Gerard Walschap
Encyclopedia
Londerzeel
Londerzeel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Londerzeel proper, Malderen , Steenhuffel and Sint-Jozef. On 1 January 2006, Londerzeel had a total population of 17,435. The total area is 36.29 km² which gives a population...
-St. Jozef, 9 July 1898-Antwerp, 25 October 1989), was a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
writer.
Early life
He went to highschool at the Klein seminarie in HoogstratenHoogstraten
Hoogstraten is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Hoogstraten proper and the towns of Meer, Meerle, Meersel-Dreef, Minderhout and Wortel,...
, and later in Asse
Asse
Asse is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Asse proper, Bekkerzeel, Kobbegem, Mollem, Relegem and Zellik. On January 1, 2006 Asse had a total population of 29,191...
. His Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
awareness was in these days encouraged by the priest and poet Jan Hammenecker
Jan Hammenecker
Jan Hammenecker was a Flemish Roman Catholic priest and writer. One of his pupils was Gerard Walschap.-Bibliography:* Verzen * Van Christus' apostelen * Oorlogsgetijden...
. In Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, he entered the school for priests, but did not finish them to be ordained as a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
.
In 1923, he became secretary at the redaction of the weekly magazine Het Vlaamsche land (E: Flemish country). In 1925, he married with Marie-Antoinette Theunissen in Maaseik
Maaseik
Maaseik is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. The city is located on the river Meuse , bordering the Netherlands. The Maaseik municipality includes the town of Maaseik and the villages of Neeroeteren and Opoeteren...
, and a year later their son, Hugo is born. Alice Nahon
Alice Nahon
Alice Nahon was a Flemish poet from Antwerp.-Biography:She was the third child in a family of eleven children. Her father was born in the Netherlands but of French descent, and her mother, Julia Gijsemans, was born in Putte, nearby Mechelen, where Alice spent much time during her childhood...
acts as a nurse and write a poem to the occasion Aan Hugo's fijne stemmeke (E: To Hugo’s fine voice). In 1927, his second son, Guido, is born. In 1930, his third son, Lieven, is born, and in 1932, his daughter Caroline (Carla Walschap
Carla Walschap
Carla Walschap is a Belgian writer and a teacher. She is a daughter of the writer Gerard Walschap.-Bibliography:* Niet schreien, ouwe * Hart om hart * Rozen van Jericho...
). In 1935, he narrowly escapes death, as he becomes a victim of carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
poisoning in the bathroom, but he is saved by his spouse. His fourth son, Bruno, was born in 1938.
Literary career
As a writer he started his literary career with romantic poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
inspired theatre plays. In 1928, he publishes his first novel Waldo. He became widely known with his novel Adelaide, which appeared in 1929, and which was the first of a series of novels. Although initially well-received, the book caused him the rancour of the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, and his books were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
. This adverse reaction, which was not intended by Walschap, hurt him and after a long inner struggle and doubt he abandoned his faith and became a secular humanist. This inner struggle (with faith), would remain of significant importance in his literary work. Adelaide became part of the De familie Roothooft.
In part of his work he considers society a burden which is hard to bear, such as in De bejegening van Christus (E: Meeting with Christ) (1940). In his work he also glorifies the extremes of society, such as the primitive life in Volk (E: people) and De dood in het dorp (E: Death in the village) (1930), and the almost aggressive freedom in Het kind (E: The child) (1939) and De consul (1943) and the expression of worriless freedom in probably his most famous work Houtekiet (1939).
His novel Zwart en wit (E: black and white) of 1948, deals with the collaboration (Nazi-Collaborators were called blacks in Belgium, and resistance fighters whites) with Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and the repression after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Zuster Vergilia, of 1951, deals with the eternal fight between faith and disbelief. In his book Oproer in Kongo (E: Revolt in Congo) from 1953, he wrote about colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, which he conceived after along journey through Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
in 1951. As a writer he reveals his own inner self in Het gastmaal (1966) en Het avondmaal (E: Dinner) (1968), by using a modernistic
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
writing style.
He received several literary prices, among which in 1968, the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
The Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren is awarded every three years to an author from the Netherlands, Belgium or, since 2005, Suriname writing in Dutch...
, and in 1975 he was knighted and made a Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
.
Source
- G.J. van Bork en P.J. Verkruijsse, De Nederlandse en Vlaamse auteurs (1985)
- Gerard Walschap
- Gerard Walschap