The Process of Meaning-Making in the Intercultural Context of Museums a Corpus-Based Case Study of the Museum Aan De Ijzer

The process of meaning-making in the intercultural context of museums A corpus-based case study of the Museum aan de IJzer

Word count: 24.673

Tessa Behaeghe Student number: 01600017

Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. Lieve Jooken

A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Interpreting

Academic year: 2019 - 2020

2 Verklaring i.v.m. auteursrecht

De auteur en de promotor(en) geven de toelating deze studie als geheel voor consultatie beschikbaar te stellen voor persoonlijk gebruik. Elk ander gebruik valt onder de beperkingen van het auteursrecht, in het bijzonder met betrekking tot de verplichting de bron uitdrukkelijk te vermelden bij het aanhalen van gegevens uit deze studie.

3 Preambule

Tijdens de afgelopen paar maanden trof het Coronavirus niet enkel de fysieke gezondheid van de bevolking, we werden ook mentaal zwaar geraakt. Net zoals vele van mijn medestudenten had ik het moeilijk door het gebrek aan sociaal contact dat ik normaal had in de lessen en ook tijdens mijn buitenschoolse activiteiten. Gelukkig werd de onderzoeksfase van mijn masterproef praktisch gezien niet gehinderd door de genomen maatregelen. Het schrijfproces verliep gedurende de periode van lockdown erg moeizaam, maar uiteindelijk ben ik er toch in geslaagd om mijn werk af te leveren met de hulp van mijn promotor en met de steun van mijn vrienden.

4 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people for the continuous support they have given me during this very difficult period in my life. Without them I would not have been able to complete this research paper the way I did.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Lieve Jooken for her insight during the writing process and her useful feedback. Even during the difficult times, she continued to support my work with much needed patience.

Secondly, I want to thank the staff of the Museum aan de IJzer, who were very hospitable when I came to visit. The staff were all very friendly and helpful and provided me with the necessary material for this study.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents for the opportunities they have given my throughout my life. My parents and friends gave me their never-ending support throughout my education and certainly during this very lonely and isolated period.

I would especially like to thank my mother as she was a great help during the research process and my greatest source of motivation and inspiration.

Abstract

Museums are of great importance for the understanding of a foreign culture and history. Their function is to educate, engage and entertain their visitors. Curators accomplish this through semiotic means, by using verbal elements such as texts and their translations as well as visual elements such as interactive displays of artefacts. This paper argues that the museum’s communication is influenced by a number of factors. Therefore, it is often difficult to render information in a certain way, especially in the context of a multilingual museum. The present study defines the different text characteristics and examines how they have been translated into French and English in the Museum aan de IJzer in Diksmuide. Furthermore, the concepts of ideology and nationality are examined in the translation to the different target cultures. A corpus of parallel museum texts in Dutch as well as English and French was drawn up. Firstly, the semiotic context was investigated through the concept of spatial distribution. Next, the communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006) were used to analyse the corpus texts. The research showed that overall, foreign visitors do not receive the same information as the Dutch visitor. The translations were not quite adapted to the foreign public, seldom giving extra explanation and often presenting language mistakes. The results suggest that English- and French- speaking visitors do not receive the same cultural connotations and that shifts have occurred in the presentation of ideological subjects. Overall, foreign visitors will not end their visit with a complete view of the Flemish warfare culture and the Flemish battle for emancipation.

(256 words)

Table of Contents

Preambule ...... 4 Acknowledgements ...... 5 Abstract ...... 6

Table of Contents ...... 7

Introduction ...... 9 Chapter 1 Museum aan de IJzer: an introduction to the museum ...... 11

1.1 History and purpose of the museum ...... 11 1.2 Research Questions of the study ...... 12

Chapter 2 Theoretical frameworks on museum translation ...... 14

2.1 The transition from ‘Old’ to ‘New’ museums and their educational function ...... 14 2.2 Spatial distribution in the context of the Museum aan de IJzer ...... 16 2.2.1 Visitor-oriented attitudes in the creation and translation of museum texts ...... 17 2.2.2 Museum texts in their complex semiotic environment ...... 18

Chapter 3 The communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006) ...... 20

3.1 The organisational framework ...... 21 3.1.1 Micro- and macro-level analysis of the organisational framework ...... 22 3.1.2 Insights from Translation Studies ...... 23 3.2 The interactional framework ...... 25 3.2.1 Constructing meaning through interaction ...... 26 3.2.2 The continuum of style ...... 28 3.3 The representational framework ...... 29 3.3.1 Micro-level representation ...... 29 3.3.2 Cultural framing in translation ...... 30 3.3.2.1 The theory of narratives ...... 31 3.3.2.2 The concepts of nationality and ideology in the memorial museums ...... 32

Chapter 4 Methodology ...... 35 Chapter 5 Analysis and results ...... 38

5.1 Spatial considerations ...... 38 5.2 Distinguishing the communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006) in the Museum aan de IJzer corpus ...... 41 5.2.1 The organisational framework ...... 41 5.2.2 The interactional framework ...... 51 5.2.3 The representational framework ...... 56

Chapter 6 Conclusion...... 66 Bibliography ...... 69 Appendix 1 ...... 71

Introduction

This dissertation aims to study the translations of the various texts used in the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’ (Museum at the Yser) in Diksmuide, ranging from wall panels and object descriptions to small labels. The research will identify shifts in translation from the original Dutch text into the English and French versions and will investigate whether foreign visitors of the museum receive the same information as the Dutch-speaking visitors, in particular as far as historical and cultural content are concerned. In addition to the actual content of the labels, the study also investigates the pragmatic aspects of communication through which the information is conveyed. Furthermore, the textual construction of the concepts nationality and ideology will be examined. Methodologically this study is grounded in the frameworks identified by Ravelli (2006): the organisational, the representational and the interactional framework (see chapter 3). These will be used to analyse the communication strategies that the museum uses towards its Dutch-speaking audience as well as its French- and English-speaking audiences. The study will examine how this specific museum produces meaning in these three different languages through its adapted narratives and how this meaning-making process is influenced by various textual as well as non-textual factors. In conclusion, the study will assess whether foreign visitors gain the same understanding and have access to the same cultural and historical content as the Dutch-speaking visitor.

The material that constitutes the corpus for the present research is a set of 133 texts including object labels and wall texts, all of them different in length and content. The lengths vary between 10 and 400 words. The corpus was drawn up from the quadrilingual panels that were available in the museum. In addition, multilingual information folders were provided by the museum and the museum website was also used to examine the museum’s position on the topic of visitor understanding of the information provided in the museum texts. The parts of the dissertation are outlined in the next paragraph.

First of all, the study will introduce the museum, its history and major themes and its target audience. The research will then focus on the spatial distribution and the types of texts present in the museum. Several distinctions between the different functions of the translation of these texts will be made (Liao, 2018) and the mission statement of the museum itself will be discussed. Moreover, the shift in museology studies from ‘Old’ to ‘New’ museums will be explained to shed light on the educational function of museums nowadays and of the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’ in particular, including factors such as visitor engagement and overall visitor experience. The spatial context of the museum is of importance as was distinguished in Neather (2008), a study in which he investigated the translation into English of the Chinese labels in the Hong Kong Museum of Tea Ware. In chapter 3 of this study, the three communicative frameworks put forward by Ravelli (2006) will be discussed in more detail starting with the organisational framework. In subsection 3.2.2 the various uses of ‘style’ and the choices that are made by institutions on microlevels as well as macrolevels are presented.

Furthermore, the different text genres as listed in Ravelli (2006) will be discussed and in chapter 5 of this study, they will be applied to the results found in the study of the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’. Subsection 3.2 addresses the interactional framework, which is especially interesting in the museum

context as it covers the dimensions of meaning constructed through the roles that are assumed by the visitor and the museum or the roles that are assigned to them, including social distance between the museum and its visitors and the power relation between the two parties. Subsection 3.1.2 defines museum texts themselves on a more linguistic level, giving insights from general Translation studies. The final framework, the representational framework, will be discussed in the third subsection of chapter 3 of this study. Here, the content of texts will be of greater importance. On the basis of our findings, we will see how the museum “reflects a certain ideology” (Ravelli, 2006, p. 117) and how it prioritises certain meanings and aspects of history.

In the fourth main chapter, the methodology will be defined. The material of the study consists of texts that were acquired after a visit to the museum. These texts were incorporated into a corpus. On the basis of the theoretical frameworks, a number of parameters will be distinguished and indicated in the corpus by means of a highlight. The unabridged corpus can be found at the end of this dissertation in appendix 1. In chapter 4, an extensive comparative study of the corpus will be presented. Divided into two main parts, the analysis will firstly focus on the spatial considerations of the curators and translators and secondly, the communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006) will be applied to the corpus. Finally, the analysis and findings will be discussed in the conclusions, which will especially focus on the transmission of content of the museum texts of this specific memorial museum on the basis of an extensive comparative study of the corpus.

Chapter 1 Museum aan de IJzer: an introduction to the museum

1.1 History and purpose of the museum

Museums are often viewed as places where large audiences can come into contact with culture and narratives. They are seen as platforms of cultural heritage that give people the opportunity to experience cultural awareness (Sonaglio, 2016). As such, they are of vital importance in representing the heritage of a certain culture. In the example of the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’, the representation of the Flemish war culture will be studied. On the websites flandersfields.be and the website museumaandeijzer.be, we can find the following information.

The Yser Tower is an old monument, the first tower dating back to 1930. It was built to commemorate the fallen Flemish soldiers who died during the First World War. Architects Robert and Frans van Averbeke designed the first tower, inspired by the hero’s tribute tombstones created by Flemish artist and Yser symbol Joe English. From that moment on, pilgrimages were organised and the heritage site gained a meadow and a crypt. During the Second World War, the tower as well as its image were severely damaged. It became a symbol of the collaboration and was therefore attacked in 1945. Especially the phrase ‘Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Kristus’ became a well known slogan for the Flemish ideology and it was often associated with the darker pages of history, the Flemish collaboration and the Flamenpolitik. A year later the tower collapsed completely. In the following years the Pax Gate was built from the rubble of the first tower. In 1965, a new tower was built. It was meant to resemble the first one, but for rehabilitation purposes it was much higher than the previous tower. The museum itself was fully redesigned in 2014 in order to attract tourists to Diksmuide for the First World War centenary. According to an article on the Flemish newspaper site nieuwsblad.be (Desplenter, 2012) the museum was largely subsidised by the Flemish community as well as the province of West-Flanders. However, a small part of the budget was provided by the public through a fundraiser that made it possible for people to purchase a stone of the Yser Tower or to have their names mentioned on the tower. As this is also a heritage site, the Yser Tower does not only function as a museum nor is it traditionally associated with this role. For most Flemish people, mainly the connotation of a peace monument comes to mind. Others will immediately think of its symbolic function in right-wing Flemish politics and nationalism and especially the collaboration regime that was in place during the Second World War. In addition to this, people imagine the Flemish Movement, a number of political groups with nationalist ideas who wanted to promote the Dutch language and Flemish culture and wanted a greater autonomy for the Flemish region or even its secession.

The Museum aan de IJzer strives to shed some light on these particular ideas in its exhibitions and it will be interesting to examine in the corpus how the texts address the notions of Flemish identity and nationalism. As a result, this is one of the main research questions of this study. Overall, people have mixed feeling about the tower. However, the museum wants to emphasise its role as a peace museum.

In the mission statement of the museum’s website, this peace theme is repeated: “Onder het motto ‘Wat rest van het leven? Wat blijft van het land?’ legt het volledig vernieuwde Museum aan de IJzer’, dat in februari 2014 de deuren opende, de klemtoon op de vredesgedachte.” (http://www.museumaandeijzer.be/ijzertoren/nl/ijzertoren-diksmuide). The museum has been part of the network of Peace museums of the United Nations since 1998. It was also recognised as a cultural property in 1992 and annually it attracts over 100,000 visitors. In an article published by the Flemish peace institute in 2016 (Van Alstein, 2016) the ‘memorial decree’ was mentioned. This decree should ensure the neutral role of the museum and it describes its dual cultural mission: content-wise the museum should address the First World War and the Flemish battle for emancipation. On the other hand, the ‘quality’ of the museum should be safeguarded. Other terms such as ‘raising awareness’ ‘peace and freedom’ and ‘tolerance’ are mentioned, but overall the standards for ‘quality’ are described very vaguely, including the standards for the translations. The target audience of the museum mostly consists of students, tourists and people who are generally interested in the First World War and the Flemish perspective on the events.

1.2 Research Questions of the study

In this dissertation, two main questions on museum translation will be answered. Firstly, the study will examine whether foreign visitors receive the same information as the Dutch-speaking visitors and if this is not the case, the shifts in translation will be examined. The study also observes whether the museum communicates using the same modalities and interactive features as were used in the Dutch source texts. Furthermore, the study will focus on the translation of the cultural background in the museum texts, more specifically examining the concepts of identity, ideology and nationality in translation. Earlier studies that have been conducted on this subject are Sturge (2007) and Sonaglio (2016). Sturge (2007) explored translation in ethnographic museums. She observed how cultures are often conveyed and how this representation changes through translation. Furthermore, she formulated some identifying points that are relevant to Translation Studies and in general she discussed how meaning should be created in a cultural setting. Sonaglio (2016) focuses more on the social semiotic aspects of museum translation, studying the museum communication by means of Ravelli’s (2006) communicative frameworks. Moreover, she studied concepts such as modality, transitivity, attitude and the use of cultural specific items.

On the basis of similar studies, such as Sturge (2007) and Sonaglio (2016) a hypothesis for the outcome of this study might be formulated. In her research, Sonaglio explored the contextual factors that had an influence on the translation of museum texts. She concluded that there were shifts both at a cultural and a stylistic level i.e. the translators’ approach was examined and it became clear that museums opt for more modern styles in order to make the information more readable. In general, the original texts were translated in a specific way resulting in a more comprehensible and completely transmitted text that reflects the socio-cultural norms of the target audience. Sturge observed that museums often project a biased view of culture, more specifically this is the case in ethnographic and memorial museums. It could be argued that the translations of certain cultural aspects may not have

been fully transmitted in the corpus studied and that shifts will have occurred. This may have altered the cultural and historical information conveyed to the English- and French-speaking visitors.

Chapter 2 Theoretical frameworks on museum translation

Museology, or the study of museums, has evolved a great deal over the past decades. Since the 1960s, researchers have attempted to create a structural basis and theory for museology. They did research into how exhibitions should be organised and they began to study their possible target audiences. In the 1980s, a new form of museum organisation was proposed: New Museology (Sonaglio, 2016). In the following sections, this approach will be discussed as well as the educational function of museums.

2.1 The transition from ‘Old’ to ‘New’ museums and their educational function

Constructing meaning is an important objective of museums. Constructing meaning is “constructing, sharing and interpreting a range of content, attitudes and values.” (Ravelli, 2006, p. 3). In a social context, this construction shows the engagement that individuals have with a certain museum (Ravelli, 2006). Before the 1980s, the overall function of a museum was more static and less engaging than it is nowadays. Sonaglio (2016) distinguishes between ‘old’ forms of museums and ‘post/new’ forms. The Postmuseum initiative became more popular because of globalisation and the implications of easy travel to other countries. Ravelli admits that there has been a shift in agenda since the 1980s, moving from a more curatorially driven point of view to a more visitor-oriented viewpoint. The accessibility in general has increased, as going to a museum is no longer an activity only the privileged can afford. There has been a shift from private collections to public institutions (Neather, 2018). Neather also states that museums have become means to represent cultures and inform the public and that more categories have been created to organise the objects on display. However, the museum can never be seen as an objective representation, as it is always constructed by a group of people (curators, translators etc.).

Museums at present are more aware of the multicultural world around them and have adapted their exhibitions to be able to speak to a diverse variety of people. Ravelli indicates that in the past, a minimal form of museum communication was sufficient. Museums could function with the use of labels containing reduced information as they were directed to a schooled public. Nowadays, museums focus on a thematic, open and educationally oriented strategy, which has prompted the need for more extended texts. Moreover, they have introduced interactive strategies to better communicate with visitors by means of guided tours, audio guides and web-based resources (Ravelli, 2006). As Sonaglio (2016) observes in her study, museums now try to explain, educate and engage the public. The International Council of Museums (ICOM), an international non-governmental

organisation established in 1946 which defends the interests of museums as well their staff and restorers, gives a definition in which these elements are highlighted. A museum is defined as

A non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. (ICOM 2007, p. 2).

Liao (2018) sketches the evolution that museums have gone through as follows: museums have changed their approach on exhibiting objects and artefacts to challenge the old ideas about museums, namely that they should be authoritative and solely function in a scientific role. As a result, museum studies have laid the focus on the choices made by the museums on how to exhibit their information, which is what Liao calls “motivated decisions” (Liao, 2018, p.51). These ‘motivated decisions’ are also necessary in other languages. According to Valdeón (2015, as cited in Liao, 2018), this motivated decision should also involve translations: museums need to take an interest in their translations and make these informed and motivated choices during the translation process as well if they want to involve their foreign visitors. Of course, people in different stages of their lives (adults, children, teenagers…) need to receive differently mediated texts. Jiménez Hurtado et al. (2012) was the first to identify these visitors’ profiles. Amongst other groups such as visually impaired people and disabled people, she put the speakers of other languages in a separate category. She proposes specific adjustments that need to be made in order to render the museum space more accessible. A few of the examples given in the study are: audio description, sign language interpreting, interlinguistic subtitling etc.

Museum texts in modern museums try to engage and educate different target audiences, i.e. people who belong to the ‘source culture’ and visit museums in their own country or where the primary language is their mother tongue, but also others who do not belong to this ‘source culture’ and who need to receive altered communication. This overall communicative purpose for foreign visitors can be further analysed into a number of functions. Liao (2018) suggests a typology of five functions of museum translation. She based this typology on the studies of Ravelli (2006) and Kelly-Holmes and Pietikäinen (2016). A first function is probably the most well-known function and the one that first comes to mind in a museum context: the informative function. Simply stated, the museum provides the foreign visitors with information that they can understand as they do not understand the source text. This study will mainly focus on this aspect of translation, namely whether the target text contains the same information as the source text. A second function that is established, is the interactive function, which can be linked to the interactional framework by Ravelli that will be discussed in section 3.2 of this study. This second function has a visitor-oriented view, adapting the texts to the specific target audiences and addressing the visitors in different ways and taps into the ‘new’ museology strategy that Sonaglio and Ravelli discuss in their respective studies. This will also be a function that will be investigated in the present corpus study. The third function focuses on the museum as a part of a global political system. Within this political framework, an ideological motivation is explored in every choice made by the curator, ranging from what languages to choose as target languages to the strategy and topics selected for translation. The fourth function involves the engaging museum strategy. It is what Liao calls the ‘social-inclusive function’. Language equality is the focal point here, as some language communities are currently struggling because they do not

receive the necessary attention in museum translation. Using English as one of the translation languages in the museum may exclude certain minority language groups, denying them access to the museum’s information. For the fifth and last function, Liao looked into the concept of the spatial distribution (see section 2.2). She calls it the ‘exhibitive function’, which highlights the physical presence of translation itself in the museum. According to her, this physical presence itself is what creates meaning.

Foreign visitors might be more informed about the museum if they have access to more information in their own language. By means of targeted museum catalogues and leaflets, these visitors will be able to better understand the information given in the museum. This can be achieved before, during or after the visit. In Neather (2012), the issue of museum catalogues and leaflets is briefly discussed. Hooper-Greenhill (1994, as cited in Neather, 2012) argues that there are often many similarities between the texts provided in the museum and the leaflets that are given out before or after the visit. This is what is also called the pre- and post-visit guides or as Liao (2016) named them: on-site and off- site guide texts. In the opinion of Hooper-Greenhill, offering both kinds of texts may constitute a problem, as the visitor experiences these two types of text in a very different way. We could argue that some visitors might pay more attention to the off-site guide texts as they are preparing for their visit or that they might read the brochures they have received for the guided tours in a more in-depth manner, while others might choose to rely on the expertise of the tour guide and are less interested in the extra information provided in the leaflets. Still, this demonstrates that the visitor experience might be influenced by the use of museum catalogues and leaflets.

2.2 Spatial distribution in the context of the Museum aan de IJzer

This first section will discuss the spatial distribution of the museum. One of the pioneers in this particular area is Neather (2008/2012/2018). He describes the concept of using ‘simplified’ texts for foreign visitors in Neather (2008), a study which considers the semiotics of interlingual practice in the Hong Kong Museum of Tea Ware. In his research he talks about ‘simplification’, the full wall texts are not available in English or French in the museum: only a short summary is given. Neather also distinguishes ‘supplementation’, which implies adding information in the foreign languages. In other words, more information is given in the extra leaflets than was provided in the wall texts. This was the case for this specific museum on their website, as they provided an educational leaflet in English.

Louise Ravelli’s study Museum Texts: Communication Frameworks (2006) is one of the first extensive studies concerning museum communication. She derived her communication frameworks from Halliday’s (1978) systemic-functional linguistics, applying this linguistic theory specifically in the museum context. In that way, she was able to critically analyse the texts used in museums as well as the museum as a whole. Ravelli distinguishes five text types in museums: labels, extended texts - which differ from labels as they give more information than just the date, scientific classification and the source of the specimen- wall texts, catalogue entries and brochure descriptions. Dean (1994, as cited in Neather, 2008) proposes a division into six categories: title signs, sub-titles, introductory texts, group texts, object labels and ‘distributed materials’. He identifies two subcategories in the set of

object labels: identity tags and captions i.e. basic descriptions of an object or artefact. This division is similar to Ravelli’s, but it provides a more detailed typology of labels. Liao (2016) differentiates between on-site guide texts (labels in the exhibitions) and off-site guide texts (guidebooks, guides and audio guides). The present research focuses on on-site guide texts. Other researchers such as Whitehead (as cited in Neather, 2018) speak of several ‘registers’, i.e. different forms of text. He distinguishes three of them: the verbal register, including textual materials such as object ID labels, wall panels and audio guides, the environmental register, i.e. the non-verbal aspects of the museum such as spatial layout, more specifically colours and textures of walls. A third and last register, the experiential register, shifts the focus to the visitor, questioning his or her experiences during the visit (this can be their time available, their prior knowledge, their attitudes etc.). The functions proposed by Liao (2018) that are of importance in the experiential register, are the informative and the interactive function. The museum provides information, but the selection of which information is exhibited can be influenced by the visitors and their prior knowledge. Furthermore, the interactive function results in a more personal approach in the writing styles. Consequently, more interaction with visitors will be created in the museum texts, reducing the social distance between the institution and the visitors.

2.2.1 Visitor-oriented attitudes in the creation and translation of museum texts

Neather (2018) states that around 1980 museums started to emphasise the role of the visitor more often when constructing museum texts, i.e. they took into account visitors’ attitude towards the museum experience and their role in the meaning-making of these texts. This new approach in museum practice was called New Museology. This is an important aspect that curators and translators need to keep in mind during their respective construction of texts, as a more interactive and ‘new’ museum attracts more visitors and it fulfils its principal function, the informative function (Liao, 2018), better. Naturally, a problem can occur when specific themed texts need to be translated, as visitors and as translators often are not experts in specific cultural or historical areas. The translator’s lack of specific knowledge is what Neather (2012) calls the ‘expertise deficit’. Translators are often only experts in translating; they lack the specific knowledge in a certain domain and the museological expertise of the curators. Often the museums do not possess adequate financial means to hire experts or competent translators in order to construct equivalent target texts of the source text (Neather, 2012). Furthermore, translators cannot always take into account the spatial distribution of the museum texts while they are working on a translation. However, it would be logical to assume that the curator and the translator would work closely together while setting up an exhibition. Three of the most often used languages (English, Dutch and German) use the same semiotic system, i.e. the same signs and inherently they are not as different in structure. Neather (2008) claims that these ‘cognate languages’ are less subject to problems associated with spatial considerations. His study, which contained a comparison of English and Chinese wall texts, found that there was a visual imbalance, as the English labels took up much more space than the Chinese text.

According to Ravelli, the concept “text” can be understood in two different ways in the context of museum studies: not only do the museums contain texts, museums can be viewed as ‘texts’ on an institutional level as they transfer meaning to visitors and communicate with them. On the other

hand, she also states that meaning is co-constructed with the visitor. The museum communicates not only by presenting texts in the format of panels and extended wall texts, but also semiotically, through a number of non-textual factors. Spatial distribution is one example, and more specifically, the use of recommended pathways (Neather, 2018). The museum can direct its visitors from one area in the museum to another by using indicative signs. Neather indicates that the visitor can choose to follow the specific ‘spatial flow’ as it was set up by the museum. This implies that curators have to be aware of the specific choices they make while they structure exhibitions and choose where to put certain pieces of information. The chronology of the exhibitions might be of importance when considering these ‘spatial flows’. However, visitors will not always inspect every aspect of each exhibition. Some might be more interested in certain areas of the museum and linger there for a while, whilst others choose to walk by without noticing all the text panels, only looking at the artefacts displayed. Also guided tours usually follow recommended pathways. The chronology of the different floors of the museum is often set up from the left to the right, which means that visitors are expected to follow these micro pathways. Visitors, for their part, can choose not to follow these recommended pathways, however. Nevertheless, they have what Neather (2018) calls a ‘spectatorial experience’, which means that visitors have a pre-planned idea of their visit before entering the museum. They assume that they will be guided into a specific direction because they have learned to anticipate this guidance from experience in their particular cultural setting.

2.2.2 Museum texts in their complex semiotic environment

Spatial distribution is an element of the museum setting that Neather (2008) defines in his study. He argues that the museum is a complex semiotic environment. The visitor is faced with a number of meaning-making systems which combine verbal, visual and spatial signs. Neather adds that these systems influence each other: the verbal and visual elements in the museum (pictures and texts), for example, will interact with each other. This particular interaction (between visual and verbal) is what Neather calls ‘spatial aesthetics’. This is particularly interesting in a discussion of specific artefacts and objects in the museum. It is of interest to Neather that objects and their texts are inherently linked. Visitors cannot understand the text without seeing the object and vice versa. In general, Neather claims that there will be less information about certain objects if these objects are easily recognisable and tap into visitors’ common knowledge or experience. A teapot for example would be far easier to recognise than a monstrance. As a result, the monstrance will need more textual framing. Neather also mentions that the concept of spatial aesthetics implies an additional layer of complexity in the context of the multilingual museum. As both the source text and the target text must be added to the same visual representation, a failure to adapt the target text adequately would lead to different interpretation by the foreign visitor, and as a result, a lower degree of understanding of the museum texts and their reference to the objects.

The notion of context is also of great importance to Neather. Museum artefacts should not only be seen in the context of the texts that accompany them, but also the surrounding artefacts and objects, i.e. their full spatial context. Based on previous semiotic studies by Bal (1996), Neather describes two modes that can be observed in museum texts to establish the manner in which objects are ‘read’ in the “greater whole” (Neather, 2008, p.222). His definition of ‘greater whole’ is the culture and tradition

in which a museum is situated. Ball calls this the ‘synecdochical’ mode, which is often used in ethnographic and memorial museums where culture is of great importance to understand texts in their cultural and social context. This implies that visitors ‘read’ objects as synecdoches, more specifically as pars pro toto, as these objects should be embedded in the ‘greater whole’ of a culture or tradition. The other mode is the ‘metaphoric’ mode, where the metaphors or references are made by the visitors themselves instead of having to see it in a greater whole. In art museums this mode is relevant, as the artworks are self-referential, focussing on their own aesthetic, i.e. they are not necessarily linked to a specific cultural background. Neather acknowledges that images do not always add to the context of culture, as they are often only used as mood-creators.

Another aspect that can be looked at in the context of spatial distribution is ‘code preference’ (Scollon and Scollon, 2003 as cited in Neather, 2008). This concept describes how a visitor will look at panels, as the code is the place given to texts in the exhibitions space, i.e. which texts are placed in which position. The authors observe that, when two or more text panels are available in a museum in different languages, the ones that are put higher up on the wall and on the left hand side of the wall will be seen first.

In conclusion, spatial distribution is of great importance in the organisation of a museum exhibition. The use of images needs to be taken into account as well. Overall, the museum texts should be seen in their semiotic environment. In the following chapter, the frameworks that have been established by Ravelli (2006) in her extensive study of museum texts will be presented. The first chapter of this study outlined how spatial considerations are of the utmost importance to the visitor-experience. That is why this topic will be further discussed using the first framework as was designed by Ravelli (2006): the organisational framework. This first chapter has also demonstrated that museum studies consider the importance of the educational function of museums and the museum itself as the context of the information provided in different kinds of panels and wall-texts. These concepts discussed in this theoretical framework will be applied to analyse the corpus that has been created for this study. This will be done especially to distinguish various communicative functions in museum texts.

Chapter 3 The communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006)

Chapter 2 focussed on the relevant studies in the development of research into museum texts and the overall communication in museums. Overall, visitors of museums have over time acquired a more important role in the creation of museum texts and this development also had an impact on translated museum texts and their functions. As Liao (2018) stated, the informative function is one of the most vital functions of a museum. The communication frameworks discussed in Ravelli (2006) are a conceptual tool to analyse how information is communicated to visitors. In the corpus analysis that follows in chapter 5, the organisational framework will be discussed first, as it is in line with the notions of spatial distribution and text in context that have been discussed in the previous chapter. Furthermore, the interactional framework will be considered, elaborating on the communicative approach of the museum and more specifically its shift in social distance to visitors, which relates to the transition from ‘old’ to ‘post/new’ museums in the 1980s referred to in the previous chapter. Finally, the third and last framework distinguished by Ravelli (2006), the representational framework, will be discussed as well, which comprises the ideological subjects and general content of the labels and wall-texts.

The study by Ravelli (2006) will be discussed in the following section, as it is the basis of this dissertation. It is a very extensive study on museum communication and it gives a clear division into three communicative frameworks that are very important in the museum context. The creation of meaning is a very important notion for Ravelli (2006) throughout her three frameworks. She claims that, by organising unities of text in a specific way, some meanings may be put before others. As such, similar messages could have very different meanings depending on the textual organisation. In her definition of the organisational framework, Ravelli discusses this in more detail. She elaborates on the social context of texts by explaining that there is a need of a social context for the texts to be able to have meaning. Because texts are often used in a social context, these choices in meaning-making are often motivated. The social-semiotic account of Ravelli’s study contains three main elements, which were first distinguished by Halliday (1985) in systemic-functional linguistics (SFL, Halliday, 1978), which studies language as a social semiotic system : Field, Tenor and Mode. Halliday’s Field, Tenor and Mode are the basis of Ravelli’s communication frameworks. Together these items constitute the register of a text: specific lexical and grammatical choices made by speakers depending on the situational context, the participants of a conversation and the function of the language in the discourse (Halliday, 1989, p. 44). In other words, a register is a series of specific linguistic choices made by communicators in order to determine the function of their communication. A first element is the Field, or the type of information to be rendered, the subject matter. The topic of the information of course has an important impact on the text. This will be of importance in the representational framework in section 3.3, which compares the content of the texts in the various languages. Furthermore, Halliday distinguishes Tenor. This category can be linked to the interactional framework, as it describes the roles and relationships between the different parties involved, including for example the concept of hierarchy i.e. the distinction of social classes in society where there are relations of power in play. The hierarchy in the museum context describes whether it is the

museum that has all the power in the meaning-making process or whether the visitor is also a co- constructor of the texts. Finally, the element Mode is relevant in the social context of communication. This element fits into Ravelli’s first framework, the organisational framework, as it explores what kind of communication is taking place, i.e. the function which a text has in particular circumstances. This can be linked to the typology of Liao (2018), who defines five different functions (see section 2.1) viz. the informative function, the interactive function, the political function, the social-inclusive function and the exhibitive function. These functions could be seen as a kind of Mode. In order to interpret meanings, the manner in which they are communicated needs to be studied. In the context of a museum the organisational framework is one of these functional categories of meaning.

3.1 The organisational framework

Ravelli’s organisational framework specifically highlights certain aspects of communication, such as style. Style is defined as the continuum of lexical choices that varies between a more personal/informal style and a more impersonal/formal style (Ravelli, 2006). Museums may adopt an authoritarian style or they might choose a more formal written style as opposed to a more informal conversational style. In this way the museum creates a smaller or larger social distance with its visitors, which is also an element in the interactional framework. The organisational framework is not always clearly defined by Ravelli (2006). It includes interactional as well as representational elements that could also be assigned to their own specific frameworks. Still, she chose to include them in this framework, resulting in a kind of ‘overarching’ framework of communication. Ravelli states that while the three frameworks operate at the same time in communication, one of them might take the upper hand in certain situations or for someone in particular. In other words, the same text might evoke a different response or a different meaning depending on the reader. In order to stimulate the transmission that was meant by the museum to the visitor, the curators might use organisational elements which can contribute to the way in which people view the texts. Often Ravelli refers to elements of structure such as modality and formal language that can be used in the text to create a distinct meaning.

Ravelli claims that texts in the organisational framework can be viewed on different levels: they can be studied in a macro-level analysis (contemplating the general structure of the text or even a set of texts in relation to each other and their spatial context) but also in a micro-level analysis (the level of the clause or sentence organisation). A macro-level analysis studies museum texts in general and their positioning in the exhibitions throughout the building. The micro-level analysis, on the other hand, focuses on the textual detail: which kinds of words are placed in the beginning of a sentence or at the end, how has word order shifted in translations and does a text represent the same information in different languages. A note of criticism might be that Ravelli does not separate the structural and grammatical analyses from the semantic analysis.

3.1.1 Micro- and macro-level analysis of the organisational framework

The organisational framework can be viewed on different levels (micro- and macro-levels). In the category of macro-level choices, Ravelli (2006) mentions changes in writing, font, placements of panels etc. In the museum, we can also often find what Ravelli calls ‘three level layout’. This consists of a text which is divided into three parts: a main title printed in bold letters, an introductory paragraph in italics and a normal-sized paragraph without any additional lay-out. Ravelli comments that contemporary museums often use a myriad of font types, sizes and colours to attract more visitors to read the panels. On a linguistic level, organisational changes can be made to the museum texts as well. These changes take place on a micro-level and are often related to the information flow in sentences. Grammatically, the ‘Theme’ plays an important role here, i.e. the items that come first in the clause. This theme needs to be chosen with some caution, as it constitutes an invitation to the readers of the museum texts. New information that writers want to give will often be presented at the end of the clause. This is the case for the languages studied in this paper (English, Dutch and French).

Section 2.1 discussed the functions of texts described by Liao (2018): the informative function, the interactive function, the political function, the social-inclusive function and the exhibitive function. It can be argued that writers and in this case curators and translators use stylistic and linguistic features such as impersonal style or changes in word order in order to render the purpose of their texts i.e. if they are informative or persuasive etc. more clearly. They could for example influence visitors’ actions by introducing directives in texts. Ravelli distinguishes multiple ‘genres’ in museum texts. This is one of the features of the macro-level analysis of the organisational framework. Her assumption is that readers will be able to predict the general structure of the text when they recognise certain structural elements that are particular for a distinct genre. Narratives, that are used in a museum context, give the generic framework an extra dimension, as narratives are often intertwined with a cultural identity or background. In other words, the general framework can enable visitors to predict what is going to come next and to truly see the social purpose of the text (Ravelli, 2006).

In her research, Ravelli describes five different genres to classify museum texts. These have the same function as Liao’s (2018) function, but they describe different and more generic functions. The first one, which we will often encounter in museums, is Report. Quite literally in this genre, the writer reports on information. This matches the informative function of Liao (2018). Another category is Exposition, the visitor is persuaded of a certain opinion or argument. In addition, panels can also belong to the category of Directives. Directives are characterised by their influence on people’s actions, not only their opinions as is the case with Expositions. In museums, visitors can be directed to a different part of the museum for example. Finally Ravelli distinguishes Discussion. This last category again is related to opinions and arguments, but here the writer is not trying to convince the reader that only one argument is correct, but he keeps it open for discussion by mentioning arguments for and against a statement.

3.1.2 Insights from Translation Studies

In the organisational framework, a micro-level analysis is proposed. This is of interest to this paper, as the different multilingual texts will be compared on this micro-level and shifts between them will be described in the analysis in section 5. Now, an overview of the main translation strategies will be given. These can be applied to the museum context.

In Translation Studies, there have been many views on the following aspect: should translation focus on retaining source text elements, or should it create a more idiomatic text which is closer to the target culture? To distinguish the two possible strategies, Venuti (1995) has created the concepts ‘foreignization’ and ‘domestication’. When the domestication strategy is being used, the target reader will be familiar with the sentence structure and the culture specific of the source culture will be explained or transformed in order to make the reader ‘feel at home’. If the foreignization strategy is used, the sentence is less idiomatic and appears to cling more closely to the source language.

The choices made by translators have been thoroughly studied in Translation Studies. In addition to Venuti’s (1995) domestication and foreignization strategies, translation has also been conceived as a form of language-mediation. Hatim and Mason (1997) have distinguished three levels of mediation: minimal mediation, maximal mediation and partial mediation. In their study, they explain that translators might opt for a more ‘familiar’ target text or a more ‘unfamiliar’ target text. Looking back at the theories by Venuti, we could link Hatim and Mason’s minimal mediation with Venuti’s foreignization. When this strategy is used, the translator often produces calque translations (literal translation) and retains the structure of the source text, while not completely conveying the semantic content of the source text. On the other hand we can find maximal mediation, which corresponds to the domestication strategy in Venuti’s study. Here, the translator uses target-oriented norms to bring the message across. Not only the correct grammar and lexical choices are being used, but the cultural items of the source text are in various ways transported to the target text in order for the target audience to understand them correctly. Hatim and Mason (1997) propose a middle ground between these two main theories which they called ‘partial mediation’. Through this strategy, a hybrid target text can be created, containing elements from both the source text-related as well as the target- oriented strategies. It is seen as a mixture between the ‘familiar’ and the ‘unfamiliar’. In the context of museums this might be of interest, as new and often complex information will be provided but the curators still want to create readable and understandable texts.

Another researcher who studied the shifts in translations and whose work can be linked more directly to studies of translation in a museum context, is Reiss (1981/2008). She proposes three main text types which are accompanied by a certain translation strategy. A first type, which is often found in museums, is the informative type. In short, it gives information on certain events or phenomena. This text type can be linked to the Report and Explanation genre indicated by Ravelli (2006). The translation strategy that Reiss proposes in her study is a straightforward translation. This is the case when the translators make little to no changes to the text. The only modifications that are made are often ones to transform the text in order for it to adhere to the grammatical and lexical structure of the target language. A second type discussed in the study, is the operative type, which could be compared to the Exposition and Directive in Ravelli’s study. At the basis of all these text types or

genres is a persuasive nature. The strategy that is best suited for these types of texts according to Reiss is the ‘adaptive’ translation. If used correctly, it should ensure that the persuasive nature of the text is maintained. A number of specific elements that might help in this case are for example adjectives or the use of personal pronouns. Also, a case could be made for the use of imperative structures. A last text type that is discussed is the expressive type. The expressive text type deals with artistic writing and aesthetics. To be able to translate these texts, the translator should bring himself to look at the poem or text and see which message the author tried to convey. In other words, they should try to identify with the original poet and his creative intention. Reiss finishes by claiming that a text should not be put in just one category, it can contain features from several of the text types or genres.

Finally, a last researcher whose views on translation methods in the context of museums are relevant to the present study, is Sturge (2007). Interestingly, her study focuses on translation in ethnographic museums. In her study, Sturge examines the representation of natives and the translation of ‘culture’ as well as the representation of ideology and identity (see also section 3.3.2.2). Sturge’s research position is very different from the notions expressed by Venuti (1995), Hatim & Mason (1997) and Reiss (1981/2008), as she does not stress the importance of the faithfulness to the source text, but rather underlines that the text can be seen as an object in itself. The responses that it evokes from visitors and how it interacts with its surroundings should be a translator’s major focus. A first translation strategy observed by Sturge is what she calls ‘Resonance’ or thick translation. This entails that there is an interaction between the text and the visual surroundings of the text. As we have seen in section 2.2 of this study on spatial distribution, this is also something that Neather (2008) describes. A second translation strategy for Sturge is called ‘Wonder’. This strategy requires a deep reflection of the translators, as it wants to distance itself from the conventional translations from one text form to another. The verbal aspect is of minor importance in this instance, as there will be no translation from one text to another, but the content will be conveyed otherwise, by using pictures or objects. In other words, a message might be brought to the visitors only by using images and visual clues.

