Johan Pieter Snapper Emeritus Queen Beatrix Professor of Dutch Language, Literature & Culture at the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

, is a literary critic and champion of Dutch culture in the United States. His scholarly work centers on Post-war Netherlandic literature, specifically authors addressing antisemitism and the Holocaust in the Netherlands and Belgium. Snapper’s publications consist of six books, including monographs on the work of writers Gerard Reve

Gerard Reve

Gerard Kornelis van het Reve was a Dutch writer. He adopted a shortened version of his name, Gerard Reve in 1973, and that is how he is known today. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature...

 (De spiegel der verlossing in het werk van Gerard Reve, 1990) and Marga Minco

Marga Minco

Marga Minco is the pseudonym of Sara Menco is a Dutch journalist and writer. Her surname was actually Menco, but an official switched the vowel by mistake.- Biography :...

 (De wegen van Marga Minco, 1999) and some hundred scholarly articles. He completed his graduate work in Germanic languages and literatures at the University of Chicago (M.A.) and the University of California at Los Angeles (Ph.D.). He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the 18th century playwright Friedrich Maximilian Klinger. Snapper has lectured at numerous universities in Europe and the United States, including an appointment as Visiting Professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. His current research interests center on the role of the Protestant churches in the Netherlands during WW II.

Snapper is the founder of the Netherlands-America University League in California (NAUL-CAL). He organized eight international conferences on Dutch linguistics and literature, has served on the Editorial Boards of a number of publications, including the Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies (PAANS), the Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies (CJNS) and De Nederlandse Taal. Among national and international offices he has held are the presidency of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies, membership on the executive board of the International Association for Netherlandics (IVN), and the chair of the Netherlands International Commission on Higher Education for Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Rumania.

Honors

Professor Snapper was honored for his scholarly work with a Festschrift, Vantage Points (1996). He received a Congressional Citation of Merit (USA), for his community service, and he has been knighted as Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau

Order of Orange-Nassau

The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...

 (the Netherlands) and as Officer in the Order of the Crown (Belgium). In 2009 Snapper also served as a Fellow at the Flemish Academy of Science and the Arts in Brussels (VLAC), together with his wife, Dr. Gerda Snapper, a Germanist with whom he concentrated on the Holocaust literature of the Low Countries and Austria, respectively. For some fifteen years he held the post of honorary consul of the Netherlands for northern California.

Life

Johan Snapper witnessed the war as one of six children of Hendrikus and Martha Snapper, who were active in the Dutch resistance in Naaldwijk, a town in western Holland. As head of the local labor exchange, Johan’s father saw the discriminatory dictates instituted by the Nazi government early on. In response, he took measures to destroy records that put individuals at risk, and the family took in and hid two Jewish women who had received deportation orders.

For their resistance activities in German-occupied Holland, his parents were posthumously (2007) honored as Righteous among the Nations

Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

, the highest recognition bestowed on non-Jews by the Knesset in Israel. For the ceremony, held at Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, Snapper addressed an audience that included many members of his own family as well as the extended family of the survivors.
Snapper immigrated with his family to the United States in 1949. He finished high school at the age of fifteen and attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he received a degree in philosophy, before pursuing graduate degrees in eighteenth-century German literature at the University of Chicago (M.A.) and the University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D.). Snapper has three children: Pieter Snapper

Pieter Snapper

Pieter Snapper is mastering engineer, producer, and composer of contemporary classical and electronic music currently residing in Istanbul, Turkey. His works have been widely played throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia by groups such as KammarensembleN in Stockholm, and Klangforum in Vienna...

, a composer, tonmeister and professor in Istanbul, Juliana Snapper, a Los Angeles-based opera singer, and Stefan Snapper, an attorney and marketing director in Long Beach, California.

Johan Snapper currently resides in Moraga, California.

