From black helper to media sensation. The figure of Zwarte Piet in Dutch children's television

FROM BLACK HELPER TO MEDIA SENSATION

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MA Thesis Television and Cross-Media Culture

Graduate school of humanities

Name: Jonne Plagge

Student number: 10375023

Address: Charlotte Brontéstraat 331

1102XD Amsterdam

Email: jonne.plagge@student.uva.nl Telephone number: 0620384443

Date of completion: 21-06-2013 Supervisor: Carolyn Birdsall Second Reader: Emiel Martens

1 ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the way the image of Black Pete is framed on Dutch children’s television. The figure is controversial and often split between historical connotations of evil and black slavery and the contemporary connotations of a happy and jolly children’s friend. By combining cultural studies and communications studies this thesis outlines the various ways children’s television deals with the representation of this figure and the way they tend to neutralize the negative connotations. Through a semiotic narrative analysis will be shown how the dominant cultural narrative is meant to overrule the still visible negative connotations, explaining how this can create friction for the national belonging of black people within the assumed tolerant and multicultural Netherlands. Therefore, Black Pete no longer seems suitable for the contemporary celebration of Sinterklaas.

Keywords

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ... 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... 2

1. INTRODUCTION ... 3

2. CORPUS AND METHODOLOGY ... 8

2.1 Methodology ... 9

2.2 Structure of the thesis ... 10

3. ZWARTE PIET ... 11

3.1 Cultural representation ... 11

3.2 The stereotypical features of Black Pete ... 14

3.3 The historical origins of Black Pete ... 17

4. THE SINTERKLAAS CELEBRATION AS MEDIA EVENT ... 20

4.1 The popular media event ... 20

4.2 The Sinterklaas celebration as popular media event ... 24

5. ANALYSIS OF BLACK PETE IN DUTCH CHILDREN'S TELEVISION ... 29

5.1 The storylines of the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas ... 29

5.2 The visual appearance of Black Pete ... 32

5.3 The narrative framing of Black Pete ... 37

6. CONCLUSION ... 41

APPENDIX A – SINTERKLAAS TERMINOLOGY ... 43

APPENDIX B – TRANSCRIPT ARRIVAL CEREMONY ... 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 46

Literature ... 46

Online sources ... 48

Online images ... 49

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1. INTRODUCTION

Mijn man en ik willen wel dat onze dochter ook een leuk feest kan vieren zonder dat ze geconfronteerd hoeft te worden met een kwetsend stereotype uit een donker verleden1

- Bibi Fadlalla, Zwarte Piet en ik (2012)

In de ogen van de felle verdedigers van Zwarte Piet zou erkenning dat hij eigenlijk niet meer van deze tijd is allesbehalve een verbetering betekenen. Het zou een afgedwongen concessie zijn, een dictaat. Er werd je iets eigens afgenomen door vreemden, uit naam van een abstract principe.2

- Bas Heijne (2013)

In recent years, certain cultural practices in the Netherlands have been under fire. While in 2006 the name of the ‘negerzoen’ (black kiss) chocolate covered sweet was changed into ‘zoen’ (kiss), there is also significant concern with the image of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), as the quotes above show. In the 2012 documentary Zwarte Piet en ik by Bibi Fadlalla, non- Dutch writer David Sedaris expresses his astonishment about the Sinterklaas celebration when he heard that Sinterklaas travels with 6-8 black men. More astonished is he about the unclear gap between the transformations of these black men from slave to good friend. In addition other non-Dutch people expressed their concern with the racist connotations of the figure. As an article on France 24 showed in Canada the festivities of a Dutch community were cancelled after members of the African- Canadian community said Black Pete should not be included. However, Dutch People do not want to see these historical connections that Fadlalla explains. The most proclaimed excuse people tend to use is that there is no racist intent behind the figure. Quincy Gario, who was involved in the project ‘Zwarte Piet is racisme’ (Black Pete is racism) in 2011, which is meant to create more awareness for the historical and hurtful background of the figure for Black people, says it is a particular Dutch mentality and ideology that keeps the figure in place. This ‘color blindness’ of the Dutch is put into question more every year.

The debate about racism and Dutch ‘tolerance’ returns annually around the celebration of Sinterklaas. For most Dutch people Black Pete seems to be the only ‘natural’ and possible helper of Sinterklaas, although the figure only appeared from 1850 onwards. The Sinterklaas Celebration, the most important terms of which will be explained in appendix A, shows many similarities with the Christmas celebration, a fatherly red-robed man brings presents to good children accompanied by jolly

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Translation: “My husband and I do want our daughter to be able to enjoy a nice celebration without having to be confronted with a hurtful stereotype from a dark past.”

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Translation: “In the eyes of extreme defenders of Black Pete, the acknowledgement that it is racist wouldn’t mean any solution. It would be a forced concession, a dictate. That something has been taken from you by strangers, in the name of an abstract principle.”

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and friendly helpers. However where Santa is accompanied by elves, the helpers of Sinterklaas are black. Black Pete has historical associations with the Dutch involvement in black slavery and the Christian connotation of being evil. While the image is proclaimed to be positive, it is the implicit negative narrative that still seems to be present as well. Not much appears to have been written about the representation of this figure in the last 10 years and therefore it is important that this thesis will provide further insight into the contemporary representation of this figure.

One of the most prominent media that brings Dutch people in contact with the figure of Black Pete nowadays is television. In Televisiestudies Maarten Reesink explains that television in the Netherlands started out as a medium that was meant as a political and cultural tool for the Dutch government around the 1950s (287). Gradually the reign of the government loosened and commercial television was made possible because of the new Media law in 1988. However, the medium is often still seen as a reflection of the public sphere (294-295). According to Peter Nikken in Kind and Media, it is only after 1989 that children’s television started to make its appearance (11). KinderNet was a commercial channel that was the first to start off with children programs, but it was not until mid 1990s that these could be viewed in every city (Nikken, 12). Soon after the introduction of KinderNet, RTL 4 started showing Telekids, also directed towards children and broadcasted on Wednesday afternoons, followed by VPRO which showed cartoons on Saturday and Sunday mornings. In the following years television programs multiplied and became easily accessible and, on average, children spent two and half hours a day watching television (Nikken 12). Since Sinterklaas is a celebration centered on children, television has become a prominent medium for spreading the dominant discourse around this celebration.

