2004
Volume 30, Issue 2-3
  • ISSN: 1384-5829
  • E-ISSN: 2352-118X

Abstract

Abstract

The novel () of Dutch author Esther Gerritsen is read primarily as a story about truth and fiction. Not surprisingly, as the novel is partly set in a fictional world and the main character’s name is Tomas, a reference to the biblical ‘Doubting Thomas’. An interpretation from the perspective of provides insights into the specific role memory plays for a democratic rule of law and how populism actively organizes its own power through a politics of ‘memorylessness’. As is argued and demonstrated on the basis of an analysis of the novel, memorylessness is a ticket to autocracy, but a democracy also needs some memorylessness for hope and forgiveness.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/NEDLET2025.2-3.006.ELIO
2025-12-01
2026-03-05
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Adair, Anya, ‘Narratives of authority: the earliest old english law-code Prefaces’, in: Law and Humanities15, 2021, 1, 4-24.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities, reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London/NY, Verso, 2006.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Arendt, Hannah, Between Past and future. London, Penguin1968.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Belavusau, Uladzislau, ‘Law and the politics of memory’, in: MariaMälksoo, Handbook on the Politics of Memory. Cheltenham UK, Edward Elgar, 2023, 65-80.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bergson, Henri, Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience. Paris, PUF, 2003.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Boxma, O. J., Files van files: WWW en de wondere wereld van de wachtrij. Intreerede Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, 2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bühlmann, Marc & Kriesi, Hanspeter, ‘Models for Democracy’, in: HanspeterKriesi, SandraLavenex, FrankEsser, JörgMatthies, MarcBühlmann & DanielBochsler, Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization. Cham CH, Springer/Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 44-68.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Castoriadis, Cornelius, ‘Democracy as Procedure and Democracy as Regime’, in: Constellations, 4, 1997, 1, 1-18.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Clowes, Robert W., Gärtner, Klaus & Hipólitoc, Inês, ‘The Mind-Technology Problem: and the Deep History of Mind Design’, in: Robert W.Clowes, KlausGärtner & InêsHipólito, The Mind-Technology Problem: Investigating Minds, Selves and 21st Century Artifacts. Studies in Mind and Brain Vol. 18, Cham CH, Springer, 2021, 1-49.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Coutel, CharlesCondorcet, Instituer le citoyen. Parijs, Michalon, 1999.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cover, Robert, ‘Nomos and Narrative, The Supreme Court 1982 term’, in: Harvard Law Review,97, 1982, 3-68.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Dahl, Robert, Democracy and its Critics. New Haven, Yale Univ. Press, 1989.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Dahl, Robert, On Democracy. New Haven, Yale Univ. Press, 1998.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. De Veen, Thomas, ‘De nieuwe roman “Gebied 19” van Esther Gerritsen, blijkt bij tweede lezing tóch briljant’, NRC, 20juli2023.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Droit, Emmanuel, ‘De l’usage des ‘lois mémorielles’ en Allemagne: le droit au service de la mémoire (1960-2016)’, in: Parlements, Revue d’histoire politique, no HS 15.3, 2020, 67-86.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Dworkin, R., ‘Law as Interpretation’, in: Texas Law Review, 60, 1982, 527-550.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. El-Masri, Samar, TammyLambert & Joanna R.Quinn, ‘Changing the Context: Can Conditions Be Created That are More Conducive to Transitional Justice Success?’, in: El-Masri, Samar, TammyLambert & Joanna R.Quinn (red.), Transitional Justice in Comparative Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham CH, 2020, 1-19.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Elion-Valter, Carinne, De burger als ongelovige Thomas, Geloofwaardigheid, legitimiteit en dialoog. Diss. Tilburg University, 2017.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Elion-Valter, Carinne, ‘Democratische tegenkrachten, toen en nu’, in: Sophievan Bijsterveld & Hans-MartienTen Napel, Een nieuwe politieke formule, Ideeën voor staat en samenleving geïnspireerd door Alexis de Tocqueville. Den Haag, Boom Juridisch, 2021, 35-57.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Fukuyama, Francis, The end of history and the last man. New York, The Free Press1992.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Gaakeer, A.M.P., De waarde van het woord. Arnhem, Gouda Quint, 1995.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Gaakeer, Jeanne, Loth, Marc & Taekema, Sanne, Recht in Context. Den Haag, Boom Juridisch2023.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Genette, Gérard, Narrative Discourse. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1972/1980.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Gerritsen, Esther, Gebied 19. Amsterdam, De Geus, 2023. [ebook versie]