Books

• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. Janus at the Millennium: Perspectives on Time in the Culture of the Netherlands. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 15. Lanham: University Press of America. 2004.
• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. The Dutch Language at the Millennium. . Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 12. . Lanham: University Press of America. 2002.
• Snapper, Johan P. De wegen van Marga Minco. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker. 1999.
• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. Dutch Poetry in Modern Times. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies .11. Lanham: University Press of America. 1997.
  • [recipient of Festschrift] Spahr, Blake Lee et al. eds, Vantage Points. Festschrift for Johan P. Snapper. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 10. Lanham: University Press of America. 1996)
• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. Dutch Linguistics in a Changing Europe. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 8. Lanham: University Press of America. 1995.
• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed.: Dutch Literature in an International Context. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 6. Lanham: University Press of America. 1993.
• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. Dutch Linguistics at Berkeley: Issues and Controversies Old and New. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 4. Lanham: University Press of America. 1991.
• De spiegel der verlossing in het werk van Gerard Reve. Amsterdam: Veen. 1990.
• Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. The Berkeley Conference on Dutch Literature. New Perspectives on the Modern Period. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 2. Lanham: University Press of America. 1989.
• Snapper, Johan P. and Jeanne van Oosten, ed. Dutch Linguistics at Berkeley. Berkeley: University of California. 1986.
• Post War Dutch Literature: A Harp Full of Nails. Amsterdam: Delta. 1971.
• Titanism in the Work of Friedrich Maximilian Klinger (dissertation). U.C. Berkeley. 1967.

