The Netherlands used to be considered a Europeanmodel for progressiveness and for the successful integration of immigrants.However, the murders of the politician Pim Fortuyn (in 2002) and the filmmakerTheo van Gogh (in 2004) have forced the country to reconsider its policy. The self-confidenceof the past has recently given way to a critical reflection on Dutch identity.The achievements of globalization, multiculturalism and even the European Union havebeen called into question and the country has adopted a much more restrictiveimmigration policy. Despite this, an alternative voice to the present tendencytowards essentialism can be heard in contemporary Dutch literature.

 Sunday May 17 at 3PM 

Room 2040 of the Valley Life Sciences Building at U.C. Berkeley.