Tweants - Cultural Expressions in Tweants

Cultural Expressions in Tweants

The earliest form of written Tweants is a poem dating from the eighteenth century, although it is a rare example. Tweants, like the other Dutch Low Saxon dialects, has had a literary tradition since the nineteenth century when Romanticism sparked an interest in regional culture. Some of the better-known authors include:

• Johanna van Buren (poet, wrote in a Sallaans-Tweants border dialect)
• Theo Vossebeld (poet)
• Willem Wilmink (poet, songwriter)
• Herman Finkers (comedian)
• Anne van der Meijden (minister)

Since the start of the dialect renaissance, Tweants has increasingly been used as a written language, although this is still almost entirely reserved to the province of literature. Works have been translated into Tweants to stress that Tweants is as sophisticated and expressive as any other language, and to put its own aesthetic properties to use.

A renowned Dutch comedian, Herman Finkers, even translated his last shows into Tweants, using the motto "accentless at last", to indicate that he can finally sound natural by using his mother tongue, without someone mocking him about it. A number of comic books and a children's television programme have been translated into Tweants to critical success.

Reverend Anne van der Meijden, a long-standing promoter of the use of Tweants, has translated the Bible into Tweants on the basis of the original languages. He also preaches sermons in Tweants.

Twentse Welle, formerly the Van Deinse Instituut, in Enschede is an organisation that maps, monitors, promotes and develops teaching material for Tweants, Tweants identity and the culture of Twente.