Blog Post 3: Critiquing the National Brand

          Sometimes what is expected is not always what occurs. In my first blog post, I attempted to Dutch national identity and in my second blog post, I tried to analyze recent Dutch Eurovision entries and what they say about Dutch views towards diversity. In this blog post, I will examine the alignment or misalignment of the Netherlands’ main national identity (discussed in my first blog post) with how they represent themselves at Eurovision (discussed in my second blog post) and reflect on how the Netherlands views not only Eurovision, but nation branding.

            I should first start by clarifying and revisiting a few topics. Professor Anna Triandafyllidou characterizes national identity by its “capacity of defining who is a member of the community but also who is a foreigner” (Triandafyllidou 593). In blog post one, I gave an example of how the United States promotes it ideals of justice and liberty as part of its national identity. Professors Göran Bolin and Per Ståhlberg define national branding as “the phenomenon by which governments engage in self-conscious activities aimed at producing a certain image of the nation state” (Bolin and Ståhlberg 82). National branding, which will either be present or absent at Eurovision, is more of purposeful image constructed for a specific reason or message. In blog post one, I ended by describing Dutch national identity as expressing liberal ideals, tolerance, secular politics, and distancing from Germans. In blog post two, I concluded that the Netherlands, through its Eurovision entries from 2010-2014, implied that it appreciates diversity, but does not make a point to showcase it. This suggests that either diversity was not a very important part of Dutch national branding at Eurovision or that there was not much nation branding at all.

            Between Dutch national identity and Dutch representation at Eurovision, there is some overlap, particularly concerning diversity and attitude towards Germans. In blog post one, I referenced that 84.4% of the Netherlands is either Dutch or from elsewhere in the European Union (“The World Factbook: Netherlands”). When compared to the Eurovision performances from 2010-2014, this statistic matches fairly well. Out of all the performances, only one had a main performer who was not fully Dutch. Joana Franka (2012), mentioned in an interview that she is half Turkish (Adams 2012). Anyone onstage who was not Dutch or from another part of the EU was a back-up singer. This ratio of Dutch/from the EU to non-Dutch/not from the EU seems to be within reason of the given statistics. In instances like in Anouk’s “Birds” (2013), where all the back-up singers were people of color, the ethnicity of the people on stage might be intentional, but that was the only performance from 2010-2014 in which something like that occurred, so it is most likely not connected to any specific message from nation branding. Another similarity between the national identity and representation at Eurovision is the distancing of Germany. In blog post one, it was established that many Dutch people have a strong dislike for Germans. This can be clearly seen in the voting at Eurovision. In both 2013 and 2016, the Netherlands gave German a total of zero points in the finals (Hulluna 2013) (Akkoc 2016). This also occurred in both 2014 and 2015 (“Full Split Results” 2014-2015). While it is not quite a part of national branding because it is not overtly showcased like the performances, it is clear from the voting that Dutch dislike for Germans extends into the realm of Eurovision.

            While there is some alignment between Dutch national identity and representation at Eurovision, there is also some misalignment, particularly concerning music style and liberal ideals/tolerance/secular politics. Of the five performances analyzed in blog post one, two of them were pop (2010) (2011), two were country (2012) (2014), and one was rock (2013). A recent study showed that in the Netherlands, 42% of people like pop music the most, followed by 20% for rock, 9% for both classical and dance/house, 7% for both world and hip hop/soul, and 6% for jazz (Research… 2015). If the Dutch entries from 2010 to 2014 had corresponded more to the tastes of Dutch people, there would have been less country and more pop. This difference is most likely because several of the Dutch entries, at least all from 2013 to present, have been chosen internally (Sixty Years… 2015). This means that the Dutch broadcaster could have picked artists because their genre did well at Eurovision in previous years and not because it represents the Dutch preferences as a whole. Another disconnect involves liberal ideals, tolerance, and secular politics. Since Eurovision is supposed to be as non-political as possible, Dutch entries cannot include direct reference to liberal and secular politics, and tolerance, while possible to express subtly, also has political connotations and would be harder to express. None of the entries from 2010 to 2014 focused on themes of tolerance either, instead focusing more on the themes of love and hope versus despair mentioned in blog post two. This could mean that ideals like liberal beliefs and tolerance are just not a part of Dutch national branding.

