moeders zijn netjes gekleed in lange rokken en hun glanzende haren zijn zorgvuldig opgestoken. Met een sigaret tussen hun gestifte lippen wachten zij geduldig op de terugkomst van hun echtgenoten. Ogenschijnlijk is het een keurige Amerikaanse buitenwijk waar nooit iets gebeurt. Maar niet alles is wat het lijkt. In de donkere kelder van de Roemeense huisvrouw Maja (Noomi Rapace) en haar brave echtgenoot Lewis (Chris Messina) probeert een doodsbange man zich vergeefs los te rukken uit zijn ketenen.

Maja, een Europese vluchtelinge van Roma afkomst, bracht het grootste deel van de Tweede Wereldoorlog door in een concentratiekamp. Ze werd onderworpen aan martelingen en moest toezien hoe haar zus werd vermoord. Ze overleefde de holocaust op wonderbaarlijke wijze en begon een nieuw leven voor zichzelf in het Amerika van de jaren vijftig. Maja’s Amerikaanse droom wordt ruw verstoord als ze één van haar aanvallers denkt te zien in de lokale supermarkt: een voormalige SS-commandant (Joel Kinnaman) die haar vijftien jaar geleden op brute wijze verkrachtte. Ze besluit dat het tijd is voor wraak.

Dit klinkt spannend, maar de film The Secrets We Keep verdwijnt in de schaduw van een superieure versie van hetzelfde verhaal. Death and the Maiden van Ariel Dorfman uit 1994 volgt een soortgelijk plot. Het enige verschil is dat het tweede verhaal zich afspeelt in een naamloos LatijnsAmerikaans land, kort na de val van een brute militaire dictatuur. Als je bekend bent met deze film besef je al gauw dat Secrets geen concurrent is. Israëlische regisseur Yuval Adler begeeft zich na zijn ongegeneerde diefstal al op glad ijs, maar gaat pas echt onderuit doordat hij vervolgens niets noemenswaardig met zijn buit weet te doen.

Het verhaal kabbelt traag voort. Het eindstation is voor de kijker al snel in zicht. Sommige scènes zullen de kijker verward een wenkbrauw doen optrekken. We zien de tengere Maja haar grote gespierde kwelgeest zonder veel moeite in haar achterbak tillen. Liever doof dan blind?

Geen zorgen, de lokale politie is het allebei. Er stijgen luide hulpkreten op uit het huis die vreemd genoeg door niemand worden gehoord. Ook strompelen de normaal zo degelijke Maja en Lewis meerdere keren verstrooid door de buurt met bloederige hoofdwonden. De buurtbewoners doen intussen alsof dit de normaalste zaak van de wereld is. De ongeloofwaardige gebeurtenissen blijven zich opstapelen en nemen zo alle opgebouwde spanning weg.

Wat de film wel biedt is een reünie tussen hoofdrolspelers Noomi Rapace en Joel Kinnaman. De Zweedse acteurs ontmoetten elkaar als tieners op de middelbare school en werkten eerder ook samen aan de film Child 44 (2015).

Je zou bijna denken dat de Zweedse schoonheden elkaar in het echte leven ook niet kunnen luchten of zien. De pure haat tussen de twee personages spat van het beeld af. Als blikken konden doden was de kelder twee lijken rijker.

33 Amanda van Dord Joel Kinnaman en Noomi Rapace in hun rollen als de SS-commandant en Maja

De pure haat tussen de twee personages spat van het beeld af. Als blikken konden doden was de kelder twee lijken rijker Chris Messina, in zijn rol als Lewis, mist een soortgelijke chemie met Rapace. De komische acteur is duidelijk uit zijn comfort zone in deze door karakter gedreven thriller.

De onrealistische dialogen van Adler en zijn co-schrijver Ryan Covington helpen hier niet bij. Wanneer Lewis Maja’s gevangene aantreft met een bloederige hoofdwond protesteert hij dramatisch, “We hadden afgesproken om alles samen te doen! Jij martelt hem terwijl ik weg ben!”.

Waarop Maja antwoordt, “Noem je dat martelen?” Deze theatrale uitspraken voelen lachwekkend aan.