Furthermore on a micro-level basis, Ravelli (2006) emphasises the importance of a balance between information and interest. Visitors should always be able to understand the texts, no matter how complex the subject is. Often museum information is very informative and therefore often complex to convey. Therefore, translators and curators should find a balance between the complex information and the interests of visitors to keep them captivated. That is why the organisation of texts in specific ways and their accurate translations are of the utmost importance. The mode here i.e. written or spoken text is, as we previously discussed, a written mode and therefore different from for example museums that use audio guides (which is a spoken mode). Ravelli (2006) describes the spectrum of readability of written texts by distinguishing some characteristics that should be kept in mind while writing museum texts. While museum texts intend to convey a complex message to the audience, they might try to do so in an unsatisfactory way. A first item discussed in the study is lexical density. Overall, written texts possess a higher lexical density, i.e. the number of lexical words or content words divided by the number of words in total, than spoken texts. For economic reasons, it is important to capture as much information as possible in the short texts on the panels. However, if this is used too profusely, the text might become too complex or as Ravelli calls it too ‘wordy’. Another characteristic of texts that might invoke ‘wordiness’ is nominalisation. Using nominalisations is quite

common in written text and often creates a higher lexical density. Nevertheless, it renders the texts more complex, forcing the reader to re-read certain passages over and over again.

Another aspect previously described is the Field. Ethnographic and memorial museums encapsulate a certain culture and that entails a certain use of terminology. Ravelli (2006) mentions that too much technicality might be harmful for the readability of the text, especially when the audience is an outsider to the Field. She proposes to build up technicality gradually throughout the museum, which is often easier said than done, as visitors may choose to ignore the recommended pathways and accompanying information build-up in a museum. Ravelli proposes to mediate the jargon used in the texts in order to create accessible texts for every visitor.

Ravelli states that “the degree of comprehension of a text simply cannot be measured with a fixed set of rules nor any magic (or scientific!) formula” (Ravelli, 2006, p. 68). Curators and translators ought to be conscious of the organisational choices that they are making on a micro- as well as a macro-level, while being attentive to the context of these texts in the museum and the prior knowledge of its visitors.

3.2 The interactional framework

As a result of modern developments museums nowadays tend to focus on a more visitor-oriented approach. They have transformed from the strictly informative curatorially-driven forms observed previously to the ‘new or post’ museums (Sonaglio, 2016), which are more interactive with their audiences, responding to the needs of the different kinds of visitors.

One of the pioneers in visitor studies is Chan Screven. In one of his papers that was published in 1993, he claims that visitors can still learn from reading panels in exhibitions without there having to be a guide to explain the information in further detail. In other words, panels and museums texts might have an educational function without having to rely on expertise. The key factor in this endeavour, is knowing your audience and anticipating their expectations. Screven (1993) sums up some of the factors that might influence the (non) productive use of exhibits. In order for a museum to attract visitors, it must first and foremost be ‘entertaining’. Even though the primary function of the museum in being informative and culturally enriching might clash with this idea, Screven suggests that this should not pose a problem, as the ‘fun’ aspects of museums might stimulate visitors to acquire more knowledge in a playful manner. Ravelli (2006) mentions the use of interactive displays and devices, which engage the audience more actively during their visit to the museum. Still, Screven warns that using too many media devices and electronics might take the focus away from the real message that the museum is trying to convey. As a result, the visitors will not be able to pay much attention to the content of the exhibition. Screven adds that the placement of panels, the organisational structure on micro-level as well as macro-level of texts and the context of artefacts and other imaging or media use, are of the utmost importance to attract visitors and as a result these are very important in the interactional framework as well. He also observes that many subfields of visitor studies are yet to be

properly researched. Museum curators and translators should take into account for example, which prior knowledge the visitors have on the topic, which possible misconceptions they might have and also their time constraints. This data might help the museum planners to improve their use of style for certain labels, as well as the adaptation of the content of the labels. This is not only of importance in the organisational framework, but in the interactional framework as well, as the curators and translators should adapt their interactive strategies to suit all kinds of visitors.

Ravelli (2006) also integrates Screven’s theory to distinguish between three of his five levels of interaction. Screven (1995, as cited in Ravelli, 2006) describes the attitudes visitors have towards their museum experience, which can differ between Dutch-speaking visitors and foreign visitors. A first attitude is the Conventional level, which consists of a passive response. This level of involvement only implies absorbing the knowledge that results from the act of reading museum texts. This is the most common form of visitor interaction and this was the only interaction there used to be in the old museology era i.e. before the beginning of the new museology period around the 1980s. A second level of interaction is called Covert. This is an active engagement on the visitor’s part, as he or she is stimulated to answer questions and to act upon instructions. A third and last level that is discussed in the study, is the Adaptive level, which implies that electronical devices respond to the individual needs of the visitors. In some museums this can be arranged with the help of audio guides and sometimes touch screens have been installed for the visitor to choose what they would like to know more about.

Distinguishing these three levels and realising them in museum texts can give the museum curators an idea of how their audience might react to their exhibitions, but it is still important to maintain the relationship with the visitors in other ways as well, e.g. the use of a certain style in texts and translations. To clarify this statement, Ravelli’s interactional framework (2006) will be defined.

3.2.1 Constructing meaning through interaction

Museums can be seen as texts of which the meaning is constructed (Ravelli, 2006). This meaning is partially constructed by the curators and translators, but the visitors play a huge part in this process as well. They ‘co-construct’ the texts by interpreting the meanings. In Halliday’s (1985) terms, Tenor is relevant in this respect. This expresses the relationships between the texts and the other parties involved, including hierarchy i.e. are the curators using the text to lecture the visitors on the museum’s topic or are they creating text to address visitors as equals in the creation of meaning. When Tenor is mentioned, two main characteristics should be enlightened: power and social distance. Ravelli (2006) distinguishes two kinds of power relations: on the one hand, two parties, in this case museum curators and audience, can be on the same level and equal and on the other hand there might be a difference, where one of the parties has a higher status and a greater authority. Social distance is explained as the literal distance between the two interactants, which is expressed in texts through more personal language. The objective of modern museums is to create as little social distance as possible and to decrease the power imbalance between the two parties.

In museums in general, the role of the visitor has been created by the curators prior to their visit. The writers of the texts usually have an authoritative role, as they present their information as facts

through text. When the museum gives visitors information, the logical answer to these texts and facts is to accept them and to appreciate them. However, this power relation can be contested when visitors start to ask questions. Questions are very important dimensions of interaction. The Covert level of interaction by Screven (1995) has shown that the relationship between museum and visitor can be influenced by the use of questions. This is a perfect example of how visitors can co-construct meanings in museums. The use of questions can be quite effective when used in guided tours. Nevertheless, these could also be placed in texts in order for the text to become more interactive. This phenomenon also occurs on the micro-level of the organisational framework as it creates a kind of specific structure for the text. Questions invite visitors to experience the information in a different way. However, they are not a ‘magic solution’ to facilitating interaction (Ravelli, 2006, p. 76).

Questions are the most obvious speech act to create more interaction. Ravelli also mentions a few other interactive speech functions- such as statements, offers and commands. The imperative form can be used to incite readers to go somewhere or to do something or refrain from doing something. Another speech function that is mentioned in Sonaglio (2016) is the imaginary ‘we’. Drawing on Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), Sonaglio expresses the need for this establishment of a relationship between the reader and the museum, as this might bring them closer to each other. In other words, the power relations between the interactants might shift and be more balanced and the social distance between the two might decrease.

Of course, interaction between the museum and its foreign visitors can only be put into place when there are bilingual (or in the case studied at present quadrilingual) labels. Liao (2018) observes two main choices museums can make. Firstly, a museum might opt for multilingual labels in order to attract more tourists and in so doing increase their economic value. The other value considers the social-inclusive values of the museum, that is to say the equal access to the information provided through different languages. Liao mentions that this last dimension is not yet researched thoroughly in Translation Studies. The focus often lies on other fields such as the informative, the interactive and the political function of the texts. Therefore, it is important for the curators to keep this aspect in mind as it is often overlooked.

Interaction in general can take up several forms in the museum. Sonaglio (2016) refers to the authoritarian role of the museum and its text writers. She states that some features that indicate a more formal and impersonal tone might represent the objective stance of the museum e.g. the use of passive constructions, nominalisations, complex terminology and formal or impersonal language. Ravelli (2006) suggests to reduce the social distance between visitors and museums by using more personal discourse and by reducing the amount of complex terminology in the texts. Some micro- level factors that realise this formality are nominalisations and the passive tense. However, Ravelli also highlights that texts which are too personal and too informal might have an opposite effect on the reader. They can create discomfort for the visitors just as strangers behaving as close friends creates discomfort for people. This is something curators should avoid at all costs.

3.2.2 The continuum of style

How can a balance be found between texts that are more personal and informal but not to the extent where they create discomfort? Ravelli (2006) proposes to see ‘style’ as a continuum. A range of factors can influence the style and make texts more or less personal and/or formal. In her research, she identified five indicators of style. A first one is Voice. Linguistically spoken it is logical that the active voice is less formal and more personal than the passive voice.

A second indicator is Address or the use of personal pronouns in texts. The imaginary ‘we’ (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006) has been mentioned and the speech functions used in museums such as commands and offers have been referred to. Using personal pronouns such as ‘you’ can imply that there is a close relationship between the reader and the writer. Ravelli warns however, that the cultural context should be taken into account when addressing readers. Not all visitors of the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’ are Western European citizens. Talking to an audience and assuming they all have had the same experiences and education throughout their lives, might implicate a dangerous exclusion of other cultural groups in society. The specific implications that the representation of the Flemish warfare culture has on the feelings of identity of other ethnic or geographic groups in society will be discussed later on in this study.

Thirdly, Ravelli distinguishes Lexical choice and here, terminology comes to mind as well as language structures. Screven (1993) already mentioned that other factors such as the prior knowledge of visitors should be taken into account, but it is often quite difficult to know whether a person always possesses this kind of knowledge. A solution that Ravelli proposes is to generalise terms that are too specific for the readers.

Furthermore, Modality is discussed. Using modal verbs or constructions of modality such as ‘sometimes’ or ‘perhaps’ can indicate a lack of certainty, which resonates with the visitors. It creates a more personal atmosphere, because the museum does not come across as too authoritarian or lecturing. Lastly, Ravelli introduces the concept Appraisal. When a museum uses terms to indicate their feelings towards a certain event or object, they also evoke an emotional reaction from their visitors. Judgements and appreciations shift the communicative interaction to a more personal and less formal Tenor.

The interactional framework helps us to understand that meaning in museums is not only created by the curators and translators; to a large extent it is also determined by the readers themselves. They ‘co-create’ meaning as we have established throughout this chapter, by assuming a certain role in the process of the visit.

3.3 The representational framework

In addition to the organisational and the interactional framework, Ravelli’s final communication framework is the representational framework, which refers to the representation of events in text. In particular, the content of museum panels and their reference to historic events will be of interest here. This framework is highly relevant in the context of translation, as translated texts do not only represent the literal content of the source text, but also the source culture in which it is embedded. In museums in general and certainly in the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’, (historical) events are portrayed by means of descriptions. This chapter discusses the micro-level issues of representation, e.g. the translation of technicality, provided by Ravelli (2006) and also looks at representation on a macro- level. This includes ideological representation of the source culture and in this specific study the concepts ‘identity’ and ‘ideology’ and their translations into different target cultures are particularly relevant. In order to describe these concepts, narrative studies (Baker, 2005 and Grek, 2005) will be examined as well as studies concerning the representation of national identity in translation (Chen & Liao, 2017).

3.3.1 Micro-level representation

Ravelli (2006) states that technicality is inevitable in museum texts. Leaving out specific terms may entail a distorted view of the events described. However, as not many of the visitors are experts in the specific field of the museum, as observed by Screven (1993), these technical terms and concepts should be mediated and not presumed. Representing historical events and narratives is representing a kind of ‘reality’. In Ravelli’s opinion, this ‘reality’ cannot be transmitted passively, but only by means of active construction. There is a fine line between the ‘under’ and ‘over’ mediation of technicality. Texts should still represent the same kind of technicality in the target texts as there was in the source text, however, they should still remain understandable for the reader. For Ravelli, it is important to recognize which terms are technical and should be accompanied by additional information. Often, curators and translators no longer recognize terms as they are experts themselves (curators) or as they have been translating the same terms for a number of different panels (translators). They should keep in mind that visitors may not always follow the same route throughout the museum, however, and may therefore have ignored a particular definition (see ‘recommended pathways’ in section 2.2.1). As a result, they might encounter the explanation of a specific term earlier on in their visit or only later on. It is the task of the translator to provide each panel with the necessary additional information to enable visitors to understand technical terms and concepts regardless of any chronological route or truncated visitor experience.

There is no predetermined way to convey a particular subject matter: the subject matter is constructed through the representational choices (Ravelli, 2006, p. 117). In other words, it is important to consider that texts can only convey a certain story or event when they represent this through text. It would be interesting to have a look at the concepts that are not conveyed, as this also tells us something about what was important to represent. Furthermore, implicit meanings and connotations recognized by the visitor might serve as proof that many concepts are ambiguous by

nature. Attempting to create a constructed text where no interpretation by the reader is possible, would result in an incomprehensible text.

In order to study representational meaning, one should not only consider the overall grammatical structures of the text, but also the lexical items used. One word can carry a heavier load than another, resulting in a different association for the reader and therefore a different interpretation. Technical words tend to evoke different interpretations, especially when they are not explained properly. It gives the reader a sense of the overall ideology and attitude which the text wants to represent. Ravelli (2006) states that texts containing links to ideologies imply a sort of ‘constructedness of meanings’. Especially with memorial museums this can be the case and the ‘Museum aan de IJzer’ is a perfect example of this kind of narrative. It is what Hooper-Greenhill (2008, p. 8) calls, “the public imag(in)ing of the past is a contested area”. Contested is an interesting word here, as it implies some sort of conflict. And indeed, in many historical events it is often a question of conflicts with several parties involved or ‘stakeholders’ as Ravelli calls them. This also implies that the story provided by the museum must come from either one of the parties or stakeholders. It is therefore of the utmost importance for translators to apply caution and to keep in mind the representational framework as a guideline for this specific communication and meaning-making.

Lastly, it could be argued that representational meanings, even though they are quite important, could be discarded in some cases. One could claim that certain specific terms as for example war terminology, should not be explained into detail to the visitors as they can often see the artefacts in the museum and it is possible that not everyone thinks this is necessary to make the museum experience more accessible. From the point of view of translation, it might be assumed that on some topics the cultural adaptation might not be necessary, especially when translating between similar cultures with similar historical backgrounds. It could however be argued that culture is not a definite given, it is not constant and it is always changing, especially through interactions between the different populations. In short, it might argued that in some cases, cultural adaptation is not really necessary, while some other cases might demand these kinds of cultural adjustments in the form of additional explanation or cultural framing.

3.3.2 Cultural framing in translation

Not only texts, words and grammatical structures are translated from one language into another in museums. As observed in section 2.2, Neather (2018) states that museums also translate culture. When translators use different linguistic strategies to focus on -or on the contrary diminish- certain elements of the source text, they use framing (Baker, 2005). Curators do this in order for other people outside of the source culture to understand the historical events and personal stories or narratives and the underlying meanings that are conveyed through these stories. Neather (2018) also noticed that different cultures have multiple ways of conveying information and knowledge. He suggests that this needs to be taken into account when texts are translated for foreign audiences. Liao (2016) claims that there is some sort of subjectivity at play when creating museum texts, as the curators decide which image of the past they want to paint for the visitors and which objects they want to use to

represent this past. This is especially the case for memorial museums, as they often explore traumatic events of the past that need to be treated with great sensitivity.

3.3.2.1 The theory of narratives

Mona Baker (2005) has focussed on narratives in her various studies. She gives a few definitions of the term in her work depending on the discipline you want to apply it to. It can be seen as a mode of communication or how we tell stories. These stories about the world we live in might have a great impact on the people who read them. Therefore, it is very important for Baker to admit that these narratives should be mediated in translation. Translators have a crucial role in mediating narratives, as they have to bring concepts from the source language and culture to a target language and culture and Baker states that they have to do this in a non-biased and responsible manner. For that reason, she argues that translators should be aware of the differences between cultures. However, it would be unrealistic to expect them to get rid of all misunderstandings and unintended insensitivity towards another culture. Even highly-skilled professionals have difficulty in mediating between cultures, which is why it is important to raise awareness of this cultural difference with the target audience.

Baker (2007) claims that the words narratives and stories can be used interchangeably in some contexts, as narratives are “the stories we tell ourselves and others about the world(s) in which we live, it acknowledges the ongoingly negotiable nature of our positioning in relation to social and political reality.” (Baker, 2007, p. 151). She claims that it does not try to categorise the cultural stories into themes such as race, gender, ethnicity or religion. Instead, narrative theory tries to represent our own stance towards the greater whole of a social and political reality as mentioned above. Narrative theory attempts to define this in a dynamic way rather than a static way, as it is not seeing each narrative separately, but it tries to see our actions in the greater whole of the culture, a mixture of narratives. This could be linked to Bal’s (1996) synecdochical mode, as is often the case for memorial museums.

Somers & Gibson (1994, as cited in Baker, 2005) distinguish several types of narratives. The first type is the ontological narrative, which tells a personal story. It may contain notions of someone’s personal history and their place in the world, consequently not encompassing a whole culture or acknowledging the existence of other cultures. Secondly, Somers & Gibson discuss Public narratives, which in their turn, do acknowledge the existence of an overarching culture. Aspects such as religion, family and politics can be discussed as well as the media or the nation. Thirdly, Conceptual narratives contain the study of a certain topic or object by social theorists in all kinds of social fields such as social life, social organisations and social identities.

Baker (2005) also defines the concept of Relationality in her study. According to her, every single event is embedded in a bigger picture. Hence, we could not possibly interpret an event on its own. Furthermore, the visitors’ own knowledge of events (personal or ontological narratives) cannot be set apart from what they are encountering in the museum. On the other hand, Baker distinguishes ‘Causal emplotment’. This concept would allow the visitor to understand the specific events presented in the museum in a moral sense. It is, in some way, the opposite of Relationality, as it enables the visitors to see and understand any individual event, without having to place in into a bigger picture.

In her study, Baker admits that the involvement of translators and interpreters in the mediation of cultures is necessary. However, she argues that Translation Studies have emphasised this role a bit too much and have even over-romanticised it. Translators and interpreters have been seen as ‘enablers’ of communication, without whom dialogue would not be possible. Furthermore, misunderstandings are defined as unintentional, as if there could not be an ulterior economic or political motive to them. As a result, Baker encourages translators to be very aware of their role in the cultural process, as they can cause major misunderstandings between cultures and in that way can do more harm than good.

Another study of Baker (2007) expands on the reframing of conflict in translation. In her opinion, translators do have a role in the construction of social and political reality when they tackle the translation of difficult cultural concepts including ones describing situations of conflict. It can, as it were, shape the intentions and behaviour of the readers.

3.3.2.2 The concepts of nationality and ideology in the memorial museums

Memorial museums often deal with difficult ideological concepts that they have to convey. Where ideology is concerned, conflict comes to mind. Narratives on conflict can influence people’s views on a topic and can also guide their actions in their lives.

Narratives exist in a specific time and space. They are not isolated events and are always interlinked not only with other events but with our own preconceptions. This is why framing is needed, because every person looks at a certain event differently. Framing, the creation of meaningfulness through a certain perspective, can be seen either passively or very actively according to Baker (2007). Someone can create meaningfulness in narratives by means of using a frame or how they mean what they are saying. A more active definition is found in literature on social movements, which establishes framing as an activity by a third party. In that way, someone can encounter a narrative that has been put in a certain perspective, that guides the person to lean towards a specific interpretation of the events. In the context of museums, curators are the ones who decide which framing the visitor will encounter in the exhibitions. Translation may also, often inadvertently, create a certain framing especially in museums of war and conflict history where this context is very important. Every choice that is made by either curators or translators has an effect on how meaning is established for the visitor and therefore even the smallest changes and choices can have an influence on framing in the museum.

Some organisational aspects might have an influence on framing as well. According to Baker (2007) these might be “intonation in audio guides or guided tours for example, typography, visual resources such as colour, image and layout and linguistic devices such as tense shifts, deixis, code switching and the use of euphemisms” (Baker, 2007, p. 158). Translators and interpreters need to be aware of these possibly ideologically-laden aspects.

When curators and translators use framing techniques to decide which information is selected for the museum, they will first try to maintain Liao’s (2018) main function in the typology of text functions: the informative function. However, Grek (2005) argues that exhibition narratives are not only

informative. With the use of organisational features and context such as objects and artefacts, aesthetic forms in the texts such as fonts and placement and the addition of pictures as mood creators, social value can be created in a symbolic manner. In her study, Grek (2005) uses critical discourse analysis to reveal how exactly museums attempt to construct meaning in their texts. One specific concept she studied is the use of nostalgia. Nostalgia to her is also a mood creator. It can set a certain theme for the reader, creating a specific frame. Grek did her research in the context of Scottish museums which revealed the romantic etymological version of events that was represented in the museums. She inspected the way in which the museums were connected, how they educated and engaged the public and how they represented social relations of power, including the notion of ideology. Interestingly, she found that two strategies were used. On the one hand, the museums gave an exuberance of information on topics they preferred, adding numerous details and additional information. ‘Dispreferred’ information on the topics of popular discontent and class-based conflict on the other hand were seen as irrelevant and as a result left out of the museum texts. This does not only occur at the hand of the curators, translators can also choose to leave out sensitive information if they feel it would not be appropriate for their target audience. This is a very complex consideration.

Chen & Liao (2017) have done research into the perception of national identity and ideology in translation for foreign visitors in the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum. The results of their study show that the translations in this case were very inconsistent and that they even could create ideological conflict. Translations are relevant conveyors of historical meaning, as they educate foreign visitors on the narratives of another culture than their own. Translators should proceed with caution when they want to translate concepts linked to national identity and ideology, especially when sensitive topics are concerned. This is often the case in memorial museums, the museum of the present study. In Chen & Liao’s study for example, the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum deals with the story of the February 28 incident in Taiwan. It was an insurrection directed against the government where thousands of civilians were killed by the Republic of China government. As Neather (2018) mentioned, visitors co-construct meaning in the museum context. Therefore, they also construct a view of the host nation’s identity. Particularly for foreign visitors it is of the utmost importance to create a clear and truthful view on the national identity and culture of the country, as they are more likely to accept the interpretation of the museum without critically thinking about the events as source culture visitors might do (Chen & Liao, 2017). One might assume that identity is mainly a concept that is defined by the source culture itself. However, Chen & Liao argue that identity is often defined by how others, foreign visitors, see it. As a result, they found many alterations in the translations of the museum texts. These were often inconsistent and overall they did not take into account the impact wrongly translated ideological concepts can have on visitors.

Ideological concepts are very important in memorial museums. Unfortunately, they are often influenced by an overarching institution or government that can select which information will be exhibited and which information will not be conveyed. Curators and translators do not only need to keep in mind spatial considerations, they can be put under institutional pressure to only provide the ‘correct’ political stance of the museum as well as the societal attitudes regarding a certain topic (Chen & Liao, 2017). When organising and translating for a memorial museum, a few questions need to be asked. What are the positions of the writers of the texts on the topic? Who funded the museum and who is responsible for the selection of information? What are the exhibitions trying to convey to the public and more importantly what are they not conveying? It could be argued that translators should

be careful when they produce shifts in their translations. ‘Shifts in meaning are inevitable in the process of translation, and even subtle shifts such as temporal references and naming have the potential to alter the ideological assumption embedded in the source text.’ (Chen & Liao, 2017, p. 58).

Chapter 4 Methodology

In the previous chapters, a theoretical framework of different studies has been established. On the basis of the concepts discussed, the current research explores the translation of panels and wall texts in the Museum aan de IJzer and relates the corpus of 133 texts to the concepts of spatial distribution and the communication frameworks by Ravelli (2006). The linguistic transformations between the Dutch source text and the English and French target texts will be analysed. The analysis consists of an extensive study of the corpus. The different texts will be compared at a micro- and macro-level and the theoretical notions previously discussed will be applied to the corpus. General tendencies in the translations will be discussed and appropriate corpus examples will be provided. In some cases, a proposition for a ‘revised’ version of the text according to the suggestions from the theoretical framework will be given. The results of this comparison will be presented in Chapter 5 of this study. The main research questions to be answered are: do the foreign visitors of the Museum aan de IJzer receive the same information as the Dutch-speaking visitors? And if not, which shifts did occur in the translation? How did the translators deal with translating the cultural background in this memorial museum i.e. how did they translate the concepts nationality and ideology?

In order to study the transformations in the translations of the museum texts i.e. the texts on the panels, label objects and wall texts, a collection of parallel texts in the three languages was created. These different forms of text will be discussed in the same manner. This corpus contains 133 labels, varying in length between around 10 words minimum and a maximum of 400 words. The numbers range from 1 to 133, they have been arranged in the order of the recommended pathway from the top of the tower to the bottom. The complete corpus can be found in appendix 1. The corpus only contains on-site guides (Liao, 2018). The extensive study of the off-site texts was beyond the scope of this study as it did not contain translations, which is the main interest of this study.

The present study focuses on the permanent exhibition of the museum on the Flemish battle for emancipation and the Belgian-German confrontation during the First World War, and consequently does not include the specialised panels from the other temporary exhibitions on aerial warfare and the lives of soldiers in the trenches. The exhibition consists of 22 floors of which the vast majority contains labels, pictures, works of art and of course war artefacts referring to a myriad of war themes. In the grassy area surrounding the tower, a few older text panels, dating back to 1980s, can be found as well. Up until 2014, they were the only explanatory texts that accompanied the memorial site and they were not removed after the museum was renovated in 2014. Remarkably, these texts too are available in the four languages (Dutch, French, English and German). The study also comprises a number of leaflets in French and English that are provided to the foreign visitors during the guided tour. As a Dutch version was not available, it was impossible to incorporate these texts into the corpus for comparison. Other information for foreign visitors can be found on the museum’s website. English teachers can find an extensive informative leaflet in English and Dutch on the website to teach secondary school pupils about the role of the Yser Tower in the First World War and in the battle for Flemish emancipation. This leaflet is not available in French on the site, which is odd considering the trilingual institutional organisation of Belgium and especially taking into account the community- related issues between the French- and the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. The museum itself

explains that they hired different translators for different tasks and that this extra French translation was not commissioned. The helpdesk of the museum can be contacted for information in languages other than English. Two other additional and educational projects are organised by the museum: the memory date project, which targets secondary school pupils and the ‘Mystery of the Yser Tower’, which is an interactive game that was invented to entertain children between the ages of 8 and 12. In the theoretical part of this study, a reference was made to Screven (1993) and his thoughts on interactivity with the museum’s audience and the interactive framework designed by Ravelli (2006). This also applies to the memory date project, which involves West-Flemish secondary school pupils and non-Dutch speaking newcomers. It can be seen as a social project focussing on integration, educating foreigners on the historical events that took place during the war in Flanders as well. During the project, a connection is made between the current situation in the country of origin of the newcomers and the war conflict in Diksmuide during the war. Overall, it raises cultural awareness for both newcomers and Belgian pupils and in that way it engages both parties in the narrative of the museum. Sonaglio’s (2016) ‘explain, educate and engage the public’ is very valid for this project in particular.

The Museum aan de IJzer provides its foreign guests with guided tours in English and French. The recommended pathways in this museum, as have been discussed in section 2.2.1, could vary from one person to another. The most obvious route moves from the first floor to the 22nd or vice versa and this route will be followed in the analysis in chapter 5. The guided tours start on the outside of the building and then follow the top-down floor option. As the themes are vastly different on every floor, there is no real need to keep to a recommended pathway, but the circular shape of the museum forces its visitors to go either in a clockwise of a counter-clockwise motion.

In this study, the focus will be on three genres identified by Ravelli (2006): labels, extended texts and wall texts. These could be defined as follows. Labels are short texts accompanying artefacts and objects in the museum. They mostly contain little information, only such things as the date and source of the artefact and its name. Extended texts give a little more information about the object, but still these are not independent texts, they are referring to a certain object or photograph in the museum. Lastly, wall texts can be independent and are overall longer and contain more information. These three types of texts will be discussed in the same manner in the analysis.

Naturally, the Museum aan de IJzer had to make a few difficult choices in order to create meaning for its foreign public. These include specific choices made by the translators such as lexical and stylistic choices which will be discussed in the analysis in chapter 5, but also the choice of languages on display. In this specific museum, the foreign languages provided are French, English and German. As the museum’s main topic is the First World War, the major players of which were our neighbouring countries France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the choice for these languages to be on display is perhaps logical. In that way, the museum also addresses a broad range of international visitors. The proximity to the museum itself could play a role in the choice as well, as it would mainly attract visitors from our neighbouring countries. The museum made this choice in order to attract a larger audience to the site. French, German and especially English are widely spoken languages and can attract a large number of nationalities. Museums in general are preoccupied with this question and try to explain their mission in pre-visit guides, such as brochures and website texts. The website of the Museum aan de IJzer mentions that the museum wants to emphasise the peace ideology that the

tower encompasses. Their goal is to tell the story of the Belgian-German confrontation during the First World War, combined with the more specific aspect of the Flemish battle for emancipation. Since 2014, they have been striving to depict the impact that the war had on civilians and soldiers, how they dealt with it during the war and after and the effects that war had on the region of Diksmuide.

In addition to the choice of languages to be displayed in the museum, curators also had to take into account the organisational aspect of texts, i.e. their spatial distribution throughout the museum (see section 2.2). The concept of ‘code preference’ discussed in Scollon & Scollon (2003), as cited in Neather (2008) can be clearly distinguished in this specific museum and will be discussed in the analysis.

In the following chapter, the results of the research will be presented and examples from the corpus will be provided. The overall structure will encompass first of all the spatial considerations of the museum and second of all the frameworks of Ravelli will be discussed in relation to the findings. These will be divided into three main parts: the organisational, interactional and representational framework, and these will each be discussed on a micro- and macro-level. Other theoretical concepts such as spatial distribution, supplementation, expertise deficit, code preference and micro-level linguistic changes such as Theme-Rheme, nominalisations, questions, appraisal, the imaginary ‘we’, voice and technicality will be used to clarify and analyse the findings of this study. In the discussion of the representational framework, the concept of narratives will be discussed. The present study focuses on ontological and public narratives as defined by Somers & Gibson (1994). In a latter part of the analysis, the use and translations of concepts linked to ideology and nationality will be examined and the results will be presented. In this specific study, the topic of the Flemish Battle for emancipation and the related concepts such as the Flemish Movement will be investigated. In order to fully understand how the museum dealt with its meaning-making, a selection of appropriate corpus examples will be provided and studied. These will be mentioned in the text in chapter 5 and they will be referenced with the number they have received in the corpus. The unabridged corpus can be found in appendix 1 of this dissertation. In chapter 6, a conclusion will be written on the findings of this study and suggestions for further research will be given.

Chapter 5 Analysis and results

The analysis of the corpus examines how the curators and translators of the Museum aan de IJzer have operated and how they attempted to create meaning in texts that refer to Flemish warfare and the Flemish battle for emancipation.

5.1 Spatial considerations

In section 2.2 of this study, the spatial distribution of texts in a museum was discussed. More specifically, Neather’s (2008/2012/2018) findings will be examined and applied to the Museum aan de IJzer and other spatial considerations as defined by Bal (1996), Scollon & Scollon (2003) will be mentioned as well. First and foremost, it is important to repeat that museums are a very complex semiotic environment (Neather, 2008). In these institutions, the curators have to make a balanced exhibition using verbal, visual and spatial elements. In other words, the general ‘context’ of the museum texts is very important to consider.

A museum normally does not only contain texts in the form of wall texts and labels, but also interactive means of providing information such as objects, artefacts, pictures and interactive displays. Texts which adhere to a certain object should normally be found in the direct vicinity of this object or artefact. In this museum, however, this was not always the case. This could be explained by viewing the panel as ‘general’, giving an overview of the many artefacts that can be found on a certain floor, for instance. As Neather (2008) argued, pictures can also be seen as mood creators, i.e. they should not always have to be linked to a certain text, but they can create a certain atmosphere or complement an object or artefact. This could be linked to the concepts distinguished by Bal (1996): the synecdochical and the metaphorical mode. It can be established that the Museum aan de IJzer mostly adheres to the synecdochical mode, as it embeds its exhibitions into a greater whole, an overarching culture and tradition. In this case, that is the Flemish warfare culture in Diksmuide and also the Flemish battle for emancipation. The synecdochical mode will be considered in the analysis of the application of the representational framework as well in section 5.2.3 of this study. Certain elaborations of culturally inaccessible information in the source text e.g. a cultural specific item, could make certain target texts more comprehensible for the foreign reader.

The curators of the Museum aan de IJzer not only had to take into consideration the overarching culture and tradition, they also had to think about the very peculiar shape of the Tower in order to be able to present their exhibitions in an accessible way. In that way, they created circular exhibitions on each of the 22 floors of the museum. As a result, these micro-pathways were created, making the visitor go either in a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion. At a textual level, spatial restrictions had

to be considered as well. The four languages chosen for this museum are Dutch, French, English and German. The texts were almost always printed in a very specific order. This is what Scollon & Scollon (2003) called ‘code preference’. In the Museum aan de IJzer, the Dutch text almost always appeared in the top left corner, in Scollon & Scollon’s opinion the panel that visitors will watch first. Underneath, the second most watched panel, would often be written in English or French. The German text almost always appears on the last panel available. Overall, the multilingual labels were put in different positions as opposed to the source text. Often the four panels were put together on the wall, but on several floors, the Dutch text was printed in big bold letters using different fonts whereas it was often difficult to find the French and English versions of that same text as they were hidden away beneath a window and they were often typed in a much smaller font. This is a consideration that had to be made by the curators and it corroborates the idea that the spatial distribution of the museum is indeed of importance in order to study the level of text comprehension.

A peculiar feature of the museum display is that the French text in general takes up more space than the English and Dutch equivalents. Therefore, we could assume that there is still a minor difference between the structures of these languages, which confirms what Robert Neather (2008) discovered in his research into the Hong Kong museum of Tea Ware, where the English labels were much larger than the original Chinese ones. He argued that this would not (or to a minor extent) be the case for ‘cognate languages’ i.e. languages that descend from the same ancestral language. As Dutch, English and German are all Germanic languages, it would be logical that they are more similar in their translations as far as size or length are concerned and that they do not need a very large transformation if they are translated to another cognate language. It could be argued that French sometimes needs a more complex structure (and as a result more words) to express the same content, because it is not a cognate language of Dutch, English and German. French is derived from Latin and is therefore just as Italian and Spanish a Romance language. A transmission from French into Italian or Spanish or the other way around would normally not entail larger texts, as is the case here. The Museum aan de IJzer solved this spatial problem by often printing the French text in a slightly smaller font.

One might assume that not being a cognate language is not the only reason why the French text always took up more space. The French texts might have contained more information, and in some panels this was certainly the case. This is what Neather (2008) calls supplementation. An example in the corpus is panel 76. The purple indication in the corpus in appendix 1 indicates the part that was added to the original text in the French translation. In the following text, it will be indicated in bold.

Panel 76 Dutch original text

Ongelukkig genoeg, en ondanks voldoende controles, liet de kwaliteit bij slecht weer te wensen over omdat het gebruikte leer veel te snel en chemisch gelooid werd. In maart 1916 richt men zich naar Groot-Brittannië, waar de kwaliteit van de schoenen merkelijk beter is, maar de prijs oploopt tot 29 frank per paar.

Panel 76 French translation

Malheureusement, malgré les contrôles, la qualité de ces bottines laissa rapidement à désirer lors de la mauvaise saison, par l’utilisation, pour leur production, de cuirs tannées trop rapidement et chimiquement. Plus de 900 000 paires produites, plus chaussures de repos et

jambières. En mars, 1916, on se tourna vers la Grande-Bretagne, où la qualité était nettement supérieure, mais coûtait 29 Fr la paire !

This is an obvious example of a ‘supplementation’. Furthermore there was also supplementation in the off-site guides provided by the museum. There was for example an extra leaflet for foreign language teachers available on the website. Here, there is more information provided than there is in the museum itself in the wall panels and labels. However, the opposite is also to be found in the museum. This is what Neather (2008) calls ‘simplification’. The museum provides foreign visitors with simplified texts during their guided visit to the museum. It could be argued that, during a guided visit of the tower, foreign visitors will ultimately receive a lot of additional information by the tour guide. As a result, they would not need to have very extensive leaflets while they are visiting the museum. For the foreign visitors who do not book a guided tour, this could constitute a problem, because they do not receive the same and as much information as the Dutch-speaking visitor does.

Spatial considerations are very important in the museum context because they impact the amount of information that can be conveyed to visitors. Museums have to comply with certain expectations visitors might have before they come to visit. Neather (2012) calls this ‘spectatorial experience’, the visitors’ pre-planned idea of their visit. In this case, they expect to learn about Flemish warfare and the Flemish battle for emancipation, as this is what the museum claims to offer on their website. A visit to the peace monument could also be linked to people who are interested in warfare in general and specifically foreign visitors might want to compare their own cultural knowledge with the Flemish representation of the events of the First World War. This is an extremely difficult task for curators and translators. They have to keep in mind the spatial distribution of the exhibitions while picking out the information this will present (curators) and while translating this information. Curators and translators are different people with different experiences and methods. As a result, problems might occur in the translations when the information provided by the curator is not correctly translated or when the curator begins to meddle with the translations in order for them to fit into his view of the spatial distribution of the museum. Neather described this phenomenon in his 2012 study and called it the expertise deficit.

In the theoretical framework, recommended pathways were discussed as a form of spatial planning. A very special example of spatial planning can be found in this museum as well, as it disposes of a simulation floor. On the third floor of the museum, the visitors must find their way through a simulation of an underground bunker with reconstructed sleeping quarters. Here, there is no recommended pathway indicated, presumably because the visitor will be immersed into the experience when he or she can walk around by themselves, finding hidden chambers and dead ends.

In brief, the analysis of spatial factors demonstrated that the curators and translators of the Museum aan de IJzer took into account the very specific space available in the Yser Tower and adapted their exhibitions and translations in order to present an entertaining and engaging museum through the use of texts, objects and interactive displays.

5.2 Distinguishing the communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006) in the Museum aan de IJzer corpus

The previous chapter considered the importance of context in the museum as a semiotic environment, the relation between texts and objects and the spatial distribution that is needed for a more informative and engaging museum experience. In this chapter, the Museum aan de IJzer texts will be studied more closely. In order to do this, the corpus material will be analysed according to the three communicative frameworks presented by Ravelli (2006), starting with the framework that still has a connection to the previous considerations in section 5.1 of this study, i.e. spatial considerations. Section 5.2.1 discusses the translation of museum texts that are predominantly “organisational” in terms of communicative function. Relevant corpus examples will be added for each specific feature of the communicative frameworks.

5.2.1 The organisational framework

The organisational framework encompasses texts that function as a means to reach the public. Not the content is concerned nor the interaction with the public, but the overall purpose of the texts, mostly that is the informative function (Liao, 2018). In a comparison of multilingual texts, features of style and tone are relevant, more specifically to distinguish between a more formal/authoritarian and a more informal/personal style. A more personal style is preferred in the new museology approach. This can be achieved by addressing the visitors directly. The Museum aan de IJzer uses this technique on numerous occasions. Examples from the corpus are panels 23 and 85 in which instructions are given to visitors in all three languages studied. Panel 23 constitutes a warning to visitors and panel 85 gives directions to visitors who want to see a specific artefact in the exhibition ‘The Yser, our last hope’. This can be relevant in the context of Ravelli’s genres. The following examples fall into the category of Directives. However, the English translation of panel 23 contains a more explicit instruction than the original and the French translation. In the French and English translation of panel 85, the adjective ‘gracieusement’/’graciously’ is added,. In this panel, the directions are less clearly presented in French. The wording in the last sentence has undergone a shift as well, as ‘bewonderen’ (to admire) has been translated as ‘find’.

Panel 23 Dutch original text

‘Waarschuwing! U komt nu binnen in een belevingsinstallatie met stroboscooplicht en mogelijks choquerende beelden. Voor mensen met hartproblemen, epilepsie of andere gevoeligheden is dit niet zonder gevaar.’

