Frisian literature is works written in the

Frisian languages The Frisian languages ( or ) are a closely related group of West Germanic languages, spoken by about 400,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. The Frisian languages are the closes ...

, including that of West Frisian spoken in the province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

in the Netherlands, from which most texts were produced or have survived. The first texts written in Frisian emerge around the 13th century.

Medieval and early modern periods

Texts written in Frisian first appear in manuscripts from the late

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. Records of these, however, are fairly scarce and would generally not constitute literature, even if they did show some poetic merit. In 1498, Dutch became the official language in Friesland for all purposes of writing but Frisian would survive as a spoken language among the common people. Through the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, some authors would consciously attempt to preserve their language in short written works. Middle Frisian would generally be considered to begin around this time in the mid-16th century. The greatest impact came from the seventeenth-century schoolteacher from Bolsward, Gysbert Japiks, whose poetry attempted to prove Frisian's worth as a written language and brought about a revival amongst other Frisian authors in appreciating their native language, an appreciation that had slowed by the eighteenth century, the end of the Middle Frisian period.

Modern period

Friesland

Modern West Frisian, beginning around 1800 with the

Romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

, went through a rebirth. Many authors once again came to appreciate their language, and scholars studied West Frisian from an academic standpoint. Organizations were formed that drew supporters from upper and middle-class backgrounds. A further push of Dutch influence from the education system prompted the Brothers Halbertsma, Justus, Eeltsje, and Tsjalling Halbertsma, to create works in West Frisian, including '' De Alde Friezen'', which became the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

of the Western Frisian people. Their works were collected and published as the famous '' Rimen en Teltsjes'' in 1871. The Frisian language was firmly established as an academic study in the twentieth century ( Rolf Bremmer is the current professor of

Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the late 13th century and the end of 16th century. It is the common ancestor of all the modern Frisian languages except for the North Frisian language#Insular North Frisian, Insular North ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

), and the language is available for study in secondary education as well. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from around 1945 to 1963, Frisian literature experienced another period of growth with important authors and literary ambassadors like Anne Wadman,

Fedde Schurer Fedde Schurer (, ; 25 July 1898 – 19 March 1968) was a Dutch schoolteacher, journalist, language, language activist and politician,Klaes Dykstra and Bouke Oldenhof, ''Lyts Hânboek fan de Fryske Literatuer'', Leeuwarden (Afûk), 1997, p. 92 and ...

, Fokke Sierksma, and Lolle Nauta, though Wadman went to his grave disappointed that he had not succeeded in creating a rapprochement between Dutch and Frisian literatures. Still, Frisian literature continues to flourish at least within Friesland: Frisian authors were being promoted to the Dutch readership, and there are dozens of Frisian-language authors and literary magazines. At the same time, declining sales of literature in the Netherlands have affected Frisian literature as well, with estimates of the decline in sales of Frisian literature estimated at 30 to 40% since 2000, and library loans of Frisian books in one area declining from 152,000 in 2005 to 135,000 in 2007.

North Frisia

Literature in the various dialects of the

North Frisian language North Frisian is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic Frisian languages. The language comprises 10 dialects which are themselves divided in ...

developed only in the age of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. Earlier texts are extremely rare and the oldest sample of a North Frisian writing dates to ca. 1600, a translation of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

's ''Kleiner Katechismus'' () into two North Frisian dialects. Early 19th century literature includes a comedy in Söl'ring, the dialect of

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

island, and a novel by the same author Jap Peter Hansen, ''Di lekkelk Stjüürman he lucky helmsman'. An approach to introduce a North Frisian magazine and a dictionary in the 1840s failed because of the upcoming national rivalries between either Danish or German oriented parts of the population. Other 19th century authors include Christian Peter Hansen, son of Jap Peter Hansen of Sylt, Christian Johansen of

Amrum Amrum (; Öömrang, ''Öömrang'' North Frisian: ''Oomram'') is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany, German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-H ...

or Simon Reinhard Bohn, and Stine Andresen from Föhr. Also the North Frisian mainland produced authors in North Frisian language such as Johannes Hansen from the Bredstedt area or Moritz Momme Nissen from Enge. Nissen is known to have created the most comprehensive North Frisian dictionary which however remained unpublished. The 20th century brought a new development in North Frisian literature which started again on Sylt and spread across the islands to the mainland. Lorenz Conrad Peters, Jens Mungard, Albrecht Johannsen and

James Krüss James Krüss (31 May 1926 – 2 August 1997) was a German writer of children's literature, children's and picture books, illustrator, poet, dramatist, scriptwriter, translator, and collector of children's poems and folk songs. For his contributi ...

are notable authors of the early and middle 20th century. The first ever held North Frisian literature competition was won in 1991 by Ellin Nickelsen with a novelette in Fering. Weblink in German and Fering. The problems of North Frisian literature include the limited number of speakers, the dialectal divisions which are mostly mutually unintelligible, a lack of writing tradition and a rural background without urban cultural centres and a late standardisation of orthography for the main dialects.

References

External links

Collection of articles on Frisian language and literature
{{Authority control European literature