FROM BLACK HELPER TO MEDIA SENSATION THE FIGURE OF IN CONTEMPORARY DUTCH CHILDREN’S TELEVISION

MA Thesis Television and Cross-Media Culture Graduate school of humanities Name: Jonne Plagge Student number: 10375023 Address: Charlotte Brontéstraat 331 1102XD Email: [email protected] Telephone number: 0620384443 Date of completion: 21-06-2013 Supervisor: Carolyn Birdsall Second Reader: Emiel Martens Words: 20.183

ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the way the image of Black Pete is framed on Dutch children’s television. The figure is controversial and often split between historical connotations of evil and black and the contemporary connotations of a happy and jolly children’s friend. By combining cultural studies and communications studies this thesis outlines the various ways children’s television deals with the representation of this figure and the way they tend to neutralize the negative connotations. Through a semiotic narrative analysis will be shown how the dominant cultural narrative is meant to overrule the still visible negative connotations, explaining how this can create friction for the national belonging of within the assumed tolerant and multicultural Netherlands. Therefore, Black Pete no longer seems suitable for the contemporary celebration of .

Keywords

Black Pete – media events – cultural representation – stereotypes – semiotic narrative analysis

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...... 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 2

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3

2. CORPUS AND METHODOLOGY ...... 8

2.1 Methodology ...... 9 2.2 Structure of the thesis ...... 10

3. ZWARTE PIET ...... 11

3.1 Cultural representation ...... 11 3.2 The stereotypical features of Black Pete ...... 14 3.3 The historical origins of Black Pete ...... 17

4. THE SINTERKLAAS CELEBRATION AS MEDIA EVENT ...... 20

4.1 The popular media event ...... 20 4.2 The Sinterklaas celebration as popular media event ...... 24

5. ANALYSIS OF BLACK PETE IN DUTCH CHILDREN'S TELEVISION ...... 29

5.1 The storylines of the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas ...... 29 5.2 The visual appearance of Black Pete ...... 32 5.3 The narrative framing of Black Pete ...... 37

6. CONCLUSION ...... 41

APPENDIX A – SINTERKLAAS TERMINOLOGY ...... 43

APPENDIX B – TRANSCRIPT ARRIVAL CEREMONY ...... 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 46

Literature ...... 46 Online sources ...... 48 Online images ...... 49 Television programmes ...... 49

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1. INTRODUCTION

Mijn man en ik willen wel dat onze dochter ook een leuk feest kan vieren zonder dat ze geconfronteerd hoeft te worden met een kwetsend stereotype uit een donker verleden1

- Bibi Fadlalla, Zwarte Piet en ik (2012)

In de ogen van de felle verdedigers van Zwarte Piet zou erkenning dat hij eigenlijk niet meer van deze tijd is allesbehalve een verbetering betekenen. Het zou een afgedwongen concessie zijn, een dictaat. Er werd je iets eigens afgenomen door vreemden, uit naam van een abstract principe.2

- Bas Heijne (2013)

In recent years, certain cultural practices in the Netherlands have been under fire. While in 2006 the name of the ‘negerzoen’ (black kiss) chocolate covered sweet was changed into ‘zoen’ (kiss), there is also significant concern with the image of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), as the quotes above show. In the 2012 documentary Zwarte Piet en ik by Bibi Fadlalla, non- Dutch writer David Sedaris expresses his astonishment about the Sinterklaas celebration when he heard that Sinterklaas travels with 6-8 black men. More astonished is he about the unclear gap between the transformations of these black men from slave to good friend. In addition other non-Dutch people expressed their concern with the racist connotations of the figure. As an article on France 24 showed in Canada the festivities of a Dutch community were cancelled after members of the African- Canadian community said Black Pete should not be included. However, Dutch People do not want to see these historical connections that Fadlalla explains. The most proclaimed excuse people tend to use is that there is no racist intent behind the figure. Quincy Gario, who was involved in the project ‘Zwarte Piet is racisme’ (Black Pete is racism) in 2011, which is meant to create more awareness for the historical and hurtful background of the figure for Black people, says it is a particular Dutch mentality and ideology that keeps the figure in place. This ‘color blindness’ of the Dutch is put into question more every year. The debate about racism and Dutch ‘tolerance’ returns annually around the celebration of Sinterklaas. For most Dutch people Black Pete seems to be the only ‘natural’ and possible helper of Sinterklaas, although the figure only appeared from 1850 onwards. The Sinterklaas Celebration, the most important terms of which will be explained in appendix A, shows many similarities with the celebration, a fatherly red-robed man brings presents to good children accompanied by jolly

1 Translation: “My husband and I do want our daughter to be able to enjoy a nice celebration without having to be confronted with a hurtful stereotype from a dark past.” 2 Translation: “In the eyes of extreme defenders of Black Pete, the acknowledgement that it is racist wouldn’t mean any solution. It would be a forced concession, a dictate. That something has been taken from you by strangers, in the name of an abstract principle.” 3

and friendly helpers. However where Santa is accompanied by elves, the helpers of Sinterklaas are black. Black Pete has historical associations with the Dutch involvement in black slavery and the Christian connotation of being evil. While the image is proclaimed to be positive, it is the implicit negative narrative that still seems to be present as well. Not much appears to have been written about the representation of this figure in the last 10 years and therefore it is important that this thesis will provide further insight into the contemporary representation of this figure. One of the most prominent media that brings Dutch people in contact with the figure of Black Pete nowadays is television. In Televisiestudies Maarten Reesink explains that television in the Netherlands started out as a medium that was meant as a political and cultural tool for the Dutch government around the 1950s (287). Gradually the reign of the government loosened and commercial television was made possible because of the new Media law in 1988. However, the medium is often still seen as a reflection of the public sphere (294-295). According to Peter Nikken in Kind and Media, it is only after 1989 that children’s television started to make its appearance (11). KinderNet was a commercial channel that was the first to start off with children programs, but it was not until mid 1990s that these could be viewed in every city (Nikken, 12). Soon after the introduction of KinderNet, RTL 4 started showing Telekids, also directed towards children and broadcasted on Wednesday afternoons, followed by VPRO which showed cartoons on Saturday and Sunday mornings. In the following years television programs multiplied and became easily accessible and, on average, children spent two and half hours a day watching television (Nikken 12). Since Sinterklaas is a celebration centered on children, television has become a prominent medium for spreading the dominant discourse around this celebration. Marnix Koolhaas explains the development of the role of television within the Sinterklaas celebration on the website geschiedenis24 points. Since 1921, the ‘Intocht of Sinterklaas' (the arrival ceremony of Sinterklaas) in Amsterdam was documented briefly on film. The film was later shown in the news programming of the cinema. In 1952, when television started to become a political tool, the arrival ceremony was broadcasted live on television. For fifty years, every third weekend of November, families could gather around the television to watch the arrival. In the nineties several television shows aired like the Witte Piet (White Pete) and Dag Sinterklaasje (Bye little Sinterklaas). It was in 1999 that de Club van Sinterklaas first aired and in 2002 the involvement of television with the celebration expanded even more, when the arrival ceremony became part of the children’s program, the Sinterklaasjournaal. Instead of one Saturday in November, the arrival ceremony became imbedded in larger storylines broadcasted over several weeks on television while a dominant image of Black Pete was projected upon its viewer. It is important to understand that the programs focused on the Sinterklaas celebration are directed towards children. Children’s television as a genre is defined by the people who watch it, according to Glen Creeber in the Television Genre Book (96). He states that one of the things that define children’s programs is the absence of violence, sex, drug use, scary images and discrimination.

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Protectiveness, the shielding from possible harm, is thus the general undertone of children’s television argues Creeber. One illustration of this can be found in the Dutch context with the introduction of the ‘Kijkwijzer’ (the viewing guide) in 2002; a system of icons that warns the viewer beforehand of the possible harmful content. Peter Nikken has shown that children’s television has traditionally been emphasized for its educational role; a source of information that helps children comprehend their world (15-16). In the Netherlands this didactic value can be discovered in the popular program the Jeugdjournaal (Children’s News) through its combination of images of the Third World (or other important events) in combination with informative commentary states Hermes (191). An element of play always seems to accompany this process of learning. According to Creeber the tone of children’s programs are accompanied by kindliness and affection, giving them a paternalistic attitude (102). Last of all, children’s television is often associated with commercialization; many children’s programs are equipped with lots of marketing and advertisement. For example Pokémon became a huge franchise, selling card decks to cuddle-toys. This kind of commercialization means that television in general often is more intrinsically associated with the decline of values (Hermes 152). In short, children’s television introduces children to the norms, values and traditions of their society, while on the other hand it is a battleground for broader debates about appropriate content. In his acclaimed study, Blacks in a Dutch World, Allison Blakely argues that television brought along an even greater standardization for the celebration of Sinterklaas (42). Nikken argues that one of the main concerns of parents in accordance with children’s television is the effect it can have on children and their sense of values (47). Glen Creeber talks in the text Hideously White about ‘Britishness’ being conceived within an extremely narrow set of conventions excluding all manner of communities and people, a similar trend that could be described for Black Pete (27). Where in former Dutch Colonies and migrant communities the Sinterklaas celebration has been adapted and transformed; Dutch television and other media are only offering one mainstream image, excluding some groups of people to the feeling of ‘Dutchness.’ Where television often works with stereotypes, it is necessary to explain what the stereotypical image of Black Pete in children’s television indirectly tells children about black people. On this basis, this thesis will critically study the portrayal of Black Pete in Dutch children’s television. The main question will be; in what ways is the figure Black Pete represented in children's television? In order to answer this main question it is important to answer some related sub-questions: What are Black Pete's historical roots and how has the image of this figure developed since it emerged around 1850? What are the current connotations of Black Pete and how is it connected to national identity? Furthermore, how do representations of Black Pete circulate in present media and popular culture and what is the role of media and television in constructing the current connotations and meanings that circulate about Black Pete? By analysing two popular children’s programs centred on Black Pete, this thesis will outline the ideological meaning of the dominant discourse.

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Enric Castelló in his article ‘The nation as a political stage’ emphasizes that television is perhaps one of the most powerful tools of spreading ‘national’ images (306). Since Black Pete has various historical connotations that are closely related to black people it seems important to first outline the way this image is constructed. Mieke Bal, Arno Langeler and Rahina Hassankhan are some of the authors that this thesis will draw upon when discussing the versatile origins of Black Pete in chapter three. They discuss the connections to Christianity and Paganism, where the helper of Sinterklaas was always some form of evil. Further it is important to get greater insight in its connotations to slavery and the stereotypical images of Black people that circulated during the Colonial time and after. By drawing on Stuart Hall (2003) and Roland Barthes (1977), chapter three will address the connection between Black Pete and cultural identity. Barthes discusses signs and symbols that images contain in connection to ideologies while Hall connects culture and meaning to each other. Belonging to the same culture means that these people interpret the world in a similar way (Hall 2). Furthermore he explains that ‘we give objects, people and events meaning by the frameworks of interpretation which we bring to them’ (3). While outlining the various meanings that Black Pete generates, it is important to recognize that the meaning of this figure is constantly changing, depending on context, usage and historical framework. Moreover, where the Sinterklaas celebration became more mediatised over time, it is important to establish a good understanding of ‘media events’ before discussing the contemporary figure of Black Pete. While Sinterklaas has been celebrated for centuries, nowadays the Sinterklaas celebration often starts off with an event that is usually also broadcasted on television and returns every year in the same kind of format. Television not only reports the celebration, but the celebration has been adapted to be suitable for television. Therefore the appropriate way to look at the Sinterklaas celebration is as a popular media event; Nick Couldry and Andreas Hepp describe the popular media events as events that break with the everyday in a routine way, they don’t happen ‘live’, are pre-planned and completely commercialized (8). Furthermore, although the arrival celebration is also re-enacted on a more local level, it is the national arrival ceremony which sets the tone for the rest of the celebration. Every year, between mid November until December Fifth, the arrival ceremony takes place in a different city, but the storylines are always quite similar. In chapter four the Sinterklaas celebration as a media event will be discussed more closely. As explained earlier the arrival ceremony is a part of the Sinterklaasjournaal which started airing in 2002. Together with the program De Club van Sinterklaas, another popular and successful program around the Sinterklaas celebration, the analysis of the dominant discourse will be discussed in chapter five. Both shows have multiple Black Pete helpers as main characters through which they provided dominant discourse around Black Pete. To conclude, this thesis will start off with the discussion of the terms, cultural representation and stereotypes in connection to Black imagery and historical connotations of the Black Pete figure. This will be followed by a thorough explanation of the Sinterklaas celebration as a media event and its connection to spreading the dominant imagery. This

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will be followed by the analysis of the two case studies. In the next chapter the methodological approach of the analysis will be discussed.

