University has picked up again and the long Summer of doing nothing is over. I’ve got loads and loads of pages to read each day, and after doing that I actually have to formulate a structured and viable argument regarding issues raised in said pages. I have not yet been evicted, despite some of my products already having been scrutinised. So that’s good.
Another bonus is the fact I also passed my only resit, with a 7.5, meaning I have my first year – the propedeuse or P, as it is known in Dutch – in the bag, so I don’t have to worry about taking first year classes anymore.
My new classes seem okay at present. Dutch history is probably the most interesting, followed closely by the history of the European idea, where we (that is, those specialising in cultural history) will be studying the Enlightenment, both in its actual context and its use and abuse at the present time. I’ve already read more about ‘the concept of Europe’ in the past few days than I had in many years before.
My bookshelves have also been filled with excellent editions of the two Reynaert stories and a medieval novel (the ‘Historie vanden Vier Heemskinderen’, known to some perhaps as a wild Middle Dutch variant of the Middle French poem Renaud de Montauban, which describes the troublesome adventures of some noblemen who have fallen out with Charlemagne).
Anyway, because of this, and other literary pursuits of mine, book reviews are forthcoming!
