Background
Paul van Ostaijen was born on February 22, 1896, in Antwerp, Belgium. His father was a Dutch plumber who had moved to Belgium, his mother was from Belgian Limburg.
(First published in 1921 as a work of "rhythmical typograp...)
First published in 1921 as a work of "rhythmical typography," this collection is Belgian author van Ostaijen's most important work. It is one of the key works of the Dadaist movement and is primarily about the German Occupation of Antwerp during the First World War.
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1921
critic scriptwriter writer poet
Paul van Ostaijen was born on February 22, 1896, in Antwerp, Belgium. His father was a Dutch plumber who had moved to Belgium, his mother was from Belgian Limburg.
At school van Ostaijen didn’t really shine. Having been dismissed from three different schools he ended up in an Antwerp grammar school on Rooseveltplaats (a school, by the way, which could also count Willem Elsschot as one of its – unsuccessful – pupils). However, he didn’t do any better there. He did prove to be a ringleader in several rebellious activities, but had little success in his studies. Having failed the third year of the Greek-Latin grammar school he was also dismissed from this one.
From 1914 to 1918 van Ostaijen worked as a municipal clerk in Antwerp, and during this time published his first two collections of poems: Music Hall, which was significant as the earliest expression in Flemish poetry of modern city life, and Het sienjaal, which introduced the humanist doctrines of the early Expressionists into Flemish letters. As a center of Flemish culture at the end of the nineteenth century, Antwerp was a focal point of social and political friction with the more powerful, though not more numerous, French-speaking population of Belgium. Around the turn of the century a movement gained force among Flemish speakers to strengthen their cultural identity and enhance their position in Belgian society. The German occupation of Belgium during World War I only served to increase tensions in that country, especially after the Germans enforced the turnover of Ghent University from the control of a French-speaking to a Flemish-speaking administration. Although van Ostaijen was only marginally active in the Flemish cause, he fled to Berlin at the end of the war to avoid the persecution suffered by other members of the movement. This self-exile, which lasted from 1918 to 1921, was crucial to his artistic and intellectual development.
In Berlin, van Ostaijen became acquainted with artists and writers of the Expressionist movement, particularly those associated with the periodical Der Sturm, and the German faction of Dada. The influence of these movements is reflected in the two collections of poems he wrote during this time, De feesten van angst en pijn (Feasts of Fear and Agony) and Bezette stad, which display the widespread sense of despair and outrage kindled by the chaotic milieu of postwar Berlin, as well as exhibiting the experimental poetic subjects and techniques that evolved in response to a pulverized social order.
After van Ostaijen returned to Belgium in 1921, he worked as a journalist. There were several newspapers and magazines in which van Ostaijen published not only poetry but also well-thought-out essays and critical texts. He continued to mature as a writer, formulating a conception of “pure poetry” independent of the personality of the poet based on theories that were current during his years in Berlin. He also opened an art gallery in Brussels. However, suffering from tuberculosis, van Ostaijen died in 1928 at the age of thirty-two.
(First published in 1921 as a work of "rhythmical typograp...)
1921Van Ostaijen was an active flamingant, a supporter of Flemish independence. Because of his involvement with Flemish activism during World War I, he had to flee to Berlin after the war.
Van Ostaijen's nickname was Mister 1830, derived from his habit of walking along the streets of Antwerp clothed as a dandy from that year.
Physical Characteristics: Van Ostaijen struggled through a severe mental crisis during his life. In 1924 he was diagnosed with lung-tuberculosis, an illness which would only worsen.
Van Ostaijen was never married but lived for some time (till 1921) with his girlfriend Emmeke.