Marnix Koolhaas explains the development of the role of television within the Sinterklaas celebration on the website geschiedenis24 points. Since 1921, the ‘Intocht of Sinterklaas' (the arrival ceremony of Sinterklaas) in Amsterdam was documented briefly on film. The film was later shown in the news programming of the cinema. In 1952, when television started to become a political tool, the arrival ceremony was broadcasted live on television. For fifty years, every third weekend of November, families could gather around the television to watch the arrival. In the nineties several television shows aired like the Witte Piet (White Pete) and Dag Sinterklaasje (Bye little Sinterklaas). It was in 1999 that de Club van Sinterklaas first aired and in 2002 the involvement of television with the celebration expanded even more, when the arrival ceremony became part of the children’s program, the Sinterklaasjournaal. Instead of one Saturday in November, the arrival ceremony became imbedded in larger storylines broadcasted over several weeks on television while a dominant image of Black Pete was projected upon its viewer.

It is important to understand that the programs focused on the Sinterklaas celebration are directed towards children. Children’s television as a genre is defined by the people who watch it, according to Glen Creeber in the Television Genre Book (96). He states that one of the things that define children’s programs is the absence of violence, sex, drug use, scary images and discrimination.

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Protectiveness, the shielding from possible harm, is thus the general undertone of children’s television argues Creeber. One illustration of this can be found in the Dutch context with the introduction of the ‘Kijkwijzer’ (the viewing guide) in 2002; a system of icons that warns the viewer beforehand of the possible harmful content. Peter Nikken has shown that children’s television has traditionally been emphasized for its educational role; a source of information that helps children comprehend their world (15-16). In the Netherlands this didactic value can be discovered in the popular program the Jeugdjournaal (Children’s News) through its combination of images of the Third World (or other important events) in combination with informative commentary states Hermes (191). An element of play always seems to accompany this process of learning. According to Creeber the tone of children’s programs are accompanied by kindliness and affection, giving them a paternalistic attitude (102). Last of all, children’s television is often associated with commercialization; many children’s programs are equipped with lots of marketing and advertisement. For example Pokémon became a huge franchise, selling card decks to cuddle-toys. This kind of commercialization means that television in general often is more intrinsically associated with the decline of values (Hermes 152). In short, children’s television introduces children to the norms, values and traditions of their society, while on the other hand it is a battleground for broader debates about appropriate content.

In his acclaimed study, Blacks in a Dutch World, Allison Blakely argues that television brought along an even greater standardization for the celebration of Sinterklaas (42). Nikken argues that one of the main concerns of parents in accordance with children’s television is the effect it can have on children and their sense of values (47). Glen Creeber talks in the text Hideously White about ‘Britishness’ being conceived within an extremely narrow set of conventions excluding all manner of communities and people, a similar trend that could be described for Black Pete (27). Where in former Dutch Colonies and migrant communities the Sinterklaas celebration has been adapted and transformed; Dutch television and other media are only offering one mainstream image, excluding some groups of people to the feeling of ‘Dutchness.’ Where television often works with stereotypes, it is necessary to explain what the stereotypical image of Black Pete in children’s television indirectly tells children about black people.

On this basis, this thesis will critically study the portrayal of Black Pete in Dutch children’s television. The main question will be; in what ways is the figure Black Pete represented in children's television? In order to answer this main question it is important to answer some related sub-questions: What are Black Pete's historical roots and how has the image of this figure developed since it emerged around 1850? What are the current connotations of Black Pete and how is it connected to national identity? Furthermore, how do representations of Black Pete circulate in present media and popular culture and what is the role of media and television in constructing the current connotations and meanings that circulate about Black Pete? By analysing two popular children’s programs centred on Black Pete, this thesis will outline the ideological meaning of the dominant discourse.

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Enric Castelló in his article ‘The nation as a political stage’ emphasizes that television is perhaps one of the most powerful tools of spreading ‘national’ images (306). Since Black Pete has various historical connotations that are closely related to black people it seems important to first outline the way this image is constructed. Mieke Bal, Arno Langeler and Rahina Hassankhan are some of the authors that this thesis will draw upon when discussing the versatile origins of Black Pete in chapter three. They discuss the connections to Christianity and Paganism, where the helper of Sinterklaas was always some form of evil. Further it is important to get greater insight in its connotations to slavery and the stereotypical images of Black people that circulated during the Colonial time and after. By drawing on Stuart Hall (2003) and Roland Barthes (1977), chapter three will address the connection between Black Pete and cultural identity. Barthes discusses signs and symbols that images contain in connection to ideologies while Hall connects culture and meaning to each other. Belonging to the same culture means that these people interpret the world in a similar way (Hall 2). Furthermore he explains that ‘we give objects, people and events meaning by the frameworks of interpretation which we bring to them’ (3). While outlining the various meanings that Black Pete generates, it is important to recognize that the meaning of this figure is constantly changing, depending on context, usage and historical framework.

Moreover, where the Sinterklaas celebration became more mediatised over time, it is important to establish a good understanding of ‘media events’ before discussing the contemporary figure of Black Pete. While Sinterklaas has been celebrated for centuries, nowadays the Sinterklaas celebration often starts off with an event that is usually also broadcasted on television and returns every year in the same kind of format. Television not only reports the celebration, but the celebration has been adapted to be suitable for television. Therefore the appropriate way to look at the Sinterklaas celebration is as a popular media event; Nick Couldry and Andreas Hepp describe the popular media events as events that break with the everyday in a routine way, they don’t happen ‘live’, are pre-planned and completely commercialized (8). Furthermore, although the arrival celebration is also re-enacted on a more local level, it is the national arrival ceremony which sets the tone for the rest of the celebration. Every year, between mid November until December Fifth, the arrival ceremony takes place in a different city, but the storylines are always quite similar. In chapter four the Sinterklaas celebration as a media event will be discussed more closely.

As explained earlier the arrival ceremony is a part of the Sinterklaasjournaal which started airing in 2002. Together with the program De Club van Sinterklaas, another popular and successful program around the Sinterklaas celebration, the analysis of the dominant discourse will be discussed in chapter five. Both shows have multiple Black Pete helpers as main characters through which they provided dominant discourse around Black Pete. To conclude, this thesis will start off with the discussion of the terms, cultural representation and stereotypes in connection to Black imagery and historical connotations of the Black Pete figure. This will be followed by a thorough explanation of the Sinterklaas celebration as a media event and its connection to spreading the dominant imagery. This

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will be followed by the analysis of the two case studies. In the next chapter the methodological approach of the analysis will be discussed.

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2. CORPUS AND METHODOLOGY

In order to answer the research questions outlined in the introduction, this thesis will focus mainly on two case studies: the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas. Both programs are meant for children and are centred on the Sinterklaas celebration. These were chosen for this thesis as examples of a program of the public broadcaster as well as a commercial broadcaster, because there might be differences in the way they represent Black Pete. As Joke Hermes and Maarten Reesink argue in Televisiestudies, public television is often more likely to be associated with learning and education, while commercial television is often seen as disturbing entertainment (191).