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2. CORPUS AND METHODOLOGY

In order to answer the research questions outlined in the introduction, this thesis will focus mainly on two case studies: the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas. Both programs are meant for children and are centred on the Sinterklaas celebration. These were chosen for this thesis as examples of a program of the public broadcaster as well as a commercial broadcaster, because there might be differences in the way they represent Black Pete. As Joke Hermes and Maarten Reesink argue in Televisiestudies, public television is often more likely to be associated with learning and education, while commercial television is often seen as disturbing entertainment (191). First of all, the Sinterklaasjournaal is a children’s program but it is set up according to conventions of a news program. It seems to be set up in the same way as the Jeugdjournaal, which is directed at children as well. Joke Hermes explains that the Jeugdjournaal always consists of several longer items and three or four shorter ones and always ends with the weather forecast (195). The program often has one presenter in the studio and two presenters on site. It follows the big events of that moment, but also has items directed at the children and news that could be considered funny. In the Sinterklaasjournaal these bigger news items are all aimed at stories around the Black Pete helpers; the funny news stories are often indirectly related to the bigger news stories or about ridiculous inventions for the Black Pete helpers or educational questions concerning the celebration. It always ends with a weather forecast for the Black Pete helpers. Where the events for the Jeugdjournaal are real, the events from the Sinterklaasjournaal are staged and the presenters act as if they are delivering actual news to their viewer. For this thesis mainly the bigger storylines are of importance. De Club van Sinterklaas in comparison is more like a drama. It shows a lot of similarities with something Glen Creeber in the Television Genre Book calls Teen Series (41-43). Like a teenage sitcom the program revolves around a close group of friends, in this case Black Pete helpers, and their adventures and problems. Through a series of events and funny situations, they save the celebration of Sinterklaas just in time. Furthermore, the Black Pete helpers also have to deal with their own problems and feelings. In contrast with the Sinterklaasjournaal, this show is broadcasted by a commercial channel, which seems to involve more commercialization. For this reason this thesis is limited to referring to DVD’s instead of episodes for de Club van Sinterklaas, because the air dates of the episodes were no longer available. For both programs the analysis will focus on two seasons. First of all this thesis will investigate the seasons broadcast in 2006. This year is of special interest because, in this year, the public broadcaster adapted the visual image of Black Pete. In addition, the analysis will also examine the seasons aired during the most recent 2012 celebration. This year is also of special interest because de Club van Sinterklaas stopped airing new seasons in 2009 and since then the commercial broadcaster has chosen to play reruns every year. Important to note as well is that they did release a movie last year of de Club van Sinterklaas. A time gap of about five years has been chosen to get insight into

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how the figure has changed over time. By creating a better insight into the different connotations the figure of Black Pete carries and the way media and media events around the Sinterklaas tradition embed this figure deeply with national identity, this thesis tries to give a better understanding of its connections to cultural identity.

2.1 Methodology To be able to provide better insights into the representations of Black Pete, my research for this thesis is twofold. First of all, it contains an extensive literature research to provide a much-needed background. By using terms that are centred on Black Pete, Sinterklaas, and cultural identity, but also terms like media ritual and media events, the literature was collected. The content and findings of the different authors are compared, analysed and interpreted to finally reach my own conclusions. Most of the literature is not directly related to the image of Black Pete that is given to its viewer by the media and especially television. That is why my thesis will tend to give a better understanding from the contemporary media representation through the analysis of the two case studies. By combining a narrative analysis and a semiotic analysis, this research tries to get a proper insight into the way Black Pete figures in Dutch children’s television. With the semiotic analysis this thesis tries to give proper insights into the codes and conventions these shows share with children’s television and the historical roots of Black Pete. Through time the figure has been reframed and, through this, it has taken on various meanings. As Stokes explains semiotics, or literally the science of signs, ‘breaks down the content of texts into their component parts and relates them to broader discourses’ (72). Bertrand and Hughes indicate that semiotic textual analysis helps to break a text down into component codes to discover how a text represents reality through codes (185). In order to understand the polymesic nature of Black Pete, semiotics seems useful when analysing the meanings of the texts. For the semiotic analysis of Black Pete it is important to remember that meanings of television images aren’t naturally attached to signs (Bignell 89). He explains that through codes, ‘a certain set of rules that shape how signs gain meaning’ (87). To understand popular culture Barthes makes a distinction between the connotated message and the denoted message in Rhetoric of the Image (44- 45). The denoted message doesn’t imply any symbolic meanings; while the connotated message consists of signs that are connected to particular meanings and conventions, as Bignell explains (88).The connotated message is thus dependent on the cultural knowledge of the viewer, which helps them to read between the lines. Where the connotated message of Black Pete seems to be connected to racism and the ideology of white superiority, it is important to recognize the implicit message these often viewed programs project upon children. As Mark Orbe states, semiotics is thus concerned with how some meanings are foregrounded so often that they are associated naturally with certain elements (84). Stuart Hall talks about this in a similar way when talking about the naturalization of certain stereotypes, which he saw as a representational strategy to fix difference. (245). Barthes explains in

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Mythologies, a myth often has a double function; on the one hand it makes its receiver understand something while on the other hand it imposes something on the viewer (115). Connotation and denotation in connection to ideology and the figure of Black Pete will be discussed more closely in the next chapter. The narratology of the analysis is focused on the overall pattern of the texts, while mainly observing the specific function Black Pete has within the narratives. Ina Bertrand and Peter Hughes explain that ‘narratology’ demonstrates how narrative operates as a structure (193). While Jane Stokes explains it can help to explain the overall structure or pattern of the stories and narratives (67). By paying close attention to several elements of the semiotic-structural narrative vocabulary provided by Leah R. van de Berg in Narrative Criticism, this thesis will try to outline the metonymy that these programs create for Black Pete by reframing it more positively (202). This thesis will frame the narrative function of Black Pete by focusing on forms, the conventions accustomed for News shows and Drama series, narrative structure, the function of actions, the structural relations between actions, while also paying attention to non-literal significations. Important with this kind of analysis is that the underlying ideology can be discovered and framed (Stokes 70). During the semiotic narrative analysis some visual elements will be relevant to discover the underlying ideologies. Firstly, the use of iconic elements as described by van de Berg will be of great importance, which has to do with the connotations produces with the representation of Black Pete (205). Furthermore, she mentions visual quotations or stereotyped shots, which are recognizable gestures that are recognized by the audience. Moreover, the interactions of Black Pete with others will be relevant, while the analysis will also pay attention to the way shots are taken: close ups, medium shots or long shots. How do the types of shots affect the identification the viewer gets with Black Pete? The used mise en scène will thus be important because the construction of a scene will most likely affect feelings and attitudes for the viewer. Through the combined semiotic and narrative analysis this thesis will try to give a proper insight into the function of Black Pete within the contemporary Dutch Sinterklaas Celebration on children's television.

2.2 Structure of the thesis In order to perform the analysis of the ideology of Black Pete, it requires the establishment of theories about cultural identity and representation in the next chapter. In chapter 4 then the ideological function of the Sinterklaas celebration will be outlined by drawing on scholars who write about media events, ritual and identity. Chapter five will consist of the textual analysis of the two case studies; de Club van Sinterklaas and het Sinterklaasjournaal. Finally the last chapter will answer the main research question and try to give a critical perspective of the way Black Pete figures in Children’s television.

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3. ZWARTE PIET

As already explained in the introduction the multiple representations of Black Pete produce multiple meanings. Where for many people it seems to be a positive image, for other people Black Pete is a reference to a negative stereotypical representation of black people that is projected upon society. As a family oriented celebration, children’s television seems to be playing the biggest role in the spread of the image of Black Pete. Children’s programs tend to work with stereotypes, because it makes it easier for children to identify with them, according to Peter Nikken (21). Creators of an image thus try to anchor it by signs and codes. In order to offer a background to the contemporary television representations of Black Pete this chapter will analyze the way this figure has been represented in Dutch society. What connotations of the past does the current figure of the helper of Sinterklaas still bear? Beforehand this chapter will provide some more explanation around cultural identity and stereotyping.

3.1 Cultural representation Where many people, and more importantly many children, watch at least two hours of television a day, television cannot be ridiculed in its role for representation of certain cultures and groups (Nikken, 11). ‘Culture is about shared meanings,’ argues Stuart Hall, and we are only able to share its meaning through a common language of signs and symbols (1). Furthermore, culture is also concerned with the production and exchange of meanings. Dutch nationality, for example, is defined by the color orange, and events like Queens Day and the World Cup soccer matches in particular become Dutch through this color. Therefore it could be said that any culture depends on the meaningful interpretation of participants in similar ways (2). However in any culture or nation there are diverse ways of interpreting or representing certain meanings. Because of this it is not strange that the celebration of Sinterklaas is not received by everyone in the same way. Stuart Hall argues that multiple stories, which give varied meanings to the figure of Black Pete, but which are all equally possible, circulate in society (229). He explains that the preferred meaning often depends on the conjunction between the image and the text. Roland Barthes argues in Rhetoric of the Image; ‘they imply, underlying their signifiers, a ‘floating chain’ of signifieds, the reader able to choose some and ignore others’ (39). Signifiers are the forms of certain images, while signifieds are the meanings attached to it. In addition, Barthes explains: ‘the text directs the reader through the signifiers of the image, causing him to avoid some and to receive others; by means of an often subtle dispatching, it remote-controls him towards a meaning chosen in advance’ (40). Therefore, Stuart Hall argues that meaning should be looked upon in terms of effective exchange. On the one hand it tends to facilitate cultural communication while on the other hand it acknowledges the existence of power inequality within a cultural circuit. Questions of meaning can arise from all different moments or practices within this circuit. For Black Pete, questions of its racist connotations

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have been raised over the last 25 years. Therefore, it is important to get better insight into how television anchors the figure of Black Pete. It makes sense that Stuart Hall argues that meaning is always unequal in exchange and changes over time. As Hall explains; meanings define what is normal and what or who is excluded. Hall argues that meaning often seems to work because of its marking of difference. He supports this with multiple arguments (234-238). Most basically he states that difference is needed because without difference we are unable to construct meaning. In this case Black Pete is different from the average citizen. Secondly he argues meaning can only be constructed through a dialogue (often unequally divided) with the other. Black Pete is different, but his dark skin tone implies he is similar to a black person. Thirdly he says culture depends on giving meaning by positioning objects differently within a classificatory system. Black Pete is in service of Sinterklaas, which indirectly meant and maybe still means that black people are lower in society than white people. His last argument is that its difference is fundamental to the constitution of the self. His most important remark to this is that difference is ambivalent; it can have positive as well as negative connotations. The meaning(s) of Black Pete thus seems to be dependant on what is presumed normal. Joke Hermes gives a clear explanation of representation in ‘Representatie en ideologie’. First of all, representation could be seen as the description or portrayal of something (Hermes 59). As already explained earlier in this thesis, it is through signs or codes that certain situations or artifacts are connected to certain concepts. Secondly, representation also symbolizes certain groups. Or as Hall describes it; ‘representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language’ (17). Therefore it can be said that in certain contexts Black Pete came to represent black people. Thirdly representation is also ‘agency’. Hermes argues that the people, that represent us (for example) on television, can only do so because the viewer agrees implicitly. In her article Burnt Orange, Hermes gives a clear example of this implicit agreement, by addressing the role of the Dutch- Surinamese football player Ruud Gullit, during the 1988 European Soccer Championship. Gullit was seen as a hybrid figure that was able to resemble both black and white (57). His good relationship with the press made Gullit into a symbolic figure for the Netherlands (52). Visually he was know for his Rasta and this became part of the promotion material for supporters of the Dutch Team and with fans ending up wearing orange caps with Rasta curls attached to them. Patrick Kluivert was part of the new generation of football players but was read differently than Gullit. News reporters and columnist depicted him as a convicted killer and suspected rapist, because of his personal history which made him unable to represent the Netherlands (59). Television broadcasters that like to keep up their good reputation will often stick with the dominant (accepted) discourse. Tamar Ashuri argues that choices made by producers nowadays, enhances the loci the nation is proud of while minimizing those that the nation wishes to disappear (439). Barthes explains a similar thing when talking about ads; the linguistic message helps choose the reader’s the correct level of perception and thus guides interpretation (Rhetoric of the Image 39). As already explained in the

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introduction, Barthes argues that an image can be twofold, denotational and connotational, and here this will be explained further (33). The denotational level is the level of description while the

Picture 1 Barthes semiotic analysis (Barthes 113) connotational level links to broader, cultural themes and meanings (Hall, 38). In this the meaning of an image thus depends on the practical, national, cultural and aesthetical knowledge of the viewer/reader. Therefore, Black can thus be read in different ways by people with different backgrounds (Hall 46). In his text ‘Myth Today’ in the book Mythologies, Barthes’ analysis of the image of a young Negro on the front page of the French magazine ‘Paris’ matches in a similar way to how this thesis will look at the Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas (107 -158). On the level of denotation, he decodes the image into signifiers; the soldier, the uniform, a French flag etc. This leads to a simple message of meaning, namely a black soldier saluting to the French Flag. Both on a connotated level the message goes deeper; the image also has a wider cultural meaning. To get to this meaning (to do a proper semiotic analysis) the denoted message has to be linked to a second set of signifieds. The second level of analysis especially, will be important for a better understanding of the contemporary image of Black Pete. In the case of the Negro this is the ideological theme about French colonialism. At this second level, the level of the myth, the more ideological framed message or meaning becomes apparent. For this thesis it is important how Hall connects this ideological framed message to discourses of power (61-62). By leaning on Foucault he explains that power and knowledge are always rooted in a certain context and history. As Larry Gross explains in his text Minorities, majorities and the media3, most of the images we encounter in the media reflect the experiences and interest of the majority groups (88). Often minorities have no choice than to accept the prominent media images, which they are confronted with every day. Compare for example the Sinterklaas celebration with the Christmas celebration. Sinterklaas on a national level is similar to Christmas on a global level. Daniel Miller states in Unwrapping Christmas that the modern version of Christmas manifested itself around 1900 (4). The modern celebration of Sinterklaas started to take form around the same time. Every year or Sinterklaas comes to certain countries bringing along for all the children.

