Negotiating authorship and (in)dependence around 1900: the case of Dutch literary magazineDe beweging

Abstract

What does the concept of "autonomy" mean when it comes to authors and their practices? In the early twentieth century, Dutch writer Albert Verwey had strong views on the subject. To him, in the first place, autonomy entailed independencefrom readers' expectations, the wishes of fellow authors, the whims of publishers, and the demands of the market. Between 1905 and 1919, Verwey spearheaded the prominent literary journal De beweging [The Movement]. He strongly valued maximal artistic, economic and ideological freedom and took pride in "the complete independence from profitability etcetera in which he 'aimed to maintain the journal'" (quoted in Van Faassen 1997, 37). Over the years it became clear that this autonomous stance posed some serious challenges. De beweging's autonomy had to be defended and negotiated, sometimes at a significant cost.In the early years of the twentieth century, like elsewhere in Europe, the concept of autonomy was a hot topic in Dutch literary circles (Ruiter and Smulders 1996, 133). Dutch authors found themselves at the centre of a diverse and often contradictory play of forces. Operating in an expanding field that was becoming ever more commercial, they struggled to redefine their role and positioneconomically, socially and artistically. Should they resist or embrace the commodification of their work? Should they choose an isolated, but independent position at the fringes of society, or seek bourgeois approval and legitimacy? Should they proudly produce "pure" or aestheticist writing, or address the big socio-political issues of their time? Other choices compounded the issue: how to position oneself in the literary field, which fellow authors to side with, and which to reject? These choices were all intricately connected to questions of autonomy and (in)dependence, and they all impacted the definition of authorship that Dutch authors projected. Their views on collaboration and competition played a major part in this positioning. Exchanges with fellow authors, and with others in a position to confer value on their work, were pivotal in the recognition of authorship, especially in the case of less commercially interesting authors (Bourdieu 1985, 21). Amidst the upheaval of the literary field at the timewhich, like elsewhere in Europe, was becoming ever more autonomous and commercialthis type of interaction proved crucial to authors.In this article, the case of Albert Verwey's De beweging will serve to explore different dimensions of the concept of autonomy around 1900. Three premises underlie this exploration. Firstly, it is assumed that in this period, notions about the value of autonomy and the value