The Secrets We Keep laat je beseffen dat wraak niets afrondt, maar juist een nieuw pijnlijk open einde creëert. Dit is een intrigerende conclusie die bij een veel betere film lijkt te horen. Vastgeplakt aan het einde van een melodramatische thriller vol met clichés en ongeloofwaardige scenario’s weet het slot, evenals de film zelf, geen impact te maken.

The Secrets We Keep weet lichtelijk te amuseren, maar wordt helaas genadeloos onderuitgehaald door de lachwekkende dialogen. Je kunt het de makers ook niet kwalijk nemen.

Het budget was waarschijnlijk op door de duizenden sigaretten die aangeschaft moesten worden voor de film.

De jaren 50 hè.

The Secrets We Keep, Yuval Adler, 98 minuten, te zien in bioscopen door het hele land.

De slechte kwaliteit van de dialoog zuigt alle drama uit de film

34

Far Beyond the Stars Science Fiction’s Doubt and Faith in Humanity’s Future

35 Daan Jansen

S

cience fiction as a genre has always been more about the present than the future. It attempts to imagine a future based on knowledge of the present, postulating what could be based on what is. What elements of our lives will persist if humanity goes to space, for example? If technology progresses to the point that food security is guaranteed for all, does inequality end with it? These questions explore the practical sides of a question that history also seeks to answer: what is human nature? Are powerful forces like compassion or greed part of our genetic makeup, or conditions of a social structure so complex it bends us all to its will?

In this article, we examine two prominent science fiction series set in the 24th century: The Expanse novels (2011-) and the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series (1987-1994). The former is dystopian, as it paints a world of imperialism, inequality and terrorism.The latter is utopian, as it describes a world of perfect harmony between species, economic freedom and an end to virtually all disease. Because both series feature a huge amount of information about their respective futures, we have decided to limit ourselves to discussing the future economy, equality of opportunity, and the human condition for both.

The Expanse The Expanse follows the adventures of the crew of the spaceship Rocinante. The series is set in a future where humanity has begun colonizing other planets. Mars is home to four billion people living in domes and under the surface as they slowly work towards making the atmosphere breathable. Another billion people live beyond Mars, in the asteroid belt, the various moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and even further. Many wondrous technological innovations have been made by the Expanse’s 24th century, but the most important of these is the Epstein Drive: a spaceship engine which works so efficiently that it can run continually for months instead of minutes. This means that a trip from, for example, the Earth to the moon takes less than three hours instead of the three days it took in the 1960s.

The series has many unexpected twists and turns, but a recurring central theme is conflict arising from economic and social inequalities between the people of Earth, Mars and ‘the Belt’.

The people in power present this situation as an inevitability of the overpopulation of the Earth, arguing that there is simply nothing to contribute for the lowest rungs of society: they are essentially seen as economic endpoints by the powerful. However, those on basic run a thriving black-market economy where goods, services, and people (both positively in the form of so-called ‘birthtax’ exemptions and negatively in the form of slavery) are exchanged, outside of the purview of the United Nations. The uneducated masses are innovative, constantly inventing new ways to make a better living for themselves, subverting government control in the process.

The Economy The Earth of The Expanse is an overpopulated and polluted mess. Thirty billion people call the planet their home, most of them living in cramped cities. Global warming has caused the seas to rise and the ice caps to disappear entirely.

While thirty billion people live on Earth, fewer than half of them have any hope of finding employment. Instead, the majority of the Earth’s population lives on so-called ‘basic assistance’, or ‘basic’, provided by the United Nations worldwide government. Basic consists of free housing, food, healthcare and clothing. Most of these people wile away their lives on drug trips, for lack of being able to attribute any meaning to their lives. Social mobility is theoretically possible through government assistance programmes, but spaces are so limited that being born ‘on basic’ is virtually a guarantee to remain at the bottom of society.