3 Chapter 5 in the book Media, Ritual and Identity edited by Tamar Liebes and James Curran. 13

Moreover, it is not just their narratives that are similar, but their appearance also looks similar. This might be because the myth of Santa Claus is based on the tradition of Sint Nicolaas, and Father Winter of European immigrants that moved to America around the sixteenth century, according to Marita Kruijswijk and Marian Nesse4 (259). The celebrations are both dynamic and adapted to certain cultures and religions all over the world. Sinterklaas for instance is celebrated differently in Brielle where it is meant to ridicule the local politics and the mistakes they made in the past year (Kruijswijk & Nesse 227). Also similar to Black Pete, Santa Claus has elves as helpers, minus the . Furthermore, the Sinterklaas celebration in Java seemed to be more of an outdoor celebration instead of the domestic celebration as in Holland (Helsloot, 617). In the case of Black Pete, before being able to understand its meaning people will have to subject themselves to the rules of the discourse of Sinterklaas. Through history and culture images become meaningful. As already discussed earlier in this chapter, one of the things representations gain meaning from is its historical background. Television is a way of providing viewers with dominant representations; in children’s television these representation often lean on simplified representations of reality. Therefore it is important to discuss the term ‘stereotype’ in the next part of this chapter.

3.2 The stereotypical features of Black Pete The contemporary story that dominantly circulates in Dutch society about Black Pete is that he gained his black skin tone because he went through chimneys too often when delivering presents to the Dutch children. However this is a strange controversy, because when thinking about Santa Claus, who comes through the chimney for the same reasons, he doesn’t turn out black. Moreover, Hassankhan argues, other characteristics of Black Pete, for example his childish language, cannot be explained through the chimney (47). Furthermore it does not explain how a white Dutch person not only becomes black by going through the chimney, but also gains Negro characteristics; like frizzy hair, thick lips, a childish character and colorful garbs. Therefore it is important to look closer at the stereotype of black people. The visual characteristics mentioned above were often used to represent blacks, as depictions that indicate the way white people traditionally reduced black people to their essence. Stuart Hall explains them as signifiers of their physical difference from white people (249). He explains this as stereotyping; reducing people or certain groups to a few simple and essential characteristics as if they were fixed by nature (257). Hall further explains that stereotypes help to include and exclude people by setting boundaries and maintaining symbolic and social order (258). The caricatures of black people where meant to indicate the difference between them and the white people. White, in this case is often seen and colonized as the definition of what is normal, according to Richard Dyer in the article ‘White’ in which he tries to give insight into the stereotype of white people (458-459). This is a

4 Nederlandse jaarfeesten en hun liederen door de eeuwen heen. 2006. 14

category that is hard to define because it is masked by many subcategories. Blackness on the other hand, always has been stereotyped more easily. Richard Dyer explains the various roles of stereotypes in ‘the role of stereotypes’ more closely. First of all, he explains, that it is an ordering process; individuals apprehend their world through organizing it by generalizations, patterns and typifications (12). Secondly, stereotypes can be described as a simple, striking and easily grasped form of representation, something that Dyer explains as a short cut (13). Where these images look simple they often still hold a great deal of complex information. Furthermore, stereotypical representations refer to the world, Dyer argues, and are aesthetic and social constructs. The stereotype in this case uses a set of a few immediately recognizable and defining traits. On the other hand in television the preferred character in programs tends to be the novelistic character, because in comparison with the stereotype, this type of character develops and changes through the course of the narrative (13-14). Children’s television tends to work with these simplified types, because children mainly like stereotypical television characters, as Nikken explains (21). Finally Dyer describes the fourth role of stereotypes as an expression of our values and beliefs (14-16). Stereotypes often come to represent certain groups within society. They maintain boundaries that are accepted, while in reality these boundaries aren’t there. In the case of Black Pete, a seemingly dull figure, bears implicitly a lot of meaning. Even before black people came to the Netherlands they were visible in Dutch popular culture. The Moor5 for example was represented by thick red lips and colorful garbs, and as a Gaper, which could be found on doors, it was a black figure sticking out his tongue. Gapers were often the helpers of the quack doctors in the earlier times, as Blakely explains, instead meant to attract people to their master’s tent by making faces. Other features when looking at Black Pete seem to also be connected to its long history; the golden earrings, the frizzy hair and also its tendency to not come across as very smart seem to be characteristics that draw on the history of slavery. Where since the 1800s society developed and transformed again, it would sometimes appear that the figure of Black Pete has remained stuck in the past. Although Black Pete nowadays has become a more child friendly image, in the case of representing Black people it tends to have gotten two faces. Hall describes that blacks are trapped within two extreme opposites that is imposed on them through the ambiguous structure of their stereotype (263). Black Pete can represent both negative and positive images of black people at the same time, where stereotypes thus refer to what is imagined and what is actually perceived as ‘real,’ creating ambivalent stereotypes (Hall 263). It is exactly this contrast between what visually is produced and the presumed deeper meaning that creates a clash between Dutch National identity and black cultural identity. Shohat and Stam distinguish five dominant stereotypes of black people within cinema (195). First of all they say you have ‘the servile Tom’. The second stereotype is ‘the Coon’, which can be

5 The Moor will be discussed more thoroughly in chapter 3.3 15

divided in ‘the pickanniny’; the harmless eye popping clown figure, and ‘Uncle Remus’; the naïve congenial folk philosopher. The third stereotype is a figure that tries to pass as a white, but doesn’t seem relevant for this thesis. The fourth stereotype is ‘the Mammy’, a person that Shohat and Stam describe as a fat, cantankerous, but ultimately sympathetic, female servant who keeps the household together. The last stereotype seems less relevant again, because this is the one of the brutal hyper sexualized black man. In chapter five the relation of the figure of Black Pete, in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas, with this stereotype will be discussed. Shohat and Stam also make another relevant point when discussing the Black stereotype; for a long time blacks were not cast to play themselves. Casting a non-member of a group can therefore be seen as a triple insult (189/190). First of all it means that blacks aren’t worthy of self representation, secondly that no one else of your community is able to represent you and thirdly, that the producers care little about the offended sensibilities. Where Black Pete is also played by a white person with a black face, the tensions that are raised around this figure does not seem incomprehensible. As Reesink and Hermes explain, stereotypes of certain groups can have tremendous effects when it comes to generalizations (98-99). They illustrate it with the example of Philomena Essed, who explains that through the stereotypes people saw from black people on television, people felt they were treated differently. White People tended to talk very slowly in conversations or did not want to sit next to them on the tram. Telling the story about the chimney appears to be a strategy that has developed in the search of neutralizing the potential negative meanings generated by the Black Pete figure. Nonetheless, there are more signifiers around the figure that still bear references to Black Pete as first being evil and secondly to being a slave, which can remind people about what he once represented. These meanings will be discussed more thoroughly in chapter 3.3. In the Netherlands there are attempts to hold on to Black Pete by describing it as cultural ‘tradition’. However, throughout the centuries the function of the helper of Sinterklaas has been filled by many other mythical figures. Moreover it is Mieke Bal who explains that Black Pete has come to connotate freedom for many people. Becoming Black Pete means the opportunity to break free from certain restrictions. Furthermore Allison Blakely argues that Black Pete is respected for its fairness and ability to reward good deeds (48). The multiplicity of meanings surrounding certain stereotypes can be illustrated with the example of the Cakewalk. The Cakewalk was a black dance fashion that revolutionized the European social dance in the twentieth century, according to Astrid Kusser in ‘Cakewalking the Anarchy of Empire around 1900’ (87). Since the dance originated with the black slaves working on plantations in America, white people cakewalking was often put down as a parody (Kusser 88-90). The way something is framed can make all the difference. In the case of Cake Walking, Kusser explains that

Dynamics of migration in the making of modern nationalism necessitated processes of translation that made a difference rather than merely transmitted information. From this

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perspective, the cakewalk was not so much a black dance infecting whites or an American dance coming to Europe, but a veritable script designed to intervene in the conflicts of modern urban living. (99-100)

She discovers two kinds of laughter around this dance, firstly a self-reflective laughter that questioned stabilized identities and national cultures. Secondly it was a racist kind of laughter which was directed to arouse guilt and shame and to reinsure white supremacy. Because of this, the Cakewalk is still sometimes referred to as a dance for savages. Returning to the subject of Black Pete, it seems important to distinguish the various meanings that go along with its stereotypical features. Depending on background and the process of translation, this image can be read in different ways. One of the questions that will be part of the rest of this thesis is whether or not a neutralizing of the images that connect Black Pete to the history of slavery is happening on children’s television. In the next chapter this thesis will address the origins of the figure, Christianity, Colonialism and Slavery by connecting it to some of the stereotypical features of Black Pete.

3.3 The historical origins of Black Pete The figure of Black Pete represents historical connotated meanings in several ways. Its skin color, which nowadays is often seen as a reference to the soot of the chimney, was for a long time related to evil. His clothes seem to be connected to the history of the Moor and his hair, lips and some other features bear stereotypical references to black people as mentioned earlier in this chapter. This chapter will give some more insight into the historical connotations of Black Pete, in order to be able to analyze the contemporary figure of Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas better. It is useful to first look at the figure of Black Pete in contemporary media at a denotated level. On a very basic level the figure comes across as good, acrobatic and funny. However, where television is often seen as a co-educator and as a bad influence, the ideological connotations of the figure are often at stake. It is Mieke Bal who states ‘Once they were devils,’ clarifying the connection of Black Pete to evil. She and other authors clearly outline that the apparent origin of Black Pete is to be found within Christianity and Paganism. Mainly his black skin tone is seen as a referral to its evil roots. As a Saint, Sinterklaas was accompanied by many scary figures and animal figures across the centuries. Hassankhan explains that Black Pete was a devil that was turned by Sint Nicolaas and its black color supposedly comes from the soot from hell (38). She says that in the time people believed in Saints there was an equal belief in devils. Because of this Sinterklaas became closely interrelated with devils exorcism. Langeler for example explains that Sint Nicolaas was the protector of the sailors in the thirteenth century (26). According to the legend Nicolaas chased away the devil on a stormy

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night and saved the sailors. Langeler even suggests that there was almost a love-like relationship between Sint Nicolaas and Satan (26). However, even before Christianity, Black Pete was already related to evil. In paganism the most known figure related to Black Pete is the helper of the German God Wodan, named Eckhart or Ruprecht (Hassankhan 44). Ruprecht according to Langerer is even a popular helper of Sint Nicolaas in German speaking countries instead of Black Pete (25). Similar to Black Pete, Ruprecht is on the one hand generous and good while on the other hand evil and stern, argues Hassankhan (44). Over time many names have been given to the helper of Sinterklaas that show a lot of similarities to the devil (38-39). The devil was often defined by names like ‘der Schwarze, der schwarze Peter, schwarze Kaspar,’ which were names used for the devil during the middle ages when people believed in witches. As Hassankhan states there was a time in the German Kingdom that the dead who returned to the earth were painted black to be recognized as a zombie (45). Others say the color was meant to not be recognized or to scare the children. According to Langeler, it was around the sixteenth century that the devil would get a human face (28). He explains that in this period the devil disguised itself as a human or animal. The devil in its human form was often a noble man, who was able to perform horrifying deeds. Eventually a Moor became to be the permanent helper of Sint Nicolaas, as Langeler explains (29). He gives a short history of the Moor; the Moor had committed the gruesome murder of his own wife and through his service with Sint Nicolaas he did penance. He was the page of Sinterklaas and only appeared in the background, as a colorfully dressed black man, holding the horse. The Moor came from , which also explains why Sinterklaas comes with a boat to this country every year. The term Moor was often used for people with a dark skin tone, often descendant from North Africa or Muslims of . It was in the higher circles of society that, due to their skin tone, it was common to have Moors as servants. In the more contemporary stories Black Pete is portrayed as a Moorish orphan boy that Sinterklaas adopted as a child of his own and trained as his assistant (Blakely 46). It is the outdated colorful servant clothing of Black Pete in the contemporary media that often seems to refer back to Black Pete being a Moorish servant. Last of all, colonialism [and slavery] also seems to be a big source of inspiration for the creation of Black Pete. Mainly the behavioral features and some of the visual characteristics that were mentioned earlier are seen as a reference to black people. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Netherlands had many colonies and executed missionary work in several countries. This occurred at the same time as the slave trade took place. The modern aspect for this time about this slave trade, Allison Blakely argues in Blacks in the Dutch World, was that all the slaves were black and nearly all the masters were white (5). During the colonial period, black people were assumed to be inferior to white people, and black and white were binary oppositions (243). Often slaves were treated like children by their masters, which could explain the childish language and behavior of Black Pete (Hall 262). This Infantilization, as Hall names it, was meant to symbolically castrate the black

