Representations of Fin-de-siècle Amsterdam

FAIN: FB-52806-06

Nancy Stieber
University of Massachusetts, Boston (Boston, MA 02125-3300)

Around 1900, citizens, city councilors, architects, and planners in Amsterdam were voicing disappointment with the recent rapid expansion of the city. With Amsterdam poised to expand still further, their discussions about its future were couched in the newly conceived questions: what does it mean to look like Amsterdam and how can the city maintain its visual identity? The book to be completed during sabbatical leave in 2006-07 investigates the traditions of viewing the city which influenced these discussions. It reveals the metaphors used to represent the city, examining the way that these expressed conflicting attitudes toward the past held by a citizenry divided by class, religious, and ideological affiliations.