Voor ’t gewone leven ongeschikt. A biography of Clare Lennart, is a literary and historical biography of author Clare Lennart (Clara Helena van den Boogaard-Klaver, 1889-1972). Her work contains... Show moreVoor ’t gewone leven ongeschikt. A biography of Clare Lennart, is a literary and historical biography of author Clare Lennart (Clara Helena van den Boogaard-Klaver, 1889-1972). Her work contains many recognisably autobiographical elements, especially from her youth. An extensive overview of the life of this 'forgotten author' is the basis for this critical and interpretive biography. In addition it shows Clare Lennart's unique position in her time, the unusual choices she made and ‘the roads not taken’ in her life. The main focus of the research is the question of how Clare Lennart gained an economic position as a woman of letter. A second question focuses on the concepts of posture and self-fashioning. The thesis demonstrates that Clare Lennart was aware of her image as a 'poetic nature lover' and that she openly presented herself as a hack writer. Clare Lennart's poetic style nowadays seems more dated than the sober language used by contemporary authors. Nevertheless, she had a large audience between 1945 and 1972 and the reception was nearly always positive. The biography discusses the contemporary reception of her work in detail and why Clare Lennart's work is omitted from the Dutch canon, using the concept of ‘middle-brow’ literature. Show less
