oa NEDERLAND DOOR COLOMBIAANSE OGEN

The novel ‘Una holandesa en América’ (1888) by Soledad Acosta de Samper

In 1888, Soledad Acosta de Samper, a well-known writer and journalist in Colombia’s capital Bogotá, published the novel Una holandesa en América. This article presents an imagological analysis of how the Dutch and the Netherlands are represented in her novel, and discusses Acosta’s possible intentions in writing this book as well as her reasons for choosing a Dutch protagonist. It argues that the images of the Dutch were meant to serve as examples for Acosta’s Colombian audience in a period in which the country was still engaged in nation building after gaining independence from Spain in 1819.