Earth in the Expanse has a ravenous hunger for raw materials to fuel its massive economy. The tens of billions of hungry mouths are the main driving force for humanity’s migration into space.When the series begins, humanity has colonized Mars, which has become an independent state, as well as hundreds of smaller celestial bodies such as Ganymede and Eros. These smaller bodies are collectively referred to as ‘the Belt’. While the Earth is dependent on the Belt for resources such as ice, mined in asteroids, the Belt is similarly dependent on Earth for medicine and food.

The Belt is portrayed as something of a wild-west, where the inhabitants, known as Belters, are forced by Earth and Martian corporations to work at poverty wages, often incapable of affording basic needs such as oxygen. The struggle between Belters, Earth and Mars form the core conflict of the first half of The Expanse series.

“Lots of people stratified into two distinct groups: those who had someplace to be, and those who didn’t.”

36 Equality of Opportunity In the Expanse’s future, some frontiers of equality we struggle towards today have been reached, while others are still a long way off. Racial and gender equality seem to have been fully achieved. Sexual freedoms have even been extended farther than some might be comfortable with today. Polyamorous relations have become normal, with relationships sometimes including up to ten husbands and/or wives. James Holden, the series’ main character is the product of such a relationship, being the genetic offspring of his eight parents. It is explained that this was primarily an economic decision by these parents, as they received subsidies for agreeing to have only one child for eight parents, thus not further contributing to the Earth’s overpopulation.

However, in the case of another polyamorous marriage of seven, the relationships are described with mutual love, partners having and switching between one-on-one sexual and romantic encounters freely within the group.

While racism, sexism and homophobia have died out by the 24th century, new forms of bigotry have developed, primarily between the Belters and the ‘Inners’, people from Earth and Mars. Living in low or microgravity environments for their whole lives, Belters have grown unusually tall and slender, and often require special medicines as children to prevent lethal issues. Their ancestors hailed from all over Earth, which has led to the development of an extremely mixed creole language that features words from Hindi, Dutch, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Turkish and so on. The result is that Belters and Inners look and sound almost like different species to one another, and prejudice between the two groups is the norm. Belters’ movements are restricted in a variety of ways. Biologically, they are often incapable of landing on planets, lest their legs break under their own weight or they ‘drown’ in an atmosphere so thick their lungs are not used to breathing it. As neither citizens of Earth nor Mars, the Belters often do not have access to decent healthcare or legal protection. Perhaps most insidiously, their perpetual poverty strongly limits what options they have available to them, just like those on basic on Earth.

“Each new person folded into the marriage had felt like an expansion of her tribe. Her people.”

The Human Condition The world of the Expanse is filled with political intrigue and machinations of the rich and powerful, striving for more power at the expense of each other and, especially, the poor and disenfranchised. Occasionally throughout the series, a wrench is thrown into this machine by idealists who hope to bring about a better future. The status quo is described as bad, but these idealists are almost invariably described as even worse. For example, in the Belter-Inner struggle, various factions of Belters hold differing opinions on whether violent opposition to the inner planets is justified. Some factions favour a strategy of diplomatic cooperation with the Earth and Mars governments, hoping to achieve equality and freedom through discussion and soft power. Other, more radical factions believe that the Belt has no hope of attaining equality with the inner planets as long as the latter continue their violent imperialist exploitation. Members of the radical factions are portrayed almost exclusively as emotional, violent maniacs, while the moderate factions appear as enlightened, rational people.

Whenever the radicals act, people die, and the lives of those who survive get worse.

“The boy offered him a variety of sexual services at rock-bottom prices.”

Throughout the series, characters make observations about other peoples’ behaviour. Regardless of whether they are Belter or Inner, radical or moderate, their behaviour is described as little more than the sum of human evolution. Moderates, who work within the status quo or even to further its oppressive nature, are able to distance themselves somewhat from their evolutionary needs, while radicals, as violent maniacs, surrender themselves to it and only cause damage. Humans, as advanced primates, cannot surpass their basic needs for attention and love, and so radicals who wish to free their people or even the entire species, act primarily to enhance their own ego rather than for any ‘higher’ goal.This is perhaps best exemplified by the most important discovery in human history being made by an unwitting teenager whose main motivation is sleeping with his cousin. Real, positive, radical change to the status quo is impossible in this universe, because a force much more powerful than politics and technology is human nature: the quest for a mate, to protect your own, and so on. In the Expanse, humanity may have reached far beyond the stars, but it cannot transcend the greed, lust and fears inherent to its nature.

