The aim of this project is to express that Multituli’s (pen name for novelist Eduard Douwes Dekker) ideas about humanity, equality, and intractability are widely shared in a time when this is still very much needed. Job Cohen, former mayor of Amsterdam, and journalist Elsbeth Etty are among the Dutch celebrities who took part and copied the first chapters from home. The writing project is an initiative of Jacqueline Bel, professor of Modern Dutch Literature at the Vrije Universiteit in cooperation with the Vrije Universiteit Library. The project commenced on Monday, June 15. The first handwritten edition of Max Havelaar will be published in spring 2021.
The power of text
Jacqueline Bel, professor of Modern Dutch Literature at the Vrije Universiteit: “We would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to everyone to literally become a co-writer of this ground-breaking book to help express just how much Multatuli’s ideas about justice and humanity have become part of Dutch identity. By copying chapters by hand, everyone can experience just how penetrating a text can be”.
Watch the video Multatuli: rebel at the foundation of modern Dutch Literature, in which Jacqueline Bel, professor of Modern Dutch Literature at the Vrije Universiteit explains the contribution that Multatuli made to Dutch literature and how the writer, as a critical spirit, fought against social injustice. (Dutch)
Watch the video report of the Mutatuli Lockdown project.