An outline of the Dutch language and literature in Dutch in the Caribbean and Suriname

Abstract

Dutch plays an important role in administrative and social life in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, where Papiamiento is the mother tongue of the native population, and in Suriname, with its mix of languages and population groups. The intention of this paper is to describe the social standing of the language with the help of some examples. Although Dutch is the mother tongue of only a minority of the population, a Dutch speaking literary tradition does exist in Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Depending on where they come from, writers in these areas are split into passing travellers, colonisers, local authors and emigrants. With the help of fragments by some of these writers, this paper describes a snapshot of the contrasts between Europe and the Caribbean.