Tom Verschaffel, born in Eeklo, Belgium, in 1964. Ph.D. from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Associate Professor of Cultural History at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
VNC Fellow (1 September 2010 – 31 January 2011)
A History of Dutch Literature in the 18th Century
Together with Inger Leemans and Gert Jan Johannes I will work on a history of Dutch literature in the 18th century. The volume will be part of a large series, initiated by the Taalunie, dedicated to the long term history of this literature, from the Middle Ages to today. This project will examine the general history of literary writing in Dutch, both in the northern Netherlands (the Dutch Republic) and the southern Netherlands (the Austrian Netherlands), in the 18th century. The approach will be inter-disciplinary; literature will be considered as a diverse and social phenomenon, and will be studied within its broad historical context. This 18th century history is that of a ‘rustling revolution’: literature becoming ‘empiricist’ in its approach towards man and society, becoming a means of identification, and a political instrument in a revolutionary era.
Tom Verschaffel, De hoed en de hond. Geschiedschrijving in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden 1715-1794. Verloren: (Hilversum, 1998).
Tom Verschaffel, Jo Tollebeek and Leo Wessels (eds.), De palimpsest. Geschiedschrijving in de Nederlanden 1500-2000. Verloren and Open Universiteit Nederland: (Hilversum and Heerlen, 2002).
Tom Verschaffel, Wolfgang Cortjaens and Jan de Maeyer and (ed.), Historism and cultural identity in the Rhine-Meuse region / Historism und kulturelle Identität im Raum Rhein-Maas. (Leuven, Leuven University Press, 2008).
http://www.kuleuven.be/cv/u0004592.htm