Mineke Schipper
Encyclopedia
Mineke Schipper is a Dutch
author and researcher best known for her non-fictional studies on women's literature.
or Brussels
.
She has also addressed a thousand rural women in the Amsterdam RAI congress centre
; Jewish women in a synagogue in Leiden; a Muslim audience in a mosque in Nairobi; Egyptian folklorists in Cairo; Cultural Institutes from Curaçao to Cambodia.
at the University of Utrecht. She started her career teaching French and African Literature at the Université Libre du Congo (between 1964 and 1972). She received her PhD in Amsterdam in 1973, writing the first thesis in the Netherlands on African literature) and dedicated herself to developing the field of intercultural literary studies. In 1988 she became the first Professor of Intercultural Literary Studies in the Netherlands, at the Free University of Amsterdam. In 1993 she moved to Leiden University where she played a dynamic role in building intercultural bridges in researching and lecturing comparative literature in a global context.
In 1999 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chengdu (Sichuan Province) in China. Since 2000 she has been regularly invited by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
(CASS) where she collaborates with colleagues on projects about epics and creation myths. In December 2008 she gave her farewell address at the University of Leiden.
Mineke Schipper lives in Amsterdam.
She has published collections of proverbs
about women, books that have drawn significant attention. See her interactive website www.womeninproverbsworldwide.com
Besides novels, essays and academic books in various languages, she also publishes in general Dutch and international newspapers and magazines, including NRC-Handelsblad, The Times, El Mundo, Los Angeles Times, Ex-Change (Hong Kong).
Na ons de zondvloed. Mythische verhalen over het einde van de mensheid. Amsterdam:
Uitgeverij Bert Bakker (2009)
Belle femme, gros ennuis. Paris: Philippe Rey 2008
Vogel valt vogel vliegt (Bird Falls Bird Flies, a novel). Amsterdam: Prometheus 2007
Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet. Women in Proverbs from Around the World. London and New Haven: Yale University Press 2004
Translations: Dutch, Spanish (Spain and Latin America), Chinese, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Arabic. Forthcoming: Brazilian, Korean
Imagining Insiders. Africa and the Question of Belonging. London and New York: Cassell/Continuum 1999
En de boom blijft maar geven. Caribische en Latijns-Amerikaanse spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1998 (with Angélica Dorfman)
De zieleneters (The Soul Eaters, a novel). Amsterdam: Contact 1998
De rib uit zijn lijf. Joodse spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1996 (with Sabine Cohn)
Een wenkbrauw als een wilgenblad. Aziatische spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over Vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1995 (with Sanjukta Gupta)
De boomstam en de krokodil. Kwesties van ras, cultuur en wetenschap. Amsterdam, Van Gennep 1995
Een vrouw is als de aarde. Afrikaanse spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1994
Conrads rivier (Conrad’s River, a novel). Amsterdam: Contact.
Een goede vrouw is zonder hoofd. Europese spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over
vrouwen Amsterdam: Ambo 1993
German translation: Eine gute Frau hat keinen Kopf. Europäische Sprichwörter
über Frauen. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1996
Source of All Evil. African Proverbs and Sayings on Women. London: Allison & Busby 1991
Beyond the Boundaries. African Literature and Literary Theory. London: Allison & Busby 1989
Afrikaanse letterkunde. Tradities, genres, auteurs en ontwikkelingen in de literatuur van Afrika ten zuiden van de Sahara. Utrecht/Antwerpen: Het Spectrum 1983. Second revised edition: Amsterdam: Ambo 1990
Realisme. De illusie van werkelijkheid in literatuur. Assen: Van Gorcum 1979
Toneel en maatschappij in Afrika. Assen: Van Gorcum 1977
English translation: Theatre and Society in Africa. Johannesburg: Ravan Press 1982 French translation: Théâtre et société en Afrique. Dakar/Abidjan/Lomé: Nouvelles Éditions Africaines 1985
Le Blanc et l'Occident au miroir du roman afri¬cain de langue française. Assen : Van Gorcum 1973
African edition of the same book: Le blanc vu d'Afri¬que, Série Études et Documents Africains. Yaoundé : Éditi¬ons CLE 1973
Epics and Heroes in China’s Minority Cultures'. Guangxi and Beijing: Guangxi
Normal University Press 2004 (with Hubin Yin)
The Poetics of African Art, Special issue of Research in African Literatures. Vol. 31, no. 4, winter 2000, Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Bezweren en betoveren. Magie en literatuur wereldwijd. Amsterdam: Ambo 1995 (with P.H. Schrijvers)
Mijn naam is haas. Dierenverhalen in verschillende culturen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1993 (with W.L. Idema and P.H. Schrijvers)
Ik is anders. Autobiografie in verschillende culturen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1992 (with Peter Schmitz)
Onsterfelijke roem. Het epos in verschillende culturen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1989
Unheard Words. Women and Literature in Africa, the Arab World, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. London: Allison & Busby/New York: Schocken Books 1985
Het zwarte paradijs. Afrikaanse scheppingsmythen (collected and translated creation and origin myths from Africa). Maasbree: Corrie Zelen 1980 New edition: Rijswijk, Elmar, 1999.