37 Lucas Smarius

Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) has the same general premise as the original Star Trek from the 1960s: Set on the starship Enterprise, the latest in a line of prominent exploration vessels, the show follows Captain Picard (known to Gen Z audiences for the facepalm meme) and his intrepid crew on a mission to seek out new civilizations and to boldly go where no one has gone before. In the utopian 24th century that The Next Generation depicts, the problems of today are long since past. Hunger, poverty and disease have been eradicated by technological advances, and humanity’s reach for the stars has matured them into leaving behind their greedy, envious and belligerent nature.

Earth is now the center of a massive galactic republic, the United Federation of Planets, with hundreds of other species coexisting and collaborating peacefully.

The Next Generation retains this hopeful spirit throughout the show’s seven season run. Both TNG and The Expanse deal with themes such as terrorism, torture and trauma, but whereas the latter paints a bleaker image, with deeply flawed characters overcoming their obstacles through compromise and morally ambiguous decisions, the former argues (quite literally, but more on that later) that humanity can grow beyond its flaws and is in fact able to remain virtuous and civilized even in dire circumstances.

Let’s examine the circumstances under which mankind is thriving, starting with the economic situation of TNG’s 24th century.

Economy TNG’s Federation is effectively a post-scarcity economy.

Machines have been invented to convert energy into matter with the greatest efficiency, so everyone is able to create food, clothes and tools in the blink of an eye.

Terraforming planets is now possible over the course of only a few years, so everyone can have as many acres of land as they desire. Money no longer serves any purpose in this society, so TNG shows us a future without it.To us, this sort of society is almost unthinkable.

It seems the writers knew this, since they provide us with a fascinating case study at the end of the first season. In the episode The Neutral Zone, the Enterprise comes across a pod with three humans from the early 21st century who have been frozen in stasis for three centuries. The crew wakes them up and the trio experiences a massive culture shock. One of them, a wealthy businessman, demands that the captain contacts Earth so he can safeguard his savings.

Captain Picard tries to explain the nature of the world they have found themselves in: “A lot has changed in the past three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of things. We’ve eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions.We have grown out of our infancy.” Later, he states: “This is the twenty fourth century. Material needs no longer exist.” The businessman asks what the challenge to life is, then. The captain replies: “The challenge is to improve yourself. To enrich yourself. Enjoy it.” This episode is an interesting microcosm of the economic situation of TNG’s 24th century; When money and possessions are a commodity that’s either available for everyone or defunct, humanity can spend their days enriching, exploring, enjoying the treasures of the cosmos, and the treasures of the soul.

Equality of Opportunity In a future where everyone has the same means and possibilities, can there be any difference in opportunity?

Can there be any discrimination? The world that TNG depicts seems to be largely devoid of racism, discrimination or bias. Although some characters are depicted as being hostile towards other species, the Federation prides itself on equal treatment of all its members, including in their naval ranks. While most of the characters we meet on the Enterprise are (at least part) human, several high-ranking officers originate from other planets. One of the more endearing characters in the show is Commander Data, one of Captain Picard’s senior officers. Data is effectively a robot, although the show itself shuns this label and prefers android or artificial lifeform. Data’s journey towards becoming more humanlike is a joy to watch, not only because his endeavors to understand humor, to whistle or to engage in small talk are delightful, but also because the human characters all take that journey with him. Data is treated equally, both as an officer on the Enterprise as well as during poker night. He receives the same respect both on and off duty as the human characters.

“The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.”

TNG’s first courtroom drama episode, The Measure of a Man, finds Data in the crosshairs of a scientist who wants to disassemble him for his research. Data is obviously opposed to this scenario, but his wishes are not acknowledged by the Federation, since he is only a

38 machine. As the episode unfolds and a hearing is convened, Data and Captain Picard seek to prove that Data is in fact a person and has the right of self-determination. While this may not sound as exhilarating as a space battle, The Measure of a Man is widely regarded as one of TNG’s finest hours, due to the trial being so well written it makes the viewer ponder what it means to be a person. The episode poignantly demonstrates that a utopia can only be truly utopian if it is so for everyone, if every individual has their rights respected and has the freedom to decide their own journey.