First of all, the Sinterklaasjournaal is a children’s program but it is set up according to conventions of a news program. It seems to be set up in the same way as the Jeugdjournaal, which is directed at children as well. Joke Hermes explains that the Jeugdjournaal always consists of several longer items and three or four shorter ones and always ends with the weather forecast (195). The program often has one presenter in the studio and two presenters on site. It follows the big events of that moment, but also has items directed at the children and news that could be considered funny. In the Sinterklaasjournaal these bigger news items are all aimed at stories around the Black Pete helpers; the funny news stories are often indirectly related to the bigger news stories or about ridiculous inventions for the Black Pete helpers or educational questions concerning the celebration. It always ends with a weather forecast for the Black Pete helpers. Where the events for the Jeugdjournaal are real, the events from the Sinterklaasjournaal are staged and the presenters act as if they are delivering actual news to their viewer. For this thesis mainly the bigger storylines are of importance.

De Club van Sinterklaas in comparison is more like a drama. It shows a lot of similarities with something Glen Creeber in the Television Genre Book calls Teen Series (41-43). Like a teenage sitcom the program revolves around a close group of friends, in this case Black Pete helpers, and their adventures and problems. Through a series of events and funny situations, they save the celebration of Sinterklaas just in time. Furthermore, the Black Pete helpers also have to deal with their own problems and feelings. In contrast with the Sinterklaasjournaal, this show is broadcasted by a commercial channel, which seems to involve more commercialization. For this reason this thesis is limited to referring to DVD’s instead of episodes for de Club van Sinterklaas, because the air dates of the episodes were no longer available.

For both programs the analysis will focus on two seasons. First of all this thesis will investigate the seasons broadcast in 2006. This year is of special interest because, in this year, the public broadcaster adapted the visual image of Black Pete. In addition, the analysis will also examine the seasons aired during the most recent 2012 celebration. This year is also of special interest because de Club van Sinterklaas stopped airing new seasons in 2009 and since then the commercial broadcaster has chosen to play reruns every year. Important to note as well is that they did release a movie last year of de Club van Sinterklaas. A time gap of about five years has been chosen to get insight into

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how the figure has changed over time. By creating a better insight into the different connotations the figure of Black Pete carries and the way media and media events around the Sinterklaas tradition embed this figure deeply with national identity, this thesis tries to give a better understanding of its connections to cultural identity.

2.1 Methodology

To be able to provide better insights into the representations of Black Pete, my research for this thesis is twofold. First of all, it contains an extensive literature research to provide a much-needed background. By using terms that are centred on Black Pete, Sinterklaas, and cultural identity, but also terms like media ritual and media events, the literature was collected. The content and findings of the different authors are compared, analysed and interpreted to finally reach my own conclusions. Most of the literature is not directly related to the image of Black Pete that is given to its viewer by the media and especially television. That is why my thesis will tend to give a better understanding from the contemporary media representation through the analysis of the two case studies.

By combining a narrative analysis and a semiotic analysis, this research tries to get a proper insight into the way Black Pete figures in Dutch children’s television. With the semiotic analysis this thesis tries to give proper insights into the codes and conventions these shows share with children’s television and the historical roots of Black Pete. Through time the figure has been reframed and, through this, it has taken on various meanings. As Stokes explains semiotics, or literally the science of signs, ‘breaks down the content of texts into their component parts and relates them to broader discourses’ (72). Bertrand and Hughes indicate that semiotic textual analysis helps to break a text down into component codes to discover how a text represents reality through codes (185). In order to understand the polymesic nature of Black Pete, semiotics seems useful when analysing the meanings of the texts.

For the semiotic analysis of Black Pete it is important to remember that meanings of television images aren’t naturally attached to signs (Bignell 89). He explains that through codes, ‘a certain set of rules that shape how signs gain meaning’ (87). To understand popular culture Barthes makes a distinction between the connotated message and the denoted message in Rhetoric of the Image (44-45). The denoted message doesn’t imply any symbolic meanings; while the connotated message consists of signs that are connected to particular meanings and conventions, as Bignell explains (88).The connotated message is thus dependent on the cultural knowledge of the viewer, which helps them to read between the lines. Where the connotated message of Black Pete seems to be connected to racism and the ideology of white superiority, it is important to recognize the implicit message these often viewed programs project upon children. As Mark Orbe states, semiotics is thus concerned with how some meanings are foregrounded so often that they are associated naturally with certain elements (84). Stuart Hall talks about this in a similar way when talking about the naturalization of certain stereotypes, which he saw as a representational strategy to fix difference. (245). Barthes explains in

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Mythologies, a myth often has a double function; on the one hand it makes its receiver understand something while on the other hand it imposes something on the viewer (115). Connotation and denotation in connection to ideology and the figure of Black Pete will be discussed more closely in the next chapter.

The narratology of the analysis is focused on the overall pattern of the texts, while mainly observing the specific function Black Pete has within the narratives. Ina Bertrand and Peter Hughes explain that ‘narratology’ demonstrates how narrative operates as a structure (193). While Jane Stokes explains it can help to explain the overall structure or pattern of the stories and narratives (67). By paying close attention to several elements of the semiotic-structural narrative vocabulary provided by Leah R. van de Berg in Narrative Criticism, this thesis will try to outline the metonymy that these programs create for Black Pete by reframing it more positively (202). This thesis will frame the narrative function of Black Pete by focusing on forms, the conventions accustomed for News shows and Drama series, narrative structure, the function of actions, the structural relations between actions, while also paying attention to non-literal significations.

Important with this kind of analysis is that the underlying ideology can be discovered and framed (Stokes 70). During the semiotic narrative analysis some visual elements will be relevant to discover the underlying ideologies. Firstly, the use of iconic elements as described by van de Berg will be of great importance, which has to do with the connotations produces with the representation of Black Pete (205). Furthermore, she mentions visual quotations or stereotyped shots, which are recognizable gestures that are recognized by the audience. Moreover, the interactions of Black Pete with others will be relevant, while the analysis will also pay attention to the way shots are taken: close ups, medium shots or long shots. How do the types of shots affect the identification the viewer gets with Black Pete? The used mise en scène will thus be important because the construction of a scene will most likely affect feelings and attitudes for the viewer. Through the combined semiotic and narrative analysis this thesis will try to give a proper insight into the function of Black Pete within the contemporary Dutch Sinterklaas Celebration on children's television.