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men or sterilize the black women. This way of portrayal is still existent in movies and television, although maybe in a milder version. Images of the black people circulated even before they made a visual presence in the Netherlands. Games, jokes as novelties, but also music, dance and folklore were dominated by a fascination with the skin color and other physical features that distinguished the black from the white (Blakely 74). From food to symbolism for the exotic, images of blacks were physically present in a lot of Dutch folklore apart from the Sinterklaas celebration. Symbolism of black people could be found in the form of the Gaper, the smoking Moor, place names, games, jokes and more. Even culinary arts became dominated by the imagery of black people; the negerzoen (Negro kiss) is a good example for this. Furthermore the card game Zwarte Piet was dominated by caricatures of black men. The black figure could often be distinguished by first of all his skin color, but as Hassankhan explains, also its big earrings, fat lips, frizzy hair and quite thick caricature that did weird things were part of the stereotype of black people. As Blakely argues, it is ‘in his variant poses as slave, servant, authority figure, teacher and clown, Black Pete suggests the variety of roles played by black in the Dutch world’ (275-276). It was, however, mainly in his role as that similarities between Black Pete and black people became more ambivalent. Blakely explains that the bogeyman was often was meant to enforce social conventions (61-64). When a child would do something he wasn’t supposed to do, adults would tell them that the bogeymen would come and punish them. When Negroes, eventually, came to the Netherlands they tended to occur as the popular opinion wanted them to be. As already discussed in paragraph 3.2, the images the people received through media and advertisement of Black people affected the way they treated an actual black person. Often it are these associations of blackness with evil and slavery that hold the more lasting attraction, because these visual connotations are still implicitly visible. For example, Black Pete in the identical named game Zwarte Piet, nowadays often is illustrated by a type of animal, is still through its name related to the former historical meanings. Therefore it is important to have a closer look the wat contemporary Dutch children’s television reframes the image of Black Pete. Hall argues that “Meaning can never be finally fixed” (270). In the case of Black Pete, his skin tone can be connotated very negatively, but it has also gotten a more positive connotation. Where children’s television tends to draw heavily upon stereotypes, this thesis will analyze the contemporary figure of Black Pete in programs directed at children. By taking a similar approach as Barthes when he analyzes ideological meanings of images, Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas will be described on a denotational and connotational level. Furthermore, a strong emphasizes will be put on the stereotypical features of this figure that are often used to represent Black people. Before getting to this analysis, the next chapter will discuss the position of Black Pete within the Sinterklaas Celebration as a contemporary media event.

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4. THE SINTERKLAAS CELEBRATION AS MEDIA EVENT

On a Saturday afternoon in November, the ritual for many Dutch families is to gather around the television in order to watch this arrival of Sinterklaas and his Black Pete helpers. Often they are welcomed by a big crowd of children with painted faces and their parents, singing celebratory songs. Most of the time the mayor of the city is the first to welcome Sinterklaas to the country. After that, Sinterklaas gets onto his horse, Americo, while he leads the parade through town towards the town square. During this parade the Black Pete helpers throw candy and make acrobatic moves, making the parade a joy to watch, while children try to give them drawings they made for Sinterklaas. As has been demonstrated in previous chapters this annual event has transformed over time. Television has a significant role in this transformation by inviting the viewer at home to participate. The arrival ceremony was no longer just filmed, but became a staged event in which multiple storylines attracted the viewer to become collectively invested in the Sinterklaas celebration. In the previous chapter, the historical connotations of Black Pete, his visual appearance and characteristics were a central point of discussion; shown was that Black Pete draws heavily on the cultural representations of black people through which white people showed their superiority. Although these connotations are no longer foregrounded, their implicit hurtful meaning stands in between a feeling of national belonging for certain social groups. This chapter will focus on the cultural narratives that are created around the celebration and, more importantly, around Black Pete. Firstly, by focusing on the debate between communication scholars concerning the term ‘media event,’ its connection to the Sinterklaas Celebration will be explained. Secondly, the connection of the Sinterklaas celebration to national and cultural identity will be discussed in order to get a better understanding of the connection between communication and cultural sciences. This will lead up to the analysis of the function of the Black Pete figure within the media event in the final chapter.

4.1 The popular media event In Big Brother as a Television Event media scholar Paddy Scannell explains that events are ‘those things that we ourselves make happen’ (271). He argues that events are staged and meant to happen in a certain way, with a certain effect on its audience in mind. The Sinterklaas celebration is therefore an event because it is known beforehand to take place and it is precisely planned and anticipated by audiences. The Sinterklaas celebration, moreover, is not just an event, but rather a ‘media event’. The term media event was first introduced by Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz; in their opinion, television ceremonies or festive television ‘hang a halo over the television set and transforms the viewing experience’ (1). They argue that media events distinguish themselves from other television genres for a number of reasons (4-14). First of all, they argue that media events cause interruptions to the usual routine of everyday life and the broadcast schedule. They propose exceptional things and events to think about and are often monopolistic. This means that all channels switch away from their regular

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programming to broadcast the event itself or something related to the event. An example of a media event is the 2002 wedding of Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander to his fiancée Maxima, where every television channel involved broadcast a tear rolling down Maxima’s cheek during the ceremony. Looking back at the event a decade later, it is clear that it is Maxima’s tears that are remembered about the event. Another important aspect to the media event is that the event is broadcast live. Dayan and Katz explain that this does not excluded pre-planning, or the staging of the event, but it does mean that while the event takes place there is always the possibility that something could go wrong (5). Cultural historian David Duindam provides an illustration of such an interruption in his article about the national commemoration of World War II in the Netherlands. The Dutch commemoration day is an event celebrated every year on 4 May. On this day, Dutch war heroes and victims are commemorated. The event is always highly pre-planned and the core of the event takes place outside of the media, in this case on the Dam Square in Amsterdam; this pre-planning and site specificity constitute two other features of media events according to Dayan and Katz. The pre-planning became highly visible in 2010 when a man screamed during the two minutes of silence and caused mass panic, as Duindam explains (257). Unlike the usual, controlled way of reporting this event, it suddenly changed into a news event. The camera had to move in a faster pace than before and failed shots were shown as well. More important was the fact that the viewer at home went from participant to a distant viewer, fully aware of the medium that was reporting the event. The event thus happened live and was intended to follow a certain script to create a collective feeling of belonging, but through unexpected happenings, it went from media event to a news event where meanings had to be attached later on. In their account, Dayan and Katz argue that media events distinguish themselves because they are presented with reverence and ceremony (8). Instead of offering a critique on the event, the journalist always approaches the event with respect and even with awe and amazement. The commentary never tries to interrupt the intended meaning and symbolism of the event, often it only enhances it. Therefore, Dayan and Katz argue that media events are often ceremonial efforts about harmony and the celebration of the established initiatives. By often building upon the already existing order the events are hegemonic, reaffirming the hierarchical order of a certain society. Often a notion of the historical past plays a part in this hegemony. Hegemonic power relations will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter in relation to media rituals and cultural identity. Last of all, Dayan and Katz argue that these events ‘electrify very large audiences’ (8-9). People tell each other to watch the event and put everything else aside for that very moment. The viewers often celebrate the event by gathering in front of the television in groups. In a way, these events create a feeling that not watching means you are missing out. They are meant to create a collective feeling of belonging to the same society and evoke a renewed feeling of loyalty to a society. In the case of Sinterklaas the collecting in front of the television is still one of the most vivid

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memories of my childhood; it was the thing you would talk about on the playground after the weekend. In the wake of Dayan and Katz’s pioneering work, which was written in 1992, many other communication scholars redefined media events because of historical changes or incongruities in their theory. An updated definition given by Andreas Hepp and Nick Couldry, written in 2010, seems most suitable for the current thesis. From their more contemporary perspective, (popular) media events do not monopolize media coverage entirely anymore, only a certain part of it. For example, the Olympics, as a major sports event, are not broadcasted on every channel, but only on the sports channels and one or two channels from the public broadcasters. A similar situation can be described for the Sinterklaas celebration; news channels feature Sinterklaas-themed items, as does advertising. Furthermore, on channels meant for children, multiple programs circulating the celebration will be broadcasted. Hepp and Couldry suggest that popular media events do not occur live but in a continuous development. This can be connected to marketing and branding, and they are also organized by the media itself and often commercialized. Therefore, Couldry and Hepp argue that media events in the present day are often more pleasure-oriented instead of celebratory. With this they mean that popular media events often tend to polarize and generate the attention of certain youth segments. In other words, they tend to offer content in a way it attracts viewers (youth), which is seen as a viable market for toys and merchandise. Media events are no longer just about reconciliation, as their elements are often transported to different kinds of television genres and its messages and audiences are multiple and selective. With the large variety of programs and multiple ways to view them, the events no longer have to intend to be attractive for every group within society. On the basis of such developments within the media world and the popular media events, Daniel Dayan has recently argued that there are four remaining features that still define (contemporary) media events. In ‘Beyond Media Events’ Dayan argues that Media events include four major features: insistence and emphasis; an explicitly ‘performative’ gestural dimension; loyalty to the event’s self-definition; and access to a shared viewing experience (25-26). The first feature, emphasis or insistence, is according to Dayan manifested through the omnipresence of the transmitted events (25). The second feature, performativity, has to do with gestures; gestures that actively create realities (26). Dayan states they have nothing to do with balance or neutrality and often thus depend on the definition producers give of reality. For example the Olympics are partly driven by politics, while on the other hand by media (Hepp and Couldry 11). Thirdly, loyalty means that the event is accepted in the way it is. The proposed storyline is not questioned but becomes frequently affirmed and passed on. This feature seems to be in close connection to the concept of representation, where there is also an implicit agreement with the proposed meaning of certain images. Looking for example at Black itself, whose image is endorsed and relayed numerous times, rarely the image is radically changed by producers and advertisers. The last feature of media events is that of shared experience next to knowledge and

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information. Formats for media events often rely on narrative continuity, visual proximity and shared temporality (Dayan 26). In his discussion of the Olympics, Dayan mentions ‘repertory events’. For these events, it is no longer the question if they will take place, but rather how they will take place (23). Each enactment has to be different, but also recognizable from repeat to repeat. He compares these repertory events with the Dutch production company, Endemol, who is known for its reality television shows’ formats (24). Their shows are produced in such a way that they can be stripped down to their essentials and be reproduced for many different countries; one of their most successful formats at the moment is The Voice. Dayan explains that the Olympics, for example, can be stripped down and, depending on current trends and the country in which it is being held, it becomes something unique again (24). Still, the recognizable logo and the ceremonial run, where the ceremonial flame is being lit, for example, come back with every Olympics. Repertory events seem to show similarities to media rituals. In Media Rituals communication scientist Nick Couldry points out that ‘ritual’ can be understood in multiple ways. First of all, he says it is a habitual action, a repeated pattern, like the Sinterklaas celebration returning every year or the Olympics that returns every four years (3). Secondly, it is a formalised action; Nick Couldry compares it with the regular and meaningful pattern by which a table is laid for food in a particular culture. The Sinterklaas celebration also has a regular and meaningful pattern; nobody will start celebrating this event during summer. However more importantly, it follows a social script/pattern that children learn through children’s programming. Similar to commemoration day, which offers a very specific and limited narrative of the war, the Sinterklaas celebration also embodies a very specific narrative. Last of all, this specific narrative involves what Couldry calls ‘transcendent values,’ like the commemoration of the war which communicates cultural narratives about suffering and loss, as Duindam explained in his text (249). Through this account of a more symbolic meaning, the connection with cultural theories of representation will become more apparent throughout this chapter. Another communication scholar, who is concerned with the social patrons of media environments, is Simon Cottle. In his article ‘Mediatized rituals: beyond manufacturing consent’, Cottle explains the various ways media rituals can provide an insight in how media intervene in contemporary life and contribute to the formation of plural solidarities (411). He describes media rituals ‘as exceptional and performative phenomena that serve to sustain and or mobilize collective sentiments and solidarities on the basis of symbolization’ (415). Cottle’s definition of media rituals is very similar to the definition of Couldry for the same phenomenon. He looks at media rituals as situations in which media stand in, or appear to stand in, for something significant and creates or maintains social integration in this way (Couldry 4). This connects to what is discussed in chapter three about the way cultural representation of certain social groups affected the way other people treated them.