This vision was worked into the show in a very literal way.

In the campy but poignant first episode, all of humanity is put on trial by a mischievous, godlike entity known only as Q. Humanity’s representative – and its chief advocate – is (obviously) Captain Picard. Q’s accusation: humanity is a childlike, savage race, and does not deserve its place among the stars. Our good captain pleads that no, humanity is not savage anymore.We strive to improve ourselves and have evolved beyond that stage.We are enlightened now. It’s almost how you’d imagine the show’s mood was pitched to the producers.

Fortunately for Data and the audience (and rather unsurprising for an optimistic 80’s TV episode), his individuality is acknowledged by the court. He is spared the unpleasant disassembly and continues on his path to try and fathom the meaning of being human.

While this immediate obstacle for our protagonists is resolved by the end of the episode, the larger themes and questions posed are retained throughout the show, and touched upon ever so often, with the final episode enigmatically positing:“The trial never ends.”.The ingenious thing about the sci-fi genre is that it lends itself very aptly for these kinds of discussions. You can dress the question up in a 24th century space setting and throw a space god into the mix, but at heart the timely yet timeless issue remains: can humanity improve itself? Can we grow beyond the burdens that are weighing us as a species down?

The Human Condition Although the infallibility of the protagonists was somewhat toned down after the early seasons of TNG (since perfect characters don’t make for very good TV), the unfailing optimism and hopefulness remained. In the centuries that separate the show from our time, mankind has evolved into the best version of itself, doing away with greed, envy and lust. The characters are enlightened – or at least as much as the writers need them to be for the plot, before the next episode requires they fight with their colleagues or fall in love with virtual women. This is a TV show, after all.

In some respects, the series’ different visions of the future are products of their time. TNG was made at the tailend of the Cold War, when hopes were high that a new era of peace could dawn when hostilities between the Soviet Union and the United States ceased. The Expanse was written decades after the supposed ‘End of History’, when it had become clear those hopes were false: the end of one conflict simply proved to be the pretext for new ones. More recent iterations of Star Trek, namely the shows Discovery (2017-) and Picard (2020-), echo the Expanse’s dystopian mood, demonstrating that even Star Trek’s optimistic nature is not immune. However, such an assessment would ignore that the ‘80s and ‘90s were full of successful dystopian science fiction: The Terminator (1984), RoboCop (1987) and Starship Troopers (1997) are just a few of the many successful films from this period. Clearly, both doubt and faith in the future are timeless. Nevertheless, it seems science fiction has on the whole become dourer

This show seems to think we eventually can, and that’s an encouraging thought. In The Next Generation, humanity has reached far beyond the stars, but while searching for black holes and pulsars, it has found itself.

in the past decades, the balance shifting more towards dystopian than utopian visions.

Our world faces growing economic inequality, growing joblessness due to automation, increasingly tense international relations, and the threat of imminent human extinction resulting from climate change. The prospect of our species reaching the 24th century at all has been cast in doubt, let alone our ability to reach beyond the stars. In times like these, a vision of a future to aspire to, a world in which all are equal, not just in name, but in practice as well, is severely lacking. A hopeless future breeds apathy and disaster. Both visions are necessary, of course. Dystopian science fiction has an important place in warning our culture about how the future can be awful if we’re not careful. Utopian science fiction has an important place, as well, in showing humanity that there is a silver lining, and with work, the future can indeed be brighter.

