Dialect and identity in Dutch film

This article investigates the connection between a growing number of Dutch films spoken in dialect and a national identity in transition. The Netherlands had long defined itself as an open and tolerant society, but there has been a dramatic introspective turn since the turn of the century. Institutionalised European attention to minority and regional languages, increased regional pride and a rejection of the powers of the centre and globalisation have contributed to a repositioning of ‘Dutchness’ to the rural periphery. The focus on the region allows for diversity of identities and languages of the native Dutch experience, but also excludes. These negotiations of the position of the region and its languages within the national identity are investigated through three case studies of Dutch dialect films. In folk-horror Witte Wieven (2024) we examine how deconstructing stereotypes of dialect and its speakers at the same time confirms them. The sports drama De hel van ’63 (2009) positions the essence of Dutchness in the region and contributes to a cultural exclusivity of Dutch history. Contemporary comedy-drama De beentjes van Sint-Hildegard (2020) re-establishes the family idyll in a modern dialect-speaking periphery and promotes a new traditionalism in Dutch society.