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Tamar Liebes and James Curran examine in the book, Media, Ritual and Identity, the role of media within society. They argue that media events are forgers of meaning when they discuss the second chapter, ‘Mass communication, ritual and civil society,’ written by Jeffrey C. Alexander and Ronald N. Jacobs (5-6). By ‘narrating the social’ a selective image of society becomes signified, ignoring all the other explanatory frameworks and narratives (5). Alexander and Jacobs try to avoid an oversimplified reading of media events as ‘just’ a ritual that connects members of a society to their sacred codes (5). In terms of media power, Alexander and Jacobs argue, media events have an enormous significance because they attract a large audience (27). Therefore, media events construct meaning, a role of media already discussed in chapter three, and could even stimulate change, but often they divide and reinforce antagonism. In order to do so, media events erase the divide between public and private, giving the viewer at home the chance to participate in the event from their couch. In addition, it dramatizes the symbols, narratives and cultural codes that belong to a certain society in order to emphasize symbolic significance. The ritualized media event is thus a viable tool to display the dominant discourse. It is precisely the relationship of a ritualized media event to a dominant discourse and identity patterns that I will emphasize in the analysis of Black Pete on contemporary Dutch children’s television. Several communication scholars draw upon Durkheim, among them are Couldry, Hepp and Krotz, but also Cottle and Hermes and Reesink, when writing about the connection of media events to media rituals. Couldry argues that Emile Durkheim looked upon religion not as a cosmic order but as a way people imagine a social bond, because they belong to a certain group (6). Therefore, Cottle argues that media events are ritualized, in that they refer to exceptional media performative, symbolic-laden and subjectively oriented phenomena that serve to sustain and mobilize collective sentiments and solidarities (420). Couldry argues rightfully that stable societies do not necessarily have a shared set of values and therefore he explains it is important to realise that ‘in our sense that in certain ‘places’ and times we ‘come together’ through media’ (10). He argues that a sceptical approach is needed when it comes to media events, distinguishing between the levels of actual order and disorder. In a similar approach as Barthes towards ideologies, he divides these in two levels, where on the second level the myth behind this order can be discovered (11-12). In addition, Couldry and Hepp explain, in Media Events in a Global Age, that media events are forms of communication that represent the hegemonic centre of societies and the media (12). In short, even though media events consist of simplified narratives, they often still hold symbolic meanings through which children and people learn patterns about the way their society functions (or possibly should function).

4.2 The Sinterklaas celebration as popular media event In order to analyse the image of Black Pete and his function within the narrative of the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas it is important to explain the Sinterklaas Celebration as a popular and ritualized media event. This subsection will connect the four features as introduced

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by Dayan with an updated version of Couldry and Hepp. Couldry and Hepp tend to speak about media cultures, when the primary resources of a community are accessible through technology-based media (9). Especially for children nowadays for whom media is a normative part of their everyday life, according to cultural and communication scholar, Sarah Banet-Weiser in Home is where the Brand is, the way children craft identities and subjectivities through these media contexts is important (91). Therefore, it is important to get a clear understanding of the way the Sinterklaas celebration is constructed in order to analyze the function of Black Pete within the annually returning simplified narrative. In the case of ‘emphasis,’ it is clear that the Sinterklaas celebration for about four weeks every year takes over certain parts of the social environment and media landscape. Couldry and Hepp explained that during this time a ‘thickening of media communication’ can be discovered. Where children are often visible on multiple media platforms, ranging from the internet to television, in the eyes of Hepp and Couldry media events are transcultural phenomena, which at particular moments become intensified within the processes of communication throughout various media platforms (10- 11). A large part of popular media culture within Dutch society will be oriented towards the celebration for about four to five weeks, starting from somewhere halfway in November till the fifth of December. Specific candy hits the stores, toys become even more advertised, advertisements often involves Sinterklaas as well as Black Pete, while shows like the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas appear on television. They start airing a few days before the arrival, providing children and other viewers with the chance to follow the end preparations for the arrival of Sinterklaas. This is followed by the live broadcast of the arrival ceremony. Afterwards the storyline continues, often ending on the fifth of December. The ceremonial aspect of the celebration relies on the greeting of Sinterklaas by the mayor in a reverent way and the celebratory parade. The arrival ceremony is broadcasted live on two channels; Nederland 3 and one of the other two public broadcast channels accompanied by an interpreter for the deaf. The Sinterklaas celebration is subjected to a national agreed upon timeframe. A thickening of media communication thus can be discovered. On the level of ‘performativity,’ the Sinterklaas celebration and especially the arrival of Sinterklaas are, just as the commemoration day, open and inclusive. However as Couldry and Hepp explain connecting media events to questions of performativity can make power related images apparent (11). Often there is more than one power centre and various interest groups related to the performance of these events. The discourse that seems to be communicated/constructed by the media during the Sinterklaas celebration, and especially the arrival of Sinterklaas, is one based on equality and solidarity. Where this thesis will not be asking why all the channels broadcast a similar image of Black Pete, it will be concerned with the dominant, but also implicitly ignored, meanings of the image. The third feature ‘loyalty’ is about acceptance of the event in the way it is constructed and broadcasted by the media. Hepp and Couldry say this loyalty can only be detected up to a certain point within the definitions of the event organizers (11). The Sinterklaas celebration never seems to get a lot

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of noticeable critique. When it does get critique, it is often not as visible as the dominant discourse of the celebration. The popular programs created around the Sinterklaas celebration seem to draw upon the notions and historical connotations that date back centuries. Sinterklaas, for example, is always represented in the garbs of a priest, which every medium draws upon when creating content related to the celebration. The category of loyalty in relation to Black Pete will be discussed more closely in the next chapter, since it helps to explain to what extent the iconic image of Black Pete is part of the thematic core of the Sinterklaas celebration. In case of the ‘shared viewing experience,’ for the arrival of Sinterklaas the viewer at home will be virtually participating by systematically being shown parts of the narrative. Hepp and Couldry argue, in addition to the creation of a common ‘we’ within a global-transcultural frame, it opens up the space for many different constructions around this ‘we’ (12). Therefore the main cultural thickenings are of importance, or said in other words, the way they are framed according to the dominant discourse, leaving out other possible meanings of importance. De Club van Sinterklaas as well as the Sinterklaasjournaal creates storylines in which before the arrival ceremony the Black Pete helpers and Sinterklaas are still either in Spain or on their way to Holland on a boat filled with presents. Where de Club van Sinterklaas only mentions the arrival ceremony but does not participate in it, the Sinterklaasjournaal is the broadcaster of the whole event. Presented according to the genre conventions of a news broadcast, the viewer at home will have a much larger narrative than the audience that is present at the actual event by being able to follow all the major events that take place during the arrival ceremony. When creating this simplified narrative for the viewer at home, the role of the camera is of great importance. The camera shows the viewer the last problems that appear on scene; like the boat running out of power and the Black Pete helpers throwing money instead of candy in the Sinterklaasjournaal by 2012. Similar to commemoration day, as Duindam explains, the event is repeated every year in approximately the same fashion (256-257). In relation to the theory of Karin Becker, Duindam argues that the media and the crowd work together to create a single and coherent narrative (255). It creates this coherent narrative by capturing peak moments, luminal moments and the general atmosphere in collaboration with the crowd. The general atmosphere in this account is captured by showing typical and outstanding narratives and thus framed in such a way to create an inclusive cultural performance, consistent with the theory of Becker according to Duindam (256). It thus offers the viewer multiple images they can relate to and creates the possibility for people with different backgrounds to relate to the (national) feeling of togetherness. In the case of Duindam’s text about the commemoration day, this representative figure is a veteran, a foreigner, an active soldier or a young person (256). For the Sinterklaas celebration, it is often the diverse ethnicities that are present in Holland that will be represented, but also the different ages: a small child, a bigger child, a parent and a grandparent, for example. A sense of immediacy is created because the camera will go over the

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crowd showing all the happy faces of the children and parents who are singing and anxiously waiting for the boat to arrive or to give their drawings to Black Pete and Sinterklaas. Therefore, it seems appropriate to address some of the television techniques that will be of importance when analysing Black Pete. Although already briefly addressed in the methodology, this paragraph will elaborate on it some more. First of all, shot depths will be of importance. As well as the kind of shots that are used in certain situations; these can be close-ups, where the frame is filled with the face of the Black Pete helpers, or long shots, showing the frames with the whole person and even parts of its surroundings, according to Bignell in Television Texts and Television Narratives (88-90). In this case, also the way the camera moves will be of importance providing the viewer with a certain picture of the whole situation. Secondly what role does the narrator get within the story is also important. Especially with the Sinterklaasjournaal which is set up as a news program, the way the story is told is relevant in the analysis of Black Pete. As Bignell explains for this, the construction of the discourse of the text is important (100). As he explains, the way the story is told, how the camera is controlled and how the sound and music are delivered in the story are important. How does the viewer understand the story? In the Sinterklaasjournaal for example, the narrator of the story is often the news presenter, interpreting the images for you. Finally, it are also visual quotations, icons and interaction of/with others, as discussed by Leah van de Berg, that will help analyze the contemporary figure of Black Pete. Stereotypical shots will be an important focus point, because of their recurring nature and in combination with the stereotypical features of the figure itself contribute or not contribute to the narrative continuity (205). Furthermore, the verbal and acoustic codes are also an important focus point, since they frame the imagery in such a way that visual connotations might be overlooked. In short by addressing not just the visual image, but the whole placement of the figure within the narrative, this thesis will explain the contemporary figure of Black Pete in children’s television. In relation to the cultural representation of Black Pete, the significance of its performance within the narrative of the Sinterklaas celebration, but also its role in the dynamics of cultural memory, will be important to address. David Duindam addresses in a similar way the role that the National Monument and the Media event of the Commemoration Day have in the dynamics of cultural memory (247). Where the national monument is, on the one hand, a sculpture with a specific and restricted memory of the war, on the other hand it is a symbolic site which offers a stage for the celebration of the nation (248). These two features could also be discovered within the Black Pete figure. In chapter three, we have seen that Black Pete as an image offers a quite restricted image of slavery and evil, while on the other hand within the media event it tends to be framed in a more positive and celebratory way (which will be discussed further in the next chapter). In the analysis in the next chapter, this thesis will address the function of Black Pete within the “media event” format. Addressing the way the figure is being framed through camera shots, narrators, visual quotations and interaction with others, the contemporary image of Black Pete will become even

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clearer in combination with the visual but implicit historical and ideological connotations that are ignored within this framing. The multiple meanings of the image will be discussed while addressing the dominant discourse that has been created around it through the Sinterklaas celebration as a media event. The simplified narrative and the narrative continuity will be of great importance, since it pushes some connotations to the background while foregrounding others. Media events draw heavily upon dominant discourses which are closely interrelated with the stereotypes discussed in chapter three. The next chapter will analyze the contemporary figure of Black Pete within Dutch children’s television by looking at the role of Black Pete within the dominant discourse in the Netherlands of the Sinterklaas celebration.

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5. ANALYSIS OF BLACK PETE IN DUTCH CHILDREN'S TELEVISION

In this chapter, the contemporary representations of Black Pete in children’s television will be analysed. As stated in the previous chapter, the analysis will pay extra attention to the simplified narrative and the narrative continuity that is created around the media event, but even more to the way Black Pete is framed within this narrative through shots, movement of the camera and recognizable gestures. Furthermore, it will analyze the figure of Black Pete according to its visual elements, making a clear distinction between its denotational meaning and connotational meaning to be able to grasp the meaning behind its stereotypical features. Before getting to this analysis it is important to give a brief summary of the role of Black Pete within cultural narratives and television programming before 2006. Since entertainment has become an important factor of the media event, Black Pete has gained many personal characteristics. Being introduced in 1968, it was only Hoofdpiet (Head Pete) that distinguished himself from the others, and he was introduced in 1968 as a character within the live broadcast of the show. In 1981 another Piet entered the television world as well, namely Navigation Pete, but after 2005 he disappeared from the screen. From 1999 more Black Pete characters became apparent on the television screen when the first season of de Club van Sinterklaas aired on the commercial broadcaster, in which both Navigation Pete and Head Pete were featured as well. When in 2001 the second season of de Club van Sinterklaas aired, it was only Navigation Pete that remained a character, played by one actor, in both children programs until the end of 2005. At the moment, the Sinterklaasjournaal is still airing, while de Club van Sinterklaas stopped making new yearly shows due to their biggest sponsor dropping out. They do however still create other media content surrounding the Pete characters from de Club van Sinterklaas; for example last year they released a movie. In the next subchapter the storylines of the shows will be discussed.