            To recapitulate, Dutch national identity and Dutch representation at Eurovision align concerning diversity and a dislike of Germans, but misalign concerning musical styles and more political stances like liberal beliefs and tolerance.

            Based off the alignments and misalignments between Dutch national identity and the Dutch representation at Eurovision, the Netherlands views the Eurovision Song Contest more as a competition to win rather than a platform for self-promotion. All the alignments, or lack thereof, do not really say anything definitive about the Netherlands or work towards national branding. The distaste for Germany is not blatantly showcased, the alignment with diversity statistics could be coincidental, and the more political stances would be hard to express on stage. What seems like a lack of national branding could be considered more national branding to represent the Netherlands as a nation that is comfortable and confident with their national identity so that they do not feel the need to promote it. The misalignment of music styles might contribute to making the Netherlands appear more competitive if they were chosen by the Dutch broadcaster based off previously successful genres, but that is not known for certain. It has recently been discussed that internal selection, like that seen in the Netherlands, might be more successful at choosing a winning entry than holding a sort of national final, like Melodifestivalen in Sweden, where artists are slowly picked off by the public until only their chosen entry for the Eurovision Song Contest remains (Robertson 2015).  This information does make it seem more likely that the Dutch broadcaster in charge of internal selections is choosing artists who might have higher chances of winning. An important question to ask after “how are the artists chosen to represent the country” is “who is being chosen and how well known are they”. If the artists who are chosen are not well known and not very experienced, they are less likely to win, which then that implies that the country who chose them does not place a very high priority on winning. On the other hand, if a country picks a very well-known and liked artist, that implies that the country takes Eurovision more seriously and has a stronger desire to win. In an article by the Eurovision website, it is briefly mentioned that the Dutch artists for 2017, OG3NE, won The Voice of Holland in 2014 (Eurovision.tv 2017). The Common Linnets (2014) were also a more popular and experienced group chosen by the Dutch broadcaster (Robertson 2015) (Sixty Years… 2015). This implies that the Netherlands does try to win and selects artists in a competitive manner, adding competitiveness to the Dutch national brand. The subtle use of nation branding, if that is indeed what it is, suggests that the Netherlands views nation branding as most useful when used quietly.

            Overall, it seems that the alignment and misalignment of Dutch national identity and Dutch representation at Eurovision demonstrates that the Netherlands views the Eurovision Song Contest as a competition to win and a way to promote themselves as a calm, confident, and collected country with a bit of a competitive spirit. This in turn implies that the Netherlands views nation branding as a good tool when used subtly.

Works Cited

Adams, Lee William. “Q&A: Joan Franka on the Indian Headdress and Her Turkish Roots,” Wiwibloggs, 14 March 2012. http://wiwibloggs.com/2012/03/14/qa-joan-franka-on-the-indian-headdress-and-her-turkish-roots/15300/. Accessed 04 Feb. 2017.

Akkoc, Raziye. "Eurovision 2016 Results Explained: Who Voted for Whom in the New System?" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 15 May 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/05/15/eurovision-2016-results-explained-who-voted-for-whom-in-the-new/>.

Anouk. “Birds,” music and lyrics by Anouk Teeuwe, Tore Johansson, and Martin Gjerstad. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5iazXvMw5o. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

Bolin, Göran and Per Ståhlberg "Between Community and Commodity: Nationalism and Nation Branding". Communicating the nation: national topographies of global media landscapes. Göteborg: Nordicom, Göteborgs universitet. 2010. pp. 82.

Eurovision.tv. "OG3NE to Represent the Netherlands with 'Lights and Shadows'."Eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest, 07 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=girl_group_og3ne_to_represent_the_netherlands_in_kyiv>.

Franka, Joan. “You and Me,” music and lyrics by Joan Franka and Jessica Hoogenboom. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCc0Iiu3DiU. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

"Full Split Results." Eurovision Song Contest, 2014-2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.eurovision.tv/page/results?event=1893&voter=NL>.

Hulluna. "The Netherlands: Jury Votes Revealed." The Eurovision Times. N.p., 31 May 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <https://eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/the-netherlands-jury-votes-revealed/>.

