A. DHOEST
Weeral Bokrijk!’ Het ‘Folkloristische’ beeld van Vlaanderen in historische TV-fictie
Summary : “Bokrijk again!” The ‘folkloristic’ image of Flanders in historical television fiction.
Historical serials were the most important fiction genre in Flemish television in the tume when the public broadcasting system had exclusive rights. For the most part these serials showed a rather folkloristic picture of Flanders in the beginning of the 20the century. In serals such as ‘Wij, Heren van Zichem’ (We, Lords of Zichem), the daily life of ‘common’ Flemish countryfolk was emphasized.
To some extent criticism on the miserable days bygone was passed, but generally speaking, the trend set in the serial was strongly nostalgic what contribyted to the roaring success with the viewers. In spite of the enormous success with the public, the press, especially the popular press, was critical of the serial. As to the form, neither the screenplay, the dialogues nor the production found favour; as to the content the image of Flanders was considered outmoded. Up to a point this criticism is correct and, on the other hand, it agrees with the wide dislike of the ‘popular culture’ by the intellectual middle class. Gut some articles about the historical serials had a positive character: the depiction of Flanders was ’typical Flemish’, ‘realistic’ and ‘familiar’. One can find fault with these wordings, but they point out how important the function of television is in Flanders. The historical fiction serials draw a picture of Flanders, but it must be set in the context of the increasing Flemish emancipation and the formation of a Flemisch identity.
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G. DE MEYER
Mn zkt vr/vr zkt mn – Een analysemodel voor contactadvertenties
Summary : A model of analysis for personal advertisements
Half a million of Flemings should be looking for a partner. Not wanting to write an elaborate study on the way in which young people used to contact each other, we will examine in a short historical survey between which lines in earlier times the search for a partner took place, so that we can look in a wider context at the present dating scene and especially at the formal contactmen. When the go-between function, which used to be practised by more or less formal authorities (church, family, acquaintances, friends…), fell out because people began to opt for a self-confident partner choice (cf. individualisation of night life), the formal mediation by intermediaries in the partner choice is nowadays for a lot of people once again an attractive alternative, even if it is organized by professional and commercial intermediaries or via the media.
Professional-commercial intermediaries such as marriage bureaus and dating services, semi-professional clubs for single and divorced people, i.e. dance companies, touring parties, dating nights…, all are activities in which a contact offering framework is present. Also personal advertisements in newspapers and specialized magazines, chat-rooms and dating sites on the Internet will be discussed. Particularly the contents of such personal advertisements are considered at length in the light of the tension between the private and the public domain, between wat people of themselves, whether or not, like to divulge.
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K. VAN EFFELTERRE
Resultaten van empirisch volksgeneeskundig onderzoek in Vlaanderen anno 1979-2000: reuma, migraine en wratten.
Summary : Folkmedicine in Flanders from 1979 to 2000: Results of an empirical study.
The increasing interest in folk medicine is a frequently discussed topic nowadays. To concretise this rather abstract phenomenon five elaborate empirical studies have been organised all over Flanders. As part of their thesis five students from the K.U.Leuven interviewed 310 rheumatics, 130 migraine patients and 220 people suffering from warts, about their experiences with folk medicine. All over Dutch-speaking Belgium people appeared to experiment with all sorts of personal remedies, sometimes of quite bizarre or even lugubrious nature. Furthermore a substantial amount of people fell under the spell of the exotic east, from where a lot of alternative therapies originate. Homeopathy, herbalism, shiatsu, exorcising,…. These are all just a few examples of the multi-coloured spectrum of therapies the alternative circuit has to offer. Those who believe pilgrimages belong to the past are forced to change their view as well: especially among the elderly there are still a number of people who are convinced that bathing in holy water will cure them from rheumatism. However, the attraction of folk medicine does not imply that regulat medicine has become a matter of minor concern. On the contrary, the majority of people are convinced that regular doctors are the most obvious persons to solve serious medical problems.
Even though rheumatics and migraine patients are not reluctant to explore the possibilities of folk medicine, they conscientiously keep consulting the representatives of regular medicine. In the case of warts matters are slightly different, which is not surprising considering the harmless nature of the ailment. Regular doctors are hardly consulted by people with warts, who are usually satisfied with a personal remedy or with the help of a pharmacist.
Kronieken, Boekbesprekingen.
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