Aim

The society for the history of literature is concerned with promoting and studying the history of literature.

In the fourties of the twentieth century, there was general agreement that more time should be devoted to the study of the history of Frisian literature. In 1951, Ype Poortinga en G.A.G. Meerburg wrote a plan for the foundation of a society to that purpose. They believed that the society should have the following concerns:

This plan was accepted and the society was actually founded in the same year. Under the chairmanship of Poortinga, the society embarked on the task of composing a file with bibliographical records of publications of the nineteenth century. This file can now be consulted at the Frysk Letterkundich Museum en Dokumintaasjesintrum in Leeuwarden/Ljouwert. Another task on which the society embarked was the preparation for publication of various texts. Specific committees were created to take care of the publication of each text. Thus there have been committees responsible for publishing work of J.C.P. Salverda, H.G. van der Veen and R.B. Windsma. Apart from this, the society also organised lectures for the general public.

The organisation of lectures on Frisian literature is at present the most important activity of the society. Hundreds of lectures have been held, dealing with a wide variety of subjects. In the past, lectures tended to concentrate on the nineteenth century, but nowadays they are not restricted to any particular century. Lectures are sometimes thematically grouped together. In 1984/1985 a series of lectures on Frisian poetry after 1945 was held, and in 1994/1995 a series of lectures on the life and work of the writer and intellectual Anne Wadman. There are four meetings of the society every winter.

Please contact Gelbrigje Haringsma