Providing Missing Cultural Links in Dutch Postcolonial Society: The Pioneering Early Works of Several Authors of Moroccan or Indian-Dutch Origin

The phrase “multicultural literature” appeared in Dutch literature studies during the mid-nineties.  The concept, also labelled as “ethnic” or “allochtone” literature, refers to the emergence of authors rooted in a cultural background different from that of their native Dutch colleagues, and who therefore represent a thematic shift in the Dutch literary landscape. The appearance of these allochtone authors marked a break with the prevalent tradition of self-centered literature, but it also reflected the multifariousness of present-day Dutch society.

Their writing of fictional or semi-autobiographic stories proceeds from a desire to bear witness to an existence torn between two cultures all to often regarded as incompatible. It is just this incompatibility between contradictory expectations and obligations to be lived up to which forms the guideline running through their various publications, but which also allows them to transcend the cultural clichés.

These ‘allochtone’ authors seem to follow in the footsteps of second-generation Indian-Dutch writers, who in the 80’ introduced the difficulty of developing an identity torn between two cultural heritages.

The aim of our paper is to study the common ground between the themes dealt with by authors of Moroccan and Indian origin, i.e. a quest for identity which may occasionally take the form of schizophrenia.  This, in turn, will allow us to pinpoint the reasons why these now well-established authors were, at the time of their first literary quest for identity, immediately regarded both by critics and by the general readership as missing cultural links in our modern postcolonial society.