"Research: Pop Music, Most Popular among the Dutch." BNP Paribas Netherlands. BNP Paribas, 29 June 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.bnpparibas.nl/en/2015/06/29/research-pop-music-most-popular-among-the-dutch/>.

Robertson, Ben. "Does A National Final Help To Find The Best Eurovision Song?" ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast. ESC Insight, 15 May 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://escinsight.com/2015/05/15/does-a-national-final-help-to-find-the-best-eurovision-song/>.

Sieneke. “Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie),” music and lyrics by Pierre Kartner. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdA2SsM3BLI . Accessed  27 Jan. 2017.

"Sixty Years of the Dutch at Eurovision: All You Need to Know." DutchNews.nl. DutchNews, 15 May 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/sixty-years-of-the-dutch-at-eurovision-all-you-need-to-know/>.

The Common Linnets. “Calm After The Storm,” music and lyrics by Ilse DeLange, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby, and Jake Etheridge. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ggBPAm5XLA. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

"The World Factbook: Netherlands." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Triandafyllidou, Anna. “National Identity and the ‘Other’”. Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 21, no. 4, Routledge, July 1998, pp. 593.

3JS. “Never Alone,” music and lyrics by Jaap Kwakman, Jan Dulles, and Jaap de Witte. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ6T43D82KY. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

Word Count: 1384  

Blog Post 2: The Nation on Stage

            Most of the time, a Eurovision performance has some sort of story to tell or message to get across to the audience like love or peace. The way that these themes are expressed vary, including costuming, lighting, props, the language the song is performed in, who is on the stage, and so forth. These literary and visual devices, and the message of the performance, can hint at what the country being represented is like and how it views certain issues or people. In this essay, I will analyze themes presented by literary and visual devices in Dutch Eurovision performances from 2010 to 2014 and what these themes say about the Netherlands and its view towards diversity.

            The two clearest themes present in the performances from 2010 to 2014 are love and hope versus despair. First, I will focus on the songs that focus on the first theme. Sieneke’s “Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie)” (2010) is very bright and cheerful with a sort of fair or carnival aesthetic. Behind Sieneke is a fancy Dutch street organ with two dolls/mimes, all three of which are covered in tulips, a national symbol of the Netherlands (Dahlander 2010). The lights in the background are in playful colors of blue, yellow, and red-orange and flash in a rotating pattern much like the lights on fair rides and games. All that, combined with the connotations of innocence brought forth by Sieneke’s white and flowery costume, paint the picture of a first date and young love. The lyrics further embellish on the theme of love pretty blatantly. “Ik ben verliefd” is Dutch for “I’m in love” and is repeated throughout the song no less than six times ("English Lyrics | Sieneke - Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie)."). The song also talks about two people listening to a song and trying to remember where they heard it. The team from the Netherlands explained that the two people from the song are represented by the mimes on stage (Dahlander  2010). As the song progresses, the mimes move forward until they are standing next to Sieneke, right as she sings “Shalalie shalala, yes, I remember it now!” (“Enlgish Lyrics…”). One could claim that, with all of the references to Dutch culture, the love in the song is from the singer, a citizen, to the nation. This is supported by the fact that the whole song is in Dutch, which implies that the song was strictly directed towards a Dutch audience. If the two mimes represent a Dutch couple, then the song that they are trying to remember as they travel to other countries (Russia, Germany, and France, among others are referenced) could be representative of their Dutch culture and homeland. Thus, the love portrayed in this performance is between two lovers and between the lovers and their country. The focus on patriotic love and not much else suggests national pride, rather than diversity, was what the Dutch wanted to express that year.  Love, as a theme, does not have to be a patriotic love. It could also be romantic or platonic love, too.

