Evelien Jonckheere is the winner of the 2007 Flemish Dissertation Award

(Zellik, 18- 12- 2007) Evelien Jonckheere from Langemark is the winner of the 2007 Flemish Dissertation Award.  Jonckheere, a graduating student in the study of the Arts at the University of Ghent, blew away the jury with her dissertation on variety theatres in Ghent from 1880 to 1914.

In her dissertation, Evelien Jonckheere shows that the Ghent variety theatres definitely measure up to our modern 'glimpse culture', in which the passion for what is real and the passion for what is not, seem to balance each other out in a paradoxical manner. The jury feels it does Jonckheere credit she did not choose the easy way out.

"Reconstructing every day life in the 19th century must have been quite difficult. The fact that she did not walk the beaten paths, but used unprecedented sources can only be encouraged.

Evelien has succeeded in drawing out a detailed overview of the vibrant social happenings during the late 19th century. By describing the history of the Ghent amusement scene, she revives the memory of a forgone era and gives her dissertation an extra dimension. Not only does she describe the Ghent burlesque scene, she also illustrates how life was like in a medium-sized Flemish city at the turn of the century.

While the author is digging into the past, she creates an image of man as a 'self-entertaining' human being. Although the 19th century inhabitant of Ghent entertained himself differently and although his taste might have been bizarre, he did not differ all that much from us today. Jonckheere shows the perfectly analogous world of variety theatre, with its 'trompe l'oeils de rare machines' (trick the eye), its extravagant performances, vulgarities and promiscuous grey areas.

Evelien Jonckheere has told her story with the amazement of a modern historian living in the digital era. With her critical tone, her substantive ambition and a large curiosity, she exceeds the level of narrative historiography and follows the line of the 'nouvelle histoire'.   This is what makes Evelien Jonckheere the well-deserved winner of the 2007 Flemish Dissertation Award".
 
The winner of the 2007 Flemish Dissertation Award receives a cheque of 2500 euros.