"The lost sea" : Southern Sea in the colective memory of the Dutch

Bibliogr. s. 58

Zuiderzee (southern sea) ceased to exist in 1932, when the dam (Afsluitdijk) was completed. The traditional culture that had flourished here for centuries underwent a progressive loss. The daily life, material culture, and common habits changed almost completely with the passage of time. "The lost sea" remained in the collective memory of the Dutch. The memory is expressed with various forms: musems, monuments, folk festivals and publishing. An analisys of these types of commemorations allows us to characterize the memory as a form of "forecasting", which means an outstripping the ultimate decline of the culture. This memory is also tied to the promotion of local culture and a search for identity. This is a memory of daily life, customs and material culture (clothing, furniture). The efforts to consciously preserve the old traditions became an element of local culture in this area.