5.1 The storylines of the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas Before starting on the analysis, it seems fit to give short outlines of the storylines of the analysed programs. In the Sinterklaasjournaal of 2006, the central narrative revolves around the Black Pete characters and Sinterklaas on sea on the boat with the presents. As a result, the book of Sinterklaas gets wet and the Black Pete helpers decide to let it dry on the deck. On sea they go through a rainbow that turns all white flags on the boat colourful. Later on it turns out that the rainbow also turned some of the Black Pete helpers colourful and they change colours from time to time. Some worry that these aren’t real Black Pete helpers, but Sinterklaas assures them they are. On the day of the arrival, Sinterklaas and his helpers end up on the wrong dock. One of the Black Pete helpers goes on shore to find out where they are and is left behind when Sinterklaas leaves for the right city. When they come to pick him up with a helicopter, he leaves the book behind. The book is returned to the Black Pete helpers, but they discover that all the information of the children has been replaced with coloured

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paper. Therefore, the Black Pete helpers decide to hide the book for Sinterklaas, while asking the children to put wish lists in their shoes. Sinterklaas solves the problem himself, but the Black Pete helpers don’t realise this and hide the book again. Eventually Sinterklaas finds the book when he appears in another show of the public broadcaster, Sesame Street. In the meantime, Trumpet Pete is laughed at because of his bad musical skills, and he goes to look for a quiet place to practice. He ends up on the boat, which gets stolen by a white Dutch man who wants Sinterklaas to stay in the Netherlands. This is how the other Black Pete helpers, together with the news reporters, find the boat again. In the narrative, a format can already be discovered. There is one big problem concerning all the Black Pete helpers, while one Black Pete deals with a personal problem. On the other hand there are smaller subjects that come across in the show as well, like inventions for doors in the roof and questions of children concerning the celebration. Through this the conventions belonging to the News genre, which often has a few larger items and a couple of shorter items, as already explained earlier, become more apparent (Hermes 195). The 2012 season of the Sinterklaasjournaal is set up in a similar way. The story starts in Spain where the big boat, that was supposed to get the Black Pete helpers and Sinterklaas to the Netherlands, is broken and they decide to come to Holland with a smaller boat. However, this means that they cannot take the presents with them, so instead they take bags of money with them so they can buy the presents in the Netherlands. On the way they discover that the moneybags became mixed in with the bags of candy, and they split them up. During the Arrival ceremony they end up throwing the money instead of the candy and the Black Pete helpers panic. They ask the Dutch people to look for the ‘Sinterklaasmoney’ and put it in their shoes so they can buy presents for them. When they have recovered almost all the money, they lose it again. This time Sinterklaas took it to keep it safe, but the Black Pete helpers start to worry when Sinterklaas spends it on very strange presents. Little Pete in Love also has his own storyline in this, he is looking for his girlfriend, but that isn’t that easy; while all the other Black Pete helpers try to help him, he feels more and more depressed. It is in Spain that two other Black Pete helpers are still working on repairing the boat to get all the presents to Holland. Finally they discover that it was due to the girlfriend of Little Pete in Love that was hiding in the chimney that the boat did not function, and they leave for the Netherlands. They arrive just before Little Pete in Love tries to go back to Spain, and Sinterklaas reveals it was a wedding for Little Pete in Love and Girl Pete that he was arranging with his strange purchases. Again this narrative unfolds according to news genre conventions. There can even be discovered a general pattern within the Sinterklaasjournaal similar to the Jeugdjournaal meant for children. All the ‘news’ is centred on the Sinterklaas celebration and follows, first of all, the big news events within the celebration, which are the money being disappeared or the book that changed in a pile of colored paper (Hermes 195). Next to that where in the Jeugdjournaal, there tends to be one topic specifically addressing children, such as a school burning down or a children’s poetry contest in the Sinterklaasjournaal this seems to be replaced by a story involving one Pete; in 2006 this was Trumpet Pete and in 2012 this was Little Pete

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in Love. Therefore, this program seems to give a general impression of the Black Pete helpers, while also expressing that they have persona of their own. In contrast, De Club van Sinterklaas is not set up as a news show but rather as a drama. In a similar way to a teen sitcom, this program tends to centre around the lives and the adventures of the Black Pete helpers and addresses a younger audience (Creeber 41-42) The 2006 season called ‘Paniek in de Confettifabriek’ (Panic in the confetti factory) starts off in Spain where the Black Pete Helpers are confronted with Sinterklaas’ collection of children’s drawings disappearing. While they prepare to go to the Netherlands, they try to figure out what happened to the stolen drawings. Because of this two Black Pete Helpers miss the boat to the Netherlands and finally hitch a ride in a movable factory, whose owner all the drawings. While the other Black Pete helpers try to keep from Sinterklaas that the drawings disappeared, Awesome Pete Diego and Tall Heights Pete lose track of the thieves again. The new drawings that children send in while the Black Pete helpers disappear, and the Black Pete helpers decide to look for the thieves again. They catch the thieves in a part of the show that wasn’t on the DVD (this happens during a live event; ‘het Grote Club van Sinterklaasfeest’) and the program goes on afterwards; the thieves manage to escape from the prison and create trouble again for the Black Pete helpers. Eventually the Black Pete Helpers manage to trick the thieves and are able to arrest them as well as the boss of the thieves. Most noticeable with this program is the connection of the Black Pete helpers to each other in that they are a tight group of friends/family based on several archetypical images (this will be discussed further in subchapter 5.2). Similar to the Sinterklaas, there seems to be one main problem for all the Black Pete helpers while some have to deal with personal problems as well. The season of De Club van Sinterklaas that was broadcast in 2012 was called ‘De Grote Onbekende’ (The Great Unknown) and also has a recognizable format. Here the Black Pete helpers discover a letter from the Queen stating that Sinterklaas is no longer welcome in the Netherlands. The Black Pete helpers are really upset and want to hide it from Sinterklaas. Prof Pete and Help Pete go the Netherlands to figure things out with the Queen, while the other Black Pete helpers back in Spain have to deal with other events that tried to prevent them from coming to the Netherlands. However, they are able to go to the Netherlands and arrive at the castle where they live during their stay in this country. Here again everything seems to go wrong for the Black Pete helpers and they go in search for ‘the Great Unknown’ who is trying to sabotage the celebration. Music Pete, on the other hand, panics and tries to go back to Spain. When they find the villain, he makes them believe that he is not the bad guy at all. Eventually he captures Help Pete and, during the live event, the show comes to a climax in which the Black Pete helpers manage to capture the villain. This season of the show follows a similar format as the one of 2006 and thus seems to become a franchised format, similar to the successful Big Brother show that was meant for reproduction as Dayan explains; being able to be stripped down to a very basic storyline (26). The program always starts off with a problem, forcing the Black Pete helpers to investigate, and the problems in the Netherlands become bigger until they capture the villains

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causing the problems. De Club van Sinterklaas as well as the Sinterklaasjournaal follow a ritually returning plot that basically is the same but just differs in content, teaching the children what the Sinterklaas celebration is all about and, more importantly, what his helper is all about. After the retirement of Navigation Pete in 2005, coherency between the two programs seems to have disappeared. Therefore, a part of the narrative continuity, which is an aspect of importance for media events according to Dayan, disappeared (26). An omnipresence of Black Pete helpers from the other show does not seem present anymore and their narratives are often very contradictory. For example, the Black Pete helpers in de Club van Sinterklaas are unaware of the missing money in the Sinterklaasjournaal, which can lead to a complexity that children at a young age are unable to grasp. To better understand the incoherency and coherency between the representations of Black Pete within these programs, this chapter will initially examine its (visual) characteristics. The potential meanings generated by these representations will be analysed by comparing them with some of the visual connotations offered in chapter three, and the imagery of Black Pete will also be explained. In the second part of this chapter, the focus will be directed towards the function and framing of Black Pete within the narrative.

5.2 The visual appearance of Black Pete Before starting the analysis of the Black Pete helper, it is important to be specific about the Black Pete characters this analysis will mainly focus on. The Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas both have several recurring characters throughout both of the seasons which will be focused on. In the 2006 season and the 2012 season of the Sinterklaasjournaal, there can be discovered five recurring Black Pete helpers: Hoofdpiet (Head Pete), Huispiet (Home Pete), Wellespiet (Yes Pete), Pietje Precies (Fusspot Pete) and Rare Piet (Strange Pete). For the season of 2006 they had another Black Pete of importance, namely Trompetpiet (Trumpet Pete), while in the 2012 season Pietje Verliefd (Little Pete in Love) played an important role within the storyline. Some other Pete characters that appear are Pietje Paniek (Panic Pete) and Meisjespiet (Girl Pete). Many other Pete characters appear on screen but aren’t put forward as much as the ones mentioned above. De Club van Sinterklaas also has a recurring cast in both seasons. In this show there were also five Pete characters recurring in both seasons Testpiet (Experiment Pete), Hulppiet (Help Pete), Muziekpiet (Music Pete), Hoge Hoogte Piet (Tall Heights Pete), Prof Piet (Prof Pete). For the season of 2006, two other Black Pete helpers were of importance for the Club van Sinterklaas, namely Coole Piet Diego (Awesome Pete Diego) and Kleur Piet (Color Pete). In the season that aired in 2012, four more Black Pete helpers were of importance within the story, namely Kluspiet (Handyman Pete), who is still part of the recurring cast, and Hokuspokuspiet (Abracadabra Pete), who was part of the cast until 2011. During this season there were also two younger Black Pete helpers in part of the story named PJ and Danspiet (Dance Pete). As Sarah Weiser-Banet explains, “the increasing scope of kids’ television – moving from programming to a complex relation between television, film, toys and other merchandise – was an

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important moment of what now is an even broader and more ubiquitous kids’ media culture” (79). Therefore these recognizable characters seem to be created in a way to immerse the children within the highly branded world of multi-media text (83). It is the show, Pokémon, that Hermes argues was a way for children to relate to the various sides of growing up while still Picture 2 ‘Sinterklaasjournaal’: Black Pete characters from the acting childish (Hermes 2003 153). Often Sinterklaasjournaal children identify some of the characters because they recognize themselves in the character or because they want to be like them, according to Nikken (25-26). Working with just a few stereotypes therefore makes it easier for children to be emotionally attached to a program. In picture 2, 3, 4 and 5 images of the characters from de Club van Sinterklaas and the Sinterklaasjournaal are shown. The Black Pete helpers from the Picture 3 ‘Regenboogpiet’: The Rainbow Pete helpers from Sinterklaasjournaal 2006 Sinterklaasjournaal do not seem to vary that much; picture 2 shows the general look of the Black Pete characters while picture 3 shows the Rainbow Pete helpers of 2006. Picture 4 and 5 are promotion pictures with the cast of ‘Panic in the Confetti factory’ and ‘The great Unknown.’ Drawing on the way Barthes analysed the young Black boy on the French Paris Match magazine, this part of the thesis will look upon the images of

Picture 4 De Club van Sinterklaas 2006 Black Pete given in both shows. At the level of denotation, the visual characteristics of the main characters are all very similar, their faces are painted black, their lips red, their hair is frizzy and most of them are wearing colourful garb with a white collar. Furthermore, many of them also wear a hat with a big feather on it, black gloves and shoes with clasps or sneakers. In

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comparison with the Black Pete helpers from the Sinterklaasjournaal, the Black Pete helpers from de Club van Sinterklaas vary more in their clothing styles and hairstyles, while the 2006 Rainbow Pete helpers are different because of their skin tone. The differences that are visible, with the portrayal of Black Pete within de Club van Sinterklaas, are that a few of them do not wear hats or that their hats are modified, as can be seen in picture 3 and 4. Experiment Pete and Music Pete do not wear the distinctive hats with feathers at all, while Abracadabra Pete, Handyman Pete and Prof Pete wear modified hats. Instead Picture 5 De Club van Sinterklaas 2008 (2012) Experiment Pete wears hairpins, Music Pete has straight hair which is put into a tuft, Abracadabra Pete wears a high hat, Handyman Pete wears a helmet and Prof Pete (who has grey hair) a square hat with tassel. Where Abracadabra Pete does have a bigger cape and Color Pete a bigger hat, the outfits of Music Pete and Handyman Pete are in no way near the original outfit from the Black Pete Helpers, accept for the collars. Handyman Pete wears a shirt and salopettes, while Music Pete wears an outfit generally associated with disco from the seventies. While PJ and Dance Pete, who are not shown in the images, added to this chapter, are wearing training suits and caps. In 2006 differences in visual appearance thus appeared mainly through the Rainbow Pete helpers, as shown in picture 2, while de Club van Sinterklaas visually differed through changes in clothing and hairstyles of some of the Black Pete helpers. On a connotated level the overall image of Black Pete still seems to bear the implicit historic connotations as discussed in chapter three. The Negro in Barthes example signified French Colonialism (113-119), while the black skin tone of Black Pete often has a two folded meaning. First of all, it was seen as a way to signify evil, while on the other hand it has a long history in slavery and the superiority of white people. Where the Negro in Barthes example signified French Colonialism (113-119), Black Pete, who is a white person with a blackface, is seen as triple insult towards black people as discussed in chapter three, because in this way white people said black people were unable to represent themselves. Moreover, the image of Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal as de Club van Sinterklaas draws on the stereotypes of black people that circulated during the Colonialism. In this time it was common to reduce black people to what white people saw as their essence’ (Hall 245).

