Parodies

Veth, Cornelis, 1880-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.0

Word count: 102K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Parodieën by Cornelis VethAuthor: Veth, Cornelis, 1880-,Language: Dutch, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Nov 23, 2014

Editor's review

Parodieën is a collection of parodies by the Dutch writer Cornelis Veth (born 1880), released as an e-book by Project Gutenberg. Parody is a mode of writing that depends on intertextuality and stylistic awareness: readers must recognize the style of the original in order to appreciate the humor and criticism it carries. Veth worked within the Dutch cultural context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and his parodies mostly engage with the literary and artistic tastes of his time. The value of this book therefore lies not only in the wit of the texts themselves but also in its status as a cultural document, reflecting the literary fashions that were imitated and mocked in that era. The pleasure of reading lies in recognition and comparison: first grasp the stylistic features being parodied, then see how the author preserves the form while substituting the content. For readers studying Dutch literature, the European satirical tradition, or parody as a genre, this is a light but meaningful piece of material; for general readers, it is better suited as a short collection for broadening one's reading horizons than as a plot-driven book.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Dutch literature and the European satirical tradition
Literature students studying parody, intertextuality, and stylistic imitation
Readers who enjoy short stylistic experiments and do not require narrative continuity
Advanced language learners wishing to encounter Dutch literature in the original

Not a good fit for

General readers expecting a full novel plot and character arcs
Beginners unfamiliar with Dutch and without a parallel translation to rely on
Readers with no interest in the literary background that parody depends on

Reading tips

Read the introduction or related background material first to grasp the general style of the parodied targets before entering the main text.
Treat each piece as an independent stylistic exercise; do not insist on continuity from one to the next.
Take notes on unfamiliar allusions and look them up in a batch afterward, avoiding frequent interruptions.
Read alongside Dutch satirical works of the same period to appreciate the targeting and restraint of the parody.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a short story collection?

Judging by the title and genre, this is a collection of parodies made up of several independent pastiches rather than a novel with a continuous plot. You can enter it piece by piece and need not read it straight through from beginning to end.

Can I read this book without knowing Dutch?

The original text is in Dutch, and Project Gutenberg provides an electronic text. If you do not know Dutch, you will need a translation or parallel reading; parody is highly sensitive to linguistic form, and a good deal of the pleasure is lost away from the original, so it is advisable to attempt it only with some grounding in the language.

Do I need to read the original works first to enjoy parodies?

You need not read every original work in full, but familiarity with the stylistic features being parodied will markedly improve the reading experience. Parodic humor comes from the mismatch between form and content; without background, it is easy to see only the surface words and miss the point, so you may first consult a brief literary history.

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About the author

Veth, Cornelis, 1880- Author · Dutch · 1880

Cornelis Veth (1880– ) was a Dutch art historian and critic. Public information about his life is limited; it is known that he was born in 1880 and worked for many years as an art historian and art critic. His writings focus chiefly on Dutch painting, offering detailed assessments of painters, schools, and individual works, and combining historical survey with critical judgment, thus providing readers with a reliable guide to the Dutch painting tradition. Beyond his art-historical studies, he also engaged in literary writing with a parodic and playful bent, publishing Parodieën, which reveals a lighter, humorous side beyond his serious scholarship. One work of his is held in the collection, namely Parodieën. Overall, he is an author with a body of work in the field of Dutch art history and criticism; his subjects are concentrated, and his style is both scholarly and readable.