Panel 23 French translation

Avertissement! Vous entrez à présent dans une installation avec une lumière stroboscopique et des images qui peuvent être choquantes. Ce n’est pas sans danger pour les personnes qui souffrent de problèmes cardiaques, d’épilepsie ou d’autres sensibilités.

Panel 23 English translation

Caution ! You will now enter an experience installation which contains strobe lights and images which may be shocking. This may pose a danger to visitors with cardiac conditions, epilepsy or other conditions which increase their sensitivity to these special effects.

Panel 85 Dutch original text

Dit historische stuk ligt nog altijd op het origineel kussen en werd door de Stad Diksmuide aan het Museum aan de IJzer uitgeleend voor de tentoonstelling. ‘De IJzer, onze laatste hoop’. U kunt dit bewonderen op de gelijkvloerse verdieping van dit monument voor de vrede.

Panel 85 French translation

Cette pièce historique, toujours sur son coussinet original, prêtée gracieusement par le municipalité, est actuellement visible dans l’exposition ‘L’Yser, notre dernier espoir’, située au rez-de-chaussée de ce monument, symbole de paix.

Panel 85 English translation

This historical medal still lies on the original cushion, and was graciously loaned by the town of Diksmuide to the Museum on the Yser for the exhibition ‘The Yser, our last hope’. You can find it on the ground floor of this monument of peace.

Another genre discussed in Ravelli (2006), Report, is of fundamental importance to museums as it deals with providing information to visitors, the principal task of museums. This is the most frequently used genre of texts that occurs in the Museum aan de IJzer. Examples from the corpus are labels 55 through 63, which describe objects displayed in the museum. Label 55 will be presented here as an example, the rest of the series can be examined in appendix 1.

Panel 55 Dutch original text

Kwartiersmuts model 1886 van het 4de linieregiment

Panel 55 French translation

Bonnet de police de troupe, modèle 1886 du 4ième régiment de ligne.

Panel 55 English translation

Garrison cap model 1886, 4th Line Regiment.

Another genre that is often found in museums is Explanation. This genre encompasses almost all of the panels included in the corpus as they usually describe events in time, which is typical of a warfare museum. Panel 50 is a description of what happened during the winter of 1914-1915.

Panel 50 Dutch original text

Winter 1914-1915 Achter de IJzer Het uitgeputte Belgische leger verschanst zich achter de rivier. Het is afgesneden van alle noodzakelijke grondstoffen in het bezette land en probeert zich nu bij de geallieerden te bevoorraden. Gedurende deze maanden behouden de soldaten hun oude uniformen of putten ze uit de overschotten van de depots. Nochtans zorgde het centraal kledingmagazijn in Antwerpen al tijdens de terugtocht voor nieuwe uniformstukken zoals vereenvoudigde kepies en mantels. Deze vreemde verscheidenheid van kledij zie je veelvuldig op foto’s van deze korte periode.

Panel 50 French translation

Hiver 1914-1914, Tenir derrière l’Yser L’armée Belge très affaiblie se retranche derrière le fleuve. Sans les ressources du pays occupé, elle doit se tourner vers ses alliés pour assurer un approvisionnement précaire. Pendant ces quelques mois, les hommes restent équipés de leurs anciens uniformes et de fonds de dépôts, souvent obsolètes. Pourtant dès septembre s’organisa la confection de nouveaux effets comme casquettes et manteaux de fabrication simplifiée, notamment à Anvers par le Magasin Central d’Habillement lors de la retraite. Ces curieux mélanges apparaissent fréquemment dans les documents photographiques de cette époque éphémère.

Panel 50 English translation

Winter 1914-1915. Behind the Yser The exhausted Belgian army entrenches behind the river. They are cut off from all necessary raw materials in the occupied land an now try to stock up with the Allies. During these months, the soldiers kept their old uniforms or selected pieces from surplus uniforms from the depots. Nevertheless, the central clothing warehouse in Antwerp provided new parts of uniforms, such as simplified caps and coats, already during the journey back. This peculiar diversity of clothing can be frequently seen on pictures of this brief period.

Ravelli (2006) describes two more genres, one of which is very hard to find in museums in general. This genre is called Exposition: texts that belong to this category try to convince the reader that a certain point of view is the correct one and it often tries to convey a certain argument. As they are much harder to find in general, there were not as many examples in the corpus as there were for the Report and Explanation genres. Nevertheless, one panel can be identified as Exposition. Panel 5 elaborates on the slogan ‘Alles voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen voor Kristus’ (All for Flanders, Flanders for Christ) which is to be seen in big bold letters at the top of the Yser Tower. In panel 5, the museum’s stance towards this ideological phrase is explained. The Museum aan de IJzer tries to break its ties with this dark connotation of collaboration during the World Wars, while admitting that such a past did exist once. The museum expresses that it would rather focus on the peace message that also adorns the tower.

Panel 5 Dutch original text

Vandaag de dag streven wij niet langer naar een eenvormig christelijk Vlaanderen. De geschiedenis en actualiteit wijzen uit dat we eerder angst moeten hebben voor mensen die ‘alles’ veil hebben voor hun land. Religie, ideologie. Daarom vinden wij het belangrijk om de

klemtoon vooral te leggen op de boodschap ‘Nooit Meer Oorlog’, die in vier verschillende talen op de toren staat.

Panel 5 French translation

À l’heure actuelle, nous n’ambitionnones plus une Flandre chrétienne uniforme. L’histoire et l’actualité indiquent que nous devons plutôt craindre les gens qui sont prêts « à tout » pour leur pays, leur religion ou leur idéologie. C’est la raison pour laquelle nous estimons important d’essentiellement mettre l’accent sur le message « Plus jamais la guerre », qui figure en quatre langues sur la tour.

Panel 5 English translation

Today we no longer strive for a uniform Christian Flanders. History and current events prove that we should rather be more afraid of people who are willing to do ‘anything’ for their country, religion or ideology. We therefore believe it is important to especially stress the message ‘No More War’, which can be seen on the tower in four languages.

In this example, the museum put forward a point of view by using personal language, indicated in bold in the text provided above. Texts also use emphasis and specific punctuation to convey the message. In the translations, the use of ‘we’ is maintained every time. Moreover, all emphasising elements have been translated. In the English translation, the word ‘especially’ even enhances the ‘stress’ mentioned.

The last genre by Ravelli (2006) is called Discussion and it focuses on the open debate of a subject, encouraging the public to think for themselves, without presenting them with only one opinion or argument. A striking example is to be found on panel 12. In this text, the museum expresses its volition to remain neutral in representing the themes of Flemish warfare and the Flemish battle for emancipation. On this panel as well we can see the use of personal language and punctuation. In the English translation the word ‘encourage’ is slightly stronger than the original ‘let you think for yourself’.

Panel 12 Dutch original text

Niets is zwart-wit. Er worden steeds twee kanten van een verhaal verteld. Bij dit alles oordelen wij niet, maar laten u als bezoeker nadenken !

Panel 12 French translation

Rien n’est noir ni blanc. Deux aspects d’une histoire sont toujours racontés. Nous ne nous prononçons sur rien de ceci, mais nous laissons vous, le visiteur, réfléchir !

Panel 12 English translation

Nothing is black-and-white. Each time two sides of a story are told. We do not pronounce any judgement but we want to encourage you, the visitor, to think about these facts !

Overall in these texts and their translations, no particular changes to the text genre can be noticed. As the texts are often translated in a straightforward manner (Reiss, 1981/2008), no major changes were implemented. Whether this is good or bad for the foreign visitors is debatable. In any case, Jiang (2010) states that a quality assessment of translations is very difficult to make as there is no particular

standard that translations should have. Translations are not ‘good’ or ‘bad’, they are just more or less suitable in certain contexts. Jiang claims that the specific text purpose can be used to determine whether a translation lives up to the original text’s ‘standard’. In other words, maintaining the text genre in translation is very important to give the foreign visitors the same experience as the Dutch- speaking visitors.

The discussion of text genres in the organisational framework is a micro-level study of the texts. In Ravelli’s presentation of the organisational framework, she also discusses macro-level characteristics that can be linked to the spatial considerations we have discussed in section 5.1 of this study. These changes can be found in the museum itself, but not in the corpus as the texts have been transcribed in a uniform manner. As a result, the stylistic presentation of the texts i.e. the use of fonts, the size of the letters and the use of colours, are not to be seen in the corpus. Nevertheless, they will be described in the following paragraph.

In the museum, the Dutch text is often printed in a bigger font. To give them prominence, these texts are often not only larger, but they are found on the walls or closest to the artefact, whereas the French and English translations are often hidden away in the exhibition space. The translations are also printed in smaller fonts and are less adorned and colourful than the Dutch texts. The following pictures are an example of the different uses of lay-out in the Museum aan de IJzer.

Picture of original Dutch text

Picture of French translation

Picture of English translation

As can be seen in the pictures, the translations are put in a smaller font and the colourful lay-out has disappeared. Also the emphasis that is put on specific words by using this lay-out disappears in the translations. These translated texts were to be found crammed onto a windowsill, whereas the Dutch text was printed in big bold letters on the wall.

Another micro-level aspect of museum translation is a more in-depth study of the text. The three- level lay-out that was distinguished by Ravelli (2006) is to be found in the Museum aan de IJzer. This is a division of texts into a big title printed in bold, an introductory paragraph in italics and a paragraph without any additional lay-out. For the most part, the introductory paragraphs are left out and one coherent paragraph is presented on a panel. It could be argued that putting the Dutch text and its translations close to each other is easier for the foreign visitors. Furthermore, it is a clever way to save space in exhibitions and arguably long texts might not be seen as very attractive to visitors.

Another shift that might happen on a micro-level basis in translation is the Theme-Rheme shift. Ravelli (2006) states that these changes can occur on a grammatical level in translations. She argued that Theme-Rheme organisation might be altered, which shifts the initial stress of given and new information. One example of such a shift in the corpus is panel 1.

Panel 1 Dutch original text

Met het puin van de eerste IJzertoren werd nadien de Paxpoort gebouwd.

Panel 1 French translation

La Porte de Paix a été érigée avec des debris de la premièr Tour de l’Yser.

Panel 1 English translation

The Paxpoort was subsequently built from the rubble of the first IJzertoren.

Although these phrases express approximately the same content, they put the emphasis on other parts of the phrase. In the Dutch text, the new information i.e. the Paxpoort being built from the rubble of the first tower, is to be found at the end of the sentence, which is the position that is usually associated with new information. The French and English texts focus on the Paxpoort itself, presenting the new information first. It could be argued that a word-for-word translation of this sentence would cause the text to sound unnatural or not idiomatic. This unidiomatic translation is what Venuti (1995) called the foreignization strategy. A possible outcome of a ‘foreignized’ translation in this case could have been: ‘From the rubble of the first IJzertoren, the Paxpoort was subsequently built.’ This sentence is less idiomatic and appears to cling too much onto the source language. Throughout the corpus, similar shifts occur frequently. As a result, it could be assumed that the translated texts are more idiomatic as they use a domestication strategy. However, this is not always the case, as the translators sometimes produced very odd sentences. This phenomenon can be seen in the following corpus examples:

Panel 18 Dutch original text

Vluchtelingenstromen zijn er nog altijd, en hoe langer hoe meer uitgedrukt in miljoenen.

Panel 18 English translation

Streams of refugees still exist and they are more and more expressed in millions of people.

Panel 65 Dutch original text

Geen enkele andere strijdende partij biedt dit aan, tenzij voor haar officieren.

Panel 65 Dutch original text

No other combating force offers this, unless it is for its officers.

In the French translations there are often not only unidiomatic sentences, but also outright mistakes.

Panel 70 Dutch original text

Deze verkrijgt, na lange onderhandelingen, dat het volledige ACM-corps kosteloos ter beschikking van Rusland wordt gesteld.

Panel 70 French translation

Après des longues négociations avec l’armée belge il obtenu que 400 volontaires et leurs véhicules partent pour le front russe.

Over the course of the corpus, no fewer than 25 language mistakes were found, one of which had been corrected on the display using a ballpoint pen. Furthermore, information was sometimes rendered incorrectly, including incorrect dates and incorrect measurements of the soldiers’ equipment (panel 92 and 132). It could be the case that multiple translators were hired, as the translations are not consistent. The translators both in English and French made grammar mistakes and several typing errors can be noticed throughout the corpus. In panel 25 ‘live stock’ was printed, which should have been ‘livestock’. Mistakes in the French translations can be seen in panels 1, 3, 116, 126 and 129. These texts seem less idiomatic as grammatical rules such as the use of ‘accords’ in French are overlooked.

Reiss (1981/2008) proposes a straightforward translation as the most appropriate strategy in museum texts. This strategy is often found in this corpus, as in general the translators made no extraordinary changes to the text. The only modifications that occur are motivated by idiomatic concerns, i.e. to adhere to the grammatical and lexical structure of the target language. The adaptive translation strategy, which implies a more personal approach, can be found in the corpus as well, in panel 124 for example.

Panel 124 Dutch original text

Dit panorama biedt een zicht op de brandende stad, gezien van op de linkeroever, rond 20-21 oktober 1914.

Panel 124 French translation

Ce panorama nous offre une vue sur la ville en flammes, vue depuis la rive gauche, autour du 20-21 octobre 1914.

The adaptive translation strategy here is characterised by the use of personal pronouns indicated in bold. The French version added a ‘nous’ (we) in order to make the text more personal. Also, a case could be made for the use of emphasising structures. In the previously discussed panel 5 an example can be found. This panel relates to the fear of acting out of ideology and religion and the proposal to emphasise the message ‘No More War’. Adjectives might enhance this tone, which can be seen in the following corpus extract:

Panel 5 Dutch original text

Daarom vinden wij het belangrijk om de klemtoon vooral te leggen op de boodschap ‘Nooit Meer Oorlog’, die in vier verschillende talen op de toren staat.

Panel 5 French translation

C’est la raison pour laquelle nous estimons important d’essentiellement mettre l’accent sur le message “plus jamais de guerre”, qui figure en quatre langues sur la tour.

Panel 5 English translation

We therefore believe it is important to especially stress the message ‘No More War’, which can be seen on the tower in four languages.

Reiss (1981/2008) also distinguishes specific text types that can be used. These can be linked to the genres that Ravelli (2006) observes in her study and therefore they are fitting in this discussion of the organisational framework. Furthermore, the text types are slightly different and can be applied to translation in museums. The most interesting text type in translation for this study is the expressive type. Normally, it would be very hard to find this text type in the museum context, but in the corpus on panel 22, one can be found. This panels shows a poem that was originally written in French. In the translation into Dutch and English, the stylistic features i.e. punctuation, metaphoric language etc. have mostly been maintained. The rendering of rapid speech, containing little to no full stops gives the reader the feeling that they are on the battlefield, drowning in a sea of mud. The cry of agony ‘Ah!’ at the beginning of the poem has been left out in both translations, indicating a minor loss of the feelings which the poet wanted to express. The harrowing adjectives and verbs that were used originally, have been retained reasonably well as have the figurative speech elements. One could argue that the French poem conveys that little bit extra desperation and distress.

Panel 22 French original poem

Ah! La boue, l’horrible boue, pire que tout au monde, dans laquelle grouille une armée, ou les chevaux, les hommes, les canons, les voitures ont l’air d’une vermine éclaboussée d’ordure, sanie qui recouvre la terre des Flandres et la ronge, qui se glisse, s’insinue dans le paysage, le paysage qui souffre et ne montre plus que de loin en loin, la fraîcheur de sa verdure, l’azur de son ciel et les toits rouges de ses maisons.

Panel 22 Dutch translation

De verschrikkelijke modder, het ergste wat er is, die modder waarin een leger rondkruipt, waarin paarden, mannen, kanonnen, wagens eruitzien als met vuil bespat ongedierte, bloederig ettervocht dat de Vlaamse grond bedekt en wegvreet, dat zich invreet in het landschap, het lijdende landschap dat alleen nog hier en daar zijn frisse groen, zijn blauwe hemel en de rode daken van zijn huizen toont.

Panel 22 English translation

The mud, the horrible mud, the worst thing in the world, in which crawls an army, which gives horses, men, canons, carts the appearance of ordure splattered vermin, bloody puss which covers the Flemish land and eats away at it, which slithers, creeps into the landscape, the suffering landscape which only shows here and there its fresh greenery, its azure sky and the red roofs of its houses.

Sturge’s (2007) research focused on translation in ethnographic museums, which is particularly interesting for this study as it’s similar to the historic narrative in the Museum aan de IJzer. She identified two main translation strategies: wonder and resonance, which express the need for images and visual clues to help a text gain meaning. Texts that are accompanied by pictures or videos often lead to a better understanding of the cultural concept by the visitors. The Museum aan de IJzer contains quite a few examples of these strategies in the Dutch texts. In the translations, however, these strategies are often not applied. On many floors, short videos have been used to transfer information to the visitors and the curators also used a lot of visual background information to bring

messages across. In the museum visitors find several pictures and artefacts that accompany the texts. One distinct example that informs the visitors about the communication methods that were used during the war is the use of old newspaper articles and pamphlets. They were not only put up to inform the reader about communication during the war, it also created a mood. In fact, in turns out that a great deal of the texts on pictures is unintelligible, because the specific content of the newspapers was not very important, only the fact that they existed.

In her study, Ravelli (2006) discusses ‘wordiness’ (Ravelli, 2006, p. 72). This occurs when there is a high lexical density in the text and when nominalisations are used. In this study, the overall structure of the texts has generally been maintained in the English and French translation. On a number of occasions, however, a slight shift in sentence structure or in the use of nominalisations can be noticed. An example from the corpus is panel 19, where the defensive tactics of the Belgian army are discussed. Below, the original texts in Dutch, French and English will be shown first. Next, a ‘revised’ text will be presented where the nominalisations have been edited out, as to create a text that is less ‘wordy’.

Panel 19 Dutch original text

‘Tot de Belgen gered worden door een oud idee: het onder water zetten van de IJzervlakte door de sluizen in Nieuwpoort te openen.’

Panel 19 French translation

‘Puis, les Belges sont sauvés par une vieille idée: l’inondation de la plaine de l’Yser, grâce à l’ouverture à Nieuport des écluses protégeant les polders.’

Panel 19 English translation

‘Until the Belgians are saved by an old idea: the flooding of the Yser plains by opening the locks and flood gates at Nieuwpoort.’

Revised versions without nominalisation:

‘Tot de Belgen gered worden door een oud idee: ze zetten de IJzervlakte onder water door de sluizen in Nieuwpoort te openen.’

‘Puis, les Belges sont sauvés par une vieille idée: ils inondent la plaine de l’Yser, grâce à l’ouverture à Nieuport des écluses protégeant les polders.’

‘Until the Belgians are saved by an old idea: they flood the Yser plains by opening the locks and flood gates at Nieuwpoort.’

It could be argued that the versions with nominalisations sound more familiar to us. Certainly in French, one would rather say ‘l’inondation’ instead of using the verb ‘inonder’. The French have an affinity for using nominalisations and this can be seen in this example as well, where the Dutch verb ‘openen’ was replaced by the French noun ‘ouverture’.

Ravelli (2006) also argued that too much technicality in texts can make them too ‘wordy’. In the Museum aan de IJzer, a gradual build-up of terminology can be seen. The 22 floors each contain different subjects, but every now and then a term reappears in the wall texts. The gradual build-up of information in the museum is ensured by its shape and its resulting micro recommended pathways.

This is the case for the word ‘heldenhulde(zerkje)’, which appears eight times in the museum. Other war-specific terms that have been mentioned throughout the museum are: monstrance, the front and automobiles-canons-machine guns. Especially this last example is interesting, because in panel 70 the original Dutch title is ACM-korps, whereas the French and English titles put the explanation in the title: ‘Les Auto-canons-mitrailleuses’ and ‘Automobiles-canons-machine guns’ respectively.

In conclusion, the French and English translations of texts that belong to the organisational framework, viz. texts that have undergone shifts in micro-level changes such as nominalisations and Theme-Rheme changes, are not very different from the Dutch source texts, but there are quite substantial differences on the macro-level i.e. the general lay-out of texts, which also adheres to the organisational framework. Based on the corpus study, it could be argued that the translators mostly opted for the foreignization strategy by Venuti (1995). They chose to stay close to the source text and they only made minimal changes on a grammatical and lexical level. Only in a number of cases was the domestication strategy used, specifically when the theme/new information order was rearranged and when the text was adapted to sound more idiomatic.

5.2.2 The interactional framework

In the previous sections of this chapter, the organisational features of museum texts have been discussed. Next, the interactional framework will be traced in the corpus material, providing examples of specific shifts in the translations and interactional characteristics of the exhibition itself. The educational aspect discussed in section 2.1 entails the use of more interactive features in the museum. The interactive game for children, ‘The Mystery of the Yser Tower’, is an example as well as the videos and images that accompany the artefacts and the museum texts throughout the building. In the following paragraphs, the other interactional features of the museum will be analysed on a micro-level.

As was clarified in 5.2.1, Ravelli’s Directives and Expositions are genres that have an interactional aspect to them, as they give the visitors directions or instructions and they try to convince the visitor of a certain opinion, for which personal and persuasive language is needed. An example was already provided in the previous section, but in the corpus, the interactive elements are more so found in panel 9, which deals with triptychs containing movable side panels. The visitor is instructed on how to use the panels and is addressed directly. The text in this example is encouraging the reader to take action, as opposed to the more informative example in the discussion of the organisational framework.

Panel 9 Dutch original text

We nodigen u uit de zijpanelen van de vlaggen te openen en te ontdekken waarom de vlag nooit helemaal de lading dekt.

Panel 9 French translation

Nous vous invitons à ouvrir les panneaux latéraux des drapeaux et à découvrir pourquoi le drapeau ne correspond jamis tout à fait à la réalité.

Panel 9 English translation

We invite you to open the side panels of the flag, and to discover why the flag never fully covers the load.

In order for the texts to be more interactive and to really ‘speak’ to the visitors, the social distance between the museum and the visitors has to be reduced. This can be achieved by using more personal language and less terminology or at least explaining that terminology in plainer words. In the New Museology Approach, there is a transformation from more authoritative museums that are curatorially driven and only for the elite of society to more personal and interactive museums that take up their educating role and provide information in an understandable way. One of the techniques that can be used to create more interaction and dialogue in the museum is the use of questions. In the Museum aan de IJzer, the wall texts often begin with a question as the title and then they present a paragraph in which this question will be answered. In panel 39 for instance, the title ‘Oorlogvoeren, een mannenzaak?’ (Is waging war a matter for men?) arguably asks a rhetorical question. The following paragraph will naturally describe how waging war is not only a matter for men, but surely also involved women. The only text on panel 47 is also a question: ‘Dekt de vlag de lading?’ (Does the flag cover the load?). The use of questions stimulates the visitor to think about the subject before reading more about it and to formulate an answer in their minds of what they think will be said in the text. Questions do not only occur as titles, they can also be incorporated into a text. This is the case in panels 49 and 42:

Panel 49 Dutch original text

Wat is voor jou het belangrijkste element? Misschien is het een vlag die jouw lading dekt? Misschien is het iets anders?

Panel 49 French translation

Quel est pour vous l’élément le plus important? Peut-être s’agit-il du drapeau qui illustre ce que vous êtes? Peut-être s’agit-il d’autre chose?

Panel 49 English translation

What element do you consider most important? Is it a flag that symbolizes who you are? Is it something else?

Panel 42 Dutch original text

Eretekens versus littekens Wat is een ereteken? Wat is een litteken? Voor sommige verwondingen kreeg men een ereteken Zou je een litteken willen in ruil voor een ereteken? Zou je je ereteken willen teruggeven als je litteken dan ook zou verdwijnen? Sommige officieren hadden geen littekens en kregen wel eretekens. Wat is een ereteken? Wat is een litteken?

Panel 42 French translation

Décorations et cicatrices Qu’est-ce qu’une décoration? Qu’est-ce qu’une cicatrice? Pour certaines blessures, les hommes recevaient une décoration. Voudriez-vous une cicatrice en échange d’une décoration ? Rendriez-vous votre décoration si votre cicatrice pouvait elle aussi disparaître ? Certains officiers n’avaient pas de cicatrices mais ont quand même été décorés. Qu’est-ce qu’une décoration ? Qu’est-ce qu’une cicatrice ?

Panel 42 English translation

Distinctions versus disfigurements What is a distinction ? What is a disfigurement ? For some wounds medals and honours were awarded. Would you want to be disfigured in exchange for a medal? Would you want to give back your medal if this would also make your scars disappear? Some officers were not wounded, but still received medals and honours. What is a distinction? What is a disfigurement?

In the first example, the figurative meaning of the expression ‘de vlag dekt de lading’ is translated literally, without taking this different meaning into account. The latter example shows how the museum chose to use appraisal in this case, evoking emotions from the visitors through the topic of the cruelties of war, which scars are distinctions and which ones are only disfigurements? Questions in general stimulate the reader to think about difficult concepts. This is especially the case in memorial museums and in the Museum aan de IJzer, the visitor is incited to reflect on the topics of ideology and nationality. This specific topic will be discussed in section 5.2.3 of the dissertation.

In order to enhance interaction, Ravelli (2006) proposes to use the ‘imaginary we’. This involves visitors more actively and it renders the text more personal. In general, the corpus of the Museum aan de IJzer contains 14 examples of this ‘imaginary we’. But only on two occasions do the English and French translations contain a ‘we’ where it did not occur in the original text. On panel 3 and on panel 124, the original sentence has experienced a shift in translation in that the pronoun ‘we’ was added in the English translation where originally the Dutch text uses the second-person pronoun ‘U’ to address the reader (panel 3).

Panel 3 Dutch original text

U ziet hier een cafeetje waar...

Panel 3 French translation

Ici vous voyez un café où...

Panel 3 English translation

Here we have a small public house (pub), where...

In the French translation of panel 124, a ‘nous’ was added, whereas no personal pronoun occurs in the Dutch text:

Panel 124 Dutch original text

Dit panorama biedt een zicht op de brandende stad, gezien van op de linkeroever, rond 20-21 oktober 1914.

Panel 124 French translation

Ce panorama nous offre une vue sur la ville en flammes, vue depuis la rive gauche, autour du 20-21 octobre 1914.

Panel 124 English translation The painting is a panorama of the town in flames on 20th-20st October 1914 seen from the left bank.

In the previous examples, strategies were discussed that reduce the social distance between the visitors and the museum. This can also be achieved by preventing texts to become too ‘wordy’. One way to prevent ‘wordiness’ is to use the active voice more often than the passive voice. Generally, both are used in the corpus texts. The passive voice helps the curators and translators to put more emphasis on the events in history and more specifically the person or object that experiences these events instead of the person or object that performs the action. This could be an explanation as to why they opted for the passive tense instead of the active tense. However, many cases of the use of the active tense can be found in the corpus as well.

To create more interaction in the communication between a museum and its visitors, Ravelli (2006) discusses the possibilities of modality. Modality is used in texts to indicate a lack of certainty, which creates a more personal atmosphere i.e. it brings the visitor and the museum closer together. When the museum incorporates modality, they abandon their authoritative role of lecturing the visitors, which reduces the social distance between the two parties. Wherever modality occurs, the translators opted to stay close to the source text. An example in the corpus is panel 18:

Panel 18 Dutch original text

Naar schatting zowat 800.000 landgenoten vluchtten tijdens die eerste oorlogsmaanden naar Nederland.

Panel 18 French translation

On estime que, durant les premiers mois de la guerre, quelque 800 000 compatriotes ont fui aux Pays-Bas.

Panel 18 English translation

An estimated 800,000 Belgians fled to the Netherlands in those first months of the war.

Interestingly, the English translator only used one word to express modality, while the original Dutch text and the French translation both contain two words that express modality. The modality is indicated in bold in the sentences above. Another remarkable feature of the English translation is that

the translator opted for Belgians, whereas the Dutch text mentions ‘landgenoten’ (compatriots). It can be argued that the use of ‘Belgians’ creates more social distance, as ‘compatriots’ would have involved the visitors more personally.

A last interactive feature observed by Ravelli (2006) is Appraisal. Panels 17 and 18 in the corpus consist of information on war refugees. This is exactly the kind of topic that museums can address when they want to evoke an emotional response from their visitors, which in turn results in a more personal Tenor. In these two panels, the reader is addressed directly and is asked to imagine themselves in the position of a refugee during the war and also in the position of refugees nowadays. The questions used in the texts create a more personal interaction and the harrowing descriptions of the refugees’ situations might evoke strong emotional reactions, which leads to a more intimate museum experience. These emotions can also be found in the translated panels, maintaining this personal interaction. A shift in nuance occurs in the translations of panel 17, as the original Dutch ‘waar kan je terecht?’ was translated into ‘et où aller?’ and ‘where will you go?’

Panel 17 Dutch original text

We volgen de vluchtelingen en de verwarring die de oorlog veroorzaakt langs de Via Dolorosa. Wat neem je mee wanneer je plots moet vertrekken en waar kan je terecht? Vandaag zijn het nobele onbekenden die vluchten voor verre oorlogen, in 1914 waren het onze (over)grootouders…

Panel 17 French translation

Nous nous lançons sur les traces des exilés et examinons la confusion que la guerre engendre sur cette Via Dolorosa. Qu’emporter quand on doit partit sur-le-champ, et où aller ? Si aujourd’hui, ce sont de courageux inconnus qui fuient des guerres lointaines, en 1914 c’étaient nos (arrière-) grand-parents…

Panel 17 English translation

We follow the refugees and the chaos which the war causes along the Via Dolorosa. What do you take when you suddenly have to leave, and where will you go? Today noble strangers flee for distant wars, in 1914 the refugees were our (great)grandparents…

Panel 18 Dutch original text

Vluchtelingenstromen zijn er nog altijd, en hoe langer hoe meer uitgedrukt in miljoenen. Toen vluchtte men met z’n (schaarse) hebben en houden, nu komen vluchtelingen toe met enkel de kleren aan hun lijf. En jij, wat zou jij meenemen als je zou moeten vluchten?

Panel 18 French translation

Des flux de migrants, il y en a toujours, et au fil du temps, ils s’expriment de plus en plus en millions. À l’époque, on emportait ses (maigres) possessions avec soi, mais aujourd’hui, les réfugiés arrivent avec pour seul bien les vêtements qu’ils portent sur le dos. Et toi, qu’emporterais-tu si tu devais t’enfuir ?

Panel 18 English translation

Streams of refugees still exist and they are more and more expressed in millions of people. At the start of WWI people fled with what (little) they possessed, now refugees arrive with only the clothes they are wearing. And you, what would you take with you if you had to flee?

In brief, interactional features on micro-level such as modality, use of the active voice and appraisal can decrease the social distance between the museum and its visitors. In the Museum aan de IJzer, there is a balance between very personal language features such as questions and directly addressing the audience and on the other hand very authoritative features as for example the passive voice and the use of complex terminology. This more impersonal approach could be explained as the museum will still try to maintain its primary function (Liao, 2018): the informative function. On a macro-level the museum creates numerous occasions interaction with its visitors, by means of interactive displays as well as games and projects.

5.2.3 The representational framework

Since the beginning of the New Museology approach in the 1980s, visitors of the museums are more involved in the meaning-making process. The visitors themselves co-construct the meaning of the text i.e. they are encouraged to think for themselves and therefore they create their own representation of certain historic events. However, the initial framing of these events is done by curators and translators. Framing is the act of putting a narrative in a certain social and political perspective. Still, the information displayed on the topic of Flemish warfare i.e. historical narratives from the perspective of Flemish citizens and more specifically soldiers during the war time, is represented differently in the source text than it is displayed in the translations. Interactional textual features such as questions and appraisal prompt the visitor to think about what happened during this historical period. This effect is not only obtained by interactive displays, but also by introducing personal narratives into the texts, which is an important aspect of the representational framework.

Translation is not only a transmission of text from one language into another; in a museum context it also implies a transfer of cultural and historical meaning and references and hence possible cultural reframing. Translators are mediators between different cultures and choose what to convey and what to ignore in their translations. Consequently, it can be said that this process may be very subjective. Furthermore, overarching institutions can have an impact on the content of the exhibitions. The Museum aan de IJzer is funded to a large extent by the Flemish Community and the province of West- Flanders. It could be assumed that these institutions had a say in what was going to be presented in the museum, but there is no evidence of any political agenda in the texts themselves.

For this section of the study, narrative theory (Baker, 2005) will be invoked to analyse the corpus. The narratives told in the museum are either ontological narratives i.e. focussing on the personal stories of citizens of Diksmuide or Flemish soldiers or public narratives, which in this case deal with general information on the war, e.g. communication in war times, refugees, the Flemish Movement etc. These public narratives are embedded in a greater whole. This is what Bal (1996) calls the synecdochical mode and what Baker (2005) calls relationality.

Firstly, the micro-level representation will be studied in the corpus. Ravelli (2006) commented on the use of technicality in museums in her representational framework. As the Museum aan de IJzer is a memorial museum about the First World War, many specific war terms are used throughout the texts. Remarkably, only some of these technicalities were supplemented with additional information in Dutch, which was mostly translated into English and French. However, this was certainly not always the case and furthermore the translations did not contain much additional information for the foreign visitors. However, some concepts are explained in the translations when there is no correct unambiguous translation. This is the case for the word ‘vervlaamsing’ in panel 5, which was paraphrased and explained in English for lack of direct translation.

Panel 5 Dutch original text

In die tijd ijveren universiteitsstudenten in Leuven immers voor de vervlaamsing van het katholieke onderwijs.

Panel 5 French translation

À cette époque, les étudiants universitaires de Louvain militaient pour la flamandisation de l’enseignement catholique.

Panel 5 English translation

In those days university students in Leuven were striving for the acceptance and use of the Flemish language in Catholic educational institutions.

In the French translation, the word ‘flamandisation’ is used. This is an established translation and in the context of the Belgian trilingual institutional organisation, it is not illogical to have a French equivalent of this concept. Especially since the ‘vervlaamsing’ was opposed to the French domination in the army, the governance and the clergy in Belgium. In this case, it was necessary for the translator to describe the concept. In other examples where the translator uses this technique, the original Dutch proper name could have been kept. In panel 2, for example, the region called ‘de Westhoek’ is once left out of the text and once it is translated as ‘the westernmost part of Flanders’. In reality, ‘de Westhoek’ can simply be translated as ‘the Westhoek’ as has been done in French. Still, it can be argued that some additional explanation for the English-speaking visitor can be appropriate, as not every English-speaking person has geographical knowledge of Flanders. The English text in general has received a specific cultural framing. The translator opted for a rephrasing of the proper name as this would not be comprehensible or meaningful to the English-speaking visitor.

The Museum aan de IJzer relies on its spatial organisation to explain certain concepts in the texts. In panel 21 for instance, the war artefact called a monstrance is mentioned. This is a religious artefact that was widely used at the time. Instead of providing extra information on this object in the museum texts, the museum preferred to put the object right next to the explanation. As a result, visitors now know what it looks like. However, they still do not know the specific function as it is never explicitly mentioned in the text. For this reason it is important to take into account the prior knowledge of the visitors when organising an exhibition. In this specific case, the monstrance can easily be recognised by elderly people, who were often still raised in the Christian tradition, or people who are really interested in war museums or historic museums in general. In other parts of the museum, the term

monstrance returns (in panels 125, 126 and 127), this time without there being an example of the object placed next to the text.

The opposite phenomenon sometimes occurs in the corpus as well. A large part of the war terminology finds its origin in the UK or the US. Therefore, many terms are originally English and had to be translated into French and Dutch for the museum, but often these terms contain more vague and general descriptive terms than in the original English reference. The English translator sometimes transformed the term back to its original, as can be seen in panel 83. The word ‘Webbing’ was added to the original Dutch text.

Panel 83 Dutch original text

De Mills-uitrusting model 1915

Panel 83 French translation

Equipement Mills modèle 1915

Panel 83 English translation

The Mills 1915 Pattern Webbing Equipment

In other places in the museum where originally British or American war techniques or objects are mentioned, the English name is often maintained in both Dutch and French. On panels 86 and 87 for example the techniques of ‘clay kicking’ and ‘the spiling system’ are placed as an overarching title, without a translation into Dutch or French. It can be argued that in this case the techniques are explained in the text underneath the title and therefore there is no need to provide an extra translation.

In the museum, the titles are often well known phrases in different languages. The following examples can be found in the corpus: Gott mit uns (panel 20), Mort pour la patrie (panel 44) and La Bataille de l’Yser (panel 99). In the corpus, one strategy can be recognised: the translator only adds a translation between parentheses if the title is not expressed in the target language. As a result, ‘Gott mit uns’ was given an additional French translation and added whereas ‘Mort pour la patrie’ was kept in its original form without any further explanation.

For this study, the parallel texts in Dutch, English and French have been compared on a representational level. The translators did not only mediate cultural content in the texts, they sometimes added information (supplementation) or left out sentences (simplification) of their translations as can be seen in panels 99, 120 and 128. Their reasons for doing this are unclear, but the spatial restraints for translations or the additional leaflets containing extra information could function as and explanation as to why information was left out of the text panels.

It can be noticed that the museum used different techniques to handle specific war terminology and concepts. From the analysis, it can be assumed that the curators and translators worked independently. This is reflected in the organisation of the museum. On the one hand, the curators used artefacts to showcase what a specific text refers to as is the case with the ‘monstrance’ above.

Translators on the other hand, were guided by organisational and representational framing when they transformed the Dutch text into English and French. In some places in the corpus (panels 86 and 87), they left out titles due to organisational issues and in others they added more information to explain certain phenomena or objects. However, there does not seem to be a systematic approach to these changes.

The last part of this analysis will consider the transfer of references that can be linked to concepts of ideology and nationality in the Museum aan de IJzer. As the museum is a memorial museum that communicates and reflects upon narratives of Flemish citizens and soldiers during the First World War, the translation of this communication takes place in the context of conflict. The main point of view that is communicated, is that of the Allied forces. However, the museum also offers a more specific perspective when it discusses the Flemish battle for emancipation. It is particularly in the context of this topic that notions of ideology and nationality can be found. This aspect is especially interesting to observe in the French translations, given the history of the French language and culture as the stereotypical cultural oppressor of Dutch as an institutional language and the Flemish culture. First, the general transmission of specific cultural items such as proper names will be discussed. Next, the historical references to ideology and nationality will be analysed.

The translator who wrote the English text was not consistent when transmitting references to cultural items. References to the ‘IJzertoren’ are sometimes translated as ‘Yser Tower’, but are also often kept in their original Dutch form. Other cultural references such as ‘De Student’, a Flemish magazine mentioned in panel 5 and the ‘Ganzepoot’ in panel 131 have not been translated into English. In the French translation, however, the translator used a literal translation and wrote ‘Patte d’oie’. Additionally, no extra cultural information is provided on these items. In another panel, namely panel 133, extra cultural mediation could have been provided, but the did not add any information. In this text, the ‘Vlaamse Hanze in Londen’ is mentioned in the Dutch text. This item has been translated into French as ‘la Hanse flamande à Londres’, which is a correct historical translation. The English translator opted for ‘the Flemish Hanze in London’, but this should have been ‘the Flemish Hanseatic League’ in order for it to be historically accurate. These examples suggest that the translator of the English texts was not a native English speaker and did not always have the necessary knowledge and skills to mediate these cultural items in the museum texts.

In the context of conflict, the original museum texts often contain terminology in various fields such as the Flemish Battle for emancipation and the Flemish ideology. The use of terminology has been briefly mentioned in section 5.2.2. Ravelli (2006) proposes to generalise terms that are too specific for the audience. An example of this strategy occurs in the French translation of panel 26:

Panel 26 Dutch original text

Vlaanderen’s (sic) bloedoffer

Panel 26 French translation

Le sacrifice de la Flandre

Panel 26 English translation

Flanders’ blood offer

In the French translation, the sacrifice loses its ‘bloody’ connotation, whereas in English it is maintained. However, the translator of the English text incorrectly selected ‘offer’ as the translation for ‘offer’, where this should have been sacrifice. Furthermore, it could be argued that this connotation needs to be conveyed in the translations, as it paints a picture of the Flemish stance towards their history as an oppressed population under the dominance of the French culture. Therefore, it is particularly interesting that this shift occurred in the French translation of the text.

