Spotprent over De Nieuwe Gids en de Tachtigers 1886

This print by Jan Holswilder, dating from around 1886, is a commentary on the Dutch literary movement known as De Nieuwe Gids or The New Guide. We see a group of men standing on a hill marked 'Helikon', a reference to the mountain in Greek mythology sacred to the Muses, who were the inspiration for literature, science, and the arts. A boy gestures to another, smaller hill marked 'Nieuwe Parnassus', or New Parnassus, a reference to another mountain sacred to the Muses. This cartoon satirizes the literary establishment, as well as what was seen as their obsession with classical forms and themes. The New Guide movement sought to break with tradition and embrace a more modern, individualistic style of writing. It critiqued the institutional hold of classicism and the existing social norms in Dutch literature at the time. A closer look into the cultural journals and literary debates of the period will shed light on these challenges to artistic norms and the politics of imagery.