            Joan Franka’s “You and Me” (2012) had a theme of love that was a bit more romantic than patriotic. Opening to Joan Franka in a long, flowy blue dress, and, shockingly, a large feathered headdress, strumming on an acoustic guitar, you can hear her softly singing about two children playing in the street and growing up together. The story behind the song is fairly obvious when you look at the lyrics, but just in case you were wondering if Joan Franka had a deeper or additional meaning, she stated in an interview that the song focused on memories of her “first childhood love” and how memories are something that you always carry with you (Lee Williams 2012). The lighting in the background is what seems to get this point across the most, with what looks like clocks inside of clocks spinning on the screen and what I can only guess might be a sort of vortex pulling at the colored banners to represent looking back on memories. The costuming and props, such as the headdress and fire pits, seem to be more surface level, referring to Joan Franka’s childhood memories of playing cowboys and Indians (Lee Williams 2012). As expected, the headdress stirred up a little controversy, but Joan Franka stated that it was never her intention to offend anyone (Lee Williams 2012). This lack of realization that wearing traditional Native American clothing might be offensive suggests a lack of diversity in the Netherlands, or at least, a lack of understanding of what people may consider being racist or culturally insensitive. Joan Franka also mentions in that interview that she is half Turkish (Lee Williams 2012). Perhaps diversity in European countries is pictured differently than how we picture it in the United States and “diverse” countries are made up of people from other areas of Europe, making Joan Franka contribute to diversity in the Netherlands, but I have no basis for comparison. Joan Franka’s performance focused on fond memories of a first childhood love, but the third sort of love seen as a theme in recent Dutch entries is troubled love, seen in struggling relationships.

            The Common Linnets’ “Calm After The Storm” (2014) emphasizes a sort of conflicted love that one would often see in relationships in turmoil. Just like Joan Franka’s song, the lyrics a fairly straightforward, using words like “heartache”, “tears”, and “goodbye” as imagery to tug at the listener’s heartstrings and paint the picture of someone debating whether or not to end a relationship (2014). The staging and lighting are mostly simple, starting with the broken lane line of the highway referenced in the lyrics and later showing a large tree in a field. The tree starts out surrounded by a storm and lacking in detail, but after the second to last stanza, where the lyrics shift to a more hopeful outlook on the relationship, the storm clears and the tree becomes detailed with texture and even a blatantly metaphorical heart-shaped notch. The camera work is particularly interesting because it mainly consists of tightly circling around the two singers, whose microphones are twisted together in a way that forces them to do almost all of the performance only making eye contact with each other. This emphasizes how sincere, emotionally raw, and personal this song is supposed to be, making it feel like a sit-down confrontation of problems in the relationship. The camera work and eye contact give off the feeling that the people in the relationship still very much love and care about each other, regardless of their relationship difficulties, and that they both still hope for the relationship to work out in the end. It should be noted that several of the songwriters are American, suggesting a bit of Dutch diversity through ties with the United States. The ending note of hope brings us to the next theme of recent Dutch Eurovision entries: hope versus despair.

            While a bit flat and generic, the 3JS’ “Never Alone” (2011) has an abundance of lyrics and visual devices that drive home the theme of “hope”. The lyrics address someone clearly despairing, mentioning their “cold and hurtin’ soul”, and attempt to reach out and comfort that person by telling them to “feel the risin’ hope…take my hand…have faith” (2011). All of the allusions in the song to “golden gardens”, light, and the sky in the lyrics almost make give the song a biblical feeling, as if it is from the point of view of a divine being. The costuming and lighting also lending to this feeling by using a lot of white clothing and lighting, to the point where the performance is almost blinding in a sort of heavenly way. All of the performers wear black and white, though the main band (especially the lead singer) mainly wear white, and the lighting, including the many spotlights, is all white, too. As far as implications of diversity go, the song was written and performed by three white Dutch men with only one person of color, a black backup singer, on stage. The backup singers might not be Dutch, so this performance implies that expressing the diversity of the Netherlands was not a large concern that year.

            Finally, Anouk’s “Birds” (2013) is harder to pin down, but the performance seems to tell the story of someone broken and struggling with hopelessness. There is an odd disconnect from the lyrics and the visual aspects of the performance, and sometimes the music as well. The lyrics seem to be an allegory for someone who has been hurt, as symbolized by birds with broken wings falling from rooftops. Anouk also uses words that have negative or sad connotations, like “clouds”, “isolated”, and “hope turned into fear”, to create a dismal tone (2013). At the end on the song, it is hinted that the singer is trying to forget a lost love. In contrast, the visuals and music seem more positive. The lighting is blue and gold, birds soar in the background, Anouk is constantly smiling, and the music has an uplifting crescendo at every chorus. Once again, the performer is white and Dutch, but all of the backup singers were people of color. After seeing so many white performers, it seems intentional to have all the backup singers be people of color. Perhaps the broken singer is supposed to represent minorities and their struggles. If so, that suggests a positive view towards diversity in the Netherlands.