In order to discuss the translation of the concepts of nationality and ideology in the Museum aan de IJzer, a selection of six of the eleven corpus texts which explicitly deal with these topics has been made. The panels that will be discussed are panels 1, 9, 13, 26, 45 and 46.

Panel 1 discusses the general history of the Yser Tower. It mentions ideological concepts such as ‘Vlaamsgezindheid’, ‘anti-Vlaamse gevoelens’, ‘de Vlaamse Beweging’ and the slogan ‘Hier ons bloed, wanneer ons recht’. These concepts and their translations are indicated in bold in the following extracts. Also on a representational level, a simplification takes place in the phrase: ‘Na een mislukte poging op 16 juni 1945...’. This part is not translated in either of the target texts.

Panel 1 Dutch original text

De eerste IJzertoren had de vorm van een Heidenhuldezerk. Dit was een grafzerk, ontworpen door Joe English, die Vlaamsgezinde soldaten op het graf van hun overleden kameraden plaatsten tijdens WO1. In de crypte van de eerste toren werden in de jaren ’30 belangrijke gesneuvelde Vlamingen herbegraven: de zgn. IJzersymbolen. Ook de steen van Merkem met de leuze ‘Hier ons bloed, wanneer ons recht’ kreeg toen een plaats in de crypte. Na een mislukte poging op 16 juni 1945 werd de IJzertoren in de nacht van 15 op 16 maart 1946 gedynamiteerd en volledig verwoest. Deze aanslag was een gevolg van de anti-Vlaamse gevoelens bij velen omwille van o.a. de collaboratie van een deel van de Vlaamse Beweging met de nazi’s tijdens WO2. Met het puin van de eerste IJzertoren werd nadien de Paxpoort gebouwd.

Panel 1 French translation

La première Tour de l’Yser avait la forme d’une ‘Heidenhuldezerk’, pierre tombale en hommage aux héros de guerre. C’était une pierre tombale, conçue par Joe English, que les soldats flamands plaçaient sur la tombe de leurs camarades tombés durant la Première Guerre mondial (sic). Dans la crypte de la première tour, des notables flamands tombés ont été ré-ensevelis dans les années ’30 : les Symboles de l’Yser. De même, la pierre de Merkem omée du slogan ‘Voici notre sang, quand aurons-nous nos droits’, a également reçu une place dans la crypte. La Tour de l’Yser a été dynamitée dans la nuit du 15 au 16 mars. Cet attentat faisait suite au sentiment anti-flamand omniprésent en raison, entre autres, de la collaboration d’une partie du Mouvement flamand avec les nazis durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. La Porte de la Paix a été érigée avec des débris de la première Tour de l’Yser.

Panel 1 English translation

The first IJzertoren was built in the form of a Hero Tribute’s Gravestone. This was a gravestone, designed by Joe English, which pro-Flemish soldiers placed at the graves of their deceased comrades during WWI. The crypt of the first tower contains the bodies of major fallen Flemings who were re-buried there in the 1930s: the so-called IJzer symbols. That is also when the stone of Merkem with the slogan ‘Hier ons bloed, wanneer ons recht’ [This is our blood, when do we

get justice?] was given a place in the crypt. The IJzertoren was dynamited in the night of 15 March 1946 and completely destroyed. This attack was a result of anti-Flemish feeling among many, because, inter alia, some of the Flemish Movement collaborated with the Nazis during WWII. The Paxpoort was subsequently built from the rubble of the first IJzertoren.

The texts provides a very brief overview of the history of the Yser Tower, leaving out specific information that explains the terminology above. In the translations, no additional explanation has been given on these subjects. Furthermore, some of the concepts were translated using a word-for- word strategy. In the English text for example the slogan is translated quite literally, not encompassing the deeper ideological meaning it has in Dutch. For many source culture visitors, this slogan will immediately be associated with the oppression of the Flemish soldiers in the Belgian armed forces during the First World War. In the translations, this connotation is lost. In the English translation, the Dutch original slogan is still represented, but the question remains whether this is of interest to a non-Dutch speaking audience. Moreover, there is no explanation as to what this ‘Flemish Movement’ actually is. It would be logical to provide extra clarifications for foreign visitors who are probably not familiar with this concept. Furthermore, the French translator selected ‘flamands’ for the Dutch word ‘Vlaamsgezind’, which does not cover the same meaning ideologically.

Panel 9 introduces a series of panels which are called ‘Vensters op identiteit’. These triptychs are decorated with a different flag, referring to the nationality that will be discussed on the texts that are found behind the movable doors that were placed in front of the panels. In this case again, the concepts have been translated literally. The expression ‘de vlag dekt de lading niet’ is again not explained. One of the text panels in this series is panel 13, which discusses Belgian patriotism. Remarkably, the French translation of this panel provides a more hyperbolic or expressive account of the events than the source text, using verbs like ‘entonner’ (chant instead of the original sing) and flotter (flutter instead of the original hang). The nationalist songs have received a different connotation as they were translated as ‘patriotic’ songs in French. The English translation on the other hand, keeps to the source text and faithfully renders all references, retaining elements such as ‘Belgian tricolour’.

Panel 13 Dutch original text

Belgisch patriottisme

Bij het uitbreken van de Groote Oorlog leidt het verzet van het kleine België tegen de Duitse reus tot een hevige opstoot van patriottisme. Overal hangen Belgische vlaggen uit, de bevolking zingt nationalistische liederen en jonge mannen melden zich als vrijwilliger aan in het leger. De externe vijand verenigt de Belgen en versterkt het natiegevoel. Tijdens de oorlog zal de Duitse bezetter proberen om dit Belgisch patriottisme te breken door de Belgische driekleur, het vieren van de nationale feestdag en andere nationale symbolen en tradities te verbieden.

Panel 13 French translation

Patriotisme belge

Lorsque la Grande Guerre éclate, l’opposition de la petite Belgique contre le géant allemand donne naissance à une forte poussée de patriotisme. Des drapeaux belges flottent partout, la population entonne des chants patriotiques et les hommes jeunes s’enrôlent comme volontaires dans l’armée. L’ennemi externe rassemble les Belges et renforce le sentiment

national. Pendant la guerre, l’occupant allemand essaiera de briser ce patriotisme belge en interdisant le drapeau tricolore belge, la célébration de la fête nationale et d’autres traditions et symboles nationaux.

Panel 13 English translation

Belgian patriotism

At the start of the Great War the resistance of little Belgium against the giant Germany leads to a strong outburst of patriotism. Belgian flags can be seen everywhere, the population sings nationalist songs, and everywhere young men enlist in the armed forces as volunteers. The external enemy unites the Belgians and strengthens the sense of nationality. During the war the German occupier will attempt to break this Belgian nationalism by prohibiting the Belgian tricolour, the celebration of the national day and other national symbols and traditions.

In panel 26, entitled ‘De Raad van Vlaanderen’, the concept of Flamenpolitik is explained, viz. the German policy which was conducted during the occupation of Belgium during the First and Second World War, in which the German occupier used the Walloon-Flemish tensions to its advantage and wanted to convince the Flemish people to support German control in exchange for Flemish rights and autonomy. However, this negatively laden term is not used in this panel, nor is it used in any other text in the museum. Once again, the English translator had difficulty in finding suitable translations for the concept of ‘Vlaamsgezindheid’, whereas the French translation provided a lexicalised equivalent.

Panel 26 Dutch original text

De Raad van Vlaanderen

De Duitse bezetter wil de Belgische staat verder ontmantelen en steunt de Vlaamse eisen. De activisten, een aantal radicaal-Vlaamsgezinden, springen op de kar en gaan over tot collaboratie. Met de steun van Duitsland vormen zij de ‘Raad van Vlaanderen’, een marionettenparlement. Het activistisch pamflet ‘Aan den IJzer’ moet aantonen dat ‘Vlaanderen’s bloedoffer’ veel hoger is dan dat van Wallonië. Tegenover de activisten staan de passivisten die de Vlaamse eisen enkel willen realiseren binnen de Belgische context. Zij keren zich duidelijk tegen de bezetter en tegen de Vlamingen die collaboreren. België is slechts één van de Europese landen waar de Duitsers inspelen op het streven naar zelfbeschikking van gemeenschappen en volkeren vanuit en verdeel-en-heersstrategie.

Panel 26 French translation

Le Conseil de Flandre

L’occupant allemand souhaite continuer à démanteler l’état belge et soutient les exigences flamandes. Les activistes, quelques flamingants radicaux, saisissent l’occasion pour collaborer. Avec le soutien de l’Allemagne, ils forment le « Conseil de Flandre », un parlement de marionnettes. Le pamphlet activiste « Aan den Ijzer » (Au bord de l’Yser) a pour but de montrer que le « sacrifice de la Flandre » est bien plus important que celui de la Wallonie. Face aux activistes, les passivistes souhaitent uniquement réaliser les exigences flamandes dans le contexte belge. Ils s’opposent clairement à l’occupant et aux collaborateurs flamands. La Belgique n’est que l’un des pays européens dans lesquels les Allemands ont utilisé l’autodétermination des communautés et des peuples pour leur stratégie de « diviser-et- conquérir ».

Panel 26 English translation

The Council of Flanders

The German occupier wishes to dismantle the Belgian state further, and supports the Flemish demands. The activists, a number of radical Flemish minded people, jump on the bandwagon and become collaborators. With German support they establish the ‘Council of Flanders’, a puppet parliament. The activist pamphlet ‘At the Yser’ is supposed to prove that ‘Flanders’ blood offer’ is far greater than the Walloon offer. In opposition to the activists are the ‘passivists’, who wish to realize the Flemish demands only within the Belgian context. They clearly oppose the occupier and the Flemish collaborators. Belgium is only one of the European countries in which the Germans use the striving for self-governance of communities and peoples for their divide-and-conquer strategy.

The incorrectly selected ‘offer’ returns in this panel. Admittedly, there is some ambiguity in the source text content-wise. The Council of Flanders here is called a puppet state, whereas in reality it was actually a quasi-independent government. The term ‘self-governance’ in the English translation is also more specific than the original ‘zelfbeschikking’. In addition, a change can be noticed between the French and the English translation as the activist pamphlet ‘At the Yser’ is mentioned. The French translation still provides the Dutch original name of the pamphlet whereas this is left out in the English translation.

The last panels to be selected for this discussion are panels 45 and 46, in which the ‘IJzerbedevaarten’ and the ‘Frontbeweging’ are presented. In these examples, the museum describes the evolution of the “public imag(in)ing” (Hooper-Greenhill , 2008, p. 8) of the Tower’s past and of the ‘Yser Pilgrimages’, which up to today still often have a negative connotation, calling up sympathies with wartime collaboration and far-right movements. The museum tries to re-direct the focus from pro-Flemish and collaborative sentiments to the connotation of the Yser Tower as a peace monument. The museum’s attempt to stress peace can be seen in the following examples:

Panel 45 Dutch original text

De IJzertoren

De IJzertoren en de IJzerbedevaarten kennen een bewogen geschiedenis en hebben als symbool van de Vlaamse beweging vaak voor controverse gezorgd. Na de oorlog ontstaat vanuit de Frontbeweging een jaarlijkse Vlaamsgezinde en pacifistische bedevaart naar de graven van de Vlaamse soldaten. De eigenlijke toren komt er pas in 1930. De vorm is gebaseerd op dei van het ‘heldenhuldezerkje’, een Keltisch kruis met daarop de letters AVV-VVK (Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Kristus) naar een ontwerp van Joe English. Vlak na de Tweede Wereldoorlog wordt de IJzertoren gedynamiteerd als reactie op de collaboratie van een groot deel van de Vlaamse beweging. Een grotere toren herrijst en de IJzerbedevaarten groeien uit tot massabijeenkomsten van Vlaamsgezinden. Maar in de marge tekent ook uiterst rechts jarenlang present, soms gevraagd, maar hoe langer hoe meer ongewenst. Vanaf de jaren 1990 distantieert het IJzerbedevaartcomité zich steeds nadrukkelijker van extreem-rechts en krijgen de pijlers ‘vrede’ en ‘verdraagzaamheid’ stilaan evenveel aandacht als de pijler ‘vrijheid’ o.m. door de organisatie van het festival Ten Vrede.

Panel 45 French translation

La Tour de l’Yser

L’histoire de la Tour de l’Yser et du Pèlerinage de l’Yser est mouvementée. En tant que symboles du mouvement flamand, ceux-ci ont souvent suscité la controverse. Après la guerre, le mouvement du Front donne naissance à un pèlerinage annuel pro-flamand et pacifiste sur les tombes des soldats flamands. La tour à proprement parler ne voit le jour qu’en 1930. Sa forme reproduit celle du « tombeau de l’hommage aux héros », une croix celtique portant les lettres A.V.V-V.V.K (Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Kristus- Tout pour la Flandre, la Flandre pour le Christ), selon un projet de Joe English. Juste après la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, la Tour de l’Yser est dynamitée en réaction à la collaboration d’une grande partie du Mouvement flamand au régime nazi. Mais une nouvelle tour, plus haute encore, est érigée, et les Pèlerinages de l’Yser se muent en rassemblements massifs de flamingants, en marge desquels se dessine aussi la présence, parfois demandée mais plus souvent non désirée, de l’extrême droite. Depuis les années 1990, le comité se distancie toujours plus ouvertement de l’extrême-droite et les aspects « paix » et « tolérance » prennent lentement autant d’ampleur que l’aspect « liberté », notamment grâce à l’organisation du festival ‘Ten Vrede’ (pour la Paix).

Panel 45 English translation

The Yser Tower

The Yser Tower and the Yser Pilgrimages have an eventful history, and have often caused controversy as the symbol of the Flemish Movement. Out of the Frontbeweging (Front Movement), after the war, an annual Flemish-minded and pacifist pilgrimage to the graves of Flemish soldiers originated. The actual tower was finally built in 1930. The shape of the tower is based on the shape of the hero tribute tombstone, a Celtic cross with the letters A.V.V-V.V.K. (Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Kristus) [All For Flanders, Flanders For Christ] after a design by Joe English. Immediately after the Second World War, the Yser Tower is blown up as a reaction to the collaboration of a large part of the Flemish Movement. A larger tower now rises, and the Yser Pilgrimages develop into mass meetings of Flemish-minded people. But for years the extreme right also appears at the margins, sometimes invited, but more and more undesired. From the nineties onwards, the Committee distances itself more and more explicitly from the extreme right, ant the pillars ‘peace’ and ‘tolerance’ start to receive as much attention as the pillar ‘freedom’, aided by the organisation of the festival Ten Vrede (At Peace).

In both French and English, the acronym AVV-VVK is first maintained in its original Dutch form and then supplemented with a word-for-word translation. Furthermore, the Yser Tower specific term ‘heldenhuldezerkje’ has been generalised in English and has become ‘hero tribute tombstone’, which does not express the same meaning. In French, the words ‘au régime nazi’ have been supplemented. It could be argued that this specification was necessary in French to give the French readers a clearer image of the historical events. In this panel again, the French text uses more expressive words, such as ‘nouvelle’ and ‘plus haute encore’ which expresses the Dutch ‘een grotere toren’ in a more hyperbolic way. The term ‘flamingant’ that is often used in French to express the Dutch term ‘Vlaamsgezind’ does cover approximately the same meaning. It could be argued that a ‘flamingant’ is someone who adheres to the Flemish Movement, which is not always the case for ‘Vlaamsgezinden’. The translation of ‘in de marge’ was also quite literal in this example and was not the most idiomatic choice in French and English. In panel 46, the shift from a negative to a more positive connotation of the Tower is presented.

Panel 46 Dutch original text

De IJzerbedevaart NU

“De negatieve connotatie die de IJzerbedevaarten (waarvan u hier beelden uit het verleden ziet), én ook de Toren, in de tweede helft van de 20ste eeuw stilaan kreeg, is voltooid verleden tijd” (uit: “De IJzertoren en de nieuwe Vlaamse benadering van de oorlog”, Annemie Reyntjens, uitgeverij Davidsfonds, 2014). Overigens werd reeds in het jaar 2000 publiekelijk een historisch pardon uitgesproken voor “de vergissingen, de beoordelingsfouten en de verkeerde allianties” uit het verleden (historicus Frans-Jos Verdoodt, IJzerbedevaart 2000).

Panel 46 French translation

Le pèlerinage de l’Yser MAINTENANT

« La connotation négative acquise par les pèlerinages de l’Yser, dont vous voyez ici encore quelques anciennes images, et par la Tour dans la deuxième moitié du 20e siècle, appartient définitivement au passé. » (dans : « De IJzertoren en de nieuwe Vlaamse benadering van de oorlog”, Annemie Reyntjens, uitgeverij Davidsfonds, 2014). Un pardon historique avait d’ailleurs déjà été prononcé publiquement en 2000 pour « les erreurs, les fautes de jugement et les mauvaises alliances » du passé (Frans-Jos Verdoodt, historien, pèlerinage de l’Yser 2000).

Panel 46 English translation

The Pilgrimage of the Yser NOW

“The negative connotation which the Yser pilgrimages (of which you see some old images here) and also the Tower acquired in the second half the twentieth century (sic) is now totally in the past.” (from: “De IJzertoren en de nieuwe Vlaamse benadering van de oorlog”, Annemie Reyntjens, uitgeverij Davidsfonds, 2014). Moreover, already in the year 2000 historian Frans-Jos Verdoodt gave a public ‘historical pardon’ for the “mistakes, misjudgements and wrong alliances” in the past. (Yser Pilgrimage, 2000).

The title of the panel contains a “NOW” which is printed in capital letters in all three languages studied. This is a visual emphasis of the transformation the peace monument and the pilgrimages have undergone. The museum clearly wants to stress this change of heart. Not only is it mentioned in their mission statement on their website, the museum texts also contain numerous references to the museum as a peace monument. Furthermore the stress in other parts of the text (voltooid verleden tijd) is transferred in a similar manner in the two translations, transmitting the original intention correctly.

For some of the cultural specific items an incorrect translation was selected and overall there was too little mediation for foreign visitors. The connotation of the historical pardon has been changed in the English translation as quotation marks were added. This would imply that this is either not really a pardon or that it was not historical. The perspective of the quotation by historian Frans-Jos Verdoodt of this last panel was switched in the English translation and this made the text more comprehensible for the English reader as it was indeed this historian who gave the public historical pardon. He was not just a historian who reported on this event, as might have been concluded from the ambiguous source text.

Chapter 6 Conclusion

The present study aimed to describe the process of meaning-making in the intercultural context of the Museum aan de IJzer. More specifically, the study attempted to compare the information the Dutch-speaking visitors receive with the information provided for foreign visitors in French and English. The main analysis was to examine whether museum texts in French and English provided the same information and communicated using the same modalities and interactive features as were used in the Dutch source texts. Furthermore, the research examined how the translators dealt with the translation of references to the specific cultural background of this memorial museum and more specifically, the concepts nationality and ideology were studied.

A corpus containing 133 panels was created, aligning parallel texts from the museum in Dutch, French and English. These panels were thoroughly analysed and the shifts in the English and French translations of the original Dutch panels, labels and wall texts were indicated. For the last part of the study, which investigates the translation of cultural items in the museum, a selection of corpus texts was made which contained ideologically laden terms and the main topic of which was related to ideology or nationality.

The shifts in the French and English translations were first described in the context of spatial distribution as discussed by Neather (2008/2012/2018). Next, the shifts were analysed through the communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006). Each framework, the organisational framework, the interactional framework and the representational framework was discussed separately. A division was made for each framework into a macro-level and a micro-level analysis of the corpus material. These analyses were applied to all texts provided in the corpus, because most of the texts cannot be linked to just one framework.

In the analysis of the study, some spatial considerations were made. First of all, the Museum aan de IJzer created micro recommended pathways. This very specific spatial organisation had to be made in order to guide the visitors through the peculiarly shaped Tower. Furthermore on the level of text panels, it was remarkable that the Dutch text was always prioritised, always appearing in the top left corner of the panels. The translations on the other hand, were often more difficult to find. In short, the Museum prioritised the spatial and visual aspects of the intersemiotic context over the verbal aspect. In the discussion of the organisational framework, this also became clear on a macro-level. The Dutch texts received the most space and were often decorated with a detailed lay-out, whereas the translations were printed in a much smaller font and received no lay-out. Due to spatial constraints, the curators and translators had to adapt the length of their texts, resulting in titles not being translated, but also the phenomena of supplementation, i.e. adding information to the translated text and simplification, where information is left out in the translation.

On a micro-level, texts that showed elements of the organisational framework revealed the following findings. The functions of the texts were mostly maintained in the Museum aan de IJzer, while the translators kept to a straightforward translation of the panels. However, some shifts did occur on a sentence level. The Theme-Rheme was often changed in the translations and as a result the

translations often emphasised on a different aspect of the sentence. Furthermore, many nominalisations were used and the texts overall had a high lexical density due to the difficult terminology that was used. Moreover, the texts were also often not idiomatic and many mistakes were noticed in the corpus study. In brief, the most substantial differences for this framework can be found on the macro-level.

In the discussion of the macro-level of the interactional framework, some projects of the Museum aan de IJzer were discussed such as the interactive game, the videos and images used and the interactive displays throughout the museum. The impact of these macro-level interactional features remained the same for the foreign visitors. On a micro-level, however, some changes were noticed. The social distance between the institution and the visitors can be decreased by a number of interactional features in the museum texts. These are for example the use of the active voice, the use of questions, addressing the visitors directly in the panels, using the imaginary ‘we’, implementing modality and the use of appraisal. In the Museum aan de IJzer, there is a balance between the familiar/personal approach and the more authoritative/impersonal approach, as the museum wants to maintain its primary function as an informative institution.

The discussion of the representational framework revealed that there was little consistency in the translations of the museum texts. It was assumed that the translators were not native speakers, as many mistakes could be noticed in the corpus and the language used in the translated texts was not always very idiomatic. Furthermore, there were issues when cultural information had to be conveyed, especially if notions of ideology and nationality were implied. This was certainly the case for the English translations, as the French translator could sometimes rely on established equivalents.

This corpus study analysed its material mainly by using the communicative frameworks by Ravelli (2006). It could be argued that this is quite constrained and that other theoretical frameworks should have been put at the basis of this study. Furthermore, the additional leaflets provided by the museum and could have been studied in more detail, but as there was no Dutch original available a similar comparison to the corpus listed in appendix 1 could not have been achieved.

In conclusion, the translators of the panels in the Museum aan de IJzer could have integrated more mediation into their work. The foreign visitors of the museum do not receive the same textual nor cultural information as the Dutch-speaking visitors. On a textual level, a number of shifts occurred which make the text comprehension for the foreign visitors more difficult. On a spatial level, the Dutch text was prioritised, which made it more difficult for the foreign visitor to have access to the translations provided in the museum as these were often hidden away.

The results of this research are comparable with the findings in Chen & Liao (2017). The results of their study show that the translations were quite inconsistent, which is also the case for this museum. Furthermore, they concluded that the references to cultural items were not properly translated, which could result in ideological conflict. In the case of the Museum aan de IJzer, this would normally not be the case as most of the references to culture have been conveyed in some manner and in the case of Chen & Liao, the political tension that was described in the museum is still a very political issue. Sturge’s (2007) results showed that translations show a biased view of the culture and that changes occurred on a stylistic level. The stylistic alterations can be perceived in this study as well,

however, whether this biased view of the culture is the case for the Museum aan de IJzer, is up for debate. Slight shifts occurred and there was not much mediation. However to say that the translators created a biased view of the Flemish culture, is perhaps a strong statement.

Further research could be conducted into the fields of Visitor Studies i.e. their prior knowledge and expectations and for this particular museum, the information provided in the spoken mode i.e. the guided tours, audio guides and interactive displays and videos could be investigated.

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Appendix 1

Corpus consisting of 133 museum texts in Dutch and their parallel texts as translations into French and English. (all collected from the museum site itself)

Dutch Text French Text English Text Specific items

1 De eerste IJzertoren had de vorm van La première Tour de l’Yser avait la forme The first IJzertoren was built in the form Deel weggelaten uit de een Heidenhuldezerk. Dit was een d’une ‘Heidenhuldezerk’, pierre tombale of a Hero Tribute’s Gravestone. This was tekst grafzerk, ontworpen door Joe English, en hommage aux héros de guerre. a gravestone, designed by Joe English, die Vlaamsgezinde soldaten op het graf C’était une pierre tombale, conçue par which pro-Flemish soldiers placed at the van hun overleden kameraden plaatsten Joe English, que les soldats flamands graves of their deceased comrades tijdens WO1. In de crypte van de eerste plaçaient sur la tombe de leurs during WWI. The crypt of the first tower toren werden in de jaren ’30 belangrijke camarades tombés durant la Première contains the bodies of major fallen gesneuvelde Vlamingen herbegraven: Guerre mondial (sic). Dans la crypte de la Flemings who were re-buried there in de zgn. IJzersymbolen. Ook de steen van première tour, des notables flamands the 1930s: the so-called IJzer symbols. Merken met de leuze ‘Hier ons bloed, tombés ont été ré-ensevelis dans les That is also when the stone of Merkem wanneer ons recht’ kreeg toen een années ’30 : les Symboles de l’Yser. De with the slogan ‘Hier ons bloed, wanneer plaats in de crypte. Na een mislukte même, la pierre de Merkem omée du ons recht’ [This is our blood, when do we poging op 16 juni 1945 werd de slogan ‘Voici notre sang, quand aurons- get justice?] was given a place in the IJzertoren in de nacht van 15 op 16 nous nos droits’, a également reçu une crypt. The IJzertoren was dynamited in

maart 1946 gedynamiteerd en volledig place dans la crypte. La Tour de l’Yser a the night of 15 March 1946 and verwoest. Deze aanslag was een gevolg été dynamitée dans la nuit du 15 au 16 completely destroyed. This attack was a van de anti-Vlaamse gevoelens bij velen mars. Cet attentat faisait suite au result of anti-Flemish feeling among omwille van o.a. de collaboratie van een sentiment anti-flamand omniprésent en many, because, inter alia, some of the deel van de Vlaamse Beweging met de raison, entre autres, de la collaboration Flemish Movement collaborated with nazi’s tijdens WO2. Met het puin van de d’une partie du Mouvement flamand the Nazis during WWII. The Paxpoort eerste IJzertoren werd nadien de avec les nazis durant la Seconde Guerre was subsequently built from the rubble Paxpoort gebouwd. mondiale. La Porte de la Paix a été érigée of the first IJzertoren. avec des débris de la première Tour de l’Yser. 2 De Via Dolorosa of de ‘Weg van het La Via Dolorosa ou ‘Voie de la The Via Dolorosa or the ‘Way of Grief’ Lijden’ volgt de eerste oorlogsmaanden Souffrance’ suit les premiers mois de follows the first months of the war in in België, vanaf het oversteken van de guerre en Belgique, depuis la traversée Belgium, from the crossing of the Duitse grens bij Gemmenich in augustus de la frontière allemande près de German border at Gemmenich in August 1914 tot het vastlopen van het front in Gemmenich en août 1914 jusqu’à 1914 to the place where the front seized de Westhoek in oktober 1914. Met deze l’enlisement du front dans le Westhoek up in October 1914. With this Via Via Dolorosa willen wij de plaatsen in de en octobre 1914. Au travers de cette Via Dolorosa, we want to place those kijker stellen waar in deze 3 maanden Dolorosa, nous souhaitons mettre en locations in the spotlight where either hevige gevechten hebben plaats exergue les endroits où se sont déroulés heavy fighting took place in those three gevonden, of vele burgerslachtoffers zijn d’âpres combats durant ces 3 mois, où months, or where the toll on civilian gevallen. De oorlog woedde in heel het l’on a déploré de nombreuses victimes casualties was particularly high. After all, land, niet enkel in de Westhoek. De twee civiles. La guerre faisait rage à travers the war raged across the whole of the kunstwerken langs de weg zijn gemaakt tout le pays, et pas uniquement dans le country, not just in the westernmost uit ingezameld oorlogsschroot. Zij zijn Westhoek. Les deux oeuvres d’art part of Flanders. The two works of art een visuele weergave van de ‘nooit- installées le long du parcours ont été along this way made from collected war meer-oorlog’ – gedachte, zoals die in 4 réalisées à partir de débris de guerre scrap are a visual representation of the talen op de IJzertoren vermeld staat. collectés. Elles constituent la ‘no-more-war’ notion, as inscripted on représentation visuelle de la notion de the IJzertoren in four languages.

‘plus jamais de guerre’, comme indiqué en 4 langues sur la Tour de l’Yser. 3 Na de Eerste Wereldoorlog was er een Il y avait un grand manque de logements After the First World War there was a 1.5 groot gebrek aan woningen. Niet voor après la première guerre mondiale. On large shortage of dwellings. The front niets noemde men deze streek de surnommait cette région : « Le Pays zone was called ‘The devastated ‘Verwoeste Gewesten’. Al vlug werd er Ravagé ». Très vite un programme regions’. Very soon after the war een noodprogramma in het leven d’urgence a été mis sur pied : Le Fonds emergency measures were taken, geroepen, nl. het Koning Albert Fonds Roi Albert (FRA). Ce fonds servait à namely the King Albert Fund (KAF), for (KAF). Dit diende in te staan voor het dresser des dizaines de milliers de running up tens of thousands of optrekken van tienduizenden logements provisoires. L’exemple le plus emergency dwellings. The most typical noodwoningen. Het meest typische typique d’un logement provisoire est example of such a house is this KAF- voorbeeld van een noodwoning is deze cette baraque- FRA, composée de shed, constructed with panels of 1,5 m KAF-barak, opgebouwd uit panelen van panneaux de 1,5 mètres de largeur et large and divided in four rooms. This 1,5 meter breed, en onderverdeeld in 4 divisée en 4 chambres. Cette baraque shed is one of the las examples from the kamers. Deze barak is een van de laatste authentique est un des derniers so numerous emergency dwellings after exemplaren van de ooit zo talrijke exemplaires. Aujourd’hui il en reste the Great War. Up to now still some of noodwoningen. Tot op heden worden encore quelques-unes qui sont habitées. these dwellings are occupied. Here we nog enkele noodwoningen van na WOI Ici vous voyez un café où les clients have a small public house (pub), where bewoond. U ziet hier een cafeetje waar parlent des souffrances de la grande visitors are talking about their war de bezoekers praten over hun stukje guerre : des parents à la recherche de la memories and war miseries. Parents erfenis en ellende van de grote oorlog: tombe de leur fils, un soldat du front looking for the grave of their killed son, ouders op zoek naar het graf van hun mutilé pour la vie, une conversation qui a for life disabled front veteran and a Nederlandse gesneuvelde zoon, een frontsoldaat aborde les problèmes de trouver un dialogue about the problem for constructie verminkt voor het leven, en een dialoog logement décent dans cette période obtaining a decent dwelling in the over het probleem om in de moeilijke difficile d’après-guerre, d’être SOUS difficult times after the war, to get Under tijden na WO1 aan een fatsoenlijke ABRI. Roof. woning te raken, om ONDER DAK te geraken.

4 Wat rest van het leven Que reste-t-il de la vie ? What remains of life Wat blijft van het land Que reste-t-il du pays ? What remains of the land 5 AVV-VVK AVV-VVK AVV-VVK De leuze ‘Alles Voor Vlaanderen, La devise “Alles voor Vlaanderen, The slogan ‘Alles voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Kristus’ zou bedacht Vlaanderen voor Kristus” (Tout pour la Vlaanderen voor Kristus’ (All for zijn door priester Frans Drijvers. Ze Flandre, la Flandre pour le Christ) aurait Flanders, Flanders for Christ) is thought verschijnt voor het eerst in 1881 in het été imaginée par le prêtre Frans Drijvers. to have been devised by Father Frans tijdschrift ‘De Student’. In die tijd ijveren Elle apparaît pour la première fois en Drijvers. It appears for the first time in universiteitsstudenten in Leuven 1881 dans le magazine « De Student ». À 1881 in the magazine ‘De Student’. In immers voor de vervlaamsing van het cette époque, les étudiants those days university students in Leuven katholieke onderwijs. De slagzin blijft universitaires de Louvain militaient pour were striving for the acceptance and use vooral in Vlaamse studentenkringen la flamandisation de l’enseignement of the Flemish language in Catholic heel populair. Zo verschijnt deze spreuk catholique. La devise reste surtout très educational institutions. The slogan in de Eerste Wereldoorlog ook op de populaire dans les cercles étudiants remained very popular, especially in heldenhuldezerkjes. Joe English flamands. Cet adage apparaît aussi Flemish student circles. For instance, ontwerpt deze zerkjes speciaal voor de pendant la Première Guerre Mondiale this slogan also appeared during the First gesneuvelde Vlaamse frontsoldaten. Na sur les stèles d’hommage aux héros. Joe World War on the hero’s tribute de oorlog staan deze English crée spécialement ces stèles tombstones. Joe English designed these heldenhuldezerkjes ook model voor de pour les soldats flamands du front tombstones especially for the fallen bouw van de IJzertoren. Zo komt ook het tombés au champ d’honneur. Après la Flemish soldiers at the front. After the letterwoord AVV-VVK in kruisvorm op de guerre, ces stèles commémoratives war these tombstones were also the toren. AVV-VVK groeit snel uit tot de deviennent également le modèle pour la model for the construction of the Yser slogan bij uitstek voor de construction de la Tour de l’Yser. Tower. The acronym AVV-VVK also Vlaamsvoelende oud-strijders, en vormt L’acronyme AVV-VVK est représenté en appears on the tower in the shape of a in de beginjaren ook de slagzin voor de forme de croix sur la tour. Très vite, AVV- cross. AVV-VVK quickly evolved into the IJzerbedevaarten. Uit respect voor van VVK devient le slogan par excellence des favourite slogan for Flemish-minded (sic) deze groepen en ter nagedachtenis anciens combattants de sensibilité veterans, and initially also was the van hen, blijven deze letters ook nu nog flamande et, pendant les premières slogan for the Yser Pilgrimages. Out of

op de IJzertoren prijken. Inmiddels is de années, cleui des pelerinages de l’Yser. respect for these groups and for their toren een beschermd monument. Par respect pour ces groupes et en leur remembrance, these letters remain on Vandaag de dag streven wij niet langer mémoire, ces lettres trônent encore the Yser Tower today. In the meantime naar een eenvormig christelijk aujourd’hui sur la Tour de l’Yser. Depuis the tower has become a listed Vlaanderen. De geschiedenis en lors, la tour est devenue un monument monument. Today we no longer strive actualiteit wijzen uit dat we eerder angst classé. À l’heure actuelle, nous for a uniform Christian Flanders. History moeten hebben voor mensen die ‘alles’ n’ambitionnones plus une Flandre and current events prove that we should veil hebben voor hun land noot voor chrétienne uniforme. L’histoire et rather be more afraid of people who are mezelf: die alles zouden willen l’actualité indiquent que nous devons willing to do ‘anything’ for their country, opofferen voor hun land. Religie, plutôt craindre les gens qui sont prêts religion or ideology. We therefore ideologie. Daarom vinden wij het « à tout » pour leur pays, leur religion ou believe it is important to especially belangrijk om de klemtoon vooral te leur idéologie. C’est la raison pour stress the message ‘No More War’, leggen op de boodschap ‘Nooit Meer laquelle nous estimons important which can be seen on the tower in four Oorlog’, die in vier verschillende talen op d’essentiellement mettre l’accent sur le languages. de toren staat. message « Plus jamais la guerre », qui figure en quatre langues sur la tour. 6 Kapel Chapelle Chapel In de kapel bevinden zich de prachtige Dans la chapelle, on trouve les vitraux au In the chapel, you will find beautiful glas-in-loodramen, uitgevoerd door Jan plomb magnifiques, exécutés par Jan leadlight windows, executed by Jan Wouters naar kartons van Eugeen Yoors, Wouters d’après les cartons d’Eugeen Wouters based on drawings by Eugeen op basis van tekeningen van Joe English Yoors, sur base des desseins de Joe Yours (sic), who based himself on en Samuel De Vriendt. Ook het ‘Kruis van English et de Samuel De Vriendt. Il s’y drawings of Joe English and Samuel De Nieuwpoort’, dat uit de totaal verwoeste trouve aussi la ‘Kruis van Nieuwpoort’ Vriendt. The ‘Kruis van Nieuwpoort’ havenstad gered werd, vond hier een [Croix de Nieuport] qui a été sauvée du [‘Cross of Newport’], which was saved onderkomen. Joe English schilderde het port complètement détruit. Joe English a from the completely destroyed port doek ‘Onze Lieve Vrouw van de IJzer’. peint le tableau ‘Onze Lieve Vrouw van town, was also placed here. Joe English Het geeft de nood aan troost weer die de de IJzer’ [‘Notre Dame de l’Yser’]. Il painted the picture ‘Onze Lieve Vrouw soldaten ervaarden tijdens WOI. reflète la nécessité de consolation que van de IJzer’ [‘Our Lady of the Yser’] . It

les soldats ont expérimentée pendant la reflects the need of consolation that the Première Guerre Mondiale. soldiers experienced during the First World War. 7 Wat rest van het leven Que reste-t-il de la vie ? What remains of life Wat blijft van het land Que reste-t-il du pays ? What remains of the land Deze merkwaardige toren heeft de vorm Monument impressionnant, cette tour This remarkable tower in the shape of a van een reusachtige grafzerk en werd ressemble à une pierre tombale géante massive tombstone was built as a gebouwd ter herdenking van de Vlaamse et a été érigée à la mémoire des soldats memorial for the Flemish soldiers who soldaten die sneuvelden tijdens de flamands morts durant la Grande lost their lives during the Great War. Groote Oorlog. Met de historische Guerre. La Tour de l’Yser et ses lettres With its historical message Alles voor boodschap Alles Voor Vlaanderen, « A.V.V.-V.V.K. » véhiculant le message Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen voor Kristus (All Vlaanderen Voor Kristus groet de historique Alles voor Vlaanderen, For Flanders, Flanders For Christ) the IJzertoren ons al van in de verte. Nooit Vlaanderen voor Kristus (Tout pour la Yser Tower greets us from a distance. No meer oorlog is de vloek aan de oorlog die Flandre, la Flandre pour le Christ) more war is the damnation of war, de toren in het landschap plaatst waarin saluent les passants de loin. Plus jamais visualised by this tower in the landscape zich van 1914 tot 1918 het Belgisch-Duits de guerre , c’est un appel à la paix que la in which the Belgian-German frontline front uitstrekte. De tentoonstelling Wat tour affiche ) l’endroit même où le front extended from 1914 to 1918. The rest van het leven. Wat blijft van het land belgo-allemand s’est étiré de 1914 à exhibition What remains of life. What herleest de geschiedenis van de Groote 1918. L’exposition Que reste-t-il de la remains of the land once again traces the Oorlog en de IJzertoren. Wat rest van vie ? Que reste-t-il du pays ? revisite history of the Great War and the Yser het leven toont de rampzalige impact l’histoire de la Grande Guerre et la Tour Tower. What remains of life shows the van élke oorlog op ieders bestaan, maar de l’Yser. Le pan Que reste-t-il de la vie ? catastrophic impact of any war on ook: hoe het leven ondanks alles verder montre l’effet catastrophique de toute everyone’s existence, but also how life gaat. Wat blijft van het land verwijst guerre sur l’existence des gens, mais continues despite all this. What remains naar de littekens die de oorlog in deze aussi comment la vie continue en dépit of the land refers to the scars which the velden trok maar stelt evenzeer vragen de la guerre. Quant au pan Que reste-t-il war left in these fields, but equally over nationale identiteit. du pays ? , il renvoie d’une part aux questions national identity. cicatrices que la guerre laisse dans le

paysage, mais il aborde aussi la question de l’identité nationale. 7 Strijdlust L’esprit combatif Fighting spirit

