A Justified Quote

The quote "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands" strikes me as a very interesting place to begin thinking about Dutch identity particularly because I find the quote to possess a great deal of arrogance, but one that does not entirely line up with the attitude of the people I have seen in Amsterdam. As discussed in lecture, the Netherlands' existence is due in large to the Dutch people and their successful engineering of dikes and dams. Having constantly battled against the water that threatened to overtake their low lands, the Dutch successfully implemented a dike in 1932 that gave them control over the waters and helped them reclaim 1600 square kilometers of land in the bay.

This war against the water is evident in several naval paintings seen today at the Maritime Museum. I particular liked Willem van de Veld the Elder's painting titled "The Battle of Nieuwpoort (1653)," because of its atypical presentation of conflict. With its solid use of color and the blur of black lines, I thought the the pen painting failed to provide a clear distinction of conflict between the two groups engaged in battle--at least between the two naval fleets.Instead, the painting shows a different conflict. Dividing the canvas along its horizontal axis into top and bottom spaces, the water is shown in conflict with the fleet of boats on its surface. There is a sense that all of the ships are at war with the water, as it is the water that takes down the shipping the paintings's foreground. And ships, representing the people in them, are winning this battle as more boats remain afloat. In addition, the amount of water pictured suggests the dwindling power and presence of the water.

While this painting creates a great visualization of how the Dutch succeeded in creating and maintaining the existence of the Netherlands, there is also a sense that the Dutch regard themselves as outside of God's control. Grammatically, the structure of the sentence places God and the Dutch, both engaged in the action of creating, on an equal level. As a self-made and self-sustaining people, the quote suggests, the Dutch reside outside of creation and errors theology itself.

After learning a little bit about the country's religious beliefs and their shift away from the church to a more liberal lifestyle, I find that this quote provides the perfect figurative and literal reflection of the Dutch identity. The people work against the water , where water is often understood as a symbol for God. As history shows, the Dutch people moved away from the church in an attempt to embrace a more free and tolerating lifestyle, to accept people and ideas and keep the safe. After seeing for myself how successful the Dutch have been with creating and maintaining their land and their culture, I would say they have a great reason to express their self-celebrating pride.

 

Sophia