            Through their literary devices and visual cues, most of the Dutch Eurovision entries from 2010-2014 imply that the Netherlands appreciates diversity, but is not passionate about it, does not prioritize expressing it during the Eurovision Song Contest, and does not have a full grasp of how to be culturally sensitive, which, in turn, suggests a lack of diversity in the nation.

Works Cited

Anouk. “Birds,” music and lyrics by Anouk Teeuwe, Tore Johansson, and Martin Gjerstad. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5iazXvMw5o. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

Dahlander, Gustav. "Sieneke's Voice Is Back for the Netherlands," Eurovision Song Contest, 22 May 2010. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=sienekes_voice_is_back_for_the_netherlands. Accessed 04 Feb. 2017.

"English Lyrics | Sieneke - Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie)." Eurovision Song Contest, n.d. https://www.eurovision.tv/event/lyrics?event=1513&song=25183&type=English. Accessed 07 Feb. 2017.

Franka, Joan. “You and Me,” music and lyrics by Joan Franka and Jessica Hoogenboom. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCc0Iiu3DiU. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

Lee Williams, Adam. “Q&A: Joan Franka on the Indian Headdress and Her Turkish Roots,” Wiwibloggs, 14 March 2012. http://wiwibloggs.com/2012/03/14/qa-joan-franka-on-the-indian-headdress-and-her-turkish-roots/15300/. Accessed 04 Feb. 2017.

Sieneke. “Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie),” music and lyrics by Pierre Kartner. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdA2SsM3BLI . Accessed  27 Jan. 2017.

The Common Linnets. “Calm After The Storm,” music and lyrics by Ilse DeLange, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby, and Jake Etheridge. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ggBPAm5XLA. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

3JS. “Never Alone,” music and lyrics by Jaap Kwakman, Jan Dulles, and Jaap de Witte. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ6T43D82KY. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.

Word Count: 1650 (Counting title)

Blog Post 1: The National Self and the Other

        Most nations have ways to define themselves to not only their people, but the rest of the world, in which they point out how they want to be known and how they want to be seen as unique compared to any other nation in the world. These ways of self-definition and distancing are used to build a national identity. As an American, The United States is a good nation to use as clarification. The U.S. often promotes itself as being a nation that wholly stands for justice and freedom, like most other countries, but also prides itself on its leadership and position as a global superpower. An important concept involved in forming a national identity is ‘othering’. ‘Othering’ is a way of defining oneself in contrast with someone or something else. No one would be surprised if a Canadian started an introduction by saying that they not American. Using ‘othering’, Dutch culture, and Dutch history, I hope to form an outline of Dutch national identity from the point of view of an outsider.

            To start forming an outline of another nation’s national identity, one should dive into basic information and history first. The Netherlands borders the North Sea, Belgium, and Germany, and Dutch is the official language. While 78.6% of the total population is Dutch, 5.8% is from other nations in the European Union, 2.4% is Turkish, 2.2% is Moroccan, 2.2% is Indonesian, 2.1% is Surinamese, and another 6.7% is from other nations. The people of The Netherlands are mostly nonreligious, with 42% having no religion, 28% being Roman Catholic, 19% being Protestant, 5% being Muslim, and 6% have other religions  ("The World Factbook: NETHERLANDS." ). Though the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it today was not formed until 1815, the Dutch people have been mostly independent since they declared impendence from Spain in 1579 (excluding a twenty year period under French rule). William of Orange, a sort of founding father for lack of a better term, helped lead the Dutch people to independence and form the Dutch United Provinces ("Timeline Dutch History - Rijksstudio."). The House of Orange-Nassau makes up the Dutch royal family and even though orange is not on the nation’s flag, many Dutch sports fans, or in this case, Eurovision fans, can be seen showing national spirit by wearing orange. In slightly more recent history, The Netherlands was neutral during both world wars, but was occupied by German forces in the second ("The World Factbook”). This led to a tense relationship between the Dutch and Germans that still lasts today. Politically, the Netherlands is portrayed as having what Sarah Bracke, an assistant professor in sociology of religion and culture at K.U. Leuven, calls “‘Dutch exceptionalism’ in terms of its reputed tolerance”, particularly related towards “secular and sexual politics” (Bracke 29). This means that the Netherlands includes open-mindedness towards religion and gender differences in their national identity.  Although parts of a nation’s national identity can be pieced together by looking at statistics and history, the use of an ‘other’ is even more useful because the sharp contrast helps to point out what a nation is not, rather than what it is.