2.2 Structure of the thesis

In order to perform the analysis of the ideology of Black Pete, it requires the establishment of theories about cultural identity and representation in the next chapter. In chapter 4 then the ideological function of the Sinterklaas celebration will be outlined by drawing on scholars who write about media events, ritual and identity. Chapter five will consist of the textual analysis of the two case studies; de Club van Sinterklaas and het Sinterklaasjournaal. Finally the last chapter will answer the main research question and try to give a critical perspective of the way Black Pete figures in Children’s television.

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3. ZWARTE PIET

As already explained in the introduction the multiple representations of Black Pete produce multiple meanings. Where for many people it seems to be a positive image, for other people Black Pete is a reference to a negative stereotypical representation of black people that is projected upon society. As a family oriented celebration, children’s television seems to be playing the biggest role in the spread of the image of Black Pete. Children’s programs tend to work with stereotypes, because it makes it easier for children to identify with them, according to Peter Nikken (21). Creators of an image thus try to anchor it by signs and codes. In order to offer a background to the contemporary television representations of Black Pete this chapter will analyze the way this figure has been represented in Dutch society. What connotations of the past does the current figure of the helper of Sinterklaas still bear? Beforehand this chapter will provide some more explanation around cultural identity and stereotyping.

3.1 Cultural representation

Where many people, and more importantly many children, watch at least two hours of television a day, television cannot be ridiculed in its role for representation of certain cultures and groups (Nikken, 11). ‘Culture is about shared meanings,’ argues Stuart Hall, and we are only able to share its meaning through a common language of signs and symbols (1). Furthermore, culture is also concerned with the production and exchange of meanings. Dutch nationality, for example, is defined by the color orange, and events like Queens Day and the World Cup soccer matches in particular become Dutch through this color. Therefore it could be said that any culture depends on the meaningful interpretation of participants in similar ways (2). However in any culture or nation there are diverse ways of interpreting or representing certain meanings. Because of this it is not strange that the celebration of Sinterklaas is not received by everyone in the same way.

Stuart Hall argues that multiple stories, which give varied meanings to the figure of Black Pete, but which are all equally possible, circulate in society (229). He explains that the preferred meaning often depends on the conjunction between the image and the text. Roland Barthes argues in Rhetoric of the Image; ‘they imply, underlying their signifiers, a ‘floating chain’ of signifieds, the reader able to choose some and ignore others’ (39). Signifiers are the forms of certain images, while signifieds are the meanings attached to it. In addition, Barthes explains: ‘the text directs the reader through the signifiers of the image, causing him to avoid some and to receive others; by means of an often subtle dispatching, it remote-controls him towards a meaning chosen in advance’ (40). Therefore, Stuart Hall argues that meaning should be looked upon in terms of effective exchange. On the one hand it tends to facilitate cultural communication while on the other hand it acknowledges the existence of power inequality within a cultural circuit. Questions of meaning can arise from all different moments or practices within this circuit. For Black Pete, questions of its racist connotations

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have been raised over the last 25 years. Therefore, it is important to get better insight into how television anchors the figure of Black Pete.

It makes sense that Stuart Hall argues that meaning is always unequal in exchange and changes over time. As Hall explains; meanings define what is normal and what or who is excluded. Hall argues that meaning often seems to work because of its marking of difference. He supports this with multiple arguments (234-238). Most basically he states that difference is needed because without difference we are unable to construct meaning. In this case Black Pete is different from the average citizen. Secondly he argues meaning can only be constructed through a dialogue (often unequally divided) with the other. Black Pete is different, but his dark skin tone implies he is similar to a black person. Thirdly he says culture depends on giving meaning by positioning objects differently within a classificatory system. Black Pete is in service of Sinterklaas, which indirectly meant and maybe still means that black people are lower in society than white people. His last argument is that its difference is fundamental to the constitution of the self. His most important remark to this is that difference is ambivalent; it can have positive as well as negative connotations. The meaning(s) of Black Pete thus seems to be dependant on what is presumed normal.

Joke Hermes gives a clear explanation of representation in ‘Representatie en ideologie’. First of all, representation could be seen as the description or portrayal of something (Hermes 59). As already explained earlier in this thesis, it is through signs or codes that certain situations or artifacts are connected to certain concepts. Secondly, representation also symbolizes certain groups. Or as Hall describes it; ‘representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language’ (17). Therefore it can be said that in certain contexts Black Pete came to represent black people. Thirdly representation is also ‘agency’. Hermes argues that the people, that represent us (for example) on television, can only do so because the viewer agrees implicitly. In her article Burnt Orange, Hermes gives a clear example of this implicit agreement, by addressing the role of the Dutch-Surinamese football player Ruud Gullit, during the 1988 European Soccer Championship. Gullit was seen as a hybrid figure that was able to resemble both black and white (57). His good relationship with the press made Gullit into a symbolic figure for the Netherlands (52). Visually he was know for his Rasta and this became part of the promotion material for supporters of the Dutch Team and with fans ending up wearing orange caps with Rasta curls attached to them. Patrick Kluivert was part of the new generation of football players but was read differently than Gullit. News reporters and columnist depicted him as a convicted killer and suspected rapist, because of his personal history which made him unable to represent the Netherlands (59). Television broadcasters that like to keep up their good reputation will often stick with the dominant (accepted) discourse.

Tamar Ashuri argues that choices made by producers nowadays, enhances the loci the nation is proud of while minimizing those that the nation wishes to disappear (439). Barthes explains a similar thing when talking about ads; the linguistic message helps choose the reader’s the correct level of perception and thus guides interpretation (Rhetoric of the Image 39). As already explained in the

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introduction, Barthes argues that an image can be twofold, denotational and connotational, and here this will be explained further (33). The denotational level is the level of description while the

connotational level links to broader, cultural themes and meanings (Hall, 38). In this the meaning of an image thus depends on the practical, national, cultural and aesthetical knowledge of the viewer/reader. Therefore, Black can thus be read in different ways by people with different backgrounds (Hall 46). In his text ‘Myth Today’ in the book Mythologies, Barthes’ analysis of the image of a young Negro on the front page of the French magazine ‘Paris’ matches in a similar way to how this thesis will look at the Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas (107 -158). On the level of denotation, he decodes the image into signifiers; the soldier, the uniform, a French flag etc. This leads to a simple message of meaning, namely a black soldier saluting to the French Flag. Both on a connotated level the message goes deeper; the image also has a wider cultural meaning. To get to this meaning (to do a proper semiotic analysis) the denoted message has to be linked to a second set of signifieds. The second level of analysis especially, will be important for a better understanding of the contemporary image of Black Pete. In the case of the Negro this is the ideological theme about French colonialism. At this second level, the level of the myth, the more ideological framed message or meaning becomes apparent.