De tovertam en andere verhalen uit Zaïre (collected and translated Congolese stories.) Maasbree: Corrie Zelen 1979
Text and Context in Africa. Methodological Explorations in the Field of African Literature. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum
1977
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
author and researcher best known for her non-fictional studies on women's literature.
Description of the author
Thanks to her critical global perspective, Mineke Schipper has given an important impulse to the field of literary studies. She is far from being an “ivory tower” scholar, but has succeeded in making her views accessible to both academic and non-academic audiences. She lectures not only at universities and scientific institutes (Berkeley, Beijing, Pretoria. Stockholm), but also to audiences outside the academy, such as policy makers in The HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
or Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
She has also addressed a thousand rural women in the Amsterdam RAI congress centre
Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre
The Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre , or RAI for short, is a complex of conference and exhibition halls in the Zuidas business district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The complex gives its name to the nearby Amsterdam RAI railway station...
; Jewish women in a synagogue in Leiden; a Muslim audience in a mosque in Nairobi; Egyptian folklorists in Cairo; Cultural Institutes from Curaçao to Cambodia.
Education
Mineke Schipper studied French and Philosophy at Amsterdam Free University and Literary Theory, followed by Comparative LiteratureComparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
at the University of Utrecht. She started her career teaching French and African Literature at the Université Libre du Congo (between 1964 and 1972). She received her PhD in Amsterdam in 1973, writing the first thesis in the Netherlands on African literature) and dedicated herself to developing the field of intercultural literary studies. In 1988 she became the first Professor of Intercultural Literary Studies in the Netherlands, at the Free University of Amsterdam. In 1993 she moved to Leiden University where she played a dynamic role in building intercultural bridges in researching and lecturing comparative literature in a global context.
In 1999 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chengdu (Sichuan Province) in China. Since 2000 she has been regularly invited by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , established in 1977, is the premier and highest academic research organization in the fields of philosophy and social sciences as well as a national center for comprehensive studies in the People's Republic of China. It was described by Foreign Policy...
(CASS) where she collaborates with colleagues on projects about epics and creation myths. In December 2008 she gave her farewell address at the University of Leiden.
Mineke Schipper lives in Amsterdam.
Recognition
For her internationally acclaimed book Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet - Women in Proverbs from Around the World (hardback Yale University Press 2004; paperback Amsterdam UP and Chicago UP 2006) she received the Eureka Award 2005 (academic book best accessible to a large audience). The book has been published in a number of languages, among which Chinese,Turkish, Spanish, and Arabic. (Korean and Brazilian translations are being prepared).She has published collections of proverbs
Paremiography
Paremiography is the study of the collection and writing of proverbs. It is a sub-field of paremiology, the study of proverbs.There are many published collection of proverbs, ranging from ancient Akkadian clay tablets to internet sites. Published collections of proverbs are formatted in a variety...
about women, books that have drawn significant attention. See her interactive website www.womeninproverbsworldwide.com
Fiction
Mineke Schipper is also a fiction writer. Her three novels (in Dutch) are all set in the context of globalisation. Her most recent novel Vogel valt vogel vliegt (Bird Falls Bird Flies Amsterdam: Prometheus 2007), was praised by Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee as “an absorbing story of the growth of adult love, and the letting go of past love, in the shadow of America’s imperial wars.”Besides novels, essays and academic books in various languages, she also publishes in general Dutch and international newspapers and magazines, including NRC-Handelsblad, The Times, El Mundo, Los Angeles Times, Ex-Change (Hong Kong).