            Broadly, a nation can have both internal and external ‘others’ that they use to clarify their own national identity. An important internal ‘other’ for the Netherlands is the Muslim immigrant community. Since the Netherlands is a largely secular nation, Bracke theorizes that “Islam could not be integrated into Dutch society” because it is “a sharp discontinuity needed to be asserted on the level of the very secular arrangement of Dutch society” (Bracke 32). This is not for a lack of trying to be accepting, though. Ideas of deporting refugees and doing away with asylum laws, even backing out of the European Union, are considered drastic. According to Erik Larson, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, Wibo van Rossum, an Assistant Professor in Socio-Legal Studies at the Utrecht University School of Law in Utrecht, and Patrick Schmidt, a Professor of Political Science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, “Anti-European leader Geert Wilders’ suggestion that the Dutch should change or withdraw from the treaties [from the European Court of Human Rights concerning the expulsion of asylum seekers] sent a shock through legal circles that largely accept the superiority of human rights law” (Larson, Van Rossum, and Schmidt 112). Even though Wilders’ opinions are not those of the majority of Dutch politicians, they, and less extreme right-wing opinions, are common enough to label Muslim immigrants and refugees as an internal ‘other’ used to emphasize the secular structure of Dutch society. More specifically, Muslim immigrant/refugee men are also an internal ‘other’ used to reinforce the difference between “an emancipated ‘us’ and non-emancipated (sexist, homophobic) ‘them’” (Bracke 34). In an article about immigrant men and their portrayal in Dutch politics by Marleen van der Haar from the Institute for Management Research in Radboud University Nejmegen, van der Haar describes a video shown to potential immigrants before they take their integration exams and how it explains that things like women’s education and intolerance for radical practices like genital mutilation as a punishment, saying “the film appears to be a warning to male Muslim migrants and a message to Muslim girls and women that Dutch laws will protect them” (Van Der Haar 216). By focusing on radical practices by certain Muslim communities in the Middle East, Muslim immigrant men are used as an ‘other’ to emphasize the more liberal treatment of women in the Netherlands. External ‘others’ are also useful in solidifying a national identity. One of the most important external ‘others’ to the Netherlands is Germany. Although the Dutch and Germans have similar languages and cultures and have close ties in politics and trade, many Dutch people strongly dislike, even loathe, Germans. In an article for the New York Times, journalist Stephen Kinzer explains that the anti-German sentiment is due mainly to the German occupation, and treatment under said occupation, of the Netherlands during World War II (Kinzer). This strong dislike of Germans makes up a simpler part of Dutch national identity: non-German. Even though there may be many surface similarities, it is important to the Dutch identity to separate themselves from the Germans.

            Dutch national identity is complex and based off of many components, including history, statistics, and both internal and external ‘othering’, but through examining those components, we can see that Dutch national identity is one expressing liberal beliefs and rights, tolerance of others, secular politics, and uniqueness and separation from their German neighbors.

Works Cited

Bracke, Sarah. "Subjects of Debate: Secular and Sexual Exceptionalism, and Muslim Women in the Netherlands." Feminist Review.98 (2011): 28-46. ProQuest. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.

Kinzer, Stephen. "For Dutch, It's O.K. To Despise Germans." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Feb. 1995. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.

Larson, Erik, Wibo Van Rossum, and Patrick Schmidt. "The Dutch Confession: Compliance, Leadership and National Identity in the Human Rights Order."Utrecht Law Review. Universiteit Utrecht, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.

"The World Factbook: NETHERLANDS." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence        Agency, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

"Timeline Dutch History - Rijksstudio." Rijksmuseum. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Van Der Haar, Marleen. "‘Coming down from Their Thrones’? Framing Migrant Men in Dutch Politics." ScienceDirect. Elsevier Ltd, 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.

Word Count (Including Title): 1100

Word Count (Not Including Title); 1091