For this thesis it is important how Hall connects this ideological framed message to discourses of power (61-62). By leaning on Foucault he explains that power and knowledge are always rooted in a certain context and history. As Larry Gross explains in his text Minorities, majorities and the media3, most of the images we encounter in the media reflect the experiences and interest of the majority groups (88). Often minorities have no choice than to accept the prominent media images, which they are confronted with every day. Compare for example the Sinterklaas celebration with the Christmas celebration. Sinterklaas on a national level is similar to Christmas on a global level. Daniel Miller states in Unwrapping Christmas that the modern version of Christmas manifested itself around 1900 (4). The modern celebration of Sinterklaas started to take form around the same time. Every year Santa Claus or Sinterklaas comes to certain countries bringing along gifts for all the children.

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Chapter 5 in the book Media, Ritual and Identity edited by Tamar Liebes and James Curran.

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Moreover, it is not just their narratives that are similar, but their appearance also looks similar. This might be because the myth of Santa Claus is based on the tradition of Sint Nicolaas, Father Christmas and Father Winter of European immigrants that moved to America around the sixteenth century, according to Marita Kruijswijk and Marian Nesse4 (259).

The celebrations are both dynamic and adapted to certain cultures and religions all over the world. Sinterklaas for instance is celebrated differently in Brielle where it is meant to ridicule the local politics and the mistakes they made in the past year (Kruijswijk & Nesse 227). Also similar to Black Pete, Santa Claus has elves as helpers, minus the blackface. Furthermore, the Sinterklaas celebration in Java seemed to be more of an outdoor celebration instead of the domestic celebration as in Holland (Helsloot, 617). In the case of Black Pete, before being able to understand its meaning people will have to subject themselves to the rules of the discourse of Sinterklaas. Through history and culture images become meaningful. As already discussed earlier in this chapter, one of the things representations gain meaning from is its historical background. Television is a way of providing viewers with dominant representations; in children’s television these representation often lean on simplified representations of reality. Therefore it is important to discuss the term ‘stereotype’ in the next part of this chapter.

3.2 The stereotypical features of Black Pete

The contemporary story that dominantly circulates in Dutch society about Black Pete is that he gained his black skin tone because he went through chimneys too often when delivering presents to the Dutch children. However this is a strange controversy, because when thinking about Santa Claus, who comes through the chimney for the same reasons, he doesn’t turn out black. Moreover, Hassankhan argues, other characteristics of Black Pete, for example his childish language, cannot be explained through the chimney (47). Furthermore it does not explain how a white Dutch person not only becomes black by going through the chimney, but also gains Negro characteristics; like frizzy hair, thick lips, a childish character and colorful garbs. Therefore it is important to look closer at the stereotype of black people.

The visual characteristics mentioned above were often used to represent blacks, as depictions that indicate the way white people traditionally reduced black people to their essence. Stuart Hall explains them as signifiers of their physical difference from white people (249). He explains this as stereotyping; reducing people or certain groups to a few simple and essential characteristics as if they were fixed by nature (257). Hall further explains that stereotypes help to include and exclude people by setting boundaries and maintaining symbolic and social order (258). The caricatures of black people where meant to indicate the difference between them and the white people. White, in this case is often seen and colonized as the definition of what is normal, according to Richard Dyer in the article ‘White’ in which he tries to give insight into the stereotype of white people (458-459). This is a

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category that is hard to define because it is masked by many subcategories. Blackness on the other hand, always has been stereotyped more easily.

Richard Dyer explains the various roles of stereotypes in ‘the role of stereotypes’ more closely. First of all, he explains, that it is an ordering process; individuals apprehend their world through organizing it by generalizations, patterns and typifications (12). Secondly, stereotypes can be described as a simple, striking and easily grasped form of representation, something that Dyer explains as a short cut (13). Where these images look simple they often still hold a great deal of complex information. Furthermore, stereotypical representations refer to the world, Dyer argues, and are aesthetic and social constructs. The stereotype in this case uses a set of a few immediately recognizable and defining traits. On the other hand in television the preferred character in programs tends to be the novelistic character, because in comparison with the stereotype, this type of character develops and changes through the course of the narrative (13-14). Children’s television tends to work with these simplified types, because children mainly like stereotypical television characters, as Nikken explains (21). Finally Dyer describes the fourth role of stereotypes as an expression of our values and beliefs (14-16). Stereotypes often come to represent certain groups within society. They maintain boundaries that are accepted, while in reality these boundaries aren’t there. In the case of Black Pete, a seemingly dull figure, bears implicitly a lot of meaning.

Even before black people came to the Netherlands they were visible in Dutch popular culture. The Moor5 for example was represented by thick red lips and colorful garbs, and as a Gaper, which could be found on doors, it was a black figure sticking out his tongue. Gapers were often the helpers of the quack doctors in the earlier times, as Blakely explains, instead meant to attract people to their master’s tent by making faces. Other features when looking at Black Pete seem to also be connected to its long history; the golden earrings, the frizzy hair and also its tendency to not come across as very smart seem to be characteristics that draw on the history of slavery. Where since the 1800s society developed and transformed again, it would sometimes appear that the figure of Black Pete has remained stuck in the past. Although Black Pete nowadays has become a more child friendly image, in the case of representing Black people it tends to have gotten two faces. Hall describes that blacks are trapped within two extreme opposites that is imposed on them through the ambiguous structure of their stereotype (263). Black Pete can represent both negative and positive images of black people at the same time, where stereotypes thus refer to what is imagined and what is actually perceived as ‘real,’ creating ambivalent stereotypes (Hall 263). It is exactly this contrast between what visually is produced and the presumed deeper meaning that creates a clash between Dutch National identity and black cultural identity.

Shohat and Stam distinguish five dominant stereotypes of black people within cinema (195). First of all they say you have ‘the servile Tom’. The second stereotype is ‘the Coon’, which can be

5

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divided in ‘the pickanniny’; the harmless eye popping clown figure, and ‘Uncle Remus’; the naïve congenial folk philosopher. The third stereotype is a figure that tries to pass as a white, but doesn’t seem relevant for this thesis. The fourth stereotype is ‘the Mammy’, a person that Shohat and Stam describe as a fat, cantankerous, but ultimately sympathetic, female servant who keeps the household together. The last stereotype seems less relevant again, because this is the one of the brutal hyper sexualized black man. In chapter five the relation of the figure of Black Pete, in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas, with this stereotype will be discussed.

