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| Introduction |


Welcome, this package can be used for self-study or as part of a Dutch Studies course. The material presented here is aimed at students who have reached an intermediate level in Dutch. A basic knowledge of Dutch literature will be helpful but it is not a requirement.

image of couperus

This study pack will introduce you to the author Louis Couperus and to two extracts from the novel that first made his name, Eline Vere. It will also help you to come to grips with more complex sentences and literary idiom in Dutch. You can listen to the text, study its vocabulary, sentence structure and cultural background.



Image above shows Louis Couperus photographed by E.D. Hoppé, London 1921. Collection Letterkundig Museum, The Hague.

There is general information about the author and his work, and an opportunity to analyse some of the text’s literary aspects. A number of related topics will be explained by means of visual materials.

When you have finished the study pack you should have a sense of the kind of writer Couperus is and appreciate how Eline Vere is typical of late nineteenth-century Dutch literature.

There will also be a set of questions on the text. The study pack provides the answers and suggestions for finding the relevant information. The navigation bar at the left hand side of the screen allows you to go directly to the various sections. You can also choose to follow the links as they appear on the page while you work your way through.

Click here for an introduction to Couperus’s life and work.