8 Het uitbreken van de Groote Oorlog Éclatement de la Grande Guerre The start of the Great War

Het vuur aan de lont Le feu aux poudres The flame to the fuse Aan het begin van de twintigste eeuw Au début du vingtième siècle, l’Europe At the start of the twentieth century, wordt Europa gedomineerd door de est dominé par les grandes puissances Europe is dominated by the grootmachten Frankrijk, Duitsland, que sont la France, l’Allemagne, superpowers France, Germany, the Oostenrijk-Hongarije, Groot-Brittannië l’Autriche-Hongrie, la Grande-Bretagne Austro-Hungarian Empire, Great Britain en Rusland. Ze voelen zich door elkaar et la Russie. Ces pays se sentent and Russia. They feel threatened by each bedreigd en vormen daarom onderling menacés les uns par les autres, et other and therefore enter into mutual bondgenootschappen. Wanneer een contractent de ce fait des alliances alliances. When a Serbian nationalist Servisch nationalist op 28 juni 1914 de mutuelles. Quand, le 28 juin 1914, un murders the heir of the Austro- troonopvolger van Oostenrijk-Hongarije nationaliste serbe assassine l’héritier du Hungarian Empire on 28 June 1914, the vermoordt, is dit het vuur aan de lont trône austro-hongrois, cet acte met le flame is put to the fuse of the European van het Europese kruitvat. feu à la poudrière européenne. Les powder-keg. Declarations of war follow Oorlogsverklaringen volgen elkaar in déclarations de guerre se succèdent à un each other swiftly and lead to a massive snel tempo op en leiden tot een massale rythme effréné et déclenchent une war which spreads across the whole oorlog die zich als een zwarte vlek over guerre massive qui va se répandre dans world like a black blot. heel de wereld verspreidt. le monde entier, comme la peste. 9 Vensters op nationale identiteit Fenêtres sur l’identité nationale Windows on national identity Interactional Oorlogen zijn conflicten waardoor naties Les guerres sont des conflits dont les Wars are conflicts which cause nations ofwel versterkt worden ofwel uit elkaar nations sortent renforcées ou to either emerge stronger or to vallen. Deze ‘vensters’ zijn opgevat als disloquées. Ces «fenêtres » sont disintegrate. These ‘windows’ have been reflecties die aansluiten bij conçues comme autant de réflexions qui conceived as reflections which connect gebeurtenissen uit de Groote Oorlog correspondent à des événements de la to Great War events, but which open

maar deze opentrekken naar universele Grande Guerre, mais qui s’ouvrent sur these up to universal aspects of the aspecten van het complexe begrip des aspects universels de la notion complex concept ‘national identity’. We ‘nationale identiteit’. We nodigen u uit complexe d’ « identité nationale ». Nous invite you to open the side panels of the de zijpanelen van de vlaggen te openen vous invitons à ouvrir les panneaux flag, and to discover why the flag never en te ontdekken waarom de vlag nooit latéraux des drapeaux et à découvrir fully covers the load. helemaal de lading dekt. pourquoi le drapeau ne correspond jamais tout à fait à la réalité. 10 De aanslag op Franz Ferdinand L’attentat contre Franz Ferdinand The assault on Franz Ferdinand Bosnië behoort in 1914 tot het En 1914, la Bosnie fait partie du royaume In 1914 Bosnia is part of the Austro- Oostenrijk-Hongaarse rijk, tegen de zin d’Autriche-Hongrie, ce que déplorent les Hungarian Empire, against the wishes of van de Servische nationalisten die nationalistes serbes qui aspirent au the Serbian nationalists who strive to streven naar de vereniging van alle rassemblement de tous les peuples unite all southern Slavonic peoples in a zuidelijke Slavische volkeren in één slaves du sud en un seul état. Le 28 juin single state. On 28 June 1914 the Austro- staat. Op 28 juni 1914 bezoekt de 1914, l’héritier de la couronne Hungarian heir to the throne Franz Oostenrijks-Hongaarse troonopvolger d’Autriche-Hongrie, l’archiduc François- Ferdinand visits Sarajevo (Bosnia). The Franz Ferdinand Sarajevo (Bosnië). Van Ferdinand, visite Sarajevo (Bosnie). Le Serbian nationalist group ‘The Black dit bezoek maakt de Servisch- réseau nationaliste serbe « La Main Hand’ makes use of this visit to make a nationalistische groepering ‘De Zwarte Noire » profite de cette visite pour deadly assault on him. The shots which Hand’ gebruik om een aanslag op hem te commettre un attentat contre François- cost Franz Ferdinand and his wife their plegen. Het is Gavrilo Princip die de Ferdinand. Gavrilo Princip tire les coups lives are fired by Gavrilo Princip. He will dodelijke schoten afvuurt die Franz de feu mortels qui coûtent la vie à enter the annals of history as the Serbian Ferdinand en zijn vrouw het leven l’archiduc et son épouse. Il entrera dans nationalist who gave the starting shot of kosten. Hij zal de geschiedenis ingaan als l’histoire comme le nationaliste serbe the Great War. de Servische nationalist die het qui aura donné le signal du début de la startschot van de Groote Oorlog loste. Grande Guerre. 11 Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip groeit op in Bosnië, dat Gavrilo Princip grandit en Bosnie, alors Gavrilo Princip grows up in Bosnia, which bestuurd wordt door Oostenrijk- administré par l’Autriche-Hongrie. Il est is governed by the Austro-Hungarian

Hongarije. Hij komt uit een eenvoudig issu d’une famille serbe modeste. Empire. He is part of an ordinary Serbian Servisch gezin. Reeds op jonge leeftijd Gavrilo contracte la tuberculose ) un très family. Gavrilo becomes consumptive at krijgt Gavrilo tuberculose. Toch trekt hij jeune âge. Cela ne l’empêche toutefois a young age. Nevertheless he travels van Sarajevo (Bosnië) naar Belgrado pas de quitter Sarajevo (Bosnie) pour from Sarajevo (Bosnia) to Belgrade (Servië). Daar radicaliseren zijn Belgrade (Serbie). C’est là que ses (Serbia). In Belgrade his nationalistic nationalistische gevoelens. In 1912 wil pensées nationalistes se radicalisent. En feelings are radicalised. In 1912 he tries hij zich aansluiten bij een speciale 1912, il souhaite rejoindre une unité to join a special Serbian guerrilla-unit, Servische guerilla-eenheid (sic), maar die spéciale de guérilla serbe, mais il s’en but is refused because of his poor health. weigert hem wegens zijn zwakke voit refuser l’accès à cause de sa In 1914 the humiliated Princip gets the gezondheid. De vernederde Princip krijgt mauvaise santé. Humilié, Gavrilo Princip chance to join the group which wants to in 1914 de kans om aan te sluiten bij een a l’occasion, en 1914, de rejoindre le murder Franz Ferdinand. The cyanide pill groepje dat Franz Ferdinand wil groupuscule qui assassinera François- which he carries in order to commit vermoorden. De cyanidepil die hij bij zich Ferdinand. Le cachet de cyanure qu’il suicide immediately after the assault heeft om meteen na de aanslag portait sur lui pour se suicider does not work. Princip is arrested and zelfmoord te plegen, werkt niet. Princip immédiatement après l’attentat ne will die a prisoner in 1918. wordt gearresteerd en zal in 1918 in fonctionne pas. Gavrilo Princip est arrêté gevangenschap overlijden. et décède en détention en 1918. 12 Vensters op identiteit FENETRES SUR L’IDENTITE Windows on identity Interactional Op 8 verschillende verdiepingen zullen À 8 diférents étages, des « triptyques » On 8 different floors ‘triptychs’ will come deze ‘drieluiken’ de aandacht trekken. attireront l’attention. Ce sont des to your attention. These are ‘windows Dit zijn ‘vensters op identiteit die dieper « fenêtres sur l’identité », qui on identity’ which illustrate certain facts ingaan op bepaalde feiten. Niets is approfondissent certains faits. Rien n’est more in depth. Nothing is black-and- zwart-wit. Er worden steeds twee noir ni blanc. Deux aspects d’une histoire white. Each time two sides of a story are kanten van een verhaal verteld. Bij dit sont toujours racontés. Nous ne nous told. We do not pronounce any alles oordelen wij niet, maar laten u als prononçons sur rien de ceci, mais nous judgement but we want to encourage bezoeker nadenken ! laissons vous, le visiteur, réfléchir ! you, the visitor, to think about these facts!

13 Belgisch patriottisme Patriotisme belge Belgian patriotism Bij het uitbreken van de Groote Oorlog Lorsque la Grande Guerre éclate, At the start of the Great War the leidt het verzet van het kleine België l’opposition de la petite Belgique contre resistance of little Belgium against the tegen de Duitse reus tot een hevige le géant allemand donne naissance à giant Germany leads to a strong outburst opstoot van patriottisme. Overal hangen une forte poussée de patriotisme. Des of patriotism. Belgian flags can be seen Belgische vlaggen uit, de bevolking zingt drapeaux belges flottent partout, la everywhere, the population sings nationalistische liederen en jonge population entonne des chants nationalist songs, and everywhere mannen melden zich als vrijwilliger aan patriotiques et les hommes jeunes young men enlist in the armed forces as in het leger. De externe vijand verenigt s’enrôlent comme volontaires dans volunteers. The external enemy unites de Belgen en versterkt het natiegevoel. l’armée. L’ennemi externe rassemble les the Belgians and strengthens the sense Tijdens de oorlog zal de Duitse bezetter Belges et renforce le sentiment national. of nationality. During the war the proberen om dit Belgisch patriottisme te Pendant la guerre, l’occupant allemand German occupier will attempt to break breken door de Belgische driekleur, het essaiera de briser ce patriotisme belge this Belgian nationalism by prohibiting vieren van de nationale feestdag en en interdisant le drapeau tricolore belge, the Belgian tricolour, the celebration of andere nationale symbolen en tradities la célébration de la fête nationale et the national day and other national te verbieden. d’autres traditions et symboles symbols and traditions. nationaux. 14 Grensoverschrijdend socialisme Socialisme transfrontalier Cross-border socialism De socialistische ‘Internationale’ wil de L’”Internationale” socialiste a pour The socialist ‘International’ wants to arbeiders aller landen verenigen. Door ambition de rassembler les ouvriers de unite workers of all countries. It hopes to een internationale staking hoopt men de tous les pays. Les socialistes espèrent thwart the world war with an wereldoorlog te dwarsbomen: wanneer déjouer une guerre mondiale avec une international strike: if there is no de industrie niet draait, kan de grève internationale : lorsque l’industrie industrial production the war machine oorlogsmachine zich immers niet in gang est à l’arrêt, la machine de guerre ne can of course not start up. Just before zetten. Net voor de oorlog wordt Jean peut pas se mettre en marche. Juste the war Jean Jaurès, leader of the French Jaurès, de leider van de Franse avant la guerre, Jean Jaurès, leader des socialists, is shot dead. This charismatic socialisten doodgeschoten. Deze socialistes français, est assassiné. Ce socialist becomes the symbol of a charismatische socialist wordt het socialiste charismatique devient le socialist community which transcends

symbool van een socialistische symbole d’une communauté socialiste the European national borders. But the gemeenschap die de grenzen van de qui va au-delà des frontières des nations murder of Jaurès signals the end of the Europese naties overstijgt. Maar de européennes. Le meurtre de Jean Jaurès socialist resistance against the war. moord op Jaurès betekent het einde van met toutefois fin à l’opposition socialiste de socialistisch verzet tegen de oorlog. contre la guerre. 15 Speech ‘Aan het Duitse volk’ van Keizer Discours “Au peuple allemand” de Speech ‘To the German people’ by Kaiser Wilhelm II 6 augustus 1914 l’Empereur Guillaume II, 6 août 1914 Wilhelm II 6 August 1914 Op 6 augustus 1914 overtuigt de Duitse Le 6 août 1914, l’empereur allemand On 6 August 1914 the German Kaiser keizer Wilhelm II zijn volk dat het ten Guillaume II convainc son peuple d’aller Wilhelm II convinces his people that it strijde moet trekken om de eer van het faire la guerre pour défendre l’honneur must go into battle in order to defend rijk te verdedigen en te vechten ‘tot de de l’empire et de se battre « jusqu’au the honour of the Empire and that it laatste adem van mens en paard’. Met dernier souffle des hommes et des must fight “to the last breath of man and een pacifistisch leidmotief en chevaux ». Avec un leitmotiv pacifiste et horse”. With a pacifist leitmotif and persuasieve stem moedigt hij zijn volk une voix persuasive, il encourage son persuasive voice he encourages his aan om de wapens op te nemen om zo peuple ) prendre les armes afin de people to take up arms in order to de vrede te herstellen. rétablir la paix. restore peace. 16 De inval van Duitsland in het neutrale L’invasion de la Belgique neutre par Germany invades neutral Belgium België l’Allemagne 17 Via Dolorosa Via Dolorosa Via Dolorosa interactional Tijdens de doortocht van België trekt de Lors de sa traversée de la Belgique, During the passage through Belgium the Duitse invaller een spoor van verwoeste l’envahisseur allemand défigure le German invader leaves a trail of huizen, dorpen en steden door het land paysage par une traînée de maisons, destroyed homes, villages and towns en maakt hij duizenden onschuldige villes et bourgs dévastés et fait des across the country, and kills thousands burgerslachtoffers. De Belgische milliers de victimes civiles innocentes. La of innocent civilians. The Belgian bevolking slaat massaal op de vlucht. We population belge prend donc population flees en masse. We follow volgen de vluchtelingen en de massivement la fuite. Nous nous lançons the refugees and the chaos which the verwarring die de oorlog veroorzaakt sur les traces des exilés et examinons la war causes along the Via Dolorosa. What

langs de Via Dolorosa. Wat neem je mee confusion que la guerre engendre sur do you take when you suddenly have to wanneer je plots moet vertrekken en cette Via Dolorosa. Qu’emporter quand leave, and where will you go? Today waar kan je terecht? Vandaag zijn het on doit partit sur-le-champ, et où aller ? noble strangers flee for distant wars, in nobele onbekenden die vluchten voor Si aujourd’hui, ce sont de courageux 1914 the refugees were our verre oorlogen, in 1914 waren het onze inconnus qui fuient des guerres (great)grandparents… (over)grootouders… lointaines, en 1914 c’étaient nos (arrière-) grand-parents… 18 Vluchtelingen vroeger en nu Réfugiés autrefois et maintenant Refugees then and now Niet idiomatisch, wss Vanaf de begindagen van de Groote Dès les premiers jours de la Grande A steadily growing stream of refugees geen native speaker Oorlog kwam een gestaag aanzwellende Guerre, un flux constamment croissant started moving from the first days of the vluchtelingenstroom op gang. Vanuit het de réfugiés a pris la route. Ceux de l’est Great War: from the east and north-east oosten en noordoosten naar Nederland, et du nord-est se dirigeaient vers les toward the Netherlands, from the west vanuit het westen en noordwesten naar Pays-Bas, ceux de l’ouest et du nord- and north-west to France. Many went on Frankrijk. Velen trokken door naar ouest se rendaient en France. De to Great-Britain. An estimated 800,000 Groot-Brittannië. Naar schatting zowat nombreuses personnes ont même Belgians fled to the Netherlands in those 800.000 landgenoten vluchtten tijdens traversé la Manche jusqu’en Angleterre. first months of the war. Streams of die eerste oorlogsmaanden naar On estime que, durant les premiers mois refugees still exist and they are more Nederland. Vluchtelingenstromen zijn er de la guerre, quelque 800 000 and more expressed in millions of nog altijd, en hoe langer hoe meer compatriotes ont fui aux Pays-Bas. Des people. At the start of WWI people fled uitgedrukt in miljoenen. Toen vluchtte flux de migrants, il y en a toujours, et au with what (little) they possessed, now men met z’n (schaarse) hebben en fil du temps, ils s’expriment de plus en refugees arrive with only the clothes houden, nu komen vluchtelingen toe plus en millions. À l’époque, on they are wearing. And you, what would met enkel de kleren aan hun lijf. En jij, emportait ses (maigres) possessions you take with you if you had to flee? wat zou jij meenemen als je zou moeten avec soi, mais aujourd’hui, les réfugiés Figures today: vluchten? Cijfers nu: arrivent avec pour seul bien les http://www.unhcr.org/54dOe28d9.html http://www.unhcr.org/54dOe28d9.html vêtements qu’ils portent sur le dos. Et In the framework of a project about Sint Martinus instituut Koekelare, een toi, qu’emporterais-tu si tu devais WWI the secondary school Saint secundaire school uit Koekelare, heeft in Martin’s Institute in Koekelare asked

het kader van een project rond WOI t’enfuir ? En chiffres, cela donne : their pupils what they would take with jongeren nu gevraagd wat ze zouden http://www.unhcr.org/54dOe28d9.html them if they had to flee, and their first meenemen op de vlucht en hun eerste L’institut Sint Martinus de Koekelare, answers were: mobile phone and antwoorden waren: hun GSM en geld. une école secondaire, a demandé à ses money. élèves, dans le cadre d’un project sur la 1e Guerre mondiale, ce qu’ils emporteraient s’ils devaient tout quitter, et leurs premières réponses ont été : leur GSM et de l’argent. 19 Tot aan de IJzer Jusqu’à l’Yser To the Yser Het Belgische leger blijft de L’armée belge continuant d’attaquer les The Belgian army continues to attack the doortrekkende Duitse troepen aanvallen troupes allemandes de passage depuis passing German troops from Antwerp. vanuit Antwerpen. Duitsland neemt Anvers, l’Allemagne prend donc cette As a result Germany captures Antwerp, daarop Antwerpen in en de uitgeputte ville, et les Belges épuisés se retirent sur and in October 1914 the exhausted Belgen treken zich in oktober 1914 terug l’Yser en octobre 1914. L’armée Belgians retreat to the banks of the river tot aan de IJzer. Het Duitse leger zet de allemande se lance alors dans la Yser. The German army starts its ‘Race to ‘Koers naar de zee’ in en wil zo de « course à la mer » en vue d’encercler the sea’ in an attempt to surround the geallieerden omsingelen. Tijdens de les alliés. Pendant la « Bataille de Allies. During the ‘Battle of the Yser’ ‘Slag aan de IJzer’ kan Diksmuide nog l’Yser », Dixmude parvient encore à Diksmuide manages to resist for a few enkele dagen stand houden met de hulp résister quelques jours, aidée par des days with the help of French and van Franse en Senegalese troepen. Tot troupes franco-sénégalaises. Puis, les Senegalese troops. Until the Belgians are de Belgen gered worden door een oud Belges sont sauvés par une vieille idée : saved by an old idea: the flooding of the idee: het onder water zetten van de l’inondation de la plaine de l’Yser, grâce Yser plains by opening the locks and IJzervlakte door de sluizen in à l’ouverture à Nieuport des écluses flood gates at Nieuwpoort. The troops Nieuwpoort te openen. De troepen protégeant les polders. Les troupes entrench themselves and the moving graven zich in en de bewegingsoorlog s’enlisent alors, et la guerre de war comes to a standstill in the mud of loopt vast in de modder van de mouvement prend fin dans la boue de la the Yser plains. IJzervlakte. plaine de l’Yser.

20 Gott mit Uns Gott mit Uns (Dieu avec nous) Gott mit Uns (God with us) Een oude Duitse leuze die ook tijdens de Une ancienne devise allemande, This old German slogan is also used Groote Oorlog gebruikt wordt. Ze staat également utilisée pendant la Grande during the Great War. It represents voor de rechtvaardiging van de oorlog, Guerre. Elle soutient la légitimité de la justification of the war, but also German maar ook voor de Duitse eenheid. Ze guerre, mais aussi l’unité allemande. Elle unity. It emphasizes the purity and benadrukt de zuiverheid en souligne la pureté et l’authenticité de la authenticity of the German nation, authenticiteit van de Duitse natie, nation allemande, rassemblée sous un united under a single flag, a single faith verenigd onder één vlag, één geloof en même drapeau, une même foi et une and a single culture. The slogan must één cultuur. De slagzin moet het ‘wij- même culture. Le slogan doit renforcer strengthen the ‘we-feeling’, and gevoel’ versterken en de soldaten le « sentiment du nous » et encourager encourage the soldiers’ sacrifice for the aanmoedigen om zich op te offeren voor les soldats à se sacrifier pour la bonne just cause. de juiste zaak. cause. 21 Het overhandigen van de monstrans La remise de l’ostensoir The handing over of the monstrance Soms overstijgt geloof de nationale Parfois, la foi dépasse les frontières Sometimes faith transcends national grenzen en zorgt het voor een beetje nationales et apporte un peu borders and provides a little bit of menselijkheid aan het front. Zo zijn er de d’humanité au front. La célèbre Trêve de humanity at the front. An example is the befaamde kerstbestanden in 1914, Noël de 1914 en est un bon exemple. famous Christmas truces in 1914, when waarbij tijdens het staakt-het-vuren hier Pendant de brefs cessez-le-feu, des during ceasefires here and there enemy en daar zelfs vijandelijke soldaten soldats parfois ennemis fraternisent ci et soldiers even fraternize. This also verbroederen. Dit gebeurt ook te là. C’est également le cas à Dixmude, où happens in Diksmuide, where a German Diksmuide, waar een Duitse officier een un officier allemand a rendu aux Belges officer returns a monstrance, found on gevonden monstrans teruggeeft aan de un ostensoir trouvé. Les colonels de the battlefield, to the Belgians. The army Belgen. De legeroversten zullen er nauw l’armée veilleront de près à ce que de hierarchy will closely watch in order to op toezien dat dergelijke telles fraternisations ne se reproduisent stop this kind of fraternization in the verbroederingen zich niet meer plus. Les soldats ne peuvent considérer future. Soldiers are not allowed to see voordoen. Soldaten mogen de vijand l’ennemi comme un homologue avec the enemy as an equal with whom they, niet als gelijkwaardige zien waarmee ze lequel ils partagent entre autres la amongst other things, share the same onder meer hetzelfde geloof delen. même foi. faith.

22 ‘De verschrikkelijke modder, het ergste « Ah! La boue, l’horrible boue, pire que ‘The mud, the horrible mud, the worst Opmerking: origineel wat er is, die modder waarin een leger tout au monde, dans laquelle grouille thing in the world, in which crawls an Frans gedicht rondkruipt, waarin paarden, mannen, une armée, ou les chevaux, les hommes, army, which gives horses, men, canons, kanonnen, wagens eruitzien als met vuil les canons, les voitures ont l’air d’une carts the appearance of ordure bespat ongedierte, bloederig ettervocht vermine éclaboussée d’ordure, sanie qui splattered vermin, bloody puss which dat de Vlaamse grond bedekt en recouvre la terre des Flandres et la covers the Flemish land and eats away at wegvreet, dat zich invreet in het ronge, qui se glisse, s’insinue dans le it, which slithers, creeps into the landschap, het lijdende landschap dat paysage, le paysage qui souffre et ne landscape, the suffering landscape alleen nog hier en daar zijn frisse groen, montre plus que de loin en loin, la which only shows here and there its zijn blauwe hemel en de rode daken van fraîcheur de sa verdure, l’azur de son ciel fresh greenery, its azure sky and the red zijn huizen toont.’ et les toits rouges de ses maisons. » roofs of its houses. 23 Waarschuwing! Avertissement! Caution ! U komt nu binnen in een Vous entrez à présent dans une You will now enter an experience belevingsinstallatie met installation avec une lumière installation which contains strobe lights Interactional stroboscooplicht en mogelijks stroboscopique et des images qui and images which may be shocking. This framework choquerende beelden. Voor mensen peuvent être choquantes. Ce n’est pas may pose a danger to visitors with met hartproblemen, epilepsie of andere sans danger pour les personnes qui cardiac conditions, epilepsy or other gevoeligheden is dit niet zonder gevaar. souffrent de problèmes cardiaques, conditions which increase their d’épilepsie ou d’autres sensibilités. sensitivity to these special effects. 24 Mens versus machine Homme contre machine Man versus machine De Groote Oorlog vormt een breuklijn in Avec la Grande Guerre, un virage radical The Great War is a paradigm shift in the de geschiedenis van de oorlogsvoering. s’opère dans l’art de mener la guerre. history of war. Tactics lag behind De tactiek loopt achter op de techniek Pour la première fois, la tactique est technology, causing man to confront a waardoor de mens tegenover een dépassée par la technique, si bien que regiment of murderous machines. The regiment moordende machines komt te les hommes doivent affronter des scientific, economic and industrial staan. Het wetenschappelijke, régiments de machines tueuses. Les businesses continue in function of the economische en industriële bedrijf secteurs scientifiques, économiques et war. Factories produce increasingly draait door in functie van de oorlog. De industriels sont tous régis par la guerre. heavy artillery, machine guns spew

fabrieken produceren steeds zwaarder Les usines produisent des armements bullets at an increasing speed and the geschut, mitrailleurs braken aan een toujours plus lourds, les mitrailleuses military hospitals can hardly keep up oplopend tempo kogels uit en de crachent des balles à un rythme toujours with the number of maimed soldiers. legerhospitalen kunnen de verminkte plus soutenu et les hôpitaux militaires ne The heroism of the nineteenth century is soldaten nauwelijks verwerken. De sont guère équipés pour soigner les far removed from the massive slaughter negentiende-eeuwse heroïek is ver te soldats mutilés. Ces batailles tournant à and the soldiers fade into replaceable zoeken in de massale slachtpartijen en la boucherie sont loin de l’image parts of the twentieth century war- de soldaten vervangen tot vervangbare héroïque du dix-neuvième siècle, et les machine. onderdelen van de twintigste-eeuws soldats se transforment en pions oorlogsmachine. remplaçables de la machine de guerre du vingtième siècle. 25 Bezet land Zone occupée Occupied country De Duitsers installeren een Sous la houlette du gouverneur général The Germans install an occupation bezettingsregime onder leiding van Ferdinand von Bissing, les Allemands regime led by general-governor generaal-gouverneur Ferdinand von instaurent un régime d’occupation en Ferdinand von Bissing. Areas close to the Bissing. Gebieden die dichter bij het Belgique. Les zones proches du front front become ‘Etappen’-areas governed front liggen, worden Etappengebied die deviennent des « étapes » placées sous by military authority. The land is onder een militaire autoriteit staan. Het autorité militaire. Le territoire est redistributed and demarcated by barbed land wordt herverdeeld en begrensd redivisé et délimité par du fil barbelé. La wire. Belgium becomes a supply door prikkeldraad. België wordt een Belgique devient un territoire conquis de province for the German army, and all wingewest voor het Duitse leger en alle l’armée allemande, et tous les produits strategic resources such as paper, petrol strategische grondstoffen zoals papier, stratégiques tels que papier, carburant and metal, but also agricultural products benzine en metaal maar ook et métal, mais aussi les produits such as potatoes, wheat, vegetables, landbouwproducten als aardappelen, agricoles tels que pommes de terre, blé, fruit and beer are subject to the control tarwe, groenten, fruit en bier staan légumes, fruits et bière sont placés sous of German Zentrales which transfer a onder toezicht van Duitse Zentrales die la supervision de Zentrales allemandes part of the Belgian products to Germany. een deel van de Belgische producten qui expédient une partie des The occupier requisitions the live stock naar Duitsland versassen. De bezetter productions belges en Allemagne. (sic), inventories the inhabitants of each

eist het vee op, inventariseert de L’occupant réquisitionne le bétail, house, and submits movement to strict bewoners van elk huis en onderwerpt dénombre les habitants de chaque rules. During the Great War daily life verplaatsingen aan strenge regels. Het maison et soumet tout déplacement à attenuates, slows down and shrinks to dagelijks leven tijdens de Groote Oorlog des règles sévères. Durant la Grande within the limits of the town or village. verschraalt en vertraagt en krimpt in tot Guerre, la vie quotidienne s’émousse, se de grenzen van de stad of het dorp. ralentit et ne dépasse plus guère les limites de la ville ou du village. 26 De Raad van Vlaanderen Le Conseil de Flandre The Council of Flanders De Duitse bezetter wil de Belgische staat L’occupant allemand souhaite continuer The German occupier wishes to verder ontmantelen en steunt de à démanteler l’état belge et soutient les dismantle the Belgian state further, and Vlaamse eisen. De activisten, een aantal exigences flamandes. Les activistes, supports the Flemish demands. The radicaal-Vlaamsgezinden, springen op quelques flamingants radicaux, activists, a number of radical Flemish de kar en gaan over tot collaboratie. Met saisissent l’occasion pour collaborer. minded people, jump on the bandwagon de steun van Duitsland vormen zij de Avec le soutien de l’Allemagne, ils and become collaborators. With German ‘Raad van Vlaanderen’, een forment le « Conseil de Flandre », un support they establish the ‘Council of marionettenparlement. Het activistisch parlement de marionnettes. Le Flanders’, a puppet parliament. The pamflet ‘Aan den IJzer’ moet aantonen pamphlet activiste « Aan den Ijzer » (Au activist pamphlet ‘At the Yser’ is dat ‘Vlaanderen’s bloedoffer’ veel hoger bord de l’Yser) a pour but de montrer supposed to prove that ‘Flanders’ blood is dan dat van Wallonië. Tegenover de que le « sacrifice de la Flandre » est bien offer’ is far greater than the Walloon activisten staan de passivisten die de plus important que celui de la Wallonie. offer. In opposition to the activists are Vlaamse eisen enkel willen realiseren Face aux activistes, les passivistes the ‘passivists’, who wish to realize the binnen de Belgische context. Zij keren souhaitent uniquement réaliser les Flemish demands only within the Belgian zich duidelijk tegen de bezetter en tegen exigences flamandes dans le contexte context. They clearly oppose the de Vlamingen die collaboreren. België is belge. Ils s’opposent clairement à occupier and the Flemish collaborators. slechts één van de Europese landen l’occupant et aux collaborateurs Belgium is only one of the European waar de Duitsers inspelen op het streven flamands. La Belgique n’est que l’un des countries in which the Germans use the naar zelfbeschikking van pays européens dans lesquels les striving for self-governance of Allemands ont utilisé

gemeenschappen en volkeren vanuit en l’autodétermination des communautés communities and peoples for their verdeel-en-heersstrategie. et des peuples pour leur stratégie de divide-and-conquer strategy. « diviser-et-conquérir ». 27 Voedselbedeling Approvisionnement alimentaire Food distribution De Belgische bevolking heeft het La population belge vit des temps The Belgian population is living through bijzonder lastig: veel mannen zijn in het extrêmement difficiles : de nombreux extremely difficult times: many men are leger en de Duitse bezetter legt beslag hommes sont dans l’armée et l’occupant in the armed forces, ant the German op alles van enige waarde. Het grootste allemand confisque tout ce qui a la occupier seizes anything with any value. deel van de bevolking heeft dan ook moindre valeur. La grande majorité de la The main part of the population weinig interesse in politieke population s’intéresse donc peu aux therefore has very little interest in beslommeringen of actief verzet, maar tracas politiques ou à une résistance political difficulties or active resistance, wil eerst en vooral overleven. Gelukkig is active, mais souhaite avant tout and focuses first and foremost on er hulp uit het buitenland en zijn er survivre. Heureusement, de l’aide arrive surviving. Thankfully there is help from voedselkomiteiten, die over de politieke de l’étranger et des comités alimentaires abroad, and there are food committees partijgrenzen heen werken. De Duitsers travaillent par-delà les frontières des which work across political divides. The laten deze steun toe, omdat de partis politiques. Les Allemands Germans allow this support because it Belgische bevolking op die manier kan autorisent ce soutien, car il permet à la enables the Belgian population to overleven en niet massaal in opstand population belge de survivre et de ne survive, and stops it from revolting en komt. pas se révolter massivement. masse. 28 De Misskes van Pervyse Les Miss de Pervyse The ‘Little Misses from Pervyse’ Elsie Knocker en Mairi Chisholm zijn Elsie Knocker et Mairi Chisholm sont Elsie Knocker and Mairi Chisholm are twee vrijgevochten Britse dames. Eind deux Britanniques résolument two emancipated British ladies. At the november 1914 arriveren ze met hun indépendantes. Fin novembre 1914, end of November 1914, they arrive in motorfiets in Pervijze. In de kelder van elles arrivent à Pervyse sur leur moto. Pervyse on their motorcycle. In the een van de laatste huizen richten ze een Dans la cave d’une des dernières basement of one of the last remaining hulppost in. Daar, vlak bij de vuurlijn, maisons encore debout, elles houses, they set up a First Aid post. dienen ze de eerste zorgen toe. Zo aménagent un poste de secours. Là, tout There, right behind the firing line, they redden ze veel soldatenlevens. Ze raken près de la ligne de feu, elles prodiguent offer first aid, thus saving many soldiers’

dan ook snel bekend als ‘de Engelen’, ‘de les premiers soins. De nombreux soldats lives. They soon acquire the nicknames Madonna’s’ of ‘De Misskens van leur doivent la vie. D’où les surnoms ‘the Angels’, ‘the Madonnas’ or ‘The Pervyse’. sous lesquelles elles sont connues : ‘les Little Misses from Pervyse’. Anges’, ‘les Madones’ ou ‘les Miss de Pervyse’. 29 Patriottisme in bezet gebied Patriotisme en zone occupée Patriotism in the occupied territory Een passievere vorm van verzet in het Une forme de résistance plus passive est A more passive form of resistance is the dragen van patriottistische insignes. le port d’insignes patriotiques. Les wearing of patriotic symbols. Women Vrouwen decoreren hun kleding met femmes oment leurs vêtements de decorate their clothing with buttons and tricolore knopen, linten en pins met boutons et de rubans tricolores, ainsi ribbons in the colours of the Belgian afbeeldingen van de koninklijke familie que de broches à l’effigie de la famille tricolour, and with pins sporting images of politieke figuren. Ook via royale ou de personnalités politiques. of the royal family or of political figures. geperforeerde muntstukken laten ze Leur haine de l’ennemi s’exprime Perforated coins are another way of hun afkeer van de gehate invaller également par le biais des monnaies expressing disgust at the hated occupier, duidelijk blijken. De bezetter reageert op percées. En réaction à ces who reacts to these open displays of deze openlijke blijken van ongenoegen manifestations de mécontentement, dissatisfaction by issuing new decrees. door de uitvaardiging van een l’occupant promulgue un règlement. verordening. 30 Heldhaftige vrouwen Héroïnes Heroic women Het verzet in bezet België heeft vele Dans la Belgique occupée, la résistance The resistance in occupied Belgium has gezichten: het verzamelen van prend de multiples formes : recueillir many faces: collecting intelligence about inlichtingen over de Duitse troepen, het des renseignements sur les troupes German troops, committing acts of plegen van sabotage, het smokkelen van allemandes, commettre des actes de sabotage, smuggling people and letters mensen en brieven over de elektrische sabotage, faire franchir la clôture across the electric fences to the neutral versperring naar het neutrale Nederland électrique entre la Belgique et les Pays- Netherlands, or concealing a forbidden of het verbergen van een verboden Bas neutres aux personnes et au courrier weapon. A large number of women take wapen. Heel wat vrouwen nemen hierbij ou chacher des armes interdites. huge risks when engaging in such grote risico’s. De meesten opereren in Nombre de femmes n’hésitent pas à activities. Most operate in the shadows.

de schaduw. Enkele bekende namen zijn prendre de grands risques. Certaines, Famous names include the Belgian spy de Belgische spionne Gabrielle Petit en comme l’espionne belge Gabrielle Petit Gabrielle Petit and the British nurse de Britse verpleegster Edith Cavell; zij et l’infirmière britannique Edith Cavell, Edith Cavell, both paid for their bekopen hun engagement met de dood. paient leur engagement de leur vie. involvement with their lives. 31 Madame Tack Madame Tack / In Nieuwkapelle leeft de kranige À Nieuwkapelle, une veuve courageuse, In Nieuwkapelle, the spirited widow weduwe Marie Tack in Villa Marietta aan Marie Tack, habite la Villa Marietta, sur Marie Tack lives in Villa Marietta on the de IJzerdijk, een kilometer van de Duitse la Digue de l’Yser. Elle y reçoit des Ijzerdijk, one kilometre from the German frontlijn. Ze ontvangt er soldaten maar soldats, mais aussi des personnalités qui front line. There she receives not only ook hooggeplaatste personen die hun signent son livre d’or. Notamment le soldiers, but also high-ranking figures naam achterlaten in haar gastenboek. couple royal belge et le chef du who leave their names in her guest book. Onder meer het Belgische koningspaar gouvernement Charles de Broqueville. The Belgian King and Queen, and the en regeringsleider Charles de Régulièrement, Madame Tack se met en Head of Government Charles de Broqueville. Geregeld gaat Madame route avec son âne et son chien pour Broqueville pay her a visit. Madame Tack Tack op pad met haar ezel en hondje en aller distribuer des cigarettes et de la regularly goes out with her donkey and deelt sigaretten en voedsel uit aan de nourriture dans les tranchées. Ce qui lui her dog to distribute cigarettes and food militairen in de loopgraven. Zo raakt ze vaut le surnom de ‘Maman des soldats’. to the soldiers in the trenches, thus bekend als de ‘Maman des soldats’. becoming known as the ‘Maman des soldats’.