39 Ellen van Heteren

Reading Between

The discovery and conservation of the Archimedes Palimpsest in a medieval Prayer Book

the Lines

‘A

t first I saw nothing. Only slowly did my eyes adjust.And then the awesome thought dawned on me that I was looking at the unique key to the mind of a genius who had died 2,200 years earlier.’1 These were the thoughts of Will Noel, the project director of the conservation and digitization of the Archimedes Palimpsest at the Walter’s Art Museum. However enthusiastic about the object in front of him, though, he well understood that the book was in poor condition; it was literally falling apart. He enlisted the help of Abigail Quandt, senior conservator of book and paper at the museum, who was specialized in parchment. She would spend the next four years working on the task given to her by Noel and the owner of the Palimpsest: to assess the damage of the book, choose adequate treatments and, perhaps even more importantly, choose what treatments not to use.2 This case study is an example of the most common dilemma in the field of conservation: where does one draw the line between restoring an ‘original’ and safekeeping the traces of history?

Between 1999 and 2010, Quandt and other specialists worked tirelessly to restore the Archimedes Palimpsest, a text hidden in a medieval prayerbook. This Euchologion, or prayerbook, was made by reusing the parchment of several manuscripts after scraping off the old text, most famously several texts originally authored by Archimedes (287-212 BC), who is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of ancient times. This was a very common practice, especially in the early middle ages, when paper

(I) The Euchologion as received at the Walters Art Museum

and parchment were expensive and scarce. Some of the reused folios in the Archimedes Palimpsest contain the only surviving Greek version of some of Archimedes’ texts, hence its name, and are therefore valuable additions to existing knowledge on his mathematics. Because of its value, the Euchologion was bought at an auction in 1998 by an anonymous buyer for over 2 million dollars and handed to the Walter’s Art museum in Baltimore in 1999 for conservation and digital analysis. The initial aim was to stabilize and prepare the book for photography so the Palimpsest could be made visible.3 The Palimpsest had already been ‘discovered’ in 1906 by the Danish Philologist Johan Ludvig Heiberg, when he recognized the Palimpsest in the catalogue of the Metochion library

40 at Constantinople. He travelled to the library to see the codex (the form of document which has distinctive pages that are stacked, as opposed to a scroll) for himself and managed to photograph and transcribe a considerable percentage of the Palimpsest. One of the problems he faced was the orientation of the Palimpsest on the folios of the prayerbook. Each folio of the old parchment was folded or cut in half to form two new ‘pages’ in the Euchologion and the edges were cut. The result is that the original parchment has parts missing and is split apart throughout the new codex, with part of the Palimpsest hidden in the codex’ binding. Moreover, Heiberg could only use his eyes and perhaps a magnifying glass to read the scraped-off text.

Nonetheless, he managed to transcribe a large part of the text. His work and photographs (those that have been found) were used as a guideline during the conservation of the book.4

The Euchologion was bought at an auction for over 2 million dollars These photographs also reveal important information about the history of the Euchologion. Archimedes’ texts were written (copied from an earlier version) in the tenth century, presumably in Constantinople. After some research, it was discovered that the book was unbound in the thirteenth century to create the prayerbook, written by the scribe Ioannes Myronas and dedicated to the monastery of St. Sabas on the 13th of April 1229, where it was used for Christian Orthodox services. At some point, the book was moved to the library of Constantinople, where it was soon found by Constantin von Tischendorf, who discovered the Palimpsest and recognized it for the work of Archimedes. It is thanks to his observation that Heiberg was able to find the codex. In the early twentieth century the book seemed lost until a French family brought it to an auction in New York, where the current owner, who wants to remain anonymous, purchased it. From the photographs taken by Heiberg, it becomes apparent that the prayerbook had undergone serious deterioration and damage by fire, water, mould and the addition of forgeries to the parchment sometime during the twentieth century.5 The goal of the conservation was to stabilize the parchment in order to prepare it for the digitization project and therefore, it was not an option to refrain from intervention with the object, as was the initial idea of the project manager. To this end, the cover and binding of the Euchologion needed to be removed and the parchment leaves had to be unfolded, stabilized and flattened for photography. The damage report showed that this would not be an easy task. At first sight, signs of ill-treatment