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These stereotypes of black people exist as big golden earrings, fat red lips and frizzy hair, as Hassankhan explains (47). When Hassankhan wrote ‘Zo Zwart als Roet’ in 1988, the big golden earrings that were an essential feature of the figure back then can no longer be discovered. However on other elements the figure doesn’t seem to have changed much over the past twenty-five years; the Black Pete helpers generally still have red lips, and for most of them their hair is still in old fashion, frizzy or curly. For example the hair of Experiment Pete is still old fashioned. That the Black Pete helpers are originally not black people can be detected through their gloves and the often visible white hairline, which still relates to the trend that existed for a while in film to let white people represent black people. Especially because of the multiple other stereotypical features that were used to define the inferior position of black people, the image thus implicitly tells children that black people are inferior to white people. Even the contemporary story about Black Pete becoming black because of the chimney soot is not grounded in any of the visual connotations. It appears more as a story that is meant to neutralize or rewrite the uncomfortable history of this figure. Furthermore, his clothing is also old fashioned; the garb date back to the 16th and 17th century and were worn by servants of the royalty and the court society. Therefore the outfits seem to refer to the story of the orphan boy which got adopted by Sinterklaas or the evil Moor that killed his own wife and had to redeem himself as a servant of Sinterklaas. However, where these stories often are not foregrounded within the narrative, as will be explained in the next subchapter, these figures are constructed through interpretative frameworks. A child, that is only told the more positive connotations, will therefore more likely interpret Black Pete as a helper that became black through the chimney soot, then connect it to the history of Dutch slavery in which ‘Blackface’ was a way of representing black people as inferior to whites. As already mentioned earlier in this chapter, the Black Pete characters of De Club van Sinterklaas seem to vary more than the ones in the Sinterklaasjournaal. Apart from the stereotypes that are based on historical meanings from slavery and servants, other stereotypes are of visual importance here as well. Music Pete with his tuft and clothing style is a known way for resembling Elvis Presley. He is a cartoon version of this singer and actor because he is fat and in reality is not a good singer. Color Pete on the other hand resembles several famous painters; his moustache is similar to that of Salvator Dali while his hat resembles Rembrandt van Rijn, a 17th century Dutch painter. Furthermore, Prof Pete wears a square academic cap, which indicates that he is very smart. Handyman Pete, his outfit with helmet and salopettes, already tells the viewer that he is a handyman in combination with his name, while with Abracadabra Pete, his name and clothing indicate that he tends to be a magician. PJ and Dance Pete have no indicative clothing to being a servant from the 16th and 17th century, but as the youngest Black Pete helpers within the narrative, they seem to indicate that this particular figure is undergoing a slow process of change of its representation. What is interesting of these various representations is that they relate the image of Black People or Black Pete helpers to a

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wide range of roles; no longer it are they just the ‘servile Tom’, ‘the Coon’, the Mammy’ or ‘the Buck’, though they do not exclude these meanings either, but they have come to represent stereotypes that in the early stages of movies and television were often only given to white people. By projecting popular cultural figures upon the Black Pete figure, the figures’ historical connotations become even less obvious to children, and the figures are defined by their individual characteristics to which children can easily relate. They create multiple figures for children that they would like to be like, as Nikken argues, and the images they see on television are meant to mirror themselves too. Where de Club van Sinterklaas introduced multiple Black Pete helpers with various styles of clothing and hair, and in ‘The Great Unknown’ the differences between the various main characters were bigger than in ‘Panic in the confetti factory’, the 2006 season of the Sinterklaasjournaal took a different approach in neutralizing the historical connotations of this figure. Some of the Black Pete helpers in this show turned different colours because, on the way towards the Netherlands, they went through the rainbow. Their clothing was still based on the 16th century Moor, but instead of black, their skin tone turned green, pink, yellow, orange and other bright colours. They were introduced gradually into the storyline, with the first one appearing during the Arrival ceremony and being noticed by Diewertje Blok, the presenter in the studio, and they showed up more after that. Paul Steenhuis in his NRC article, ‘Groen? Geel? Zwart? Piet!,’ stated that it is not so much about its color and he quotes Sinterklaas from the Sinterklaasjournaal; ‘de stoomboot is door de regenboog gevaren, en als gevolg daarvan zijn er nu ook Regenboog Pieten. Daar is niks mis mee, volgens de Sint in het Sinterklaasjournaal: “Een Piet is een Piet en blijft een Piet.”’6. Explaining that, the show rooted the way this new image was framed. It created controversy though, in that the Volkskrant reported that many people felt that the tradition of Sinterklaas was violated. As Maud Effting explains in her article ‘NPS schrikt van heftige reacties op ‘gekleurde’ Zwarte Pieten’ viewers are convinced of Black Pete always being black. This way of neutralizing the image was therefore not accepted and the following year the Rainbow Pete helpers disappeared again, or the Rainbow powers had worn off again. It seems that although the producers tried to create a more interesting storyline, eventually they didn’t want to jeopardize the loyalty of their viewer. Loyalty is based on, as explained in the chapter, media events where the proposed image given by the producers is not questioned by the viewer. In the case of the 2006 Sinterklaasjournaal, the thematic core, as Hepp and Couldry explain it, became apparent; Black Pete is black. The Rainbow Pete helpers were isolated from most of the Sinterklaas celebration, and de Club van Sinterklaas does not bear any reference to these other kind of Pete helpers. The neutralizing of the image was in this case too obvious and too abrupt for the viewer. De Club van Sinterklaas seems to take small steps in changing the imagery of Black Pete; every year another character with other

6 Translation: “the boat went through the rainbow and because of that there are also Rainbow Pete helpers. Nothing wrong with that according to Sinterklaas: ‘a Pete is still a Pete’.” 36

characteristics than those that belong to a history of slavery and colonialism. The next subchapter will pay closer attention to the way Black Pete is framed within the narrative in these programs.

5.3 The narrative framing of Black Pete During the arrival ceremony the camera gives the returning story of the Black Pete helpers7. Starting off with a wide shot, the viewer at home is able to see all the Black Pete helpers together with Sinterklaas on the boat entering the city. Soon the camera zooms in, giving a close- up of the helpers on the boat, waving and smiling towards the people on the waterfronts. The camera zooms out again showing the big crowd waiting for the Black Pete helpers and Sinterklaas to arrive and then zooms in on the children, dressed up with little hats that resemble those of the Black Pete helpers, while they wave back and smile. After the arrival the boat empties itself, while Sinterklaas talks to either the presenter of the Sinterklaasjournaal or the Mayor, and most of the Black Pete helpers disappear into the crowd. During the parade, the camera shows where all the Black Pete helpers went. Main characters are seen in the company of Sinterklaas, while a pan shot shows the viewer some of the Black Pete helpers on the roofs of the houses; when the camera zooms in it becomes clear that they are practising throwing presents through the chimney. The camera returns to the crowd again, showing Black Pete helpers juggling and on stilts. Then the camera focus shifts, zooming in on a Pete that is acting different than all the others while commentary is given by the presenter in the studio. We return to the crowd and see Pete helpers hand children candy and collect the drawings that the children made. In the meanwhile Sinterklaas came to a performance where they listen to him attentively, and Home Pete is very curious and is shown to interact with the show. This cyclical way is repeated several times during the arrival of Sinterklaas, showing what the Black Pete helpers are all about; they are jolly, happy, athletic and here to make children happy by giving them candy and bringing them presents. In this event the goodness of the character is foregrounded, not only through the images but also through the narrator of the story. When the camera, for example, turns to Black Pete helpers that are climbing off the wall of the Cathedral, the presenter emphasizes how dangerous this is but also how brave they are, and that they must be practicing already for the fifth of December. Secondly the Black Pete helpers seem to portray childish behaviour, which, as chapter three explained, was often also a stereotypical feature of black personas to represent their inferiority. As Hall explained, ‘during slavery, the white slave master often exercised his authority over the black male slave, by depriving him of all the attributes of responsibility, paternal and familial authority treating him like a child’ (262). Where the contemporary Black Pete also has childish characteristics, like only wanting to eat candy, draw childishly and often struggle still to learn things, the role of Sinterklaas as the white master and Black Pete as the black is not an entirely weird assumption.

7 Also see Appendix B for transcripts of the arrival ceremonies.

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However, in children’s programs, characters often interact with their surroundings in a similar way that children would. This is not something that is strange in children’s television, though often the characters are presented in such a way that there are two types of identification possible for the children’s audiences, according to Nikken (25-26). First of all, young children tend to pick characters because they think of them as similar to them, and Nikken therefore names this ‘resemblance- identification’. Secondly, he argues, older children from seven and older, tend to want to be like the media figures which he calls ‘wish- identification’. Therefore the childish behaviour of the Black Pete helpers is better explained through its genre conventions than through its historical connotations. One of these genre conventions is the stereotypes these programs tend to work with. With the Black Pete helpers, their characters are often already defined by their names. For example, Little Pete in Love is in love, Trumpet Pete plays the trumpet, Music Pete is a singer and Experiment Pete is always testing toys. Especially in de Club van Sinterklaas, these characters are still learning. Hermes speaks about this in connection to Pokémon, which is about gaining all kinds of adult traits by practice (201). In The Great Unknown it is, for example, Music Pete who learns that he shouldn’t run from things that make him scared, but that he should deal with it. Also he learns that he should tell people that he is going away, otherwise they might not even notice he is missing. Also in the Sinterklaasjournaal of 2006, Trumpet Pete has to learn how to play the trumpet, which he does with determination and a lot of practice. Because of these characters that often are defined by only one characteristic, it is easier for them to identify with. Furthermore it is not just the Black Pete helpers that are represented in this stereotypical way, but also the white characters are often defined by only one characteristic. Moreover, the Black Pete Helpers are in the role of a popular cultural persona, as discussed in the subchapter about their visual connotations. The narrators in the Sinterklaasjournaal frame the characters in a way that they like them to be received by their audience. The Home of the Black Pete helpers is in a secret location, which gives the feeling that they are celebrities that have to keep their location a secret to be able to live a life. Furthermore, the wedding between Little Pete in Love and Girl Pete in the end of the 2012 season drew on a known popular royal event, namely the royal wedding of Willem-Alexander, the current king of the Netherlands and his wife queen Maxima. During her wedding a tear rolled down Maxima’s cheek while they played a song belonging to her country. In a similar way this was re-enacted in the broadcast of the Sinterklaasjournaal on the 4th of December 2012 in which Girl Pete, while a Sinterklaas song is played in the background, has a tear rolling down her cheek which is captured with the same close-up as it did with Maxima. Sinterklaas even emphasizes the importance himself in this wedding for the world. Also the popular status of the Pete helpers in de Club van Sinterklaas is often emphasized. For example between the 1:55 and 1:57 on the DVD, Tall Height Pete talks to two children who immediately recognize him and say his name and tell him everyone knows him. Also the introduction song of Panic in the Confetti factory, sung by Awesome Pete Diego, became the number 1 song in the Dutch top forty in that year. More regularly