Shohat and Stam also make another relevant point when discussing the Black stereotype; for a long time blacks were not cast to play themselves. Casting a non-member of a group can therefore be seen as a triple insult (189/190). First of all it means that blacks aren’t worthy of self representation, secondly that no one else of your community is able to represent you and thirdly, that the producers care little about the offended sensibilities. Where Black Pete is also played by a white person with a black face, the tensions that are raised around this figure does not seem incomprehensible. As Reesink and Hermes explain, stereotypes of certain groups can have tremendous effects when it comes to generalizations (98-99). They illustrate it with the example of Philomena Essed, who explains that through the stereotypes people saw from black people on television, Suriname people felt they were treated differently. White People tended to talk very slowly in conversations or did not want to sit next to them on the tram. Telling the story about the chimney appears to be a strategy that has developed in the search of neutralizing the potential negative meanings generated by the Black Pete figure. Nonetheless, there are more signifiers around the figure that still bear references to Black Pete as first being evil and secondly to being a slave, which can remind people about what he once represented. These meanings will be discussed more thoroughly in chapter 3.3. In the Netherlands there are attempts to hold on to Black Pete by describing it as cultural ‘tradition’. However, throughout the centuries the function of the helper of Sinterklaas has been filled by many other mythical figures.

Moreover it is Mieke Bal who explains that Black Pete has come to connotate freedom for many people. Becoming Black Pete means the opportunity to break free from certain restrictions. Furthermore Allison Blakely argues that Black Pete is respected for its fairness and ability to reward good deeds (48). The multiplicity of meanings surrounding certain stereotypes can be illustrated with the example of the Cakewalk. The Cakewalk was a black dance fashion that revolutionized the European social dance in the twentieth century, according to Astrid Kusser in ‘Cakewalking the Anarchy of Empire around 1900’ (87). Since the dance originated with the black slaves working on plantations in America, white people cakewalking was often put down as a parody (Kusser 88-90). The way something is framed can make all the difference. In the case of Cake Walking, Kusser explains that

Dynamics of migration in the making of modern nationalism necessitated processes of translation that made a difference rather than merely transmitted information. From this

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perspective, the cakewalk was not so much a black dance infecting whites or an American dance coming to Europe, but a veritable script designed to intervene in the conflicts of modern urban living.

(99-100)

She discovers two kinds of laughter around this dance, firstly a self-reflective laughter that questioned stabilized identities and national cultures. Secondly it was a racist kind of laughter which was directed to arouse guilt and shame and to reinsure white supremacy. Because of this, the Cakewalk is still sometimes referred to as a dance for savages.

Returning to the subject of Black Pete, it seems important to distinguish the various meanings that go along with its stereotypical features. Depending on background and the process of translation, this image can be read in different ways. One of the questions that will be part of the rest of this thesis is whether or not a neutralizing of the images that connect Black Pete to the history of slavery is happening on children’s television. In the next chapter this thesis will address the origins of the figure, Christianity, Colonialism and Slavery by connecting it to some of the stereotypical features of Black Pete.

3.3 The historical origins of Black Pete

The figure of Black Pete represents historical connotated meanings in several ways. Its skin color, which nowadays is often seen as a reference to the soot of the chimney, was for a long time related to evil. His clothes seem to be connected to the history of the Moor and his hair, lips and some other features bear stereotypical references to black people as mentioned earlier in this chapter. This chapter will give some more insight into the historical connotations of Black Pete, in order to be able to analyze the contemporary figure of Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas better.

It is useful to first look at the figure of Black Pete in contemporary media at a denotated level. On a very basic level the figure comes across as good, acrobatic and funny. However, where television is often seen as a co-educator and as a bad influence, the ideological connotations of the figure are often at stake. It is Mieke Bal who states ‘Once they were devils,’ clarifying the connection of Black Pete to evil. She and other authors clearly outline that the apparent origin of Black Pete is to be found within Christianity and Paganism. Mainly his black skin tone is seen as a referral to its evil roots.

As a Saint, Sinterklaas was accompanied by many scary figures and animal figures across the centuries. Hassankhan explains that Black Pete was a devil that was turned by Sint Nicolaas and its black color supposedly comes from the soot from hell (38). She says that in the time people believed in Saints there was an equal belief in devils. Because of this Sinterklaas became closely interrelated with devils exorcism. Langeler for example explains that Sint Nicolaas was the protector of the sailors in the thirteenth century (26). According to the legend Nicolaas chased away the devil on a stormy

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night and saved the sailors. Langeler even suggests that there was almost a love-like relationship between Sint Nicolaas and Satan (26).

However, even before Christianity, Black Pete was already related to evil. In paganism the most known figure related to Black Pete is the helper of the German God Wodan, named Eckhart or Ruprecht (Hassankhan 44). Ruprecht according to Langerer is even a popular helper of Sint Nicolaas in German speaking countries instead of Black Pete (25). Similar to Black Pete, Ruprecht is on the one hand generous and good while on the other hand evil and stern, argues Hassankhan (44). Over time many names have been given to the helper of Sinterklaas that show a lot of similarities to the devil (38-39). The devil was often defined by names like ‘der Schwarze, der schwarze Peter, schwarze Kaspar,’ which were names used for the devil during the middle ages when people believed in witches. As Hassankhan states there was a time in the German Kingdom that the dead who returned to the earth were painted black to be recognized as a zombie (45). Others say the color was meant to not be recognized or to scare the children.

According to Langeler, it was around the sixteenth century that the devil would get a human face (28). He explains that in this period the devil disguised itself as a human or animal. The devil in its human form was often a noble man, who was able to perform horrifying deeds. Eventually a Moor became to be the permanent helper of Sint Nicolaas, as Langeler explains (29). He gives a short history of the Moor; the Moor had committed the gruesome murder of his own wife and through his service with Sint Nicolaas he did penance. He was the page of Sinterklaas and only appeared in the background, as a colorfully dressed black man, holding the horse. The Moor came from Spain, which also explains why Sinterklaas comes with a boat to this country every year. The term Moor was often used for people with a dark skin tone, often descendant from North Africa or Muslims of Turkey. It was in the higher circles of society that, due to their skin tone, it was common to have Moors as servants. In the more contemporary stories Black Pete is portrayed as a Moorish orphan boy that Sinterklaas adopted as a child of his own and trained as his assistant (Blakely 46). It is the outdated colorful servant clothing of Black Pete in the contemporary media that often seems to refer back to Black Pete being a Moorish servant.

