As If Their Activities Could Explain Something: Joris van Casteren and Het zusje van de bruid

Abstract: Joris Van Casteren (b. 1976) is undoubtedly one of the most famous literary journalists in the Netherlands. In his stories he creates a peculiar atmosphere by drawing on diverse elements, such as the choice of topic, original perspectives, and his typical, dry, matter-of-fact style. His breakthrough came with his 2008 book, Lelystad, in which he describes his own coming of age in a brand-new city built on new Dutch land. In Het zusje van de bruid. Relaas van een onmogelijke liefde (The sister of the bride: a tale of an impossible love), published in 2011, the writer goes back nine years in order to describe his own love story with a rich, intelligent, and artistic, borderline patient who is addicted to alcohol and drugs. The book caused a stir, and Van Casteren was reproached for transgressing the limits of privacy and morality. This study argues that Van Casteren challenges the boundaries of literary journalism by using different techniques. One is an absence of explicit emotions that he combines with suggestive and sometimes slightly bizarre signs of those emotions. This aligns with the abundance of scene and the absence of interpretation and judgment. The study argues that the effect of distance and uncertainty generates an open atmosphere that allows the author to touch upon basic human questions, such as loyalty and responsibility, as well as the creation of meaning and sense, and the limits of understanding both one’s own motives and those of others. Keywords: Dutch literary journalism –– Joris Van Casteren –– rhetorics of nonfiction –– literary journalism –– literary criticism

Publication year:2020

Accessibility:Open