Wednesday 30 September 2009

Godelieve


Not having a warning system on every weblog I keep, I only noticed this week that the question was asked whether there is any literature of Felix Ortt, main Dutch Christian anarchist, in English.

I know of some pedagogical works in French and Spanish (officially published in Argentina or Cuba after the judicial murder of Francisco Ferrer), but not in English. I had the pleasure of reading this one
Godilieve: an adaptation by Wilfred Wellock of a fable by F. Ortt of Holland
in the domed reading room of the British Museum (I might as well have written doomed, because it was closed to the reading public soon afterward). A magnificent thunderstorm ended my session, which gave symbolic weight to the experience.

It is one of the many edifying stories he has written and I am at a loss why the title was changed - because Godilieve would be easier for Anglophones? It makes no sense.
Godelieve is a mainly Southern (Flemish) girls' name, meaning Dear to God. It should be pronounced as [Chohdeleeveh], the Ch as in Scots loch but softer.

Alright, start twisting my arm so there may be more of or about Ortt in English soon...