32 Mieke Deboeuf Mieke Deboeuf / Mieke Deboeuf woont in Oudekapelle Mieke Deboeuf vit à Oudekapelle, au Mieke Deboeuf lives in Oudekapelle langs de IJzer, binnen de Duitse vuurlijn. bord de l’Yser, en première ligne. Des beside the River Yser, within the German Niettemin weigert ze maandenlang om mois durant, cependant, elle refuse de firing line. Despite this, she refuses to te verhuizen. In haar half déménager. Dans sa bicoque à moitié move for months. In her house, half of kapotgeschoten huisje ontvangt ‘Mietje’ effondrée, ‘Mietje’ accueille les soldats which is shot to pieces, ‘Mietje’ de soldaten met een glaasje geitenmelk. avec un verre de lait de chèvre. A cause welcomes soldiers with a glass of goat’s Haar glimlach levert haar de bijnaam ‘La de son sourire, ils la surnomment ‘La milk. Her smile leads her being dubbed

Joconde’ op. Na vijandelijke Joconde’. Après chaque bombardement, ‘La Joconde’. After enemy bombardementen zou ze steevast naar elle les rejoint dans la tranchée de bombardments, she would de frontlinie trekken om al vloekend combat pour tirer, en direction de determinedly head to the front line and tegenvuur te geven. l’ennemi, un coup de feu accompagné return fire, swearing profusely. d’une injure sonore. 33 La Libre Belgique La Libre Belgique La Libre Belgique Tijdens de bezetting is de pers het Sous l’occupation, la presse est le During the occupation, the most belangrijkste middel voor de principal mode de diffusion de effective means of disseminating verspreiding van informatie. De Duitse l’information. Mais l’occupant allemand information is through the press. bezetter doet er echter alles aan om het fait tout pour la contrôler. De ce fait, des However, the German occupier goes to nieuws te controleren. Daarom duiken al journaux clandestins ne tardent pas à great lengths to control the news. This heel snel allerlei vormen van clandestien voir le jour. Le plus célèbre et le plus results in the rapid appearances of all of verboden drukwerk op. Het populaire est La Libre Belgique qui kinds of different clandestine or beroemdste en meest verspreide blad is parvient à publier 171 numéros. Malgré forbidden publications. The most La Libre Belgique waarvan maar liefst le risque d’une peine de prison, les famous and most widely distributed 171 nummers verschijnen. Bij het femmes s’impliquent également dans newspaper is La Libre Belgique of which drukken en verspreiden zijn ook l’impression et la diffusion des some 171 editions appear. Women take vrouwen betrokken; zij riskeren voor dit ‘clandestins’. part in its printing and distribution, werk een gevangenisstraf. risking a prison sentence in the process. 34 Koning-soldaat Albert I Roi-soldat Albert Ier King-soldier Albert I De geruchten over de Russische februari En 1917, les rumeurs concernant la During 1917 the rumours about the revolutie bereiken in de loop van 1917 révolution de février russe atteignent le Russian February Revolution reach the het westelijke front. De front de l’Ouest. La désobéissance des Western front. Later that year the ongehoorzaamheid van Franse troepen troupes françaises- ils ont refusé de disobedience of the French troops- they om onzinnige aanvallen uit te voeren, participer à des attaques inutiles- refuse to participate in useless attacks- later op het jaar, bevestigt dat ook bij de confirme que le mécontentement parmi confirms that de dissatisfaction of the Franse troepen het ongenoegen groot is. les troupes françaises est aussi très French troops is also very big. To avoid Om muiterij en neerslachtigheid tegen grand. Afin d’éviter de la mutinerie et du mutiny and discouragement, it is

te gaan, wordt het Belgische soldaten découragement, il est interdit pour les forbidden for Belgian soldiers to verboden vlugschriften of open brieven soldats belges de distribuer des distribute pamphlets or open letters in te verspreiden, waar de Vlaamse pamphlets ou des lettres ouvertes dans which the Flemish interests are put belangen boven de Belgische worden lesquelles les intérêts flamands sont above the Belgian interests or in which geplaatst of waarin aan de éénheid van placés au-dessus des intérêts belges ou the army’s unity is questioned. King het leger getwijfeld wordt. Koning Albert dans lesquelles l’unité de l’armée est Albert I refuses to mobilise his army for I weigert zijn leger in te zetten in mise en doute. Roi Albert Ier refuse de the large-scale attacks. He becomes grootschalige aanvallen. Dat hij in België mobiliser son armée pour des grandes even more popular because he stays in (De Panne) blijft wonen verhoogt zijn offensives. Le fait qu’il rest résider en Belgium (De Panne): King soldier Albert I populariteit nog: koning-soldaat Albert I Belgique (La Panne) augmente encore sa becomes a symbol of the Belgian nation. groeit uit tot een symbool van de popularité : le roi-soldat Albert Ier Belgische natie. devient un symbole de la nation belge. 35 Open brief aan de koning Lettre ouverte au roi Open letter to the king Onder Vlaamsgezinde soldaten aan het Le mécontentement parmi les soldats The dissatisfaction of the Flemish- front groeit het ongenoegen. Ze voelen flamingants au front grandit. Ils se minded soldiers at the front grows. They zich achtergesteld en menen dat ze niet sentent défavorisés et ils croient qu’ils feel disadvantaged and they think that dezelfde mogelijkheden krijgen als hun n’ont pas les mêmes possibilités que les they do not receive the same Franstalige medesoldaten. Ze besluiten soldats francophones. Ils décident possibilities like the French-speaking en ‘open brief’ te schrijven aan de enige d’écrire une ‘lettre ouverte’ à la seule soldiers. They decide to write an ‘open persoon die ze nog vertrouwen, Koning personne en qu’ils ont encore confiance, letter’ to the only person they can still Albert I. Deze brief is een aanklacht le Roi Albert Ier. Cette lettre est une trust, King Albert I. This letter is a tegen de taal- en sociale wantoestanden plainte contre les irrégularités complaint about the linguistic and social in het leger. De soldaten rekenen op de linguistiques et sociales dans l’armée. irregularities in the army. The soldiers koning om hun situatie te verbeteren. Les soldats comptent sur le Roi pour are counting on the king to improve their Ook met propaganda-acties proberen de améliorer leur situation. Les soldats situation. They also try to express their soldaten hun frustraties te uiten. Ze essaient aussi d’exprimer leurs frustrations with propaganda actions. delen pamfletten uit en schilderen hun frustrations par des actions de They distribute pamphlets and they slagzinnen waar ze maar kunnen. propagande. Ils distribuent des paint their slogans everywhere they can.

pamphlets et ils peignent leurs devises où ils ont la possibilité. 36 Engelen aan het front Des anges au front Angels at the Front Al voor 1914 was de medische zorg bij Dès avant 1914, les soins médicaux Prior to 1914, nurses or experienced alle strijdende partijen in handen van étaient aussurés, chez tous les members of religious orders had already verpleegsters of ervaren religieuzen. belligérants, par des infirmières ou des been providing medical care for all Tijdens de Grote Oorlog zijn ze ook dicht religieuses expérimentées. Pendant la warring parties. In the First World War, bij het front te vinden waar ze snel de grande guerre, elles se rapprochent du however, we see them working closer to eerste zorg kunnen toedienen. Tot hun front, pour pouvoir prodiguer les the fighting, where they can rapidly grote ontgoocheling is het enige doel om premiers secouers dans les plus brefs deliver first aid. To the nurses’ great de gewonde soldaten zo vlug mogelijk délais. A leur grande déception, elles disappointment, the only goal is to get op de been te krijgen en hen opnieuw n’ont d’autre choix que de remettre les the wounded soldiers back on their feet het oorlogsvuur in te sturen. soldats blessés sur pied le plus again as quickly as possible and to send rapidement possible, afin de les them back to the Front. renvoyer au combat. 37 Dromen over ‘t vrouwvolk Rêves de femmes Dreaming about women Het zware frontleven en de langdurige Épuisés par les conditions de la vie au The tough life at the Front and the long afwezigheid van vrouwen leiden tot front et trop longtemps privés de term absence of women leads to war oorlogsmoeheid. Terwijl de ene militair femmes, certains militaires font appel à weariness amongst the men. Some een beroep doet op prostituees om de la prostitution pour satisfaire leurs soldiers visit prostitutes to satisfy their fysieke nood te lenigen, vindt de andere besoins psychologiques, tandis que physical longings, while others find troost in de verbeelding. Erotische d’autres se consolent par l’imagination. comfort in images. Erotic images in beelden in tijdschriften of op objecten Les images érotiques dans les revues ou magazines or on objects offer solace. bieden soelaas. De vrouw wordt sur des objets leur apportent un certain Women are serenaded with sentimental bezongen in lieflijke of vulgaire liedjes en soulagement. La femme, célébrée dans or vulgar songs and this provides levert inspiratie voor menig des chansons sentimentales ou inspiration for many a ‘trench artist’ who ‘loopgraafartiest’ die sieraden maakt vulgaires, sert aussi d’inspiration à de fashions jewels for his wife or girlfriend. voor vrouw of vriendin. Om de nombreux ‘artistes des tranchées’, qui With the aim of alleviating the lonely

moedeloosheid van de eenzame créent des bijoux pour leurs épouses ou soldiers’ despondency, some ladies take soldaten te verdrijven nemen sommige leurs amies. Pour remonter le moral des on the role of ‘marraine’ (godmother). dames de rol van ‘marraine’ (meter) op soldats solitaires, des dames, qui They send friendly, sometimes loving zich. Ze sturen vriendschappelijke, soms assument le rôle de ‘marraine’ , leur letters and small gifts. lieflijke brieven en kleine cadeautjes op. envoient des lettres amicales, voire tendres, et des petits cadeaux. 38 Oorlogsweduwen Veuves de guerre War widows De dood van tien miljoen mannen laat Les dix millions d’hommes morts The deaths of ten million men mean that miljoenen vrouwen en hun kinderen in pendant la première guerre mondiale millions of women and their children are eenzaamheid achter. Jarenlang dragen laissent derrière eux des millions de left behind alone. This loss is felt for zij dit verlies met zich mee, ondanks de veuves et d’orphelins. Malgré la years, despite the financial financiële compensatie via compensation financière constituée par compensation provided via widow’s weduwepensioenen en de toekenning les pensions de veuves et l’octroi du pensions and the granting of voting van stemrecht bij alle verkiezingen. droit de vote à toutes les élections, les rights at all elections. femmes ont payé un lourd tribut au conflit. 39 Oorlogvoeren, een mannenzaak? La guerre, une affaire d’hommes ? Is waging war a matter for men? In de Eerste Wereldoorlog trekken La première guerre mondiale mobilise During the First World War, millions of miljoenen mannen ten strijde. Om die des millions d’hommes. Pour la première men go to war. In order to support this enorme inspanning te ondersteunen fois, afin de soutenir cet énorme effort, huge endeavour the whole of society is wordt voor het eerst de hele la société tout entière est mise à harnessed for the first time, with women samenleving ingezet. Ook de vrouwen contribution. Et les femmes font also making an important contribution. leveren een belangrijke bijdrage. Thuis largement leur part. Devenues chefs de At home, women replace men in their vervangen ze de man in zijn rol als vader famille, elles doivent désormais gagner role as fathers and breadwinners. en kostwinner. Daarnaast helpen velen l’argent du ménage. Beaucoup Furthermore, many help in the medical bij de medische diensten of werken ze in travaillent dans les services médicaux ou services or work in the war factories. de oorlogsfabrieken. Sommigen nemen les usines de guerre. Certaines prennent After the war, women are expected to zelfs dienst of ontplooien activiteiten in même du service ou s’engagent dans la go back to caring for their families. In

het verzet. Na de oorlog wordt van hen résistance. Mais, après la guerre, elles some countries, the acquisition of voting verwacht dat ze de zorg voor het gezin sont censées regagner leur foyer comme rights provides scant consolation and terug opnemen. Het verkrijgen van het si de rien n’était. L’obtention du droit de hampers women’s progress in other stemrecht in sommige landen is een vote dans certains pays n’est pour elles areas, such as on the labour market. magere troost en bemoeilijkt de weg qu’une maigre consolation, d’autant naar emancipatie op andere terreinen qu’elle ne facilite pas leur émancipation zoals op de arbeidsmarkt. dans d’autres domaines, notamment sur le marché du travail. 40 Terug thuis Retour chez soi Back home In 1917 ondertekent Rusland na de En 1917, après la révolution In 1917, after the Russian revolution, Russische revolutie een vredesverdrag bolchevique, la Russie signe un traité de Russia signs a peace treaty with met Duitsland waardoor de Duitsers de paix avec l’Allemagne, qui peut ainsi Germany, allowing the Germans to vrijgekomen troepen aan het Westelijke réaffecter sur le front occidental ses commit the disengaged troops to the front kunnen inzetten. Maar de troupes revenues de l’est. Mais les Western front. But the allied forces geallieerde legers krijgen versterking armées alliées sont rejointes par les receive reinforcements from the van de Amerikanen en zetten eind Américains, grâce à quoi elles livrent, fin Americans, and at the end of September september 1918 het grote septembre 1918, la grande offensive de 1918 start the large liberation offensive, bevrijdingsoffensief in en drijven de libération et repoussent les Allemands. and push the Germans back. On 11 Duitsers terug. Op 11 november 1918 Finalement, le 11 novembre 1918, November 1918 Germany signs the ondertekent Duitsland de l’Allemagne signe l’armistice. Dans le armistice. In the course of 1919 the wapenstilstand. In de loop van 1919 courant de 1919, les soldats rentrent soldiers return home, often to an komen de soldaten terug thuis, dikwijls chez eux, parfois dans un environment which has become alien to in een omgeving die hen vreemd environnement qui leur est devenu them. The horrors of the war are difficult geworden is. De gruwel van de oorlog is étranger. Les horreurs de la guerre sont to discuss, and often keep returning as moeilijk te bespreken en blijft vaak in difficiles à exorciser et reviennent wordless nightmares. The years at the woordeloze nachtmerries terugkeren. souvent peupler leurs nuits dans des front leave their scars in landscape, body De jaren aan het front laten hun cauchemars muets. Les années de front and soul.

littekens na in landschap, lichaam en laissent des cicatrices dans la terre, dans ziel. les corps et dans les âmes. 41 Eretekens versus littekens Médailles et cicatrices Scars versus medals

42 Eretekens versus littekens Décorations et cicatrices Distinctions versus disfigurements Wat is een ereteken? Qu’est-ce qu’une décoration? What is a distinction ? Wat is een litteken? Qu’est-ce qu’une cicatrice? What is a disfigurement ? Voor sommige verwondingen kreeg men Pour certaines blessures, les hommes For some wounds medals and honours een ereteken recevaient une décoration. were awarded. Zou je een litteken willen in ruil voor een Voudriez-vous une cicatrice en échange Would you want to be disfigured in ereteken? d’une décoration ? exchange for a medal? Zou je je ereteken willen teruggeven als Rendriez-vous votre décoration si votre Would you want to give back your medal je litteken dan ook zou verdwijnen? cicatrice pouvait elle aussi disparaître ? if this would also make your scars Sommige officieren hadden geen Certains officiers n’avaient pas de disappear? littekens en kregen wel eretekens. cicatrices mais ont quand même été Some officers were not wounded, but Wat is een ereteken? décorés. still received medals and honours. Wat is een litteken? Qu’est-ce qu’une décoration ? What is a distinction? Qu’est-ce qu’une cicatrice ? What is a disfigurement? 43 Heldenhulde Hommage aux héros Heroe’s tribute De grafzerken van het Belgische leger Les pierres tombales de l’armée belge The headstones of the Belgian army only vermelden enkel in het Franstalig mentionnent uniquement l’inscription bear an inscription in French: ‘Mort pour opschrift ‘Mort pour la patrie’. Als en français : « Mort pour la patrie ». En la patrie’ (Died for the homeland). As a reactie hierop ontstaat in réaction, l’ »hommage aux héros » naît reaction to this Flemish minded groups Vlaamsgezinde kringen de ‘heldenhulde’ dans les cercles flamingants. Il rend start the ‘heroes’ tribute’ which honours die Vlaamse gesneuvelde soldaten eert hommage aux soldats flamands tombés Flemish fallen soldiers with a ‘heroes’ met een ‘heldenhuldezerkje’ dat het au champ d’honneur avec une « pierre tribute headstone’ which bears the opschrift draagt ‘Alles Voor Vlaanderen, tombale commémorative en hommage inscription ‘Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen voor Kristus’. We zien hier aux héros » portant l’inscription « Alles Vlaanderen Voor Kristus’ (All For

hoe de miskenning van de Vlaamse taal Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Flanders, Flanders for Christ). Ignoring leidt tot het creëren van eigen rituelen Kristus » (Tout pour la Flandre, La the Flemish language leads to the en symbolen die de Vlaamse identiteit Flandre pour le Christ). Nous voyons ici à creation of own rituals and symbols vorm geven. quel point la méconnaissance de la which shape the Flemish identity. langue flamande mène à la création de propres symboles et rituels qui façonnent l’identité flamande. 44 Mort pour la patrie Mort pour la patrie Mort pour la patrie (Died for the Na de oorlog beslist de Belgische Après la guerre, les autorités belges homeland) overheid om alle gesneuvelden van een décident de doter toutes les sépultures After the war the Belgian authorities uniforme, Belgische grafzerk te des soldats morts pour la patrie d’une decide to provide all war graves with a voorzien. Dat betekent dat de pierre tombale belge uniforme. Les uniform Belgian headstone. This means heldenhuldezerkjes moeten verdwijnen. pierres commémoratives flamandes that the heroes’ tribute headstones Zo worden tal van zerkjes te Adinkerke « en hommage aux héros » doivent donc must be removed. For instance in vernietigd en de brokstukken gebruikt disparaître. C’est ainsi que de Adinkerke a large number of headstones om een weg aan te leggen. Het nombreuses dalles funéraires sont are destroyed and the rubble is used to IJzerbedevaartcomité reageert détruites à Adinkerke et que les build a road. The Yser Pilgrimage verontwaardigd op deze vernietiging en fragments sont utilisés pour aménager Committee reacts with indignation, and stelt alles in het werk om zoveel mogelijk une route. Le comité du Pèlerinage de takes any possible action to save as zerkjes te redden en te verzamelen op l’Yser réagit avec indignation à cette many headstones as possible, and een weide in Diksmuide waar later de destruction et met tout en oeuvre pour gathers them in a field in Diksmuide. On IJzertoren zal oprijzen als een sauver un maximum de pierres this field the Yser Tower will later be reusachtige heldenhuldezerk. Deze funéraires et les rassembler dans une erected as a giant heroes’ tribute heftige reactie op de vernieling van de prairie de Dixmude où, plus tard, sera headstone. This fierce reaction to the Vlaamse grafzerken illustreert hoe het érigée la Tour de l’Yser en guise de pierre destruction of the Flemish headstones Vlaamse solidariteitsgevoel versterkt tombale commémorative géante. Cette illustrates how the Flemish feeling of wordt doordat men de Belgische staat réaction véhémente à la destruction des solidarity is strengthened because the dalles funéraires flamandes illustre à

als een gemeenschappelijke vijand gaat quel point le sentiment de solidarité Belgian state is starting to be perceived zien. flamand est renforcé parce que l’état as a common enemy. belge est perçu comme un ennemi commun. 45 De IJzertoren La Tour de l’Yser The Yser Tower De IJzertoren en de IJzerbedevaarten L’histoire de la Tour de l’Yser et du The Yser Tower and the Yser Pilgrimages kennen een bewogen geschiedenis en Pèlerinage de l’Yser est mouvementée. have an eventful history, and have often hebben als symbool van de Vlaamse En tant que symboles du mouvement caused controversy as the symbol of the beweging vaak voor controverse flamand, ceux-ci ont souvent suscité la Flemish Movement. Out of the gezorgd. Na de oorlog ontstaat vanuit de controverse. Après la guerre, le Frontbeweging (Front Movement), after Frontbeweging een jaarlijkse mouvement du Front donne naissance à the war, an annual Flemish-minded and Vlaamsgezinde en pacifistische un pèlerinage annuel pro-flamand et pacifist pilgrimage to the graves of bedevaart naar de graven van de pacifiste sur les tombes des soldats Flemish soldiers originated. The actual Vlaamse soldaten. De eigenlijke toren flamands. La tour à proprement parler tower was finally built in 1930. The komt er pas in 1930. De vorm is ne voit le jour qu’en 1930. Sa forme shape of the tower is based on the shape gebaseerd op dei van het reproduit celle du « tombeau de of the hero tribute tombstone, a Celtic ‘heldenhuldezerkje’, een Keltisch kruis l’hommage aux héros », une croix cross with the letters A.V.V-V.V.K. (Alles met daarop de letters AVV-VVK (Alles celtique portant les lettres A.V.V-V.V.K Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor (Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Kristus) [All For Flanders, Flanders For Kristus) naar een ontwerp van Joe Voor Kristus- Tout pour la Flandre, la Christ] after a design by Joe English. English. Vlak na de Tweede Flandre pour le Christ), selon un projet Immediately after the Second World Wereldoorlog wordt de IJzertoren de Joe English. Juste après la Deuxième War, the Yser Tower is blown up as a gedynamiteerd als reactie op de Guerre mondiale, la Tour de l’Yser est reaction to the collaboration of a large collaboratie van een groot deel van de dynamitée en réaction à la collaboration part of the Flemish Movement. A larger Vlaamse beweging. Een grotere toren d’une grande partie du Mouvement tower now rises, and the Yser herrijst en de IJzerbedevaarten groeien flamand au régime nazi. Mais une Pilgrimages develop into mass meetings uit tot massabijeenkomsten van nouvelle tour, plus haute encore, est of Flemish-minded people. But for years Vlaamsgezinden. Maar in de marge érigée, et les Pèlerinages de l’Yser se the extreme right also appears at the

tekent ook uiterst rechts jarenlang muent en rassemblements massifs de margins, sometimes invited, but more present, soms gevraagd, maar hoe flamingants, en marge desquels se and more undesired. From the nineties langer hoe meer ongewenst. Vanaf de dessine aussi la présence, parfois onwards, the Committee distances itself jaren 1990 distantieert het demandée mais plus souvent non more and more explicitly from the IJzerbedevaartcomité zich steeds désirée, de l’extrême droite. Depuis les extreme right, ant the pillars ‘peace’ and nadrukkelijker van extreem-rechts en années 1990, le comité se distancie ‘tolerance’ start to receive as much krijgen de pijlers ‘vrede’ en toujours plus ouvertement de l’extrême- attention as the pillar ‘freedom’, aided ‘verdraagzaamheid’ stilaan evenveel droite et les aspects « paix » et by the organisation of the festival Ten aandacht als de pijler ‘vrijheid’ o.m. door « tolérance » prennent lentement Vrede (At Peace). de organisatie van het festival Ten autant d’ampleur que l’aspect Vrede. « liberté », notamment grâce à l’organisation du festival ‘Ten Vrede’ (pour la Paix) 46 De IJzerbedevaart NU Le pèlerinage de l’Yser MAINTENANT The Pilgrimage of the Yser NOW “De negatieve connotatie die de « La connotation négative acquise par “The negative connotation which the IJzerbedevaarten (waarvan u hier les pèlerinages de l’Yser, dont vous Yser pilgrimages (of which you see some beelden uit het verleden ziet), én ook de voyez ici encore quelques anciennes old images here) and also the Tower Toren, in de tweede helft van de 20ste images, et par la Tour dans la deuxième acquired in the second half the eeuw stilaan kreeg, is voltooid verleden moitié du 20e siècle, appartient twentieth century (sic) is now totally in tijd” (uit: “De IJzertoren en de nieuwe définitivement au passé. » (dans : « De the past.” (from: “De IJzertoren en de Vlaamse benadering van de oorlog”, IJzertoren en de nieuwe Vlaamse nieuwe Vlaamse benadering van de Annemie Reyntjens, uitgeverij benadering van de oorlog”, Annemie oorlog”, Annemie Reyntjens, uitgeverij Davidsfonds, 2014). Overigens werd Reyntjens, uitgeverij Davidsfonds, Davidsfonds, 2014). Moreover, already reeds in het jaar 2000 publiekelijk een 2014). Un pardon historique avait in the year 2000 historian Frans-Jos historisch pardon uitgesproken voor “de d’ailleurs déjà été prononcé Verdoodt gave a public ‘historical vergissingen”, de beoordelingsfouten en publiquement en 2000 pour « les pardon’ for the “mistakes, de verkeerde allianties” uit het verleden erreurs, les fautes de jugement et les misjudgements and wrong alliances” in mauvaises alliances » du passé (Frans- the past. (Yser Pilgrimage, 2000).

(historicus Frans-Jos Verdoodt, Jos Verdoodt, historien, pèlerinage de IJzerbedevaart 2000). l’Yser 2000). 47 Dekt de vlag de lading? Le drapeau couvre-t-il le fardeau ? Does the flag cover the load? Identity

48 De plek waar je woont, de taal die je L’endroit où vous habitez, la langue que The place where you live, the language spreekt, de kleren die je draagt, de vous parlez, les vêtements que vous that you speak, the clothes that you omgeving waarin je opgroeit, het land portez, l’environnement dans lequel wear, the environment in which you waarin je leeft, … Het zijn allemaal vous grandissez, le pays dans lequel vous grow up, the country in which you live … elementen die jouw identiteit bepalen. vivez … Ce sont autant d’éléments qui They are all elements that define your déterminent votre identité. identity 49 Wat is voor jou het belangrijkste Quel est pour vous l’élément le plus What element do you consider most Geen modaliteit element? Misschien is het een vlag die important ? Peut-être s’agit-il du important? Is it a flag that symbolizes Interactional jouw lading dekt? Misschien is het iets drapeau qui illustre ce que vous êtes ? who you are? Is it something else? Identity anders? Peut-être s’agit-il d’autre chose ? 50 Winter 1914-1915 Hiver 1914-1914, Tenir derrière l’Yser Winter 1914-1915. Behind the Yser Achter de IJzer L’armée Belge très affaiblie se retranche The exhausted Belgian army entrenches Het uitgeputte Belgische leger derrière le fleuve. Sans les ressources du behind the river. They are cut off from all verschanst zich achter de rivier. Het is pays occupé, elle doit se tourner vers ses necessary raw materials in the occupied afgesneden van alle noodzakelijke alliés pour assurer un land an now try to stock up with the grondstoffen in het bezette land en approvisionnement précaire. Pendant Allies. During these months, the soldiers probeert zich nu bij de geallieerden te ces quelques mois, les hommes restent kept their old uniforms or selected bevoorraden. Gedurende deze maanden équipés de leurs anciens uniformes et de pieces from surplus uniforms from the behouden de soldaten hun oude fonds de dépôts, souvent obsolètes. depots. Nevertheless, the central uniformen of putten ze uit de Pourtant dès septembre s’organisa la clothing warehouse in Antwerp provided overschotten van de depots. Nochtans confection de nouveaux effets comme new parts of uniforms, such as simplified zorgde het centraal kledingmagazijn in casquettes et manteaux de fabrication caps and coats, already during the Antwerpen al tijdens de terugtocht voor simplifiée, notamment à Anvers par le journey back. This peculiar diversity of

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nieuwe uniformstukken zoals Magasin Central d’Habillement lors de la clothing can be frequently seen on vereenvoudigde kepies en mantels. retraite. Ces curieux mélanges pictures of this brief period. Deze vreemde verscheidenheid van apparaissent fréquemment dans les kledij zie je veelvuldig op foto’s van deze documents photographiques de cette korte periode. époque éphémère. 51 Dit manuscript beschrijft de Manuscrit relatant l’histoire des efforts This manuscript describes the efforts of inspanningen van de de l’Intendance de l’Armée Belge depuis the Supply Service of the Belgian army bevoorradingsdienst van het Belgische le début du conflit jusqu’en 1917 et ce under the command of Minister of War leger onder het bevel van minister van sous l’autorité du ministre de la Guerre Charles de Brocqueville, from the Oorlog Charles de Brocqueville vanaf de Charles de Brocqueville. Le sous- German invasion in 1914 up to and Duitse inval in 1914 tot en met 1917. intendant 1er classe Thys y décrit la including 1917. In it, Sub-Quartermaster Onder-intendant 1ste klas Thys beschrijft retraite des dépôts d’intendance jusqu’à 1st class Thys describes the moving of the er het verplaatsen van de magazijnen, Anvers puis Ostende et enfin leur warehouses, first to Antwerp, then to eerst naar Antwerpen, dan naar stabilisation à Calais en France. Il y Ostend and, after the stabilisation of the Oostende en, na de stabilisatie van het explique toutes les négociations avec les front, to Calais. The negotiations with front, naar Calais. Ook de intendances alliées ainsi que celles avec the supply services of the other allied onderhandelingen met de les industriels de pays neutres afin countries and with industry in the bevoorradingsdiensten van de andere d’obtenir au plus tôt, mais le plus neutral countries, in order to meet the geallieerde landen en deze met de économiquement possible, le nécessaire requirements of the Belgian army as industriëlen in de neutrale landen om zo afin de subvenir aux besoins de l’Armée quickly but also as cheaply as possible snel mogelijk, maar ook zo goedkoop Belge : draps kaki pour le nouvel are also described: khaki fabric for a mogelijk, aan de noodzakelijke uniforme à coupe simplifiée, nouvelles new, simplified uniform, new hats… behoeften van het Belgische leger te coiffures, toujours sous l’approbation du always subject to approval by the King, voldoen, komen aan bod: kaki stof voor roi qui souvent modifie, par des who often amends the appearance of an een nieuw, vereenvoudigd uniform, remarques pertinentes, l’aspect des order with pointed remarks. But there is nieuwe hoofddeksels,… steeds projets. Mais aussi : sacs, casques, also a demand for backpacks, helmets, afhankelijk van de goedkeuring van de cartouchières, armes, munitions, outils, cartridge holders, weapons, koning, die met gerichte opmerkingen etc. Un chapitre est consacré aux ammunitions, tools… A full chapter is

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vaak het uitzicht van de bestelling chaussures provenant de divers pays devoted to the shoes. The models which aanpast. Maar er wordt ook gekeken avec essais par différents régiments, prix are supplied by various countries are voor rugzakken, helmen, payés, salaires versés, temps de tested by the regiments and compared patroonhouders, wapens, munitie, confection. Un autre sur les ordres à de on cost price, wage cost and delivery gereedschap… Er is ook een volledig nombreux tisserands britanniques, le period. Another chapter concerns the hoofdstuk gewijd aan de schoenen. De nombre de yards commandés, orders for the British weavers, the modellen, die door verschillende landen l’évolution des prix, le tout avec number of yards of fabric ordered and worden aangeleverd, worden getest graphiques à l’appui. La correspondance the price evolution, all supported with door de regimenten en vergeleken qua entre le ministre de la guerre et le sous- graphs. Apart from that correspondence kostprijs, loonkost en leveringstijd. Een intendant Thys, afin de limiter les between the Minister of War and Sub- ander hoofdstuk behandelt de distributions abusives de matériel au Quartermaster Thys is also included, bestellingen aan de Britse wevers: het sein des unités. Mais surtout à sa lecture among other an attempt to limit the aantal yards stof dat werd besteld en de on y ressent la volonté de la Belgique de wrong deliveries to the units. But what prijsevolutie, dit alles ondersteund met maintenir son armée au niveau et really stands out when reading this, is grafieken. Daarnaast komt ook de parfois même à la pointedu modernisme the Belgian willpower to keep its army briefwisseling tussen de minister van par rapport aux autres belligérants. Ce up to scratch or even to modernise it in Oorlog en onder-intendant Thys aan bod manuscrit sert de fil rouge à cette comparison with the other combating waarin gepoogd wordt om de verkeerde exposition. forces. The manuscript gave us the leveringen van materiaal aan de theme for this exhibition. eenheden te beperken. Maar wat bij het lezen het meest naar boven komt, is de wilskracht van België om zijn leger op niveau te houden of het zelfs te moderniseren ten opzichte van de andere strijdende partijen. Het manuscript is de rode draad van deze tentoonstelling.

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52 Militaire aankopen uit de hele wereld Achats militaires à travers du monde Military procurement across the globe Ondanks het verplaatsen van de Malgré le déplacement du maximum des Notwithstanding the moving of the militaire reserves naar de depots van réserves de l’armée belge sur les dépôts military reserves to the Calais depots on Calais op 13 oktober 1914, begint de de Calais (le 13 octobre 1914), 13 October 1914, the provisioning of the bevoorrading van het Belgisch Leger l’approvisionnement devint fatalement Belgian Army becomes dramatic. The dramatisch te worden. De meerderheid précaire, la majorité des fournisseurs se majority of the suppliers are located in van de leveranciers bevindt zich in de trouvant en zone occupée. L’intendance the occupied area. The War Ministry and bezette gebied. Het ministerie van et le Ministre de la Guerre se tournèrent the procurement service not only appeal Oorlog en de bevoorradingsdienst doen naturellement vers leur alliées, to their Allies, Great Britain and France, niet alleen een beroep op hun l’Angleterre et la France (elles-mêmes because those countries also have bondgenoten, Groot-Brittannië en aux prises de rationnements drastiques) dramatic shortages, but also to other Frankrijk, want ook zij hebben drastische et d’autres pays à travers le monde pour countries across the globe to help tekorten, maar ook op andere landen l’achat des fournitures nécessaires aux provision the Belgian Army. This van de wereld om het Belgisch Leger te besoin de leur armée. Problème problem drags on for the entire duration bevoorraden. Dit probleem bleef de hele récurrent tout au long de la guerre. of the war. oorlog aanslepen. 53 Opleidingskampen en depots Camps d’instruction et dépôts Training camps and depots Op 13 oktober 1914 verlaat de Belgische Le 13 octobre 1914, le gouvernement On 13 October 1914 the Belgian regering Oostende en vestigt zich met belge, acculé, quitte Ostende pour Le Government leaves Ostend and haar administratie in Sainte-Adresse, bij Havre en France où il est accueilli established itself with its administration het Franse Le Havre. Vanuit de chaleureusement. Il s’établi dans la in Sainte-Adresse, near the French town Normandische havens worden de petite ville de Sainte-Adresse avec son of Le Havre. The various transit verschillende doorvoermagazijnen administration. De nombreux dépôts de warehouses are supplied from the ports bevoorraad. Nieuwe fabrieken stellen transit furent approvisionnés par le in Normandy. New factories employ Belgische vluchtelingen te werk om aan ports normandes. On y créa de nouvelles Belgian refugees to meet the needs of de noden van het front te voldoen. usines et manufactures de fournitures the front. Furthermore, volunteers and Bovendien worden in de pas opgerichte militaires, employant des réfugiés belges new recruits are trained in newly opleidingskampen, vrijwilligers en afin de pallier aux besoins du front. On established training camps. At the end of

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nieuwe rekruten gevormd. Eind implanta aussi quelques camps December 1914 a first reinforcement of december 1914 wordt een eerste d’instruction, avec l’encadrement 1,500 soldiers is sent to Flanders. A versterking van 1.500 soldaten naar nécessaire pour y former recrues et contingent of 14,000 soldiers follows a Vlaanderen gestuurd. Eind januari 1915 volontaires venus de partout. Fin month later. During this period 31,547 volgt een contigent van 14.000 soldaten. décembre 1914, un renfort de 1500 soldiers are trained in these camps. In deze periode worden 31.547 hommes est envoyé en Flandres. Fin militairen gevormd in deze kampen. janvier 1915 un contingent de 14000 soldats, équipés et instruits fait de même. A cette époque 31.547 soldats sont en formation dans ces camps. 54 Evolutie van de Belgische militaire hoofddeksels van september 1914 tot het einde van de oorlog 55 Kwartiersmuts model 1886 van het 4de Bonnet de police de troupe, modèle Garrison cap model 1886, 4th Line linieregiment 1886 du 4ième régiment de ligne. Regiment. 56 Kwartiersmuts van het 6de linieregiment, Bonnet de police du 6ième régiment de Garrison cap of the 6th Line Regiment, met de zwarte band naar buiten ligne, retourné côté basane, afin de with the black border turned out in gedraaid, om de scharlaken rode band te dissimuler le bandeau écarlate. order to hide the scarlet border. verbergen 57 Katoenen officierspet van het 12de Casquette d’officier en toile de coton du Officer’s cap in cotton, 12th Line linieregiment, van mei 1915, 12ième régiment de ligne, mai 1915, Regiment, May 1915, manufactured in vervaardigd in Groot-Brittannië. fabriquée en Grande Bretagne Great Britain 58 7 Bivakmuts Balaclava, effet chaud tricoté pour les Balaclava. During the winter of 1914 Deze warme mutsen werden in de combattants par des dames bénévoles, these warm hats were knitted for the winter van 1914 voor de frontsoldaten hiver 1914. soldiers by female volunteers. gebreid door vrijwilligsters.

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59 4 Kakikleurige pet van een onderofficier Casquette kaki de sous-officier du 2ième Khaki coloured cap of a non- van de 2de linieregiment, model régiment de ligne, modèle adopté le 7 commissioned officer of the 2nd Line ingevoerd op 7 mei 1915. mai 1915. Regiment, model introduced on 7th May 1915. 60 6 Pet van een adjudant bij het 2de Casquette d’adjudant du 2ième Cap of an artillery aide-de-camp in the artillerie regiment, model 1915, régiment d’artillerie du modèle de mai 2nd Artillery Regiment, model 1915, gewijzigd in augustus 1915. Tussen de 1915, avec modification d’août 1915, modified in August 1915. Between the kokarde en het nummer van het (adjonction d’une soutache de couleur cockade and the number of the regiment regiment werd een smal lint toegevoegd dinstinctive de l’arme entre la cocarde et a small ribbon of a certain colour ribbon in een bepaald kleur. le numéro de régiment). was added. 61 8 Franse Adrianhelm model 1915 in een Casque français du type Adrian, modèle French Adrian Helmet model 1915. helblauwe kleur, overschilderd in een 1915, bleu horizon, repeint en kaki brun Bright blue colour, repainted outside in lichtblauwe kakikleur en voorzien van clair, avec insigne de tête de lion adopté light brown khaki, furnished with the een kenteken met een leeuwengezicht par l’armée belge mi-novembre 1915. lion’s face insignia of the Belgian army, voor het Belgische Leger. Midden middle of November 1915. november 1915. 62 10 Helm, na enkele maanden dienst. De Casque, après quelques mois de service. Helmet after a few months of service. helm kreeg een bepaalde glans, La couleur prend alors un aspect brillant, The helmet became somewhat shiny, waardoor hij waarneembaar werd très décelable à grande distance. making it visible from a long distance. vanop grote afstand. 63 12 Helm, overschilderd in een matte kaki Casque modèle 1915, repeint en couleur Helmet model 1915, repainted in a mat kleur, na het afschaffen van de kaki moutarde mate après la khaki colour, after the abolishing of the helmovertrek suppression du couvre-casque. helmet cover. 64 De briefwisseling La correspondance The correspondence De interne communicatie in het leger, La correspondance interne de l’armée, The internal communication in the army, maar vooral de briefwisseling van de mais surtout celle des combattants avec but especially the correspondence of the soldaten met hun naasten in bezet leurs proches, en Belgique occupée, à soldiers with their nearest and dearest in

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België, in het buitenland en in de l’étranger ou dans les camps de occupied Belgium, abroad and in the krijgsgevangenkampen, vraagt de prisonniers demanda la mise en place POW camps, requires the establishment oprichting van een efficiënte officiële d’un service officiel efficace. Mais par of an efficient official delivery service. bedelingsdienst. De vrees voor spionage crainte d’espionnage, et surtout de The fear of espionage or the possibly of het al dan niet vrijwillig doorgeven renseignements pouvant être donnés voluntary passing on of information van informatie over de werking van het par la troupe, volontairement ou non, about the functioning of the front or the front of het moraal van de troepen sur le fonctionnement du front ou le morale of the troops necessitates the noodzaakt de installatie van een moral des hommes, nécessita la création installation of a military information and militaire inlichtingen- en de la sûreté militaire, ayant, entre autres security service. One of their tasks is veiligheidsdienst. Één van hun taken is fonctions, la surveillance de tous les reviewing and, if necessary, censuring het nalezen, en indien nodig censureren courriers et colis avec pour ordre de the mail so the enemy cannot learn van de post, zodat de vijand hieruit niets censurer toute information pouvant anything from it. kan leren. profiter à l’ennemi. 65 Gezondheidszorg Soins de propreté Healthcare Niet idiomatisch Op 10 november 1915 wordt beslist om Le 10 novembre 1915 il est décidé de On 10 November 1915 it is decided to voor alle soldaten een opvouwbare munir tous les hommes d’un bassin de issue all solders with a foldable waterdichte stoffen teil te voorzien, om toilette pliant, en toile imperméable, waterproof basin so they can wash and zich te verzorgen. Dit is vernieuwend. destiné à servir aux soins de propreté. shave. This is an innovation. No other Geen enkele andere strijdende partij C’est une innovation, aucun autre combating force offers this, unless it is biedt dit aan, tenzij voor haar officieren. belligérant ne possédant cet ustensile, à for its officers. part les officiers. 66 Lente 1915. Het nieuwe kaki uniform Printemps 1915. Adoption de la nouvelle Spring 1915. The new khaki uniform De bedeling, met het oog op de zomer, tenue khaki With summer soon to arrive, new khaki- van een nieuw kakikleurig, katoenen La distribution, en prévision de l’été, coloured cotton uniforms were handed uniform met een pet naar Brits model d’un nouvel uniforme en toile de coton out, with a British model cap, but also maar met een kokarde in de Belgische khaki, d’une casquette, analogue au with a Belgian tricolour cockade and a driekleur en een patroontas van het type modèle Britannique, mais portant la cartridge bag of the ‘Gomez’ type made ‘Gomez’, gemaakt in Argentinië, cocarde aux couleurs nationales et du in Argentina. The ‘seniors’ at the front

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verbaast de ‘ancien’ aan het front. Deze ceinturon cartouchière du type ‘Gomez’ were surprised. This one is still equipped is nog steeds uitgerust met het de fabrication Argentine étonne with the transition uniform and the Yser overgangsuniform en de IJzerkepie, de ‘l’ancien du front’. Celui-ci est toujours cap, the short blue jacket and the korte blauwe jas en de in Frankrijk équipé de la tenue transitoire avec le French-made outfit adapted to the gemaakte uitrusting, aangepast aan de képi de l’Yser, la petite veste raz-de-cul Belgian soldier. Belgische soldaat. bleue et l’équipement de fabrication Française mais adapté au combattant Belge. 67 Observatie en communicatie Observation, communication Observation and communication Aan het onder water gezette westelijke Sur le front des Flandres, stabilisé At the flooded Western front, front is observatie en bewaking van artificiellement par l’inondation de la observation and surveillance is of critical levensbelang. Dit zorgt voor grote plaine, l’observation et la surveillance importance. This results in substantial technische ontwikkelingen. De constante furent d’une importance technical developments. The steel plate staalplaat voor de verspieder en helmen vitale. Les moyens techniques liés à la for the intelligence agents and the moeten zorgen voor extra beveiliging. protection des hommes chargés de cette helmets must provide extra protection. Verrekijkers, telescopen en periscopen tâche, engendra de nombreuses Binoculars, telescopes and periscopes verbeteren de observatie. Ook in de innovations. Par exemple : la plaque improve the observation activities. In communicatie is er een gelijklopende d’acier pour guetteur, les casques, dans communications there is a similar evolutie: van boodschappers, over l’optique : jumelles, longues vues, evolution: from messengers, via pigeons duiven en visuele signalen tot telefonie, périscopes, les luttes pour la possession and visual signals to telephony, telegraaf en draadloze radio. de postes d’observation avancés, la telegraphy and wireless radio. photographie : au sol, à l’aide de ballons et d’avions. Parallèlement à cette évolution, celle des communications, au front et vers l’arrière : les messagers, pigeons, signaux visuels à la téléphonie, le télégraphe et la radio sans fil.