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Gillis, Matilda, ‘Ventilators, missiles, doctors, troops.. the justification of legislative responses to covid-19 through military metaphors’, in: Law and Humanities14, 2020, 2, 135-159.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Goodrich, P., ‘Postmodern Justice’, in: Sarat, A., M.Anderson & C. O.Frank (red.), Law and the humanities, an introduction. Cambridge MA, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 188–209.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Gopnik, Adam, ‘System Upgrade’, in: The New Yorker, 12september2022, 63-69.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Gutman, Y., & Wüstenberg, J., ‘Introduction: the activist turn in Memory Studies’, in: Gutman, Y., & Wüstenberg, J., (red.), The Routledge Handbook of Memory Activism. Milton Park, Routledge, 2023, 5-15.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Hartog, François, Régimes d’historicité, Présentisme et expérience du temps. Paris, Seuil, 2003.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Hegel, G.W.F., Philosophy of right. Ontario, Batoche Books, 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Hendriks, Frank, De vitale democratie, Theorie van democratie in actie. Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2006.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Hill, Christopher S., ‘Consciousness and Memory’, in: UriahKrieger (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Philoophy of Consciousness. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, 520-537.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Houwelingen, Bo van, ‘In Gebied 19 stelt Esther Gerritsen prikkelende vragen, maar de antwoorden werkt ze niet echt uit’, in: de Volkskrant, 6juli2023.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Huttinga, Thomas, ‘Waarom Europa naast een gedeelde munt ook een gedeeld verhaal nodig heeft’, in: VN, 13juni2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Ignatieff, Michael, ‘Liberal democracy and the challenge of authoritarian capitalism’, Talk for the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2021, https://rse.org.uk/resource/liberal-democracy-challenge-authoritarian-capitalism/, [laatst geraadpleegd op 20-12-24].
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Keane, John, Life and Death of Democracy. London, Simon & Schuster, 2009.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Keane, John‘Why history matters for democracy’, in: Democratic Theory, 6.2, 2019, 96-110.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Keenan, Bernard, ‘Death’ in: PeterGoodrich, DanielaGandorfer & CeciliaGebruers (red.), Research Handbook on Law and Literature. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham UK, 2022, 339-349.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Kant, Immanuel, De drie kritieken. Ed. RaymundtSchmidt. Amsterdam, Sun, 2003.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Kermode, Frank, Encyclopédie littéraire de la Bible. Paris, Bayard, 2003.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Koselleck, Reinhart, ‘Modernity and the Planes of Historicity’, in: Koselleck, R., Futures Past. On the Semantics of Historical Time. New York, Columbia Univ Press, 2004, 9-26.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Lerner, Adam B., ‘The politics of trauma and victimhood’, in: Mälksoo, Maria, Handbook on the Politics of Memory. Cheltenham UK, Edward Elgar, 2023, 147-161.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Lorenz, Chris, ‘Historical knowledge and historical Reality: A plea for ‘Internal realism’, in: History and Theory33, 1994, 3, 297-327.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Mak, Elaine, ‘Lady Justice in Real Life’, in: Bouteligier, Claudia, Phoa, Pauline & Taekema, Sanne, Forever composed of nows, Celebrating Jeanne Gaakeer’s work on Law, language and literature. Den Haag, Boom, 2025, 101-112.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Maletz, Donald J., ‘History in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’, in: The Review of Politics45, 1983, 2, 209-33.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Mälksoo, Maria, ‘Politics of memory: a conceptual introduction’, in: Mälksoo, Maria, Handbook on the Politics of Memory. Cheltenham UK, Edward Elgar, 2023, 1-16.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Mannheim, Karl, Ideology and Utopia, an Introduction to the Sociology of Knowing. New York, Harcourt Brace & Co, 1954.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Meyler, Bernadette, ‘Law, Literature, and History, The Love Triangle’, in: Anker, Elizabeth S. & BernadetteMeyler, New Directions in Law and Literature. Oxford UK, Oxford University Press, 2017, 160-176.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Mounk, Yasha, The People vs Democracy, Why Our Freedom is in Danger and How to Save it. Harvard, Harvard University Press, 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. McMullin, Irene, ‘The Amnesia of the Modern: Arendt on the Role of Memory in the Constitution of the Political’, in: Philosophical Topics39, 2011, 2, 91-116.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Nora, Pierre, Lieux de Mémoires. 7 delen. Parijs, Gallimard, 1984/1992.