The Corpse on the Dike by Janwillem van de Wetering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Distinctive Kind of Policing (and Country)

As a foreigner in The Netherlands, one of the essential pieces of vocabulary the novice Dutch-speaker acquires is the word gezellig (pronounced like the English ‘gazelle’ with the guttural ‘g’ at both the beginning and end). Gezelligheid is a concept easy to understand but much harder to comprehend. It includes the Danish idea of hygge, coziness in one’s surroundings; and the German notion of Gemütlichkeit as friendly warmth. There’s even a bit of Japanese Wa, or natural social harmony. But ultimately it is something uniquely Dutch, a cultural trait that appears as a sort of national aspiration. Van de Wetering uses gezelligheid as a central theme in his murder mystery.

It appears first in the attitudes of the investigating police officers. One lives alone, and although somewhat of a ladies’ man, his real ambition is for a quiet evening with his cat. The other is married and being driven mad by the domestic tumult created by his wife and three children; he longs for a quiet retreat to escape the chaos.

But the attachment to gezelligheid is more profound than mere desire for peace and quiet. Van de Wetering’s editorial musings by the officers are instructive. The policemen are professionals and good at their jobs; but they are also ambivalent about the criminal justice system. Their jobs are necessary but mainly as a sort of necessary evil to combat an even greater evil of a lack of order, an absence of gezelligheid.

This ambivalence is demonstrated practically in their relationships with the general public, particularly with suspects. Their response to taunts is irenic. They have time for a little cup of coffee with witnesses. They would prefer not to jail the prime suspect as a matter of principle. This is not naivety on their part but a behavioural counter-balance to their inherent power to disrupt the lives of those around them, to destroy gezelligheid. Van de Wetering suggests that even criminals respond to its existence and give themselves up without undue violence.

Gezelligheid implies a mutuality; it is not an individual’s feeling but a relationship. When one is invited to an event in Holland, a not uncommon response is “Oh gezellig!” (Or, in Amsterdam, more likely: “Gezellig, hoor”), signifying not just acceptance but the anticipation of a reason for being together in order to strengthen a relationship. Gezelligheid is used as a social tactic by the officers to establish rapport with those involved in the investigation - as well as with each other. They play flute and drum duets together at the station - something considered not abnormal by their colleagues.

An antonym to gezellig is eigenwijs, literally ‘one’s own way,’ that is, stubborn or uncooperative. The Dutch may be provoked into eigenwijsheid when gezelligheid is demanded of them. Social harmony is voluntary or it doesn’t exist. One of the policeman makes this clear to an immigrant who thinks the police act ‘under orders.’ The policeman sets him straight on the cultural rules of the game: “The Dutch do not like to work under orders. It is true that I was asked to come here but I was not ordered. I came here because I thought the suggestion was right.” This just to remind the reader that gezelligheid is a matter of choice, and sometimes of considerable interpretive effort.

Holland no doubt has its fair share of villains, miscreants, and anti-social types. One senior officer indicates his acute awareness of reality when he refers to “Amsterdam, ... the lunatic asylum of Holland.” Gezelligheid is not a universal state of affairs but a commonly shared ideal. It is a standard, a norm, of social interaction which has emerged as unspoken ethic. Remarkably, it is this ethic which is at the core of The Corpse on the Dike, and perhaps even the entire country. Oranje Boven!

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