Books published by Mineke Schipper
In het begin was er niemand. Hoe het komt dat er mensen zijn. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker (2010)Na ons de zondvloed. Mythische verhalen over het einde van de mensheid. Amsterdam:
Uitgeverij Bert Bakker (2009)
Belle femme, gros ennuis. Paris: Philippe Rey 2008
Vogel valt vogel vliegt (Bird Falls Bird Flies, a novel). Amsterdam: Prometheus 2007
Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet. Women in Proverbs from Around the World. London and New Haven: Yale University Press 2004
Translations: Dutch, Spanish (Spain and Latin America), Chinese, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Arabic. Forthcoming: Brazilian, Korean
Imagining Insiders. Africa and the Question of Belonging. London and New York: Cassell/Continuum 1999
En de boom blijft maar geven. Caribische en Latijns-Amerikaanse spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1998 (with Angélica Dorfman)
De zieleneters (The Soul Eaters, a novel). Amsterdam: Contact 1998
De rib uit zijn lijf. Joodse spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1996 (with Sabine Cohn)
Een wenkbrauw als een wilgenblad. Aziatische spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over Vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1995 (with Sanjukta Gupta)
De boomstam en de krokodil. Kwesties van ras, cultuur en wetenschap. Amsterdam, Van Gennep 1995
Een vrouw is als de aarde. Afrikaanse spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over vrouwen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1994
Conrads rivier (Conrad’s River, a novel). Amsterdam: Contact.
Een goede vrouw is zonder hoofd. Europese spreekwoorden en zegswijzen over
vrouwen Amsterdam: Ambo 1993
German translation: Eine gute Frau hat keinen Kopf. Europäische Sprichwörter
über Frauen. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1996
Source of All Evil. African Proverbs and Sayings on Women. London: Allison & Busby 1991
Beyond the Boundaries. African Literature and Literary Theory. London: Allison & Busby 1989
Afrikaanse letterkunde. Tradities, genres, auteurs en ontwikkelingen in de literatuur van Afrika ten zuiden van de Sahara. Utrecht/Antwerpen: Het Spectrum 1983. Second revised edition: Amsterdam: Ambo 1990
Realisme. De illusie van werkelijkheid in literatuur. Assen: Van Gorcum 1979
Toneel en maatschappij in Afrika. Assen: Van Gorcum 1977
English translation: Theatre and Society in Africa. Johannesburg: Ravan Press 1982 French translation: Théâtre et société en Afrique. Dakar/Abidjan/Lomé: Nouvelles Éditions Africaines 1985
Le Blanc et l'Occident au miroir du roman afri¬cain de langue française. Assen : Van Gorcum 1973
African edition of the same book: Le blanc vu d'Afri¬que, Série Études et Documents Africains. Yaoundé : Éditi¬ons CLE 1973
Books Edited
Imagining Creation. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers 2008 (with Markham J. Geller)Epics and Heroes in China’s Minority Cultures'. Guangxi and Beijing: Guangxi
Normal University Press 2004 (with Hubin Yin)
The Poetics of African Art, Special issue of Research in African Literatures. Vol. 31, no. 4, winter 2000, Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Bezweren en betoveren. Magie en literatuur wereldwijd. Amsterdam: Ambo 1995 (with P.H. Schrijvers)
Mijn naam is haas. Dierenverhalen in verschillende culturen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1993 (with W.L. Idema and P.H. Schrijvers)
Ik is anders. Autobiografie in verschillende culturen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1992 (with Peter Schmitz)
Onsterfelijke roem. Het epos in verschillende culturen. Amsterdam: Ambo 1989
Unheard Words. Women and Literature in Africa, the Arab World, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. London: Allison & Busby/New York: Schocken Books 1985
Het zwarte paradijs. Afrikaanse scheppingsmythen (collected and translated creation and origin myths from Africa). Maasbree: Corrie Zelen 1980 New edition: Rijswijk, Elmar, 1999.
De tovertam en andere verhalen uit Zaïre (collected and translated Congolese stories.) Maasbree: Corrie Zelen 1979
Text and Context in Africa. Methodological Explorations in the Field of African Literature. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum
Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden
The African Studies Centre is an independent scientific institute in the Netherlands that undertakes social-science research on Africa with the aim of promoting a better understanding of historical, current and future social developments in Sub-Saharan Africa. The present director is Ton Dietz...
1977