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new songs were released every year around this time for the Sinterklaas celebration, while de Club van Sinterklaas was also released on DVD, which brings us to the feature of emphasis around this celebration. Often introduced to its viewer by the television, afterwards and during the program the CD’s could be bought from either the internet or in the shops, showing the relevance of the coherency of the returning characters to build a strong brand name. By going on the internet the children therefore were able to learn more about the characters they liked. Both television programs therefore also have a website. As a media event the Sinterklaas celebration thus emphasizes the Black Pete helpers as friendly and jolly and as people the children can look up to and relate to. Yearly the same Black Pete helpers seem to be returning, which seems to be in close connection with the feature Dayan explains as ‘performativity’; in his eyes media events actively create realities (26). Where the Sinterklaas celebration returns in a cyclical way, it represents the dominant discourse of the Black Pete. Therefore, as already explained in the beginning of this subchapter, the camera follows a specific way in presenting Black Pete as happy, jolly and child friendly. While they come across visually like a black person, the dominant discourse tries to emphasize the not visual characteristics. In both the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas the Black Pete helpers never are referred to as Black Pete helpers. The narration and the process of telling about the Black Pete helpers (Bignell 100) in the Sinterklaas is dependent upon the agency of the narrator, which in this case are the presenters who always refer to the Black Pete helpers as either Pete or use their full names like Home Pete or Little Pete in Love. Furthermore, in de Club van Sinterklaas, no presenter is present, but looking at the interactions they have with each other and others, the term Black is not added when they refer to each other. Most of the time they talk to each other by only using their first name, like Experiment or Tall Heights, often even nicknames are given, like Abra for Abracadabra Pete and Awesome for Awesome Pete Diego. Also in contact with other people, Black is never a term that is being used within the show. Children talk to the Pete helpers by addressing them as Experiment Pete or Tall Heights Pete, while the villain in the show tends to talk about them in general, talking about the Pete helpers. In both shows, therefore, a similar narrative around the figures seems to be followed. Finally, where loyalty already has been discussed in connection with the Rainbow Pete helpers it seems helpful to turn to ‘the shared viewers’ experience.’ As Dayan argues, media events are meant to construct the feeling of the ‘we’, by building upon narrative continuity and visual proximity and shared temporality (26). Looking back at the analysis this feeling of ‘we’ in case of Black Pete within the media event tends to be disruptive because of it visual connotations with Black people and their position within the history of slavery. Although Black Pete is framed even more positively than in the 1980, losing his ‘Bogeyman features’ and connotations to blackness by name, the blackface, which was meant as an insult in the world of film towards black people cab still be discovered. Although Black Pete has gain a higher status within society, being compared in the shows with royalty or being referred to as famous, the narrative thus tends the neutralize the historical connotations. The meaning

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of Black Pete therefore has been trans-coded; a term Hall uses to explain the phenomenon in which an existing meaning is taken a re-appropriated for new meanings. In case of Black Pete the negative imagery around this figure is substituted by positive imagery and in contemporary children’s television this does not displace the negative connotations of the image. The denial of any connection of the Black Pete helpers to the resembling historical representations of black people might even be more offending then actually admitting the figure is a blackface. Black Pete in contemporary children’s television is therefore a polysemic image which depending on the context can be framed negatively as well as positively, but in the dominant discourse it is framed positively, no longer just the friend of children like in 1980, but an media artist who all the children are meant to look up to.

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6. CONCLUSION

To conclude this thesis, it seems relevant to shortly return the main question; In what ways is the figure of Zwarte Piet represented in children’s television? Step by step this thesis has shown the twofold position that the Black Pete figure remains caught in: On the one hand there are still historical traces of the notion of Black Pete’s association with evil or punishment, while on the other hand he appears as a harmless and funny figure. The dominant cultural narratives which are foregrounded in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas have framed the figure more positively; they only refer to it as Pete and not Black Pete and in de club van Sinterklaas its clothing has changed for some of the characters. However, the narrative often does not add up with the ideological connotations of the figure. Still, most of the Black Pete helpers have a blackface, white people with black paint on their face, and wear a garment that was worn by the Moor servant. As Shohat and Stam argue it is hard to break with (racial) stereotypes that have been iterated in visual culture over a long period of time, often leading to the privileging of the character over the narrative (203). The dominant cultural narrative has transformed black people into something good, while they kept the image the same. In the present-day multicultural society, ‘national cannot be understood in the isolation from this ‘cultural dimension,’ argues Castelló (314). The similar argument can be made for the figure of Black Pete; it can not be understood rightfully without all its connotations. Where this figure is part of a media event, which during the cold autumn and winter days seems to access the public and private spaces in Dutch society, its historical connotations cannot be dismissed because they try to neutralize the image with positive storylines that do not explain all the visual characteristics of Black Pete. In the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas two meanings became apparent through the ideological analysis using the method of Barthes. On the one hand its visual connotations strongly seem to be built upon the reference to black face; a way that often was used in movies to have ‘black people’ represented in their films without actually casting real black people because they were unable to represent themselves (190). Although the story behind Black Pete nowadays suggests that he only became black through the chimney, its visual characteristics like the frizzy hair suggest otherwise. Its connotation to evil does not seem visible anymore; accept for someone with a lot of historical background knowledge on the figure who is able to connect this to its black face. Where the programs mainly talk about the Pete helpers, its reference to the Devil is therefore hard to discover in these programs. A positive change that can be discovered in the use of the various stereotypical figures that de Club van Sinterklaas projects upon its viewer through drawing popular cultural personas; no longer are the Black Pete helpers a servile Tom, or a ‘Coon’, but they are handymen, singers, professors and media artists. For some of the figures even their clothing and hairstyle differs from the well known Black Pete outfit. The Pete helpers in de Club van Sinterklaas can be seen as black canvasses that all have popular cultural personas attached to them, figures with which small children can identify

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because they find similarities in movements and reactions of the characters as Nikken explains (26). While with children from about seven years old, ‘wish identification’ is in place, or they wish that they could become these figures. The small changes that these figures go through are still a slow process though, and most of the characters are still in the Moor servant outfit. The identification possibilities for children does also explain the often childish actions of the Black Pete helpers; they tend to show childish emotions, draw childishly and eat all the candy children wish they could eat all day probably. The childish character of these figures therefore cannot subscribe to the inferiority of black people to whites, but more to the fact that this is a program directed at children and they address the children in a way that they can relate to the program. In addition, the figures don’t speak with childish voices, but just with a normal Dutch accent. To draw these conclusions the theories of media events were helpful because they give a clearer insight into the way Black Pete was framed within a certain format that is meant to spread the dominant discourse. Sometimes it was hard to make clear connections to the way these media events, because large parts of the storyline go beyond the actual media events. Children’s television seems to mask the connotations of Black Pete in such a way that it does not always create a coherent story between what is seen and what is told, which can be utterly confusing for children. However, this analysis has only shown the way the image is framed and not how the figure is received by the audience watching the show. Therefore, this thesis is not able to give any insight into the actual impact of the Black Pete figure in connection with black people. Furthermore, by focusing on children’s television, possible other ways of framing of the Black Pete figure in adult programming are left out and would be another aspect that requires further research.

To conclude this thesis it can rightfully be argued that most people ignore the history of Black Pete, because they don’t know any better, as was shown with the example of the 2006 Rainbow Pete helpers. The resemblance of Black people with this figure will not go unnoticed for children, even though the story might tell them something different. Luckily the characters are framed in such a way that they become characters that white people want to be instead of characters that are inferior to white people. Still, the slow transformations that the figure seems to go through might be going too slowly for the society we live in. Therefore, the best way for the broadcasters of children’s programs is to change the figure entirely and give the viewer a couple of years to adjust to it, because after 150 years, due to these outdated stereotypes, it might be time for Black Pete to retire entirely.

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APPENDIX A – SINTERKLAAS TERMINOLOGY

Sinterklaas –

English translation: Saint Nicolaas (or Santa Claus)

This holy man fulfilled many roles over the years, protector of children, protector of the people on sea etc. Nowadays he is seen as the children’s friend who lives in Spain, every year he comes to Holland to bring presents for the Good children.

Zwarte Piet –

English translation: Black Pete

Black Pete is the helper of Sinterklaas in the Netherlands. He is black and wears colorful clothing. Nowadays he is the children’s friend who goes down the chimney at night to bring presents to the children.

Pakjesavond –

English translation: Night with Presents

Similar to Christmas morning or , when the children find presents under the tree. In the Sinterklaas celebration on the fifth of December a bag of presents is delivered to all the Dutch families and they all unwrap the presents together.

Intocht van Sinterklaas –

English translation: Arrival ceremony (of Sinterklaas)

The Arrival Ceremony always takes place in the third weekend of November. On this day Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands with all his Black Pete helpers. The city in which arrives changes every year. Once on shore Sinterklaas will get on his horse and a parade through the city will follow, until they arrive at the town square.

Pakjesboot –

English translation: Boat full of presents

Literally this means boat with presents. All the boats of Sinterklaas are named this way and can be distinguished by the number they bear. Every year it are these boats that are Sinterklaas his main mode of transportation.

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APPENDIX B – TRANSCRIPT ARRIVAL CEREMONY

Short transcript of the way the camera is used to frame a certain image of Black Pete in the arrival ceremonies so the similarities become apparent.

Arrival of Sinterklaas 2006 (18 November 2006)

The lighthouse has been turned of by one of the presenters of the Sinterklaasjournaal and Sinterklaas seems to arrive at the wrong city. In the City where Sinterklaas is going to arrive, it is filled with happy children, with painted faces and Black Pete helper’s hats. In short there is being told what has happened before the day of arrival.

Head Pete and Sinterklaas are on the boat and communicate with Diewertje Blok. Children are singing in the town, but on the Boat they can’t hear them. The Black Pete helpers visually start to Panic but Sinterklaas stays calm. One Black Pete stays behind in the wrong town.

When the boat is arriving the presenters discover the boat later than everyone else. There are some familiar faces on the boat from the Sinterklaasjournaal like Head Pete and Home Pete. The camera starts from far away, slowly zooming in on the boat packed with Black Pete helpers, who are all waving and smiling. Once on shore Sinterklaas is welcomed by one of the presenters of the Sinterklaasjournaal.

The Black Pete helpers leave the boat and spread out over town, the camera follows some of the Black Pete helpers with close ups, showing how they smile when giving candy to children or when they juggle and do other acrobatic moves. The camera then zooms out again showing airshots, with the public, moving on to Sinterklaas with his Black Pete helpers in town. Also some shots are shown of Black Pete helpers on rooftops, throwing presents down the chimney.

Black Pete helpers with carrots are leading along Sinterklaas and his horse. During the parade they stop to see some shows made for the arrival that concerns the history of the town in some way. The main performers are the children. The Black Pete helpers are interactive, hugging the dog, trying to sing along and participate. The camera in this case mainly is showing close-ups from the helpers.

The viewer at home is also shown that one Black Pete is still stuck in the wrong town. The mayor comes with a solution. Strange Pete is brought to Middelburg by helicopter but he forgets the book.

One Black Pete helpers seems to stand out during the arrival and shortly mentioned because of his strange color, he is pink.

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The camera shows the Black Pete helpers everywhere on the houses and other Buildings and in the streets. Close- ups mainly seem to be showing the kindness of the characters while the panshots seem to be meant to show the activities the Black Pete helpers do.

Arrival of Sinterklaas 2012 (17 November)

Diewertje Blok tells the story in the studio. Images of the crowd and children waiting are shown by the camera. Through pan shots the massive crowd is shown, while close-ups show the happy children who dressed up like Black Pete. The story gets explained before hand. The excitement gets extra attention.

The viewer who doesn’t follow the Sinterklaasjournaal gets an update on the storyline. On the boot and smaller boats we can discover the Black Pete helpers and Sinterklaas, they are waving. Close-ups of the crowd all ethnicities are shown.

The Black Pete helpers are wearing colorful clothing and are waving at the children who are on the docks. The camera moves from pan shots, showing the amount of Black Pete helpers on the boat, to close ups showing the helpers smiling and waving, looking very happy.

Once on shore, the Black Pete helpers and Sinterklaas explain how great everything is, shaking hands of the children, gathering drawings and handing out candy to the children. The camera shows the Black Pete helpers when they are on rooftops putting presents down the chimney and then moves back to the parade again showing how the helpers are doing small acrobatic moves and circus acts. They call out names of children as if they really know every kid that is present. The Black Pete helpers climb on each other shoulders, juggle, dance, are happy, some of them are taking the bags of the boat. Other Black Pete helpers are abseiling from the church.

One Black Pete gets special attention of the camera, he is discovered leaving the parade and buying flowers, chocolate and perfume. Diewertje explains guesses that he is looking for someone, and she finds him a bit strange. During the parade they stop several times to look at shows in the town. The Black Pete helpers are really excited and join in or are really close to the show reacting very enthusiastically.

The Black Pete helpers in the boat panic when they discover that the wrong bags went outside, the bags with the money and they run to see if they can stop the others from giving it away. The camera first shows the empty room and then zooms in on the faces of the Black Pete helpers who are panicking.

All the money is been given away, and the presents that the strange Black Pete bought as well he is not happy about that. Head Pete gets told what happened and he panics.

The arrival ends with a Black Pete playing the church bells, Dag Sinterklaasje (Bye Sinterklaas)

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