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68 Cadeaus voor de soldaten Les cadeaux aux soldats Presents for the soldiers Vanaf november 1914 organiseren een Dès novembre 1914, un groupe de From November 1914 onwards a aantal Belgische dames zich in ‘het dames belges formèrent ‘le comité de la number of Belgian ladies organise comité voor kerstmis voor de soldaat’. Noël du soldat’, afin de recueillir des themselves as the ‘Committee for Ze verzamelen alles wat de soldaat enige effets chauds pour ce premier hiver. Le Christmas for the Soldier’. They collect warmte kan verschaffen in de eerste roi et la reine offrirent à toute l’armée en everything which can offer the soldiers winter aan het front. In april 1915 krijgen avril 1915 une pochette contenant les some warmth during this first winter at de soldaten van de koning en de premières nécessitées : couture, the front. In April 1915 the soldiers koningin een tasje cadeau met wat toilette, écriture. A la Noël 1916 tous receive the gift of a small bag from the naaigerief, een kam en schrijfgerei, om reçurent un petit étui de cuir à porter au King and the Queen, containing a small zich te behelpen in nood. Met Kerstmis ceinturon. D’autres pays témoignèrent sewing kit, a comb and writing materials, 1916 krijgen ze dan een lederen etui om leur estime par l’envoi de cigarettes, to be of help when needed. At Christmas aan hun riem vast te maken. Ook andere pipes, confiserie et autres petits plaisirs. 1916 they receive a leather case to landen sturen sigaretten, pijpen, De nombreuses publications permirent attach to their belt. Other countries also snoepgoed en kleine snuisterijen om au combattants de trouver un moment send cigarettes, pipes, sweets and small hun medeleven te uiten. De vele de délaissement dans ces tristes trinkets as a sign of sympathy. The publicaties laten de soldaten toe om moments. plethora of publications allows the even hun zinnen te verzetten in de soldiers to have some entertainment moeilijke momenten. during the difficult times. 69 Winter 1915-1916. Hulppost bij Hiver 1915-1916. Poste de secours de Winter 1915-1916. Aid station in the Lettenburg seconde ligne au Lettenburg second line at Lettenburg Een geestelijke, in dienst als brancardier, Remontant de la cave du corps de ferme A clergyman, working as a stretcher- komt uit de kelder van deze tot hulppost transformée en lieu de premiers soins, bearer, exits the cellar of this farm that omgetoverde hoeve. Een gewonde un ecclésiastique faisant fonction de has been converted into an aid station. soldaat wordt afgevoerd naar een brancardier, emmène un blessé vers les An injured soldier is transported to a achterliggend hospitaal. hôpitaux de l’arrière. hospital that lies behind it. 70 ACM- korps Les Auto-canons-mitrailleuses Automobiles-canons-machine guns Andere tijd

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Begin augustus 1914 kreeg Minerva de En août 1914, l’armée belge passe une At the start of August 1914 the Belgian vraag van het Belgische leger om de commande d’automitrailleuses à la Army asked Minerva to deliver machine mitrailleurauto’s te leveren. Alhoewel firme Minerva. Bien que pacifiste, gun cars. Although Minerva’s founder, de stichter van Minerva, Sylvain de Jong, Sylvain de Jong, le fondateur de la Sylvain de Jong, was a pacifist, some 25 een pacifist was, waren er in september société, livre dès septembre 25 véhicules such cars were operational for raids 1914 reeds een 25-tal van dergelijke opérationnels dans des raids contre les against the German troops as early as wagens operationeel voor raids tegen troupes allemandes. Le corps-ACM September 1914. The ACM Corps Duitse troepen. Het ACM-korps, (auto-canon-mitrailleuses) crée à Paris (Automobiles-Canons-Machine Guns), ontstaan in november 1914 in Parijs, en novembre 1914, utilisait des started in Paris in November 1914, used gebruikte gepantserde Peugeots of Mors véhicules blindés Peugeot ou Mors avec armoured Peugeot or Mors cars with a autos (sic), met een Minerva-motor. moteur Minerva. La guerre de Minerva engine. Upon arrival at the Aangekomen aan het front, bemoeilijkt mouvement étant terminée, ils front the trench war hindered their de loopgravenoorlog hun werking en n’avaient plus de fonction à l’arrière de functioning, and they were in danger of dreigen ze te verkommeren achter de ligne. Remarqué par le capitaine russe falling into disrepair behind the lines. linies. Ze worden er opgemerkt door de Prezjbjano, celui-ci réalisa The Russian Captain Prezjbjano Russische kapitein Prezjbjano. Deze immédiatement l’importance qu’il stumbled upon them, and realised that verkrijgt, na lange onderhandelingen, pouvait tirer de ce corps dans les vastes he could make good use of them in his dat het volledige ACM-corps kosteloos plaines de son pays. Après des longues own country. After lengthy negotiations ter beschikking van Rusland wordt négociations avec l’armée belge il he obtained the permission for Russia to gesteld. Vierhonderd Belgische obtenu que 400 volontaires et leurs use the entire ACM corps, free of charge, oorlogsvrijwilligers vertrekken naar het véhicules partent pour le front russe. at the Russian front. Four hundred Russische front. Het is de start van een C’est le début d’une épopée qui les Belgian volunteers and their vehicles left verrassende reis, die hen na de emmena lors de la révolution russe à for the Russian front. It was the start of Russische Revolutie door Siberië, China travers la Sibérie, jusqu’en Chine et plus a remarkable voyage which, after the en de USA voert. tard même aux Etats-Unis. Russian Revolution, took them through Siberia, China and the USA. 71 De speciale pelotons Les pelotons spéciaux The special troops

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Na de Italiaanse ‘Arditi’, de Duitse Après les Arditi Italiens, les Sturm- After the Italian ‘Arditi’, the German ‘Sturm-Abtellung’ en de Franse Abteilung Allemands et les « Nettoyeurs ‘Sturm-Abteilung’ and the French ‘Nettoyeurs de tranchées’, creëert ook de tranchées » français, l’armée belge ‘Nettoyeurs de tranchées’, the Belgian het Belgische leger zijn ‘Speciale crée à son tour les Pelotons Spéciaux. Army also creates its ‘Special troops’. pelotons’. Deze kleine mobiele Ces petits détachements mobiles, These small mobile units, guards and eenheden, bewakers en waarnemers, patrouilleurs et observateurs, sont observers, consist of three to four sporty bestaan uit drie à vier sportieve en formés de groupes indépendants de and brave young men, led by a superior. dappere jonge mannen, geleid door een trois à quatre jeunes hommes sportifs et They are tasked to carry out chef. Ze worden belast met beveiligings- audacieux, commandé par un gradé. Ils safeguarding and reconnaissance en verkenningsopdrachten. Met hun sont chargés de missions de sécurité et missions. By means of raids they try to raids proberen ze inlichtingen in te de reconnaissance. Par ces raids ils obtain information about the presence winnen over de aanwezigheid en de tâchent de recueillir des renseignements and movement of the enemy. For this bewegingen van de vijand. Ze zoeken sur la présence et les mouvements de they seek contact with them, and try to hiervoor contact met hen op en l’ennemi en cherchant le contact, make prisoners. In order to optimise proberen gevangenen te nemen. Om jusqu’à faire des prisonniers. Afin de their freedom of movement, their hun bewegingsvrijheid te optimaliseren faciliter leurs déplacements, equipment is limited to a minimum. is hun uitrusting beperkt tot een l’équipement est réduit au minimum. Ils They only use light weapons: machine minimum. Ze gebruiken enkel lichte n’utilisent que des armes légères : fusils guns, rifles, pistols and grenades, but wapens: machinegeweren, karabijnen, mitrailleurs, carabines, pistolets, also daggers, brass knuckles, batons and pistolen en granaten, maar ook dolken, grenades, mais aussi poignards, poings wire cutters. This type of actions is the boksbeugels, matrakken en américains, matraques et pinces basis of the modern Commando units. draadscharen. Deze werkwijze is de coupantes. Ces modes d’actions sont à basis van de huidige Commando l’origine des Commandos actuels. eenheden. 72 Herfst 1916. Telefoniepost in een Automne 1916. Poste de téléphonie en Autumn 1916. Telephony post in a schuilplaats. abri. shelter. Observatie en communicatie werden L’observation et la communication sont Observation and communication were steeds belangrijker in de devenus primordiales dans cette guerre becoming increasingly important in this

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stellingenoorlog. Wanneer de kans zich de position. Dès qu’il peut quitter son trench war. When the opportunity voordoet, zet de soldaat zijn helm af en casque, le soldat se coiffe du nouveau arises, the soldier takes off his helmet vervangt deze door de nieuwe bonnet de police à floche, très and replaces it with a new police cap. politiemuts. Deze muts is kenmerkend particulier à la nouvelle silhouette du This cap is typical of the new silhouette voor het nieuwe silhouet van de ‘Jass’* ‘Jass’*, remplaçant avantageusement la of the ‘Jass’*. It replaces the cap, which en vervangt de kepie die helemaal large et encombrante casquette toute had become completely deformed by vervormd was door het leven aan het avachie par la vie au front. life at the front. front. *surnom attribué au combattant belge, *Nickname for Belgian soldiers, such as *Bijnaam voor de Belgische soldaat, l’équivalent du ‘poilu’ ou du ‘tommie’. ‘poilu’ for the French and ‘tommy’ for zoals ‘poilu’ voor de Franse en ‘tommie’ the Brits. voor de Britse soldaten. 73 Winter 1916-1917. Een Hiver 1916-1917. Position de première Winter 1916-1917. A first line defence verdedigingspost in de eerste lijn. ligne. post. Langs de spoorwegberm van Diksmuide S’étant créé une chaîne de petits abris Along the railway track side from naar Nieuwpoort hebben de soldaten de briques, flanqués tout au long du Diksmuide to Nieuwpoort, the soldiers een reeks van kleine bakstenen en talus de la voie ferrée reliant Dixmude à created a series of small brick post for schuilposten uitgebouwd. Ze proberen Nieuport, les troupes s’adaptent aux sheltering. They try to adapt to the harsh zich aan te passen aan het strenge sévères conditions climatiques. Protégés climate. Although the bank artificially klimaat. Kunstmatig beschermd tegen artificiellement de l’inondation de la protected them against the water of the de onderwaterzetting door deze berm, plaine par cette frêle élévation du flooded area, constant attention blijft een constante oplettendheid terrain, une observation constante et remained of crucial importance. The primordiaal. De waarnemer, uitgerust vigilante est primordiale. Le guetteur, watcher, equipped with a helmet and met een helm en kuras van het type équipé d’un casque et d’un plastron ‘Farina’ type cuirass (the Belgian army ‘Farina’- het Belgische leger kocht 50 d’acier du type ‘Farina’ (cinquante bought 50 of the 700 items made for the exemplaren van de 700 stuks gemaakt exemplaires achetés à l’armée Italienne Italian army) investigates the front line, voor het Italiaanse leger- speurt naar de sur sept cents fabriqués), surveille la where the enemy is constantly trying to frontlijn, waar de vijand steeds probeert ligne de front où, à tout instant, l’ennemi capture the outpost, using the water de voorposten in te nemen, gebruik peut tenter une incursion, un coup de that has turned to ice.

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makend van het tot ijs omgevormde main sur un des quelques ilots ou avant- water. postes, en profitant du gel des eaux. 74 De identiteit L’identité The identity Tijdens zijn militaire loopbaan en Tout au long de sa vie sous régime During his military career and on top of bovenop zijn burgerlijke identiteit, militaire, en plus de sa propre identité his civil identity, the soldier is assigned a wordt aan de soldaat een serie nummers civile, on attribue à l’homme des séries series of numbers: the military toegewezen: het militair zakboekje, het de numéros qui lui collent à la peau : le passbook, the service number, the stamnummer, de nummers op elk livret, la médaille matricule, sur chacun numbers on each item of clothing and on kledingstuk en op elk stuk van de de ses effets, sur chaque pièce each part of the equipment which is uitrusting dat door de sergeant-foerier d’équipement fournis par le sergent- supplied by the sergeant quartermaster, wordt geleverd, alsook de fourrier et les numéros de série des as well as the serial numbers of the serienummers op de wapens waarvoor armes dont il a la responsabilité. Mais weapons for which the soldier is de soldaat verantwoordelijk is. Maar parfois, ce simple numéro, peut le responsible. But sometimes it is thanks soms is het dankzij zo’n simpel nummer sauver de l’anonymat face à la mort dans to such a simple number that he is saved dat hij op het slagveld gered wordt van l’horreur du champ de bataille. from an anonymous death on the de anonieme dood. battlefield. 75 Ontspanning Les distractions Relaxation Iedereen probeerde zijn vrije tijd in te Chacun, selons ses affinités, tâchait Everyone tried to engage in relaxing vullen volgens zijn eigen behoeftes. Ze d’occuper son temps libre. Seul : avec la activities in accordance with their own deden dit individueel al lezend, lecture, l’écriture, le dessin, la peinture needs. They did this by reading, writing, schrijvend, tekenend, schilderend of nog ou d’autre essais artistiques, jusqu’à la drawing, painting, or sometimes via andere artistieke uitingen, zelfs al pêche à la ligne ou le jardinage. En through other artistic means of vissend of tuinierend. Of in groep met groupe : avec les jeux de société, les expression, even by fishing or gezelschapsspelen, ploegsporten of sports d’équipe, le théâtre. Mais surtout horticulture. In a group they engaged in toneel. Maar ze gingen vooral op verlof: les permissions pour Paris, Londres, parlour games, team sports or amateur naar Parijs, Londen, soms zelfs naar parfois Lourdes étaient importantes. Ces dramatics. But they especially went on Lourdes. Deze periodes waren nodig périodes étant nécessaires à l’équilibre leave: to Paris, London, sometimes even voor het evenwicht en het moreel van de et au moral de ces hommes, souvent to Lourdes. These periods were

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soldaten, die vaak maak enkele, maar séparés par très peu de kilomètres de necessary for the mental balance and toch onoverbrugbare kilometers van leurs familles, mais pourtant the morale of the soldiers, who were hun familie verwijderd waren. inaccessibles. often only a few kilometres from their families, although this distance could not be bridged. 76 Het schoeisel Les chaussures Footwear Reeds op 31 juli 1914 heeft het centraal Déjà, au 31 juillet 1914, le Magasin As early as 31 July 1914 the Central kledingmagazijn een achterstand van Central d’Habillement avait des arriérés Clothing Store has a shortage of 200,000 200.000 paar soldatenschoenen en de 200.000 paires de bottines et pairs of soldiers’ shoes and shoes for vrijetijdsschoenen om aan de vraag van chaussures de repos pour satisfaire aux resting activities to meet the demand of de gemobiliseerde klassen te voldoen. demandes des corps pour les classes the mobilised troops. In order to resolve Om dit op te lossen legt men midden mobilisées. Pour répondre à ces this, a first exploration of the US market oktober 1914 de eerste contacten met urgences, mi-novembre 1914, un takes place in the middle of October de VS. In januari 1915 worden vanuit de premier marché fût amorcé aux Etats- 1914. In January 1915 more than VS meer dan 200.000 paar schoenen Unis, et en janvier 1915 plus de 200.000 200,000 pairs of shoes are purchased for aangekocht voor een prijs tussen 16 en paires étaient achetés de 16 à 19 Fr la a price between 16 and 19 Frank (for 19 frank (ter vergelijking: een brood paire (par comparaison, un pain coûtait comparison: a loaf of bread then cost kosste toen 0,50 frank). Ongelukkig 0,50 Fr). Malheureusement, malgré les 0,50 Frank). Unfortunately, and genoeg, en ondanks voldoende contrôles, la qualité de ces bottines notwithstanding sufficient checks, the controles, liet de kwaliteit bij slecht weer laissa rapidement à désirer lors de la quality was below par for bad weather, te wensen over omdat het gebruikte leer mauvaise saison, par l’utilisation, pour because the leather used had been veel te snel en chemisch gelooid werd. In leur production, de cuirs tannées trop tanned too quickly and with too many maart 1916 richt men zich naar Groot- rapidement et chimiquement. Plus de chemicals. In March 1916 the British Staat niet in origineel Brittannië, waar de kwaliteit van de 900 000 paires produites, plus market is explored, where the quality of schoenen merkelijk beter is, maar de chaussures de repos et jambières. En the shoes is markedly higher, but where prijs oploopt tot 29 frank per paar. De mars, 1916, on se tourna vers la Grande- the price is as high as 29 Frank per pair. dubbele levensduur van de schoen Bretagne, où la qualité était nettement This price is justified by the life of the tegenover de Amerikaanse supérieure, mais coûtait 29 Fr la paire ! shoe being twice as long as the American

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rechtvaardigt deze prijs, zodat de Malgré ce prix, elles avaient l’intérêt shoe, so the American orders are bestellingen in Amerika eindigen op 16 d’avoir une double longévité en stopped on 16 May. The American shoes mei. De Amerikaanse schoenen worden comparaison des américaines dont les are then disturbed to soldiers behind the vervolgens uitgereikt aan de soldaten commandes cessèrent le 16 mai. Celles- front, the British to soldiers at the front distributed achter het front, de Britse aan de ci furent entrepris auprès de line. In the meantime a request is also soldaten in de frontlinies. Intussen l’intendance Française qui consenti, submitted to the French Supply Service. wordt ook een verzoek bij de Franse malgré ses besoins, à autoriser à un de Notwithstanding their own needs, the bevoorradingsdienst ingediend. Deze ses fournisseurs, une production de 500 Service allows one of its suppliers to staat toe dat, ondanks zijn eigen paires jour, réservée à l’armée Belge. Le supply the Belgian army with 500 pairs behoeften, één van hun leveranciers 500 6 septembre 1916 la confection débuta per day. On 6 September a start is made paar per dag aan het Belgische leger mag par 300 paires, puis portée plus tard à with 300 pairs, but this quickly rises to leveren. Op 6 september begint men 800 paires par jour ouvrable. Pourtant 800 pairs per day. Although they are met 300 paar, maar dit loopt al snel op composée de bons cuirs, leur coût de made from excellent leather their cost tot 800 paar per dag. Ondanks het feit 21,65 Fr, était de 0,75 Fr inférieur à une (21.65 Frank) is still 0.75 Frank lower dat de schoenen uit uitstekend leder paire fabriquée en atelier régimentaire than if they had been made in a Belgian vervaardigd zijn ligt de kostprijs (21,65 Belge (22,40 FR) où des dizaines de regimental workshop (22.40 Frank) frank) toch 0,75 frank lager dan mochten millier de bottines furent réparées, afin where the tens of thousands of soldiers’ ze gemaakt zijn in een Belgisch de reprendre du service. shoes are repaired, after which they are regimentsatelier (22,40 frank), waar returned to the front. trouwens tienduizenden soldatenschoenen hersteld worden vooraleer ze opnieuw naar het front gestuurd worden. 77 Gereedschap L’outillage Tools De grondwerken aan het front bleven Les travaux de terrassement sur le front The ground works at the front remained een voortdurende zorg. De werktuigen étant perpétuels. Un grand nombre a continuous worry. The tools for these hiervoor werden geïmporteerd uit d’outils furent importés de Grande- were imported from Great Britain and Groot-Brittannië en de Verenigde Bretagne et des Etats-Unis, il en fût de

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Staten, net als het persoonlijke même pour l’outillage individuel du the United States, as were the personal gereedschap van de soldaat. fantassin. tools of the soldiers. 78 Bescherming tegen gas Les protections anti-gaz Protection against gas De evolutie naar steeds agressievere Les évolutions permanentes de The evolution towards increasingly strijdgassen verplicht de Belgische l’agressivité dans les créations de aggressive war gasses forces the Belgian Bevoorradingsdienst de hulp in te nouveaux gaz de combat, obligèrent Supply Service to ask help from France in roepen van Frankrijk om z’n l’intendance belge à se tourner vers la order to provide the men with suitable manschappen te voorzien van passende France afin d’équiper ses hommes de protection masks, from the simple beschermingsmaskers: van de simpele masques de protection adéquats. Du tampon in 1915, via the M2 mask- tampon van 1915, over het M2 masker- simple tampon de 1915, au groin du M2 steeped in soda hyposulfite- to the doordrenkt met soda hyposulfiet-, tot imprégné d’hyposulfite de soude, advanced ‘Appareil Respiratoire Spécial’ het geavanceerde ‘Appareil Respiratoire jusqu’au très sophistiqué ‘Appareil (Special Respiratory Apparatus) (A.R.S.) Spécial’ (A.R.S.) van 1917. Respiratoire Spécial’ (A.R.S.), de 1917. of 1917. 79 Helm type Weeckers Casque type Weeckers Weeckers type helmet Dr. Weeckers was voor de oorlog Le Dr. Weeckers, ophtalmologue à Before the war Dr. Weeckers was an eye oogspecialist aan de universiteit van l’université de Louvain avant la guerre et specialist at the University of Leuven. Leuven. Tijdens de oorlog was hij als arts officiant à l’ambulance de l’Océan de La During the war he worked as a doctor in verbonden aan het hospitaal l’Océan in Panne, mit au point fin 1917 un casque the ‘L’Océan’ hospital in De Panne. It De Panne. Einde 1917 werkte hij er aan expérimental avec protection oculaire. was there that, at the end of 1917, he een experimentele helm met Le nombre de blessures aux yeux, en worked on an experimental helmet with oogbescherming. Koningin Elisabeth, constante augmentation, toucha la eye protection. The Belgian Queen aangedaan door het voortdurende Reine Elisabeth qui s’investit Elisabeth, moved by the continued toenemen van het aantal oogblessures financièrement pour la mise en increase in the number of eye injuries onder de soldaten, steunde dit project fabrication de ce projet. Ce qui lui valut among the soldiers, supported this door de productie van de helmen te le surnom de casque ‘Reine Elisabeth’ project by financing the manufacture of financieren. Daardoor kreeg deze helm par les combattants. On estime à moins the helmets. This caused the frontline van de frontsoldaten de bijnaam d’un millier d’exemplaires distribuées au soldiers to dub this helmet the ‘Queen ‘koningin Elisabethhelm’. Vermoedelijk front. Elisabeth helmet’. Presumably less than

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zijn er van deze helm minder dan 1,000 of these helmets were distributed duizend stuks onder de soldaten to the soldiers. verdeeld. 80 De artistieke uitdrukking L’expression artistique Artistic expression De meeste soldaten aan het front waren La majorité des hommes au front étant Most front line soldiers were used to gewoon om met hun handen te werken. manuels, continuèrent à pratiquer leur manual work. In their free time they In hun vrije tijd gebruikten ze die discipline artistiquement lors de temps used their skills to express themselves in handigheid om zich artistiek uit te leven. libres. En fabriquant de petits objets an artistic way. They made small Ze maakten kleine gesculpteerde usuels décorés, à base de matériaux sculpted utensils with what they found gebruiksvoorwerpen met wat ze vonden disponibles sur le champ de bataille, ils on the battlefields. They competed with op de slagvelden. Ze ijverden onderling firent, parmi leurs camarades, beaucoup each other to make the most beautiful om het mooiste werkstuk te maken, de d’émules plus ou moins doués. piece of work, some more successfully ene al met meer succes dan de andere. than others. 81 1917-1918.Op rust achter het front. 1917-1918 repos à l’arrière 1917-1918 Resting behind the front Na hun verblijf in de eerste linie genieten Après une période en première ligne, les After their time in the frontline the de soldaten van een moment van hommes bénéficient d’un moment de soldiers enjoy a moment of rest in their verpozing in hun houten barak in het repos à l’arrière dans des wooden barracks in the army camp legerkamp achter het front. De cantonnements de baraques en bois. behind the front. The officers visit each officieren zoeken elkaar op en maken Des gradés, par affinité, se réunissent et other, and make their own ‘home’, hun eigen ‘thuis’, waar ze samen in alle forment une ‘popote’, un petit ‘chez soi’ where they can relax together in a gezelligheid zich kunnen ontspannen, ou l’on partage en toute convivialité convivial atmosphere, eat, divide the eten, de inhoud van de hun distractions, repas, colis, discutions au contents of the packages received or toegezonden pakjes verdelen of coin du feu. C’est parfois le temps d’y have discussions around the fire. They discussiëren rond het vuur. Hier kunnen faire sa correspondance, mais aussi celui can catch up with their correspondence, ze hun correspondentie schrijven, maar de rédiger les ennuyeux rapports pour but annoyingly also have to write reports ook de vervelende rapporten voor hun les supérieurs. for their superiors. meerderen opstellen.

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82 Het uniform van de ruiter La tenue du cavalier The uniform of the horseman Deze uitrusting vormt de gezamenlijke Ces effets firent l’objet d’une étude en This equipment was a result of the joint studie van Kolonel Empain en Majoor du commun de la part du Colonel Empain et study of Colonel Empain and Major du Roy de Blicquy, adjunct van de generale du Major adjoint d’état-major du Roy de Roy de Blicquy, adjunct of the General staf. De ruiters krijgen een nieuwe Blicqy. Un nouveau manteau cintré à la Staff. The horsemen receive a new mantel zonder cape, gecentreerd aan de taille, sans pèlerine et à une rangée de overcoat without cape, tightly fitted at taille en met slechts één rij knopen. Voor boutons fût créé pour la troupe montée. the waist and with only one row of de broek gebruikt men Bedford stof en Pour la culotte on utilisa du drap Bedford buttons. Bedford fabric is used for the een kalfslederen versterking voor het et de la peau de veau chamoisée pour trousers with a calves’ leather stuk tussen de benen zoals het Britse l’entre-jambes comme le modèle utilisé reinforcement on the inside of the model. De uniformjas is dezelfde als pour le cavalier britannique. La vareuse thighs, similar to the British model. The voor de andere legeronderdelen. Ze zijn est du type commun à toute la troupe, dress tunic is the same as for the other enkel te onderscheiden door de seuls les couleurs de tradition et les units, and can only be distinguished by kraagspiegels, de insignes en de insignes au col et aux épaulettes the collar insignia and edging of the afboording van de epauletten. marquent la différence. epaulettes. 83 De Mills-uitrusting model 1915 Equipement Mills modèle 1915 The Mills 1915 Pattern Webbing In april 1915 wordt aan de USA een vraag Au mois d’avril 1915 un marché fût passé Equipment gesteld voor de levering van 100.000 aux Etats-Unis pour la fourniture de 100 In April 1915 the USA are requested to uitrustingen. Net zoals de Mills- 000 équipements complets. Analogue à deliver 100,000 equipment kits. Just like uitrusting 1908 die door het Britse leger celui utilisé par l’armée britannique, le the Mills 1908 Pattern Webbing wordt gebruikt, kan de ‘Mills equipment ‘Mills equipment pattern 1908’, le Equipment which is used by the British pattern 1915’ volledig aangepast modèle 1915 belge se prête également à Army, this webbing equipment 1915 can worden aan de noden van de soldaat. Bij toutes les combinaisons possibles. A leur by fully adopted to the needs of the hun levering worden ze eerst in reserve réception ces équipements soldier. After delivery they are first kept gehouden. Pas later worden ze verdeeld. constitueront la réserve avant une in reserve, and only distributed later. future distribution. 84 De medaille La médaille The medal

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Velen hebben ze verdiend, anderen Beaucoup l’ont méritée, à d’autres on l’a Many have earned it, others did not hebben niets bewezen. Velen hebben er donnée. Beaucoup l’ont exhibée, prove their worth. Many have used it, zich van bediend, anderen hebben ze d’autres l’ont méprisée. other showed contempt. misprezen. 85 Diksmuide 1920 Dixmude 1920 Diksmuide 1920 Interactional function, Op 28 januari 1920 vindt een grote Le 28 janvier 1920, une grande On 28th January 1920 an important blijft in frans ceremonie plaats in de stad Diksmuide. cérémonie a eu lieu dans la ville de ceremony took place in the town of representatief Tussen de ruïnes, met het puin van de Dixmude. Parmi les ruines, devant le Diksmuide. Between the ruins, with the Sint-Niklaaskerk op de achtergrond, squelette de l’église Saint Nicolas, les rubble of the Saint Nicolas church as a ontvangt de stad Diksmuide uit de autorités municipales reçurent, des backdrop, the town of Diksmuide handen van de Franse president mains du Président de la République received the ‘Croix de Guerre’ from the Poincaré, het ‘Croix de Guerre’. Dit française, la Croix de Guerre, donné à la President of the French Republic, historische stuk ligt nog altijd op het ville. Cette pièce historique, toujours sur Poincaré. This historical medal still lies origineel kussen en werd door de Stad son coussinet original, prêtée on the original cushion, and was Diksmuide aan het Museum aan de IJzer gracieusement par le municipalité, est graciously loaned by the town of uitgeleend voor de tentoonstelling. ‘De actuellement visible dans l’exposition Diksmuide to the Museum on the Yser IJzer, onze laatste hoop’. U kunt dit ‘L’Yser, notre dernier espoir’, située au for the exhibition ‘The Yser, our last bewonderen op de gelijkvloerse rez-de-chaussée de ce monument, hope’. You can find it on the ground floor verdieping van dit monument voor de symbole de paix. of this monument of peace. vrede. 86 Clay Kicking La technique utilisée en creusant des Technique used for digging tunnels in Gebruikt bij het uitgraven van tunnels in tunnels dans les couches d’argile : clay layers. Half lying, they pushed the kleilagen. Half liggend duwde men met presque couché par terre on poussait push-pick in the clay with their hands handen en voeten de “push-pick” avec les mains et les pieds la « push- and feet. The loosened clay was put into (spade) in de klei. De los gegraven klei pick » (la bêche) dans l’argile. On gunny bags to be transported. diende gevuld te worden in jutezakjes chargeait l’argile détachée dans des sacs om af te voeren. de jute pour les transporter.

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87 Spiling-systeem La technique utilisée en creusant des Technique used for digging in sand Techniek gebruikt bij het graven in tunnels dans les couches de sable : en layers. The sand was topped with planks, zandlagen. Met planken, priemen en mettant des planches, des pinçons et bodkins and gibs, so that the sand that spieën werd het zand tegengehouden des clavettes on retenait le sable de came down could be controlled. zodanig dat men het instortende zand cette manière qu’on pouvait tenir sous onder controle kon houden. controle le sable qui s’effondrait. 88 Modder La Boue The ‘Westhoek’ is a low-lying region with De Westhoek is een laaggelegen streek Le Westhoek est une plaine dans abundant and unpredictable met een overvloedige en laquelle le temps est très imprévisible. Il precipitation. Clay and loam are not onvoorspelbare neerslag. De klei en y a beaucoup de la pluie. Et l’argile et le favourable for the permeability of the leemlagen bevorderen de lehm dans le sol ne stimulant pas l’eau à soil. There was some water control done waterdoorlating niet. Landbouwers être drainé. Les agriculteurs contrôlent by the farmers, but in 1914 hundreds of deden weliswaar aan waterbeheersing le drainage de l’eau mais à partir de thousands of grenades ploughed the maar van 1914 begonnen 1914, des milliers de grenades et d’obus fertile but soggy Flemish soil. The whole honderdduizenden granaten de pénétraient le sol flamand fécond mais battlefield changed into an enormous vruchtbare maar natte Vlaamse bodem humide. Au lieu de détruire l’ennemi, le swamp. Instead of destroying the te doorploegen. Het gehele slagveld système de drainage était détruit. Les enemy, it was the drainage system that veranderde in een gigantisch moeras. In conséquences étaient désastreuses : des was destroyed. Results were disastrous: plaatse van de vijand werd het problèmes de santé, des maladies serious health problems, rheumatic afwateringssysteem kapotgeschoten. De rhumatisantes, de la corrosion de moisi disorders, fungal infections and all kinds gevolgen waren desastreus: ernstige et à cause des circonstances hygiéniques of other infections on humans and gezondheidsproblemen, reumatische mauvaises beaucoup de gens et animals alike due to a lack of hygiene. aandoeningen, schimmelaantastingen d’animaux avaient des infections de For the animals pulling canons work was en door de gebrekkige hygiënische toutes sortes. Les animaux devaient tirer twice as hard as normal due to the mud. omstandigheden ontstekingen des canons, mais à cause de la boue Equipment suffered a lot under these allerhande zowel bij dieren als mensen. c’était beaucoup plus dur. La matériel extreme circumstances. Chariots got Voor de dieren was een kanon souffrait beaucoup par les circonstances stuck, guns stopped working due to the voorttrekken door de modder dubbel terribles. Les chariots se grippaient, les mire, leather and cloths rotted away,

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zwaar. Het materiaal had ongelooflijk te fusils bloquaient à cause de la boue, le and everything made from iron was lijden onder de barre omstandigheden. cuir et les étoffes pourrissaient et tous rusting away. Hundreds of thousands of Wagens liepen vast, geweren les objets métalliques rouillaient. Des rats thrived and wandered about eating blokkeerden door het slijk, leder en stof milliers de rats traînaient sur les champs corpses and carrion. Flies were rotten weg, alles wat van ijzer was en profitant de tous les cadavres et les everywhere, especially on rotting roestte weg. Ratten gedijden wel en corps. Des essaims de mouches remains of humans and animals. zwierven met honderdduizenden rond, descendaient partout sur des résidus Mosquitoes, also malaria mosquitoes, deden zich te goed aan lijken en d’hommes et d’animaux. Dans l’été, il y were omnipresent during summer. The kadavers. Vliegenzwermen zetten zich avait beaucoup de moustiques, même ‘Westhoek’ had become a water-sick overal neer op de verrotte resten van des anophèles. Le Westhoek s’était moonscape with almost no drop of mens en dier. Muggen, ook de transformé en une plaine lunaire avec drinkable water, everything had become malariamuggen, kwamen tijdens de Presque plus d’eau empoisonnée par la poisoned by mud, gas, carrion, mosquito zomer overvloedig over. De Westhoek boue, les cadavres, les larves larvae, human and animal excrements was een waterziek maanlandschap moustiques, les excréments des etc. geworden met haast geen druppel animaux et des homes (sic), etc. … The armies searched for solutions. They drinkbaar water; alles was vergiftigd Les armées ne sa laissaient pas faire, ils made pieces of equipment in water- door slijk, gas, kadavers, muggenlarven, construissaient leur équipement dans resistant material, developed thigh uitwerpselen van mens en dier enz. … les matériels imperméables, ils avaient boots, soldiers designed walking sticks De legers bleven niet bij de pakken des cuissardes et des soldats ont même themselves to stand upright in the mud. zitten. Uitrustingsstukken werden fait des cannes pour rester debout dans Canvas was used for thousands of new gemaakt in waterbestendige materialen, la boue. On utilisait des voiles pour les applications. Helmets, originally er kwamen lieslaarzen, soldaten tentes pour des milliers de choses. Les designed for the protection of soldiers ontwierpen zelf wandelstokken om casques n’étaient pas seulement pour le during combat, appeared to the best overeind te blijven in de modder. combat, mais surtout pour garder la tête way to keep the head dry. Thousands of Tentzeilen kregen duizenden sèche. Des milliers de pompes étaient pumps were built and brought to the toepassingen. Helmen, oorspronkelijk construits et transportés (sic) au front de front. Tons of grease and oil were being ontworpen om de soldaten te bataille. On employait de l’huile et de la used to protect mechanical parts against beschermen bij gevechtshandelingen, graisse pour protéger les parties humidity and oxidation. Medical science

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bleken de beste manier om het hoofd mécaniques contr l’humidité et leaped forward. A daily foot inspection droog te houden. Pompen werden met l’oxydation. Le science médicale was of vital importance. Warfare was duizenden geproduceerd en naar het développait énormément. Une adapted. A map with contour lines was front gebracht. Tonnen vet en olie inspection des pieds des soldats indispensable when preparing an attack. werden gebruikt om mechanische quotidienne était plus que nécessaire. Engineers and geologists became more onderdelen te beschermen tegen vocht On changeait le tactique de guerre. Une important as the region began more and en oxidatie. De medische wetenschap carte géographique avec les hauteurs more resemble a swamp. Soldiers had to evolueerde enorm. En een dagelijkse était indispensable pour la préparation go into battle with lighter and simpler inspectie van de voeten was meer dan d’une attaque. Des ingénieurs et de arms. Without any doubt, mud had a aangewezen. De oorlogsvoering werd géologues devenaient plus importants à very important influence on Flanders aangepast. Een kaart met hoogtelijnen mesure que la région avait l’air plus during WWI. Mother earth became an was onontbeerlijk bij het voorbereiden marécageuse. Il faudrait que les soldats enemy. Mother earth became MUD. van een aanval. Ingenieurs en geologen allaient au combat avec des armes plus Woordspeling kan in Fr werden belangrijker naarmate de steek légers et plus simples. La boue a sans niet bewaard blijven (sic) er moerassiger ging uitzien. doute eu une grande influence sur la (mère had kunnen Soldaten moesten lichter bewapend ten deuxième guerre mondiale. Notre mère verbonden worden met aanval trekken en met eenvoudiger la terre était un ennemi. Notre mère la merde) wapens. De modder heeft WO1 in terre était la boue. Vlaanderen ongetwijfeld heel sterk beïnvloed. Moeder aarde werd een vijand. Moeder aarde werd MODDER. 89 De ingangen Les entrées étaient en liaison avec les The entrances were connected with the De ingangen stonden in verbinding met tranchées et étaient barrées avec du trenches and closed off with sackcloth. de loopgraven en waren afgesloten met jute. A l’occasion d’une attaque de gaz In case of a gas attack, the rolled down jute. Bij een eventuele gasaanval werd éventuelle on déroulait le jute et on sackcloth was moistened to prevent the de jute afgerold bevochtigd om het l’humectait dans le but d’éviter la gas from penetrating into the tunnels. indringen van het gas in de tunnels te pénétration du gaz dans les tunnels. verhinderen.