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Nussbaum, Martha C., Poetic Justice, The Literary Imagination and Public Life. Boston, MA, Beacon Press, 1995.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Ost, François, Raconter la Loi, – aux sources de l’imaginaire juridique. Paris, Odile Jacob, 2004.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Pessers, Dorien W.J.M., Liefde, solidariteit en recht, Een interdisciplinair onderzoek naar het wederkerigheidsbeginsel. Amsterdam, Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1999.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Purdy, Jedediah, Two Cheers for Politics: why democracy is flawed, frightening — and our best hope. New York, Basic Books, 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Raja, Masood, Ashraf, Lu & NickT. C., The Routledge Companion to Literature and Social Justice. Abingdon & New York, Routledge, 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Resseguie, J.L., The Strange Gospel, Narrative Design and Point of View in John. Leiden, Brill, 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Ricoeur, Paul, Du Texte à l’Action. Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1986.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Ricoeur, Paul, La mémoire, l’Histoire, l’Oubli. Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Ricoeur, Paul, Reconnaissance. Paris, Stock, 2004.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Ricoeur, Paul, Soi-même comme un autre. Paris, Seuil, 1990.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Rosanvallon, Pierre, Counter-Democracy: Politics in an age of distrust. Cambridge MA, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Rosanvallon, Pierre, Good government. Harvard, Harvard University Press, 2018.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Rosanvallon, Pierre, La légitimité démocratique. Paris, Seuil, 2013.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Schnapper, Dominique, ‘Histoire, citoyenneté, et démocratie’, in: Vingtième Siècle, Revue d’histoire71.3, 2001, 97-103.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Schuyt, Kees, Steunberen van de samenleving. Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2006.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Schwartz, Géraldine, De geheugenlozen, de herinnering als wapen tegen populisme. Amsterdam, Atlas Contact, 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Sierp, Aline, ‘Europeanising memory: the European Union’s politics of memory’, in: Mälksoo, M. (red.), Handbook on the Politics of Memory. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023, 81-94.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Skinner, Quentin, ‘Conclusion, On Neo-Roman Liberty: A Response and Reassessment’, in: Dawson, Hanna & Anneliende Dijn (red.), Rethinking Liberty before Liberalism. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022, 233-266.
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Snyder, Timothy, The Road to Unfreedom. New York, Vintage Publishing, 2018.
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Tocqueville, Alexis de, Over de democratie in Amerika. Rotterdam, Lemniscaat, 2012.
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Tulving, Endel, ‘Concepts of Memory’, in: Endel Tulviong, Fergus & I.M.Craik, The Oxford Handbook of Memory. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, 33-43.
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Weisberg, Richard H., ‘Wigmore’s “Legal Novels” revisited: new resources for the expansive lawer’, in: Northwestern University Law Review71, 1976-1977, 17-28.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Weisberg, Richard, Poethics and Other Strategies of Law and Literature. New York, Columbia University Press, 1992.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Weisberg, Richard, The Failure of the Word, the Protagonist as Lawyer in Modern Fiction. New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 1989.
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid (WRR), rapport 88, Vertrouwen in burgers, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2012.
    [Google Scholar]
  77. White, Hayden, ‘The History Fiction Divide’, in: Holocaust Studies20, 2014, 1-2 en 17-34.
    [Google Scholar]
  78. White, Hayden, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Anniversary Edition. Baltimore, John Hopkins Press, 1973.
    [Google Scholar]
  79. White, James B., The Legal Imagination. Chicago, Chicago University Press, 1974.
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Wigmore, John, ‘A List of One Hundred Legal Novels’, in: Illinois Law Review17, 1922-1923, 26-41.
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Witteveen, W.J., De retoriek in het recht, over retorica en interpretatie, staatsrecht en democratie. Zwolle, W.E.J. Tjeenk Willink, 1988.
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Woodhouse, Edward James, ‘Law and Legal History in a Democracy’, in: The Virginia Law Register9, 1923, 6, 401-428.
    [Google Scholar]
  83. Zakaria, Fareed, The Rise of Illiberal Democracy’, in: Foreign Affairs76, 1997, 6, 22-43.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.5117/NEDLET2025.2-3.006.ELIO
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Democracy; Dystopia; Law and Literature; Memory Politics
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error