were visible: “The cover was of battered leather and badly stained, on the upper cover there was a flash of red paint and an odd silver-looking stud.”6 Further examination of the object revealed worse: water damage, discoloration, mould, fire damage and overpainting were the most evident losses. The causes and nature of the damage became the subject of extensive research. Since the goal of the conservation treatment was to stabilize and prepare the book for digitization, the decision was made not to repair these losses.7 Instead, because some of the Palimpsest was hidden in the binding, the conservator worked for over four years on disbanding the Euchologion. Immediately after the removal of the temporary binding added at the behest of the auction, it was discovered that the spine of the book was covered in glue.The first half of the spine was bonded using hide glue, which could be easily swollen using some water and ethanol and then removed using a scalpel. The second half, however, was bonded using an industrial glue based on polyvinyl acetate. This glue could not be dissolved or removed from the parchment, since the glue was stronger than the material to which it was bonded. The adhesive was analyzed by the Canadian Conservation Institute to determine the optimal method for its removal; solvent gels would allow extremely careful removal of the glue.8 One by one Quandt freed the folios from the binding, after which she could soften the folds by wetting them, flatten the pages and make temporary repairs to any tears that caused structural damage to the folios. Candle wax and other surface grime were only removed at those

41 Ellen van Heteren places where they obscured the Palimpsest text so as to not remove all traces of its history. All folios were photographed individually and a unique damage report and treatment proposal written for them, before Quandt started her work on any of the pages.9

the use of aggressive solvents, doing so may have been a viable strategy. However, the owner, project manager and conservator all thought it best not to destroy the text of the prayerbook as it, too, is a historical artifact, and so as to not further damage the parchment.

The prayerbook had undergone serious deterioration and damage by fire, water, mould and the addition of forgeries to the parchment

Needless to say, the Archimedes Palimpsest and the other parchments used, were considered to be of such value that the irreversible deconstruction of the Euchologion was justified: content was considered more important than form. The Euchologion text may remain, but the book was completely disbanded. This means the state of the object after conservation and restoration can neither be considered a prayerbook nor the original codex. The project manager has not made it clear in what state the object is to be returned to the owner.

Every path taken in the restoration process involves careful consideration as to which alternatives should not be chosen. A first example has already been mentioned: apart from the disbanding of the book, the flattening of the pages and the repair of major tears on the Palimpsest text, the conservator and the project management chose not to further intervene with the object. This would be too risky, too time consuming (and therefore expensive), and would not directly benefit the digitization project. Also, damage may contain relevant information about the history of the book as an object. For example, the mould found on the folios could tell in what environment the book has been.

Another example of what was not done is the removal of the Euchologion text overlying the Palimpsest, nor the use of chemicals to reveal the underlying text. Considering the fact that one of the aims of the project was to make the Palimpsest more visible, as well as the prevalence in the nineteenth and early twentieth century of ‘reviving’ palimpsest texts by removing newer, overlaid texts through

Damage may contain relevant information about the history of the book as an object The digitization process was executed by two teams of image processing specialists from The Rochester Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University, and started immediately after the removal of the first folio by Quandt.

In between activities, the folios were safely kept in conservation grade folders. A special mat was designed to secure the parchment and hold it in place while minimizing the risk of damage during photography. The aim of this part of the project was to digitally expose the text of the Palimpsest by using different types of light and photography resulting in such high quality images that scholars need not see the original object, so that in time, the object could be returned to the owner. The object could then be kept in the owner’s residence, where he has had a special chamber built with the optimal humidity level for prolonging the life of the book (or what is left of it).10 The digitization process was one of trial and error. One important complaint from the researchers after the first tries was that the images revealed the Palimpsest text, but had ‘erased’ the Euchologion text by making it the exact same color as the parchment. The image scientists had done exactly what had been asked of them: separating the Palimpsest from the Euchologion. However, because some

(II) One of the forgeries with natural light (left) and X-ray, revealing the Palimpsest text (right)

42 of the Palimpsest characters were positioned behind one of the overlaying characters, they would also disappear from the image. After another three years, a conference, new ideas and many experiments, the imagers managed to give the scholars exactly what they needed to transcribe and study Archimedes’ texts.11 Especially the forgeries formed a problem for the imaging and caused some discussion among the different parties involved. These forgeries, one-on-one copies of religious icons from Greek manuscripts in the National Library in Paris, were painted on four of the prayerbook leaves sometime during the twentieth century (examination of the paint indicates sometime after 1938). The paintings were artificially aged by smudging mud into the parchment and disturbing its edges. The foremost problem was that metals, such as gold, lead and copper, were used as pigments and these formed a barrier which the imaging technology could not always penetrate; it hides the Palimpsest text.

