‘Geesel Hollands’ of ‘Man onzer eeuw’? - Napoleon als splijtzwam in het Nederlandse literaire veld omstreeks 1840

The return of the relics of Napoleon to Paris (1840) gave rise to a critical debate in the Netherlands. In general the Dutch did approach the French veneration of Bonaparte in a skeptical way, although authors like Van der Hoop and Potgieter more or less sympathised with the French Napoleoncult. In this article the debate is analysed against the background of the relation between Dutch and French culture. Nationalistic, religious and cosmopolitan sentiments are interpreted in connection to the development of Pascale Casanova’s ‘world republic of letters’.