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90 Hoe Dr Beechams dug out ontdekt werd La magnifique découvert (e) de l’abri de How Dr. Beecham’s dugout was *opmerking: (e) van Simonne en Andre deden de schrik van M. Beecham discovered découverte was op het hun leven op toen ze ontdekten dat er Simonne et Andre ont eu la peur de leur Simonne and Andre got the fright of paneel bijgechreven een Britse ondergrondse schuilplaats vie en découvrant qu’un abri souterrain their lives when they discovered a British met balpen onder hun boerderij zat. Ze gingen vlug britannique se nichait sous leur ferme. underground shelter under their farm. *beton is geen juiste te rade bij Johan Vandewalle. Johan Ils ont rapidement demandé conseil ) They went to Johan Vandewalle for vertaling in het Engels staat wijd en zijd bekend als een expert Johan Vandewalle, expert réputé des some advice. Johan is a very well-known (concrete) qua ondergrondse oorlogsvoering combats de tranchées durant la expert in tunnel warfare during World tijdens WOI. Johan begon daarna met Première Guerre mondiale. Johan et une War I. So Johan and his team of friends een team van vrienden en op een zeer équipe d’amis se sont aussitôt mis à started to get Dr. Beecham’s dugout out nauwgezette wijze dr Beecham’s dug déterrer très méticuleusement l’abri de of the ground in a very precise way. out uit de grond te halen. Plank voor Beecham (« Beecham Dugout »). Plank by plank, beam by beam was plank, balk voor balk werd Planche par planche, poutre par dismantled, numbered, described and gedemonteerd, genummerd, poutre,… tout a été démonté, numéroté, preserved. In that way, Johan not only beschreven en geconserveerd. Op deze décrit et conservé. Johan a ainsi non saved a piece of historical heritage, but manier redde Johan niet enkel een seulement sauvé un pan du patrimoine it also revealed a lot about the working stukje historisch erfgoed, maar werden historique mais a mis à jour également le method which was used during World er heel wat zaken duidelijk rond de mode de construction des abris utilisés War I. Eventually the cavity under the constructie werkwijze die men gebruikte durant la Grande Guerre. Dans farm was filled with foam beton. tijdens WOI. Uiteindelijk werd de holte l’immense trou laissé sous la ferme, du Simonne and Andre still live happily on onder de hoeve nog opgespoten met béton mousse a été injecté. Simonne et their farm. schuimbeton. Simonne en Andre wonen Andre habitent toujours paisiblement nog altijd gelukkig op hun boerderij. dans leur ferme. 91 Pompkamer L’eau coulant du sol était un vaste The groundwater was the biggest Het grondwater was het grootste problème. Pour cela on devait pomper problem. It had to be pumped up night probleem. Dit moest dan ook dag en jour et nuit avec des pompes à main. A and day with manpower. Near the pump nacht opgepompt worden met côté se trouvait un lit de camp où le there was a resting place where the handpompen. Bij de pompput was er militaire responsable du controle du military, responsible for the control of

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dan ook een brits waar de militair, niveau de l’eau pouvait se reposer. Le the water level, could rest. The heavy verantwoordelijk voor het controleren labeur lourd avec la pompe à main, le labour, the lack of sleep and the van het waterpeil, kon rusten. Het zware manque de sommeil et l’oxygène qui shortage of oxygen made this an infernal werk met de handpomp, het manquait faisaient que ce travail job slaapgebrek en het zuurstofgebrek s’averrait infernal. maakten dit tot een hels karwei. 92 Galerijen werden uitgebouwd tot Les galeries étaient élargies en dortoirs Galeries (sic) were built into slaapplaatsen voor de soldaten. Ze pour les soldats. Ils se couchaient l’un à sleepingplaces (sic) for the soldiers. They sliepen met drie boven elkaar en twee côté de l’autre en trois étages. Ainsi ils slept in three layers of two soldiers, naast elkaar. Ze hadden amper 50 cm ne disposaient que d’une espace de 50 which meant they had only a hight of 50 hoogte en 47 cm breedte en van 174 cm cm de hauteur et de 47 cm de largeur sur cm, by a width of 47 cm and a length of tot 184 cm lengte. De britsen werden 174 cm de longueur. Les lits étaient 184 cm. The sleeping places were voorzien van kippengaas of omwonden pourvus de barbelés ou de fils de constructed of chicken wire or met telefoonkabels, daarop een téléphone couvert d’un chiffon en jute. telephonecables (sic), covered with a onderbed van jute. Dergelijke galerijen Ces galeries hébergeaient quelques simple cloth. These galleries could lodge konden plaats bieden aan enkele centaines de recrus. La situation a few hundred soldiers. Hygiene was honderden manschappen. De hygiénique était désastreuse. Le atrocious because of the constant damp hygiënische omstandigheden waren manque d’air, l’humidité constante et le air, the lack of oxygen and the severe erbarmelijk door de constante froid étaient responsables. Selon des cold. Reports mentioned that boots vochtigheid, de kou en het rapports il était défendu d’enlever les were not to be taken off, probably zuurstofgebrek. Volgens rapporten bottes, à cause de la puanteur. On because of the resulting stench… They waren er meldingen dat laarzen niet restait pendant à peu près cinq jours stayed in these trenches for about five mochten uitgedaan worden, dans ces contructions souterraines. days. waarschijnlijk omdat het anders te veel stonk. Maximaal verbleef men een vijftal dagen in een ondergrondse stelling. 93 De ondergrondse complexen waren er Les complexes souterrains étaient The underground constructions were ook op voorzien om eerste hulp aan prévus pour donner une première aide also meant to help the wounded. After

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gewonden te kunnen bieden. Na de aux blessés. Après ils étaient évacués first aid they were moved for further eerste verzorging werden ze dan pour traitement et revalidation. treatment and revalidation. afgevoerd voor verdere verzorging en revalidatie. 94 Observatiepost Quelques positions avaient des postes Some positions had observation posts Sommige stellingen hadden d’observation pour observer l’ennemi. from where the enemy could be observatieposten van waaruit de vijand observed. kon geobserveerd worden. 95 Bij hun poging om het Franse leger te Dans leur manoeuvre d’enveloppement Whilst attempting to surround the omsingelen, worden de Duitse troepen de l’armée française, les Allemands ne French army, the German troops were geconfronteerd met het Belgische leger pouvaient prêter leur flanc nord aux confronted with a flanking manoeuvre dat vanuit Antwerpen de Duitse flank forces belges concentrées dans la ville by the Belgian troops in the Port of bedreigt. Wanneer de beschietingen op portuaire d’Anvers. Après les Antwerp. After the bombing of the first de eerste forten beginnen, in de nacht bombardements des premiers forts dans forts on the night of the 27th September, van 27 op 28 september, beseft Koning la nuit du 27 au 28 septembre, le Roi King Albert conceded that it was going to Albert dat Antwerpen houden een Albert comprend qu’il est devenu be impossible to save the city. From the probleem wordt. Vanaf 29 augustus impossible de conserver la ville. Dès le 29th August convoys were smuggled worden ’s nachts volledige konvooien 29 août, des convois entiers traversent across the Schelde at night, right under over de Schelde gesmokkeld, onder de clandestinement l’Escaut, sous le nez the nose of the enemy. On the 7th neus van de vijandelijke troepen, die zich des troupes ennemies qui ne se doutent October the King left Antwerp and two van geen kwaad bewust zijn. Op 7 de rien. Le 7 octobre, le roi quitte days later Mayor Devos declared that oktober verlaat de koning Antwerpen. Anvers, entièrement vidée de ses Antwerp would no longer being Twee dagen later verklaart troupes, canons, munitions et defended. The German troops were burgemeester De Vos dat Antwerpen subsistances. Deux jours plus tard, le dismayed to discover that the troops niet meer wordt verdedigd. De bourgmestre De Vos déclare Anvers with their weapons and food had already ontgoocheling bij de Duitse troepen is « Ville ouverte », laissant les Allemands left the city. Their only gain was 5000 groot als blijkt dat niet alleen de meeste à leurs désillusions, avec pour seul butin fortress soldiers who had stayed to troepen, maar ook hun wapens, 5000 prisonniers des troupes de cover the departure of the Belgian army,

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kanonnen en voedsel de stad hebben forteresses, restées pour masquer le the latter having retreated by force and verlaten. Slechts 5000 vestingsoldaten départ de l’armée belge qui bat en in chaos to Diksmuide. worden krijgsgevangen genomen. De retraite par des marches forcées et rest trekt zich terug naar Diksmuide via désordonnées jusqu’à Dixmude. geforceerde en ongeordende voetmarsen. 96 De burgerbevolking is op de vlucht voor Les populations civiles envahissent les Civilians flee the German troops, de Duitse troepen en blokkeert de routes, précédant les troupes blocking the roads. wegen. allemandes. 97 Gelijktijdig met de slag bij Antwerpen, Simultanément à la bataille d’Anvers, la The simultaneous successes in the Battle zorgt de overwinning aan de Marne voor victoire de la Marne engendre la ‘Course of Antwerp and the victory at the Marne ‘de wedloop naar de zee’. De Duitsers à la mer’. L’objectif des Allemands étant marked the beginning of the ‘race for the willen de havens aan de Noordzee in hun de conquérir les ports de la mer du Nord sea’. The Germans wanted to conquer bezit krijgen om zo de aanvoer van Britse afin d’entraver le débarquement des the North Sea ports in order to hamper troepen en materieel sterk te troupes et du matériel britanniques et the arrival of the British troops and their bemoeilijken. De stroom vluchtelingen de poursuivre l’enveloppement des equipment. The flow of refugees being die voor (sic) het Duitse leger naar de forces françaises. Un flot de refugiés pushed to the Westhoek by the German Westhoek wordt geduwd zorgt echter arrive au Westhoek poussé par les army actually made it difficult for the voor aanzienlijke moeilijkheden bij de troupes allemandes, gênant allied troops to retreat. After the first terugtrekking van de geallieerde legers. considérablement la retraite des Alliés skirmishes around Diksmuide on the 16th Na de eerste schermutselingen rond en route pour l’Yser. Aux premières October 1914, people hid in the cellars Diksmuide op 16 oktober 1914 vlucht de escarmouches autour de la ville de of their houses. After several days of burgerbevolking in de kelders van hun Dixmude du 16 octobre 1914, les heavy bombing, Belgian soldiers were huizen. Enkele dagen later, na zware habitants se réfugient dans les caves. surprised to still find civilians in beschietingen op de stad, begrijpen de Après les premiers bombardements Diksmuide. They were eventually Belgische soldaten niet hoe het mogelijk destructeurs les soldats sont stupéfaits evacuated against their will on 28th is dat er nog burgers in Diksmuide de retrouver autant de civils dans la ville. October 1914. gebleven zijn. Ze worden uiteindelijk

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verplicht geëvacueerd op 28 oktober Ils seront finalement évacués de force le 1914. 28 octobre. 98 De IJzer, onze laatste hoop Le Roi Albert donna l’ordre à ces King Albert orders what is left of his Koning Albert geeft, wat er nog rest van derniers (sic) forces, refluant d’Anvers, troops pulling back from Antwerp, to zijn uit Antwerpen terugtrekkende de se retrancher derrière l’Yser afin de stand their ground at the Yser and troepen, de orders om stand te houden défendre et protéger le réduit national, defend that last piece of land with all aan de IJzer om zo het laatste stukje land jusqu’à la dernière extrémité. their might. wat hen nog rest te verdedigen met alle energie die nog overblijft. 99 La Bataille de L’Yser Le général Foch, qui s’est distingué à le General Foch, who has distinguished Generaal Foch, die zich aan het hoofd tête de la 9ième armée, lors de la bataille himself as leader of the 9th division van het 9de leger zich tijdens de Slag aan de la Marne, a reçu le commandement during the Battle of the Marne, is in de Marne heeft onderscheiden, staat de l’armée du nord. Il établit une ligne de charge of the Northern army. He aan het hoofd van het Noordelijke leger. défense partant de Nieuport jusque develops a defensive line from Hij ontwikkelt een verdedigingslijn Ypres avec quatre corps d’armées Nieuwpoort to Ypres with 4 French army vertrekkend van Nieuwpoort tot Ieper français et un corps Britannique en corps, 1 British army corps, and the met 4 Franse legerkorpsen en 1 Brits soutien de l’armée belge, toujours sous Belgian army led by King Albert. Foch legerkorps, samen met het Belgische le commandement du roi. Il d »clara au gives the Belgian generals the following leger onder leiding van Koning Albert. généraux belges : ‘Vous avez tenu huit assignment: ‘Vous avez tenu huit jours; Foch geeft de Belgische generaals jours ; vous tiendrez encore huit jours’. vous tiendrez encore huit jours’. volgende opdracht: ‘Vous avez tenu huit jours; vous tiendrez encore huit jours’. 100 Nach Calais Les troupes allemandes ont la volonté The German troups (sic) are ready to De Duitse troepen zijn klaar om door te d’enlever Dunkerque pour atteindre proceed to Dunkerque and Calais, the stoten naar Duinkerke en Calais, de Calais, la clef de la mer du Nord ! Le access to the North Sea. The German toegang tot de Noordzee. De Duitse Kaiser est en Flandre pour encourager emperor himself is in West-Flanders to keizer komt zelf naar West-Vlaanderen

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om zijn troepen aan te vuren om zo de ses troupes et, après la victoire, encourage his troops and announce the aanhechting van de (sic) België te annoncer l’annexion de la Belgique. annexation of Belgium following victory. kunnen aankondigen. 101 Tenir Dixmude Afin de contenir la poussée allemande, To stop the German attack, General Foch Om de Duitse aanval tegen te houden le contre-amiral Ronarc’h reçu l’ordre du orders Vice-Admiral Ronarc’h to krijgt vice-admiraal Ronarc’h het order général Foch de garder la tête de pont maintain the Dixmude bridgehead on van generaal Foch om het bruggenhoofd Dixmude sur la rive droite de l’Yser, ainsi the right bank of the Yser and all access Diksmuide, op de rechteroever van de que toutes lex axes y menant. Ils roads leading there. The objective had IJzer, en alle toegangswegen er naar toe, devaient tenir quelques jours, sa brigade been to stand their ground for a few vast te houden. Ze moesten enkele résista près d’un mois. days, but the Brigade stood for almost an dagen stand houden, maar de Brigade entire month. hield het bijna een maand vol. 102 Belgische karabiniers houden stand Des carabiniers belges résistent aux Belgian carabineers resist the German tegen de Duitse aanvallen in een café assauts allemands dans un estiminet attacks in a café near Zemst. nabij Zemst. près de Zemst. 103 Ten zuiden van Diksmuide bestoken de Les Allemands, tentant une offensive au During an offensive to the south of Duitse troepen vanuit het kasteel van sud de Dixmude depuis leur position du Diksmuide, the German bombed the Esen de begraafplaats van Diksmuide die château de Esen, canonnèrent le cemetery which was situated a few 100 enkele honderden meter verder gelegen cimetière distant de quelques centaines metres away. Despite the heavy shelling is. Ondanks de inslaande granaten die de de mètres. Leurs obus bouleversèrent which smashed the tombstones and grafstenen omwoelen en de lijken en les tombes, mêlant cercueils et seemingly spread body parts around, the stukken van lichamen overal morceaux de cadavres aux fusiliers French fusiliers and the Belgian soldiers verspreiden, houden de Franse marins et soldats belges retranchés stood their ground for several days. marinefuseliers en de Belgische soldaten fermement sur cette position pendant hier verscheidene dagen stand. plusieurs jours d’affiliée. 104 In de nacht van 25 op 26 oktober is er La nuit du 25 au 26 octobre, une grande Strong offensive action into Diksmuide een groot Duits offensief voorzien op offensive Allemande était prévu sur la was planned by the Germans for the

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Diksmuide. Door het slechte weer wordt ville. Un temps exécrable annula night of the 25th of October, but the de operatie geannuleerd. Het derde l’opération. Seul le troisième bataillon operation was cancelled due to bad bataljon van het RIR 202 ontvangt deze du RIR 202 n’ayant pas reçu weather. The 3rd Battalion of the RIR informatie niet en gaat alleen in de l’information attaqua seul. Ne 202, however, did not receive this order aanval. Ze ontmoeten weinig tegenstand rencontrant que très peu de résistance and proceeded to attack alone. They did en nemen een tiental krijgsgevangenen. et faisant quelques dizaines de not meet with much resistance and even Via de Grote Markt bereiken ze de Hoge prisonniers, ils atteignent la Grande took 10 prisoners of war. They reached Brug over de IJzer en trekken ze richting Place, traversent le Haut Pont, prennent the Market Square, then continued Kaaskerke. Wanneer ze worden la direction de Kaaskerke. Repéré par les across the Hoge Brug (High Bridge) over opgemerkt door de marinefuseliers marins bretons, ils essuient une the river Yser and headed on the ontstaat er een zwaar gevecht. In een fusillade. En s’enfuyant dans les polders, direction of Kaas-kerke. When they are poging om te ontsnappen via de polders ils massacrent une grande partie de leurs spotted by the naval fusiliers, a tough doden ze een aantal krijgsgevangenen. prisonniers. Poursuivis par les fusiliers fight starts. They kill a few prisoners of Slechts een handvol Duitse soldaten marins, seul une dizaine d’allemands war in their attempt to escape through slaagt er in om terug hun eigen linies te purent rejoindre leurs lignes. the polders. Only a handful of German bereiken. soldiers succeeds in reaching their own lines. 105 De geallieerde troepen houden stand op La résistance des alliés dans le cimetière Allied troops stand firm in the cemetery de begraafplaats van de stad van 17 de la ville du 17 octobre jusqu’au 10 of the town from 17th October to 10th oktober tot 10 november 1914. novembre 1914. November 1914. 106 Belgische infanteriesoldaat van het 9de Soldat d’infanterie belge du 9ième Belgian infantry soldier of the 9th Line linie regiment régiment de ligne regiment 107 Oppermeester Franse marine fuseliers Maître principal des fusiliers marins Master Chief Petty Officer of the French français Marine fusiliers 108 Op 8 oktober 1914 komt een Franse Le 8 octobre 1914, la brigade des On the 8th October 1914 a brigade of brigade marine fuseliers aan in Gent. fusiliers marins est envoyé à Anvers pour French naval fusiliers headed off to Hun bestemming, Antwerpen, is niet participer à la défense de la ville. Mais defend Antwerp but discovered on their

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langer bereikbaar. Onmiddellijk moeten celle-ci est prise à leur arrivée à Gand. arrival in Ghent that the city had already ze de flank fan het terugtrekkende Tout de suite, ils sont mobilisés pour been taken. They were therefore Belgische leger verdedigen. Hun protéger le flanc des armées belges en mobilised to defend the flank of the vuurdoop krijgen ze in de buurt van retraite. Ils ont leur baptême de feu près retreating Belgian army. They had their Melle. Vanaf 12 oktober trekken ze zich de Melle. Le 12 octobre, ils se replient à baptism of fire near Melle. From 12 terug naar Diksmuide. Ze moeten de pied sur Dixmude pour leur nouvelle October, they withdraw back to stad te allen prijze verdedigen. mission : tenir la ville. Diksmuide. They have to defend the city at all costs. 109 Eduoard Gamas is geboren op 10 maart Edouard Gamas est né à Cherbourg le 10 Eduoard Gamas was born in Cherbourg 1877 In (sic) Cherbourg. Bij het begin van mars 1877. Au début de la première on the 10th March 1877. When war de Eerste Wereldoorlog, heeft hij de guerre mondiale, il accède au grade de broke out, he held the rank of Lieutenant graad van luitenant ter zee en krijgt hij lieutenant de vaisseau et on lui donne le and led the 7th company of the 2nd de leiding van de 7de compagnie van het commandement du 7ième compagnie du battalion of the 2nd regiment of the 2de bataljon van het 2de regiment van 2ième bataillon de 2ième régiment des Naval Fusiliers. He distinguished himself marine fuseliers. Hij onderscheidt zich fusiliers marins. Il se distingue dans in combat on the night of the 25th tijdens de nacht van 24 op 25 oktober l’engagement de nuit, du 24 au 25 October when a German unit tried to 1914 wanneer een Duitse eenheid dreigt octobre, où il met en déroute une penetrate the Belgian French lines. door de Belgische Franse linies te colonne Allemande qui avait pu pénétrer Joffre said of him, ‘He leads his troops breken. Joffre zei over hem: “Hij leidt zijn entre les lignes franco belges, et se wonderfully, when they are under attack troepen bewonderenswaardig zowel als dirigeait vers la rive gauche de l’Yser. as well as during their daily routine’. ze onder vuur liggen als tijdens de Selon Joffre, ‘Il a conduit admirablement dagelijkse dienst”. sa compagnie, soit au feu soit dans tous les détails du service journalier’. 110 Pierre-Alexis Ronarc’h is geboren op 22 Pierre-Alexis Ronarc’h est né le 22 Pierre-Alexis Ronarc’h was born in november 1865 in Quimper. Wanneer novembre 1865 à Quimper. Au début de Quimper on the 22nd November 1865. de Eerste Wereldoorlog uitbreekt, heeft la première guerre mondiale, il accède When the war began he held the rank of hij de graad van contre-amiral en krijgt au grade de contre-amiral et on lui Rear Admiral and led the newly formed hij de leiding van de pas gevormde donne le commandement de la Brigade regiment of the Naval Fusiliers. The

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Brigade van marine fuseliers. De des fuseliers marins. La détermination determination with which he led the vastberadenheid waarmee hij de avec laquelle il a défendu Dixmude fit de defence of Diksmuide during the war verdediging van Diksmuide heeft geleid, lui un héros. Une rue de la ville porte son made him a hero. There is a street in zorgt ervoor dat hij hier na de oorlog een nom, et il a reçu le 16 juin 1925 le titre Diksmuide named after him and on the grote faam heeft. Ronarc’h zelf krijgt een de citoyen d’honneur. Dans le parc 16th June 1925 he was made an honorary Diksmuidse straat naar zich genoemd en municipal de la ville de Dixmude, un citizen of the town. A monument of tijdens de gemeenteraadszitting van 16 monument a été érigé en l’honneur de la remembrance of the Naval Fusiliers was juni 1925 krijgt hij het ereburgerschap Brigade. erected in the town park. van de stad aangeboden. In het stadspark van de stad wordt een monument voor de marine fuseliers opgericht. 111 Matroos Paul Léliépault wordt dodelijk Matelot Paul Leliépault, blessé Seaman Paul Leliépault is mortally gewond op 16 december 1914. mortellement le 165 décembre 1914. wounded on 16th December 1914. 112 In de stad zijn er drie hulpposten Trois postes de secours sont dispersée There were three make-shift hospitals in ingericht waarvan één in een café. Het dans la ville, dont un dans un estaminet. the town, including one in a café. medische personeel verzorgt er alle Médecins et infirmiers soignent chaque Doctors and nurses took care of all the gekwetsten, zelfs Duitsers. De blessé, même parfois allemand. Les wounded including the German soldiers. aalmoezeniers proberen er de ziel te aumôniers tentent de soigner les âmes. The chaplain tried to care for their souls. verzorgen. 113 Franse militaire hulpverpleger Infirmier militaire auxiliaire français French auxiliary nurse

114 Gewonde Belgische soldaat van het 2de Blessé belge du 2ième régiment de ligne Wounded Belgian soldier of the 2nd Line linieregiment regiment 115 Een kroeg op de Grote Markt wordt Salle d’un estaminet de la Grand-Place A pub on the Main Square is omgebouwd tot hulppost. reconverti en poste de secours. transformed into an aid station. 116 Belgische legerarts Médécin (sic) militaire belge Belgian military doctor

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117 Infanteriesoldaat Soldat d’infanterie Infantry soldier

118 Epauletten van regimenten die Pattes d’épaule de régiments présents Epaulettes of the regiments who fought deelnamen aan de IJzerslag lors de la bataille de l’Yser in the Battle of the Yser 119 Ingezette Duitse troepen rond Troupes allemandes engagées devant German troops engaged around Diksmuide Dixmude Diksmuide 120 Het Russische leger nadert heel snel de L’armée russe se rapprochant The Russian army was quickly advancing oostelijke grens van Duitsland. Ervaren rapidement des frontières est de on the eastern German border so troepen worden in allerijl van het l’Allemagne, des divisions experiences battle hardened troops westelijk front naar het oosten expérimentées y sont envoyées en toute from Diksmuide were redeployed over overgebracht. Zij worden afgelost door hâte. Sur le front de Dixmude, elles sont there. They in turn were replaced in jonge vrijwilligers die een paar maand remplacées par de nouvelles troupes August 1914 by young volunteers who daarvoor nog school liepen. Die avec une majorité de jeunes engagés had still been at school until only a few jongemannen, aangespoord door hun volontaires d’août 1914, parfois des months before. They were encouraged patriottische leraren, zijn via een étudiants fanatisés par le patriotisme de to volunteer by their patriotic teachers spoedopleiding klaargestoomd voor de leurs enseignants. Ceux-ci ne possèdent and had only received a basic military strijd. Voor veel van die jongeren is de qu’une formation militaire restreinte. training. For many of these youngsters, strijd aan de IJzer het eerste, maar ook Pour beaucoup de ces jeunes, la bataille the Battle of the Yser was their first and het laatste gevecht. de l’Yser sera le premier, mais aussi le also their last time in combat. dernier combat. 121 Ook andere Franse troepen dragen bij Conjointement à l’armée belge, d’autres Together with the Belgian army, other tot de IJzerslag. Tijdens de nacht van 21 troupes françaises participent à la French troops took part in the Battle of op 22 oktober 1914 is de situatie bijna bataille. Dans la nuit de 21 au 22 the Yser. On the night of the 21st October onhoudbaar. De befaamde 42ste divisie octobre, la situation y est devenue 1914, the situation was almost onder bevel van generaal Paul-François intenable. L’illustre 42ième division sous le unbearable. French territorial troops Grossetti en Franse territoriale troepen commandement du général Paul- and the illustrious 42nd Division under worden ingezet om bressen te helpen François Grossetti et des troupes the command of General Paul-François dichten. Het Franse 61ste artillerie territoriales les aident à fermer les Grossetti were deployed to fill the

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regiment helpt het tekort aan Belgisch brèches. Le 61ième régiment de l’artillerie breach. The 61st French artillery veldgeschut opvangen. Bovendien française vient en aide à l’artillerie de regiment helped to cover the shortage krijgen de Franse marine fuseliers en de campagne belge. Le 26 novembre, deux of Belgian field artillery. In addition, Belgische troepen vanaf 26 november de bataillons de tirailleurs sénégalais from the 26th November, French Naval hulp van twee bataljons Senegalese viendront soutenir la défense de Fuseliers and Belgian troops were aided tirailleurs bij het verdedigen van de stad Dixmude. by 2 regiments of Senegalese tirailleurs Diksmuide. in the defence of Diksmuide. 122 Het Franse hospitaalschip Duguay- Le navire-hôpital français Duguay-Trouin In October 1914, the French hospital Trouin evacueert in oktober 1914 zo’n (dont, hasard de l’histoire, l’amiral ship Duguay-Trouin evacuates some 7050 Belgische burgervluchtelingen en Ronarc’h y fût le Commandement en 7050 Belgian civilian refugees and the de geblesseerden van de eerste Second en 1902) participa à l’évacuation wounded of the first actions around gevechten rond Diksmuide. Toevallig de population civile et de blessés des Diksmuide. By chance, in 1902 Admiral was admiraal Ronarc’h in 1902 op dit premiers combats sur l’Yser, 7050 Ronarc’h was Deputy Commander on schip nog plaatsvervangend passagers en octobre 1914. this ship. bevelhebber. 123 Op 1 december 1914 valt een obus op de L’église de Lampernisse sert d’abri aux On 1st December 1914 a shell hits the kerk van Lampernisse. 43 Franse Alpijnse militaires au début de l’hiver 1914. Le church of Lampernisse. 43 French Alpine Jagers te voet, 2 Belgische soldaten en 2 premier décembre, un obus allemand y infantry soldiers, and 2 Belgian soldiers burgers sterven er, meer dan 100 éclate, massacrant 43 hommes du 23ième and 2 civilians are killed, and more than gewonden worden afgevoerd. De bataillon Chasseurs à pied Alpin, deux 100 wounded are evacuated. The militairen worden samen in de kerk soldats belges ainsi que deux civils, en soldiers are buried together in the begraven. blessant encore une centaine d’autres. church. Les corps des militaires sont enterrés aussitôt dans l’édifice. 124 De brand van Diksmuide Après la guerre, le Dixmudois Maurice After the war, Maurice Catteeuw from Diksmuideling Maurice Catteeuw Catteeuw peint le tableau ‘De brand van Diksmuide painted ‘De Brand van schilderde na de oorlog ‘De Brand van Diksmuide’ (L’incendie de Dixmude). Ce Diksmuide’ (The Fire of Diksmuide). The

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Diksmuide’. Dit panorama biedt een panorama nous offre une vue sur la ville painting is a panorama of the town in zicht op de brandende stad, gezien van en flammes, vue depuis la rive gauche, flames on 20th-21st October 1914 seen op de linkeroever, rond 20-21 oktober autour du 20-21 octobre 1914. from the left bank. 1914. 125 Majoor Anderson overhandigt deze Le Major Anderson rend cet ostensoir Major Anderson hands over this monstrans, die hij gevonden had in het retrouvée dans les ruines du couvent des monstrance, which he had found in the klooster van de zusters van Sint Soeurs de saint Vincent de Paul à ses convent of the Sisters of Saint Vincentius Vincentius a Paulo, aan de Belgische interlocuteurs belges de l’autre côté de a Paulo, to the Belgian negotiators on onderhandelaars aan de andere kant l’Yser. the other bank of the Yser. van de IJzer. 126 Op kerstavond 1914 onstaat er bij veel A la veillée de Noël 1914, une certain On Christmas Eve 1914 a desire for soldaten in de loopgraven een sterke (sic) émotion envahit le coeur des peace arose amongst the men in the vredeswil. Langs beide zijden van de hommes aux tranchées. De chaque côté trenches. On both the Belgian and IJzer beginnen Belgische en Duitse de l’Yser, belge et allemand, entonnent German sides of the Yser the men began soldaten te zingen. Op kerstdag zelf des chants. Le jour de Noël, ils to sing. On Christmas Day they wordt er van op afstand met elkaar fraternisent à distrance. Le jour suivant, fraternised from a distance and on the verbroederd en ook op tweede kerstdag les armes restent toujours silencieuses. day after Christmas all weapons zwijgen de wapens. Kort na de middag Au début de l’après-midi, un officier remained silent. In the early afternoon gaat de Duitse officier John William allemand John William Anderson of the 26th a German officer, John Anderson naar de frontlinie. Hij maakt s’avance dans le no man’s land. Il fait William Anderson, entered into no-mans de Belgische soldaten duidelijk dat hij comprendre aux soldats belges qu’il (sic) land. He explained to the Belgian een monstrans die hij gevonden had in souhaite leur restituer un ostensoir soldiers that he wanted to return a een klooster, wil teruggeven. Na de retrouvé dans les ruines d’un couvent. A monstrance that he’d found in a ruined oorlog bestelt de deken van Diksmuide l’aide d’un sac de toile et d’une corde, il monastery. After the war, the Dean of bij kunstschilder Samuel De Vriendt een leurs fait parvenir. Après la guerre, le Diksmuide commissioned a painting by schilderij dat deze tijdelijke vrede moet chanoine de Dixmude commande au Samuel De Vriendt to depict that weergeven. peintre Samuel De Vriendt un tableau moment of peace. représentant cet épisode de paix.

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127 De helm en het portret van Le casque et le portrait de l’aumônier The helmet and the picture of the army aalmoezenier Sabin Vandermeiren, de Sabin Vandermeiren, la personne qui a chaplain Sabin Vandermeiren, the persoon die de monstrans tijdens het reçu l’estensoir pendant la trêve de person who received the monstrance kerstbestand in ontvangst nam. Noël. during the Christmas truce. 128 Vanaf 24 oktober wordt kolonel Jacques Le 24 octobre, le colonel Jacques, chef On the 24th October Colonel Jaques (sic) van het 12de linieregiment de de corps de 12ième de ligne, devient of the 12th line regiment became the bevelvoerder van de Belgische brigade in commandent de la brigade belge, suite à commanding officer of the Belgian Diksmuide. Hij vervangt de zieke kolonel la maladie de colonel Meiser. Avec celle- troops in Diksmuide, replacing Colonel Meiser. In nauwe samenwerking met ci, il participe activement à la défense de Meiser who had fallen ill. Working vice-admiraal Ronarc’h organiseert hij Dixmude en étroite collaboration avec le closely with Vice admiral Ronarc’h, he de verdediging van de stad. Hij raakt zelf contre-amiral Ronarc’h. Il est blessé organised the defense of Diksmuide. He tot drie keer gewond. Na de oorlog pour la troisième fois dans son poste de was wounded three times himself during benoemt de koning hem tot Baron commandement situé dans l’hôtel de that process. He was made Baron Jacques de Dixmude. Hij wordt ville. Après la guerre, le roi le nomme Jacques of Diksmuide by royal ereburger van de stad en hij krijgt een Baron Jacques de Dixmude. Il devient appointment after the war as well as standbeeld op de grote markt. citoyen d’honneur de la ville, une statue becoming an honorary citizen of the à son effigie est érigée sur la grand place. town. A statue was then erected in his honour on the Market Square. 129 Vanaf 1915 verschijnen er vele boeken Dès 1915 et jusqu’à nos jours, une Since 1915 many books have been over wat er in en rond Diksmuide is multitude de livres récits furent publiés, published about what happened in and gebeurd en wat het belang van de glorifiant tous les épisodes de la bataille. around Diksmuide and the importance IJzerslag is. Ook kunstenaars halen uit de Des conférences et des expositions lui of the Battle of the Yser. Artists such as oorlog inspiratie. Charles Fouqueray, furent aussi consacrées. Des artistes Charles Fouqueray, official painter of the officieel schilder van de Franse marine, s’inspirèrent de ces actions et de ces French navy, were also inspired by the geeft zijn indrukken in een veelheid aan lieux dans leurs oeuvres. Charles war to complete many compositions. On tekeningen weer. Te midden van een Fouqueray, peintre officiel de la marine the 28th January 1920, amongst the ruins puinlandschap schenkt de Franse française, partageant la vie des fusiliers of Diksmuide, French president Poincaré president Poincaré op 28 januari 1920, in marins en cette période, les croqua dans awarded The French Cross to the town

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aanwezigheid van Koning Albert, het une pléthore de dessins et aquarelles. Le of Diksmuide in the presence of King ereteken ‘la croix de guerre française’ 28 janvier 1920, parmi les décombres de Albert. Three years later President aan de stad Diksmuide. Drie jaar later la ville, le président français Poincaré Mussolini awarded the Belgian town the reikt een gezant van de Italiaanse remet ‘la croix de guerre française’ à la prestigious Citta Heroica. Monuments president Mussolini het ereteken ‘Citta cité de Dixmude, en présence du roi were erected in the cemeteries to heroica’ uit. Herdekingsmonumenten Albert. Trois an (sic) plus tard, le remember the fighters and annual worden gebouwd, jaarlijkse président Mussolini lui fit remettre la pilgrimages are organised for bedevaarten georganiseerd en distinction honorifique ‘Citta heroica’, remembrance. begraafplaatsen ingericht. unique ville belge ayant reçu cet honneur. Des monuments sont érigés à la gloire de tous les combattants, au souvenir, dans les cimetières (Käthe Kollwitz à Vladslo). Des pèlerinages annuels sont organisés. 130 Het frontlandschap bij Diksmuide. Dit is Une partie du Panorama de l’Yser du The landscape at the front, near een deel uit het Panorama van de IJzer peintre officiel de la section artistique de Diksmuide. This is part of the Panorama geschilderd door Alfred Bastien, officiële l’armée belge Alfred Bastien, of the Yser, painted by Alfred Bastien, schilder van het Belgische leger. représentant le front de Dixmude. official painter of the Belgian Army. 131 Door de eeuwen heen was de streek Plusieurs fois par le passé, pour se The Yser has been flooded several times Deel weggelaten rond de IJzer al meerdere keren onder protéger de l’envahisseur, on inonda la over the years to protect the area from Foute vertaling water gezet. Vanaf 25 oktober gebruikt plaine. Se souvenant de ces actions et invasion. On the 25th October the het Belgische leger deze tactiek om de afin d’arrêter des forces allemandes, le Belgian army used this tactic to to (sic) Duitse troepen tegen te houden. Via het 25 octobre, l’armée belge décida stop the German advancement. They sluizencomplex de Ganzepoot bij d’intervenir sur le système des écluses flooded the area between the Yser and Nieuwpoort wordt het laaggelegen de la patte d’oie à Nieuport. Les terres the Diksmuide railway by opening the gebied tussen de IJzer en de spoorweg entre Nieuport et Dixmude, étant sous le Ganzepoot sluice complex in Diksmuide onder water gezet. Bij hoog niveau de la mer, en inversant chaque Nieuwpoort. At high tide the land water stroomt het water het land jour les courants, malgré le flooded and then at low tide the locks

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binnen, bij laag water gaan de sluizen bombardement ennemi, peu à peu, la were closed to prevent the water dicht. Voor één keer hebben de mer envahit la plaine. Les défenseurs, escaping. Despite an incredible effort by Belgische troepen achter de retranchés à l’arrière du talus de la voie the German troops to succeed, they spoorwegberm de beste positie. De de chemin de fer, étaient pour une fois were blocked by the water and fled in Duitse troepen proberen met een en position favorable. Dans un ultime disarray. The ‘race for the sea’ was over ultieme krachtinspanning de strijd te effort, toutes les réserves ennemies sont in the mud flats of the Yser. It inspired winnen. Maar beetje bij beetje komen ze jetées dans la bataille mais une grande French General Foch to speak his famous onder water te staan. Ze vluchten in partie est décimée, arrêtée par l’eau. words: ‘It is a slope of 1m80 which has grote wanorde. Alleen het stuk ten Seule la partie à l’ouest de l’Yser, qui va saved France’. westen van de IJzer, van Ter Vaete tot de Ter Vaete à la borne kilométrique 16, aan kilometerpaal 16, blijft in Duitse reste entre leurs mains. La ‘course à la handen. De ‘wedren naar de zee’ eindigt mer’ se termine ainsi dans la boue de la zo in de modderbrij van de IJzervallei. vallée de l’Yser. Cela inspirera ces mots Het ontlokt de Franse generaal Foch de légendaires au général français Foch : legendarische woorden “C’est un talus ‘C’est un talus d’un mètre vingt qui a d’un mètre vingt qui a sauvé la France ». sauvé la France…’ 132 In de ochtend van 4 augustus 1914 Au matin du 4 août 1914, les troupes German troops entered Belgium on the trekken Duitse troepen België binnen. allemandes traversent la frontière belge morning of the 4th August in 1914, De neutraliteit van het land wordt violant ainsi la neutralité du pays avec le compromising its neutral stance, with geschonden. De Duitse troepen willen but d’envelopper l’armée française. Le the aim of surrounding the French army. de Fransen via België omsingelen. Het plan Schlieffen-Von Moltke prévoit une The Schlieffen-Von Moltke Plan aimed to Schlieffen- Von Moltke plan voorziet een fin rapide des hostilités sur le front end the war on the western front quickly snelle afhandeling van de oorlog aan het ouest, en atteignant Paris en six by capturing Paris in 6 weeks followed by westelijk front. In zes weken tijd wil men semaines, pour ensuite pouvoir populating the eastern front with Russia in Parijs staan. Daarna willen de Duitsers rassembler leurs troupes sur le front est with German troops. At first strong het oostelijke front tegen Rusland met contre la Russie. Cependant, la forte resistance from the Belgians in Liege troepen bevolken. Zware tegenstand résistance des Belges autour de la caused a problem, but the German van de Belgen rond de versterkte stad citadelle de Liège provoque un premier troops successfully conquered the city

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Luik zorgt voor het eerste oponthoud. contretemps. Néanmoins, les troupes on 16th August 1914 due to their more Toch slagen de Duitse troepen er in om allemandes finissent par conquérir la modern and heavier weaponry. This op 16 augustus 1914 de stad in te ville le 16 août 1914, grâce à leurs armes marked the beginning of the Belgian nemen, dankzij hun veel modernere en plus modernes et plus lourdes. Pour retreat, first of all along the Brussels- zwaardere wapens. Voor het Belgische l’armée Belge, la chute de Liège augure Louvain axis and then from the 20th leger is dit het begin van de terugtocht. le début de la retraite. D’abord sur l’axe August from the Port of Antwerp as well. Eerst op de as Brussel-Leuven en vanaf Bruxelles-Louvain et, à partir du 20 août, The Germans could advance although 20 augustus op de havenstad sur la ville portuaire d’Anvers, tout en they had been slowed down. Antwerpen. De Duitse opmars kan continuant de gêner considérablement worden verdergezet, weliswaar met la progression de l’envahisseur. vertraging. 133 In de Middeleeuwen is Diksmuide een Au Moyen Age, Dixmude est une ville During the Middle Ages Diksmuide was a havenstad, vooral gekend voor zijn portuaire, surtout connue pour le port town, known for its fabric lakennijverheid. De stad maakt deel uit commerce du fin. La ville fait partie de la production. The town was part of the van de Vlaamse Hanze in Londen. Maar Hanse flamande à Londres. Autour des Flemish Hanze in London, but around rond de jaren 1900 maakt vooral de années 1900, ce sont surtout les qualités 1900 the city generated its wealth by verkoop van boter de stad rijk. de son beurre qui contribuent à la trading in butter. At that time, Diksmuide had toen een oppervlakte richesse de la ville. A cette époque, Diksmuide had about 4000 inhabitants van 108 ha en telt 4000 inwoners. Dixmude a une superficie de 108 ha, et and covered an area of 266 acres. Hoewel het één van de kleinste steden compte 4000 habitants. Bien qu’il Although it was one of the smaller towns van België is, heeft de stad toch een s’agisse de l’une des plus petites villes en in Belgium, it had many tourist aantal grote toeristische troeven. Het Belgique, elle peut présenter plusieurs attractions, including: The ornate doksaal in de Kerk. Het schilderij ‘De grands atouts touristiques. Le jubé dans partition in the church. The painting ‘The aanbidding der wijzen’ in de kerk. Het l’église. Le tableau ‘L’adoration des adoration of the Magi’ in the church. The begijnhof. Het stadhuis naar een mages’ dans l’église. Le béguinage. La Beguinage. The town hall- designed by ontwerp van architect De la censerie. De mairie, selon un projet de l’architecte the architect De la Censerie. The sheer uitgestrektheid van de markt. De mooie Delacenserie. L’étendue du marché. Les scale of the Market Square. The oude hoekjes in de stad: vismarkt, de jolis petits coins authentiques dans la beautiful and authentic parts of the old

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grote dijk, … Niets laat vermoeden dat ville : le marché au poisson, la grande town, such as the fish market, the large dit landelijk gelegen stadje in afzienbare digue … Rien ne laisse présager que cette dam, … Nothing would have lead you to tijd het middelpunt zal zijn van een grote petite ville rurale sera bientôt le théâtre suspect that this town would soon tragedie. d’une tragédie. become the centre of a great tragedy.

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