BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review (Jan 2006)
Het natiebegrip in het zuidelijke krantendiscours aan de vooravond van de Belgische opstand (augustus 1829-juli 1830)
Abstract
Els Witte, The nationhood concept in the Southern press on the eve of the Belgian Rebellion (August 1829-July 1830) To ascertain the extent of awareness of Belgian nationhood in the Southern opposition on the eve of the 1830 Rebellion, the author analyses articles that influenced public opinion in the leading opposition newspapers and in one government newspaper during the period in which the opposition was becoming increasingly vociferous. In this way, the chief players in the Revolution who wrote in these papers made their presence felt. The nationhood concept, embedded in its semantic sphere, is examined in no less than 4,200 paragraphs using the well-known position analysis developed by V. Morin. Although the nationhood concept as such comes across as being strongly ideologized and politicised in the analysis, the Belgian nation is scarcely given any consideration. Nor is the idea of separation accorded any real prominence, and there is certainly no question of abolishing the kingdom. Nevertheless, an identity is built up from the concepts of the North, Holland, Hollanders versus the South, and Belgium and the Belgians. By accentuating the Southern grievances, the Belgian identity simply emerges strengthened from the discussion in the press.
