In recent years self-tracking technologies have become widely adopted. Life-writing scholars have contributed to the burgeoning academic interest in this phenomenon and pointed to similarities between the diary and present-day self-tracking apps, wearables and our digital 'data doubles' resulting from networked technology. However, studies on self-tracking in historical diaries are rare. In this article, I focus on experiences of self-tracking in five Dutch diaries from the long nineteenth century . Self-tracking includes all sorts of ways in which people have turned their bodies, minds, and habits into data. I have constrained my analysis of self-tracking in diaries to two bodily aspects: firstly, masturbation in connection with sleeping habits and, secondly, the menstrual cycle and birth control. The diaries show that the 'quantified self' in effect often becomes the 'qualified self', because tracking data involves interpretation, identity meanings and storytelling. The most important link between self-tracking in the stories told, both in historical paper diaries and in present-day forms, is the discourse of 'ableism'. Ability as a norm takes shape in the long nineteenth century with the diary as a key 'technology of the self' in which the responsible, self-governing individual monitors his or her own health and wellbeing.

IN ENGLISHSymbols, encryptions and codes are a way to hide sensitive or highly personal content in diaries. This kind of private language is an important feature of diary practise, regardless of time and place, but it has barely been studied yet. This article highlights symbols that designate masturbation in diaries of the mid-17 th century until the first half of the 20 th century. These symbols are interpreted not as 'silence,' but as disguising, narrative strategies. They form an integral part of the text and should be studied as such. The central question is how authors by employing disguising strategies (such as symbols) in diaries position themselves within and against public discourse on masturbation. The main body of sources consists of six diaries from different national contexts. The discourse against masturbation which developed from the beginning of the 18 th century was an international (Western) affair. In medical treatises and pedagogical manuals for parents, masturbation became a 'total illness': a lifethreatening activity that would lead to near-certain (and gruesome) death. Diary writing functioned as a medium to register and control this secret vice but the diaries also show ways to change or resist the dominant discourse. The symbols for masturbation reflect some crucial aspects of diary writing: the diary as a memory device and a medium of registry and control of bodily processes, in which private experience is connected to public discourse. ABSTRACT IN DUTCHSymbolen, geheimschrift en codes in dagboeken zijn een manier om gevoelige, intieme informatie te verhullen. Dit soort persoonlijk taalgebruik is een 102 Leonieke Vermeer belangrijk kenmerk van dagboeken, hoe verschillend ook in tijd en ruimte, maar het is tot dusver nauwelijks bestudeerd. Dit artikel focust op symbolen die naar masturbatie verwijzen in dagboeken van het midden van de zeventiende tot de eerste helft van de twintigste eeuw. Deze symbolen worden niet als 'stilte' opgevat, maar als verhullende, naratieve strategieën. Ze vormen een integraal onderdeel van de tekst en dienen ook als zodanig bestudeerd te worden. De centrale vraag is hoe auteurs door middel van verhullende strategieën (zoals symbolen) in dagboeken discoursen over masturbatie verwerken. De belangrijkste bronnen zijn zes dagboeken uit verschillende landen. Het antimasturbatie discours dat zich ontwikkelde vanaf het begin van de achttiende eeuw was een internationale (westerse) kwestie. In medische en pedagogische traktaten werd masturbatie gezien als een 'totale ziekte': een levensbedreigende gewoonte die tot allerlei geestelijke en lichamelijke afwijkingen met zeer waarschijnlijk een fatale afloop zou leiden. Het dagboek werd als middel gezien om deze geheime zonde onder controle te krijgen. Maar de dagboeken tonen ook manieren waarop het dominante discours werd weersproken of veranderd. De symbolen voor masturbatie laten enkele cruciale aspecten van het dagboek als genre zien: de herinneringsfunctie en een middel tot registratie en controle van licham...

This review article offers an overview of ego-documents and life writing research in the Netherlands. It discusses the outcomes of extensive national archival projects aimed at establishing inventories of ego-documents held in Dutch public archives (diaries, memoirs, personal letters and other forms of autobiographical writing) from the period of 1500 until 1918. The most important research lines and debates on ego-documents, auto/biography and life writing are evaluated and linked to issues of disciplinary demarcation between literary scholars and historians.Developments in the last few decades point towards increasing collaboration between these disciplines, which is also needed to face the challenges and opportunities presented by digitisation. The online databases of ego-documents from the inventory projects are very valuable but have several downsides: they are far from complete and often not user-friendly or searchable by keyword. Furthermore, greater efforts should be made to stretch the archive beyond its traditional limitations and shed light on groups and perspectives that have been underexposed in history. This conclusion is also relevant to printed editions of ego-documents. These editions are welcomed, but could pay more attention to a greater diversity of authors and experiences, as well as to the visual and material quality of the sources. Dit artikel biedt een overzicht van het Nederlandse onderzoek naar egodocumenten en life writing. Het brengt de resultaten in kaart van de omvangrijke inventarisatieprojecten van egodocumenten (dagboeken, memoires, persoonlijke brieven en andere autobiografische teksten) uit de periode 1500-1918 die in Nederlandse openbare archieven bewaard worden. De belangrijkste onderzoekslijnen en discussies over egodocumenten, auto/biografie en life writing worden in dit artikel beoordeeld en in verband gebracht met de institutionele review article -recensie-artikel 1 Sabine Vanacker 'Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders)', in: Margaretta Jolly (ed.), Encyclopedia

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