Last of all, colonialism [and slavery] also seems to be a big source of inspiration for the creation of Black Pete. Mainly the behavioral features and some of the visual characteristics that were mentioned earlier are seen as a reference to black people. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Netherlands had many colonies and executed missionary work in several countries. This occurred at the same time as the slave trade took place. The modern aspect for this time about this slave trade, Allison Blakely argues in Blacks in the Dutch World, was that all the slaves were black and nearly all the masters were white (5). During the colonial period, black people were assumed to be inferior to white people, and black and white were binary oppositions (243). Often slaves were treated like children by their masters, which could explain the childish language and behavior of Black Pete (Hall 262). This Infantilization, as Hall names it, was meant to symbolically castrate the black

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men or sterilize the black women. This way of portrayal is still existent in movies and television, although maybe in a milder version.

Images of the black people circulated even before they made a visual presence in the Netherlands. Games, jokes as novelties, but also music, dance and folklore were dominated by a fascination with the skin color and other physical features that distinguished the black from the white (Blakely 74). From food to symbolism for the exotic, images of blacks were physically present in a lot of Dutch folklore apart from the Sinterklaas celebration. Symbolism of black people could be found in the form of the Gaper, the smoking Moor, place names, games, jokes and more. Even culinary arts became dominated by the imagery of black people; the negerzoen (Negro kiss) is a good example for this. Furthermore the card game Zwarte Piet was dominated by caricatures of black men.

The black figure could often be distinguished by first of all his skin color, but as Hassankhan explains, also its big earrings, fat lips, frizzy hair and quite thick caricature that did weird things were part of the stereotype of black people. As Blakely argues, it is ‘in his variant poses as slave, servant, authority figure, teacher and clown, Black Pete suggests the variety of roles played by black in the Dutch world’ (275-276). It was, however, mainly in his role as bogeyman that similarities between Black Pete and black people became more ambivalent. Blakely explains that the bogeyman was often was meant to enforce social conventions (61-64). When a child would do something he wasn’t supposed to do, adults would tell them that the bogeymen would come and punish them.

When Negroes, eventually, came to the Netherlands they tended to occur as the popular opinion wanted them to be. As already discussed in paragraph 3.2, the images the people received through media and advertisement of Black people affected the way they treated an actual black person. Often it are these associations of blackness with evil and slavery that hold the more lasting attraction, because these visual connotations are still implicitly visible. For example, Black Pete in the identical named game Zwarte Piet, nowadays often is illustrated by a type of animal, is still through its name related to the former historical meanings. Therefore it is important to have a closer look the wat contemporary Dutch children’s television reframes the image of Black Pete.

Hall argues that “Meaning can never be finally fixed” (270). In the case of Black Pete, his skin tone can be connotated very negatively, but it has also gotten a more positive connotation. Where children’s television tends to draw heavily upon stereotypes, this thesis will analyze the contemporary figure of Black Pete in programs directed at children. By taking a similar approach as Barthes when he analyzes ideological meanings of images, Black Pete in the Sinterklaasjournaal and de Club van Sinterklaas will be described on a denotational and connotational level. Furthermore, a strong emphasizes will be put on the stereotypical features of this figure that are often used to represent Black people. Before getting to this analysis, the next chapter will discuss the position of Black Pete within the Sinterklaas Celebration as a contemporary media event.

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4. THE SINTERKLAAS CELEBRATION AS MEDIA EVENT

On a Saturday afternoon in November, the ritual for many Dutch families is to gather around the television in order to watch this arrival of Sinterklaas and his Black Pete helpers. Often they are welcomed by a big crowd of children with painted faces and their parents, singing celebratory songs. Most of the time the mayor of the city is the first to welcome Sinterklaas to the country. After that, Sinterklaas gets onto his horse, Americo, while he leads the parade through town towards the town square. During this parade the Black Pete helpers throw candy and make acrobatic moves, making the parade a joy to watch, while children try to give them drawings they made for Sinterklaas. As has been demonstrated in previous chapters this annual event has transformed over time. Television has a significant role in this transformation by inviting the viewer at home to participate. The arrival ceremony was no longer just filmed, but became a staged event in which multiple storylines attracted the viewer to become collectively invested in the Sinterklaas celebration.

In the previous chapter, the historical connotations of Black Pete, his visual appearance and characteristics were a central point of discussion; shown was that Black Pete draws heavily on the cultural representations of black people through which white people showed their superiority. Although these connotations are no longer foregrounded, their implicit hurtful meaning stands in between a feeling of national belonging for certain social groups. This chapter will focus on the cultural narratives that are created around the celebration and, more importantly, around Black Pete. Firstly, by focusing on the debate between communication scholars concerning the term ‘media event,’ its connection to the Sinterklaas Celebration will be explained. Secondly, the connection of the Sinterklaas celebration to national and cultural identity will be discussed in order to get a better understanding of the connection between communication and cultural sciences. This will lead up to the analysis of the function of the Black Pete figure within the media event in the final chapter.

4.1 The popular media event

In Big Brother as a Television Event media scholar Paddy Scannell explains that events are ‘those things that we ourselves make happen’ (271). He argues that events are staged and meant to happen in a certain way, with a certain effect on its audience in mind. The Sinterklaas celebration is therefore an event because it is known beforehand to take place and it is precisely planned and anticipated by audiences. The Sinterklaas celebration, moreover, is not just an event, but rather a ‘media event’. The term media event was first introduced by Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz; in their opinion, television ceremonies or festive television ‘hang a halo over the television set and transforms the viewing experience’ (1). They argue that media events distinguish themselves from other television genres for a number of reasons (4-14). First of all, they argue that media events cause interruptions to the usual routine of everyday life and the broadcast schedule. They propose exceptional things and events to think about and are often monopolistic. This means that all channels switch away from their regular

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programming to broadcast the event itself or something related to the event. An example of a media event is the 2002 wedding of Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander to his fiancée Maxima, where every television channel involved broadcast a tear rolling down Maxima’s cheek during the ceremony. Looking back at the event a decade later, it is clear that it is Maxima’s tears that are remembered about the event.

Another important aspect to the media event is that the event is broadcast live. Dayan and Katz explain that this does not excluded pre-planning, or the staging of the event, but it does mean that while the event takes place there is always the possibility that something could go wrong (5). Cultural historian David Duindam provides an illustration of such an interruption in his article about the national commemoration of World War II in the Netherlands. The Dutch commemoration day is an event celebrated every year on 4 May. On this day, Dutch war heroes and victims are commemorated. The event is always highly pre-planned and the core of the event takes place outside of the media, in this case on the Dam Square in Amsterdam; this pre-planning and site specificity constitute two other features of media events according to Dayan and Katz. The pre-planning became highly visible in 2010 when a man screamed during the two minutes of silence and caused mass panic, as Duindam explains (257). Unlike the usual, controlled way of reporting this event, it suddenly changed into a news event. The camera had to move in a faster pace than before and failed shots were shown as well. More important was the fact that the viewer at home went from participant to a distant viewer, fully aware of the medium that was reporting the event. The event thus happened live and was intended to follow a certain script to create a collective feeling of belonging, but through unexpected happenings, it went from media event to a news event where meanings had to be attached later on.

