The center is dedicated to all research pertaining to the life and work of the artist Hugo Claus and his position in literary, artistic, cultural, social and political life in Belgium, the Netherlands and abroad. One of the main aims of the center is to present a contextualized study of Claus' work, to spread the results on as broad a scale as possible, to stimulate and, if required, direct the study of his work.

In an initial research phase, the center - founded in 1996 -, attempts to lay the foundation of the study of Claus' work by making available for further research as many facts and figures as possible, including primary and secondary literature. The collecting and archiving of data and documents concerning Claus' life and work is stressed.

Concerning the presentation of the work, current projects focus upon

• making accessible on the website of a) a bibliography of the first editions of Claus' book publications, b) a bibliography of his translated works and c) a database of articles - some 10.000 items 'about Claus' work available in the center (2002)
• the publication of a complete bibliography in two parts, viz. of random publications of Hugo Claus (2004) and of all his book publications (2005).

Concerning the biography, a biographical-historical contextualisation of Claus' magnum opus Het verdriet van België (The Sorrow of Belgium), a kind of "who's who", is being worked on (2005). This is part of a more wide-ranged project, in which Claus' canonised magnum opus is viewed form multiple perspectives (psychological, ideological, philosophical...). The first results will be shown in a collection of essays (2003). Furthermore the center is working on editing different collections of letters between Hugo Claus and other writers and artists, such as Simon Vinkenoog and Roger Raveel.

In addition two series of publications are edited by the center :

• De Bezige Bij, the Dutch-based publishing house, publishes the review of Claus' work Het teken van de ram (The Sign of the Ram). Three issues have been published so far. Chief-editor is G. Wildemeersch. The editorial board consists of young editors from different universities (Antwerp, Brussels, Louvain, Utrecht) and a council which includes the most eminent researchers of Claus' work in Belgium and the Netherlands. This review is, apart form the website of the center, the main means of communication for the study of Claus' work. Each issue deals with a particular phase in Claus' work.
• The scientific series, Hugo Claus Editions (HCE), published by the Louvain-based publishing house PEETERS, is complementary to the projects and is overseen by a scientific committee formed by Paul Claes (HIVT/KUL), Dirk de Geest (FWO/KUL), Jean Weisgerber (VUB/ULB) and Georges Wildemeersch (UA). Only unpublished texts of some length are published in the series.

literature, culture, bibliography, biography, editions

Key publications

• Wildemeersch Georges [edit.] - Het teken van de ram. Bijdragen tot de Clausstudie, De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1994, 252 p.; 1996, 268 p. and 1999, 290 p.
• Hugo Claus. Herbarium. Facsimile varianteneditie samengesteld en becommentarieerd door Georges Wildemeersch. Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven, 2001, 153 p.
• Wildemeersch Georges [edit.] - Hugo Claus ongezien, thema-aflevering Revolver 113, 28:4, Antwerpen, 2002, 132 p.

Senior academic staff members : G. Buelens, J. Joosten G. Wildemeersch

Total staff : 6

lectures

University of Antwerp
Faculty of Arts 
Universiteitsplein 1 
B-2018 Antwerpen 
tel  +32.3.820.27.79
fax +32.3.820.27.62
http://www.ua.ac.be/clauscentrum
georges.wildemeersch@ua.ac.be