Noel actually wanted Quandt to erase the forgeries, but this position was challenged by other parties. As Noel describes it: “What was for me merely incidental graffiti that obscured the writings of a genius was to [another party] a record of twentieth-century attitudes to the Byzantine past.”12 Hence, the decision was made to leave the forgeries on the pages, not only because erasing them might also have destroyed the parchment and Archimedes’ text, but also because the future could bring technology that would be able to read through the metals.13 The case of the Archimedes Palimpsest shows that it is not always self-evident what steps a conservation process should take. In this case, the fusion of the texts of Archimedes and several others within the Euchologion makes for multiple historical objects that cannot be separated without the irreversible destruction of one or the other. If the Palimpsest were in the possession of a university, this probably would have been the subject of endless discussion. However, the Palimpsest was owned by a private collector who decided to have it deconstructed, as was the wish of many scholars. The valuable results are manifold: new passages were discovered not only of Archimedes’ text, but also those of other authors who could be identified thanks to the deconstruction.

Any repairs were made with reversible materials and everything that has been scraped off has been carefully stored and documented. Only those tears were repaired and dirt removed that obscured the Palimpsest or caused structural instability. The Euchologion text was not erased, nor were the forgeries. Over ten years after completion of the project, research on the Palimpsest is still going on and will bring new answers, questions and discussion.

References 1 Reviel Netz & William Noel, The Archimedes Codex.

Revealing the Secrets of the World’s Greatest Palimpsest (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007), 3-25; Roger L. Easton & William Noel, “Infinite Possibilities: Ten Years of Study of the Archimedes Palimpsest”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 154, no. 1 (2010): 50-53.

2 Netz & Noel, The Archimedes Codex, 13.

3 Ibidem, 155-156.

4 Ibidem, 161-163; Abigail Quandt, “The Archimedes Palimpsest: Conservation Treatment, Digital Imaging and Transcription of a Rare Mediaeval Manuscript”, Studies in Conservation 47, no. 3 (2002): 165-166; Nigel Wilson, “The Archimedes Palimpsest: A Progress Report”, The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 62 (2004): 66.

5 Ibidem; Santo Lucà, “On the Dating and Provenance of the Euchologion of the Archimedes Palimpsest”, The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 66/67 (2008-2009): 55-68.

6 Netz & Noel, The Archimedes Codex, 13.

7 Ibidem, 158-160; Abigail Quandt, “The Archimedes Palimpsest”, 166-168; Easton & Noel, “Infinite Possiblities”, 56; Cf. Guadalupe Piñar et al.,“A Combined Approach to Assess the Microbial Contamination of the Archimedes Palimpsest”, Microbial Ecology 69, no. 1 (2015), 118-134.

8 Netz & Noel, The Archimedes Codex, 155-160; Abigail Quandt, “The Archimedes Palimpsest”, 166-168; Easton & Noel, “Infinite Possiblities”, 56.

9 Idem.

10 Netz & Noel, The Archimedes Codex, 201-209; Emanuele Salerno et al., “Digital image analysis to enhance underwritten text in the Archimedes Palimpsest”, International Journal of Document Analysis and Recognition (IJDAR) 9, no. 2-4 (2007): 79-87.

11 Netz & Noel, The Archimedes Codex, 209-212; Easton & Noel, “Infinite Possibilities”, 57-75.

12 Netz & Noel, The Archimedes Codex, 175.

13 Ibidem, 132, 163-164, 174-175; Wilson, “The Archimedes Palimpsest”, 66; Easton & Noel, “Infinite Possibilities”, 56.

Image Sources: I Reviel Netz & William Noel, The Archimedes Codex.

Revealing the Secrets of the World’s Greatest Palimpsest (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007), property of the owner of the Archimedes Palimpsest.

II Ibidem

43

CODEX

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Thema: Labour September 2021

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