Selected Articles

• “Dutch Studies in Noord-Amerika: perspectieven van een oudgediende.”Vooys, tijdschrift voor letteren. Themadossier: Intenationale neerlandistiek. 28/3. Utrecht, October 2010.
• “De omwegen van een neerlandicus extra muros –de theologische weg.” Neerlandica Extra Muros 44/1. February 2006.
• “De omwegen van een neerlandicus extra muros –de academische weg.” Neerlandica Extra Muros 44/2. May 2006.
• “De omwegen van een neerlandicus extra muros –de diplomatische weg.” Neerlandica Extra Muros 44/3. October 2006.
• “Marga Minco.” In: Efraim Sicher, ed., Dictionary of Literary Biography. Columbia,South Carolina: Bruccoli Clark Layman. 2003.
• “Marga Minco.” In: S. Lillian Kremer, ed., Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and their Work, Vol II, pp. 849–855. New York: Routledge. 2002.
• “From Westerbork to Auschwitz: the Function of Travel in the Diaries of Etty Hillesum.” Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 10. Lanham: University Press of America. 2001.
• “Hands that Don’t Handle and Feet that Don’t Walk: The Function of Irony in the Work of Marga Minco.” In: Israel, Jonathan and Reinier Salverda, ed, Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500–2000).. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. 2002.
• “We gaan nog niet naar huis; nog lange niet: de glazen weg in het werk van Marga Minco.” In: De Geest, Dirk and Hendrik van Gorp, eds.,Extra Muros, langs de wegen. Opstellen voor Marcel Janssens ter gelegenheid van zijn afscheid als hoogleraar Nederlandse en Europese letterkunde aan de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Leuven: Universistaire Pers Leuven. 1997.
• “De Dichter en de professoren.” In: Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. Dutch Poetry in Modern Times. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies .10. Lanham: University Press of America. 1997.
• “The Function of Fiction in the Work of Jeroen Brouwers.” Contemporary Explorations in the Culture of the Low Countries. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 9. Lanham: University Press of America. 1995.
• “Ut Pictura Poesis: The Pen and Brush of Marga Minco." Studies in Netherlandic Culture and Literature. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 7. Lanham: University Press of America. 1994.
• “Panel Discussion Dutch Literature in the World: Diagnosis and Prognosis." In: Snapper, Johan P. and Thomas F. Shannon, ed. The Berkeley Conference on Dutch Literature 1991. Europe 1992: Dutch Literature in an International Context. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies 6. Lanham: University Press of America. 1993
• “Marga Minco" In: F. Aercke, ed. Women Writing in Dutch. pp. 483–493. New York/London: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1994.
• Translation of Marga Minco’s “Terugkeer.” In F. Aercke, ed. Women Writing in Dutch. pp. 493–511. New York/London: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1994.
• “Gerard Reve.” In: Ligtvoet, Frank und Marcel van Nieuwenborgh, ed., Die niederländische und die flämische Literatur der Gegenwart. München: Carl Hanser Verlag. 1993
• The Work of Marga Minco: A Wrangle of Time and Space." In: Robert S. Kirsner, ed., The Low Countries and Beyond. Publications of the American Association for Netherlandic Studies. Lanham: University Press of America. 1993.
• “De Koningin Beatrix Leerstoel te Berkeley." Literatuur . Winter 1992.
• “Twee gezichten van Marga Minco." Neerlandica Extra Muros. Tijdschrift van Neerlandistiek. Lier: Van In: May 1992.
• “Doeschka Meijsing's Robinson: A Question of Reading the Water." Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies. Fall 1990.
• “Mijn boek doet niet mee." Interview about the book De spiegel der verlossing in het werk van Gerard Reve. Literatuur. uly/August 1990.
• “Uren, dagen, maanden jaren; de klok van Gerard Reve." De groene Amsterdammer, 14 December 1989.
• “De Functie en Problemen van de Neerlandicus Extra Muros." Ons Erfdeel. 32/3, pp. 407–415. May/June 1989.
• “Reve's Early Protagonists: Between the Pages and the Sheets." PAANS 2. 65-80. 1989.
• “Doorstaan, doorlopen, doorlezen: het huis van Reve." Reve jaarboek 4. Baarn: de Prom. 1988.
• “Reve's Window of Vulnerability." PAANS 1. 75-82. Lanham: University Press of America. 1988.
• “The Berkeley Conference on Modern Dutch Literature." Ons Erfdeel 31/2. 1988
• “Van heinde." Folia 24. University of Amsterdam. (12 februari 1988).
• “De derde internationale conferentie Nederlandse studies in Amerika." Ons Erfdeel (August 1986).
• “The Collusion of Nature and Destiny in the Works of Louis Couperus." Proceedings of ICNS 82. New York. 1984.
• “The Seventeenth Century Dutch Farce: Social Refractions of a Gilded Age." Chloe 3. Amsterdam. 1984.
• “Dutch and Flemish Literature." Colliers Encyclopedia. New York. 1984.
• “Een vlaamse leerstoel in Amerika." Ons Erfdeel 25. 1982.
• “Verenigde Staten," Neerlandistiek buiten Nederland en België. 's-Gravenhage-Hasselt 1982. Co-authored with W.Z. Shetter.
• “Gerard Reve en de re(cidi)vistische heterokliet." Tussen chaos en orde. Amsterdam. 1981.
• “Louis Paul Boon." Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. New York. 1980.
• “Hugo Claus." Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. New York. 1980.
• “Teeth on Edge: the Child in the Modern Dutch Short Story." Review of National Literatures. New York. 1979.
• “Nederlands in het buitenland: Heeft het nog zin?" Ons Erfdeel 20/1. January/February 1977.
• “From Cronus to Janus: the Problem of Time in the Work of Gerard Reve." Dutch Studies 3 (1977).
• “To the Limits of Language." Times Literary Supplement (November 1975).
• “Gerard (Kornelis van het) Reve en de re(cidi)vistische heterokliet." Raster VI/2. 1972.
• Oslis, w. ed. "Johan Snapper on Modern Dutch Drama." Contemporary LIterature from Abroad. Moscow. 1971. (in Russian).
• “Contemporary Dutch Literature: the Ill Winds of the Aeolian Harp." Delta (Winter 1971).
• Sulayman, Fawzi, ed. "Johan Snapper's Analysis of Modern Dutch Drama and Stage." Al Magalla 167. Cairo. 1971. (in Arabic).
• “The Play, the Players, and the Game: Post-War Dutch Drama." Delta. (Summer 1970).
• “Evenbeeld en tegenbeeld: de Fata Morgana in Heeresma's Een dagje naar het strand." Raster. Amsterdam (Spring 1970).
• Sulayman, Fawzi, ed. Johan Snapper on Contemporary Dutch LIterature: Black Narrative or Homo Homini Lupus." Al Magalla 163. Cairo. 1970. (in Arabic).
• The Solitary Player in Klinger's Early Drama." Germanic Review (March 1970).
• “Homo Homini Lupus: the Contemporary Dutch Novel." Delta Amsterdam. (Fall 1969).
• Abstracts of Folklore Studies I-VII. Forty two articles abstracted from Volkskunde (1963–67).