In their account, Dayan and Katz argue that media events distinguish themselves because they are presented with reverence and ceremony (8). Instead of offering a critique on the event, the journalist always approaches the event with respect and even with awe and amazement. The commentary never tries to interrupt the intended meaning and symbolism of the event, often it only enhances it. Therefore, Dayan and Katz argue that media events are often ceremonial efforts about harmony and the celebration of the established initiatives. By often building upon the already existing order the events are hegemonic, reaffirming the hierarchical order of a certain society. Often a notion of the historical past plays a part in this hegemony. Hegemonic power relations will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter in relation to media rituals and cultural identity.

Last of all, Dayan and Katz argue that these events ‘electrify very large audiences’ (8-9). People tell each other to watch the event and put everything else aside for that very moment. The viewers often celebrate the event by gathering in front of the television in groups. In a way, these events create a feeling that not watching means you are missing out. They are meant to create a collective feeling of belonging to the same society and evoke a renewed feeling of loyalty to a society. In the case of Sinterklaas the collecting in front of the television is still one of the most vivid

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memories of my childhood; it was the thing you would talk about on the playground after the weekend.

In the wake of Dayan and Katz’s pioneering work, which was written in 1992, many other communication scholars redefined media events because of historical changes or incongruities in their theory. An updated definition given by Andreas Hepp and Nick Couldry, written in 2010, seems most suitable for the current thesis. From their more contemporary perspective, (popular) media events do not monopolize media coverage entirely anymore, only a certain part of it. For example, the Olympics, as a major sports event, are not broadcasted on every channel, but only on the sports channels and one or two channels from the public broadcasters. A similar situation can be described for the Sinterklaas celebration; news channels feature Sinterklaas-themed items, as does advertising. Furthermore, on channels meant for children, multiple programs circulating the celebration will be broadcasted. Hepp and Couldry suggest that popular media events do not occur live but in a continuous development. This can be connected to marketing and branding, and they are also organized by the media itself and often commercialized. Therefore, Couldry and Hepp argue that media events in the present day are often more pleasure-oriented instead of celebratory. With this they mean that popular media events often tend to polarize and generate the attention of certain youth segments. In other words, they tend to offer content in a way it attracts viewers (youth), which is seen as a viable market for toys and merchandise.

Media events are no longer just about reconciliation, as their elements are often transported to different kinds of television genres and its messages and audiences are multiple and selective. With the large variety of programs and multiple ways to view them, the events no longer have to intend to be attractive for every group within society. On the basis of such developments within the media world and the popular media events, Daniel Dayan has recently argued that there are four remaining features that still define (contemporary) media events. In ‘Beyond Media Events’ Dayan argues that Media events include four major features: insistence and emphasis; an explicitly ‘performative’ gestural dimension; loyalty to the event’s self-definition; and access to a shared viewing experience (25-26).

The first feature, emphasis or insistence, is according to Dayan manifested through the omnipresence of the transmitted events (25). The second feature, performativity, has to do with gestures; gestures that actively create realities (26). Dayan states they have nothing to do with balance or neutrality and often thus depend on the definition producers give of reality. For example the Olympics are partly driven by politics, while on the other hand by media (Hepp and Couldry 11). Thirdly, loyalty means that the event is accepted in the way it is. The proposed storyline is not questioned but becomes frequently affirmed and passed on. This feature seems to be in close connection to the concept of representation, where there is also an implicit agreement with the proposed meaning of certain images. Looking for example at Black itself, whose image is endorsed and relayed numerous times, rarely the image is radically changed by producers and advertisers.

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information. Formats for media events often rely on narrative continuity, visual proximity and shared temporality (Dayan 26). In his discussion of the Olympics, Dayan mentions ‘repertory events’. For these events, it is no longer the question if they will take place, but rather how they will take place (23). Each enactment has to be different, but also recognizable from repeat to repeat. He compares these repertory events with the Dutch production company, Endemol, who is known for its reality television shows’ formats (24). Their shows are produced in such a way that they can be stripped down to their essentials and be reproduced for many different countries; one of their most successful formats at the moment is The Voice. Dayan explains that the Olympics, for example, can be stripped down and, depending on current trends and the country in which it is being held, it becomes something unique again (24). Still, the recognizable logo and the ceremonial run, where the ceremonial flame is being lit, for example, come back with every Olympics. Repertory events seem to show similarities to media rituals.

In Media Rituals communication scientist Nick Couldry points out that ‘ritual’ can be understood in multiple ways. First of all, he says it is a habitual action, a repeated pattern, like the Sinterklaas celebration returning every year or the Olympics that returns every four years (3). Secondly, it is a formalised action; Nick Couldry compares it with the regular and meaningful pattern by which a table is laid for food in a particular culture. The Sinterklaas celebration also has a regular and meaningful pattern; nobody will start celebrating this event during summer. However more importantly, it follows a social script/pattern that children learn through children’s programming. Similar to commemoration day, which offers a very specific and limited narrative of the war, the Sinterklaas celebration also embodies a very specific narrative. Last of all, this specific narrative involves what Couldry calls ‘transcendent values,’ like the commemoration of the war which communicates cultural narratives about suffering and loss, as Duindam explained in his text (249). Through this account of a more symbolic meaning, the connection with cultural theories of representation will become more apparent throughout this chapter.

Another communication scholar, who is concerned with the social patrons of media environments, is Simon Cottle. In his article ‘Mediatized rituals: beyond manufacturing consent’, Cottle explains the various ways media rituals can provide an insight in how media intervene in contemporary life and contribute to the formation of plural solidarities (411). He describes media rituals ‘as exceptional and performative phenomena that serve to sustain and or mobilize collective sentiments and solidarities on the basis of symbolization’ (415). Cottle’s definition of media rituals is very similar to the definition of Couldry for the same phenomenon. He looks at media rituals as situations in which media stand in, or appear to stand in, for something significant and creates or maintains social integration in this way (Couldry 4). This connects to what is discussed in chapter three about the way cultural representation of certain social groups affected the way other people treated them.