Zwarte Piet
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In the folklore and legends of the Netherlands and Flanders, Zwarte Piet (
pronunciation (help·info)) (meaning Black Peter) is a companion of Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas) whose yearly feast in the Netherlands is usually on the evening of 5 December (Sinterklaas-avond, that is St. Nicolas Eve) and 6 December in Flanders, when they distribute presents to all good children.
Zwarte Piet has counterparts in the folklore of other western cultures: these companions of Saint Nicholas are known by many names, among them: Rumpelklas, Buzebergt and Hans Muff; they also include the elfs aiding Santa Claus, a modern American composite of the Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas.
The character of Zwarte Piet appears only in the weeks before Saint Nicholas's feast, first when the saint is welcomed with a parade as he arrives in the country (in the Netherlands by steam boat, from Spain), and is mainly targeted at children, who come to meet the saint as he visits stores, schools etc. He is sometimes associated with Knecht Ruprecht, but in the Low Countries the tradition has not merged with Christmas.
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[edit] Appearance
At Zwarte Piet's first illustrational appearance around 1850, the character was depicted as a regular foreigner from southern Europe, as envisioned in that time, but within half a century Zwarte Piet inherited many of the classic darky icons, contemporaneous with the spread of darky iconography.[1] Blackfaced, googly-eyed, red-lipped Zwarte Piet dolls, die cuts and displays adorn store windows alongside brightly packaged and displayed, holiday merchandise.[2]
Due to its nature as a legend and the increased number of Pieten, Zwarte Piet is represented in many different ways with many different specialties, in a way comparable to Smurfs. Some examples include a wayguide Piet, a cooking Piet, a poem Piet and an acrobatic Piet.
[edit] History
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- 1845: Jan Schenkman writes Saint Nicholas and his Servant; Piet is described in this book as a servant and as black, and is depicted as a dark man wearing Asian-style clothes. Steamboat travel becomes part of the mythos from this point. In the 1850 version of Schenkman's book, they are depicted looking much as they do today. The servant gets his African origin but still has no standard name. In later editions Piet was shown in the page costume, the book stayed (with some changes) in print until 1950 and can be seen as the foundation of the current celebration, even though it did use a lot of older ideas and customs.
- Barring a very rare exception the relation between St. Nicholas and Pete has always been described as one between employer and employee, between boss and worker, never between owner and slave, although it is often described as between liberator and former slave.[citation needed] They are regarded as assistants, because Sinterklaas is too old to go through the entire country delivering gifts by himself.
- 1891: A book appears which names the servant Pieter, although there were several books giving him other names, and in live appearances the name and looks still varied considerably.
- In the early 20th century first the Civilized Standard Celebration for children with Zwarte Piet as the standard personal servant of the saint spread throughout the country [sentence does not make sense - clarify..]. In the 1930s urban adults become more involved too and the arrival of Saint Nicholas and Zwarte Piet are staged, which more or less explains the shift from the 6th to the 5th of December, as the adults would celebrate on the eve of the saint's day.
- 1945: The Second World War disrupted the tradition. After the war ended, it was difficult to stage the arrival of Saint Nicholas and Piet. However, with the much-needed assistance of the Canadian Army, four Jeeps were used. Although the idea of having more than one Saint Nicholas was attractive to the helpful Canadian soldiers, that would be an impossible break with the tradition, so instead of multiplying Saint Nicholas, his servants were multiplied. The paradigm shift opened possibilities to create (for TV and such) lots of different characters being "Zwarte Piet" at the same time. For example, there's a "Hoofd Piet" (Head Piet) who carries the book of Sinterklaas, "Rijm Piet" (Rhyme Piet), et cetera.
Dutch people will give each other presents at Sinterklaas (5 december). These presents are given anonymously, but are often accompagnied with witty poems (Sinterklaasgedicht) signed by "Rijm Piet" (Rhyme Piet) and are read out loud during Sinterklaas evening for the enjoyment of the ones assembled. This tradition resembles the "Saturnalia" feast of the Roman Empire. Often when during Sinterklaas time a someone does a repair job or gives a gift to solve a problem and wishes to keep a low profile, he will then answer "it comes from the (...repair) Piet" or whatever Piet they think is available for this good deed, and everybody except for the children in the room will know who it was.
[edit] Origin and evolution
According to myths current before the beginning of the 19th century, Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) operated by himself or in the companionship of a devil. (Having triumphed over evil, it was said that on Saint Nicholas Eve, the devil was shackled and made his slave.) A devil as a helper of the Saint can also still be found in Austrian Saint Nicholas tradition.
Some sources indicate that in Germanic Europe, Zwarte Piet originally was such an enslaved devil forced to assist his captor, but the character emerged in the 19th century within the Netherlands as a companion of Saint Nicholas resembling a Moor;[citation needed] Saint Nicholas is said to come from Spain.
The introduction of this new Zwarte Piet was paired with a change in the attitude of the Sinterklaas character that was often shown as being quite rough against bad children himself and thought unbefitting of a Bishop by teachers and priests. Soon after the introduction of Zwarte Piet as Sinterklaas' helper, both characters adapted to a softer character.[3]
Until the second half of the 20th century, Saint Nicholas' helper was not too bright, in line with the old colonial traditions. Once immigration started from the former colonised countries Zwarte Piet became a more respected assistant of Saint Nicholas.
According to the more modern Saint Nicholas legend, Zwarte Piet is a servant who accompanies Saint Nicholas on his holiday travels. In some versions, it is alleged that Saint Nicholas once liberated a young slave named Peter, who decided to serve Nicholas (as a free servant) rather than enjoy liberty alone. Zwarte Piet is today commonly depicted as a black man in the colorful pantaloons, feathered cap and ruffles of a Renaissance European page, a tradition based on a single illustration in a book published in 1850.
Zwarte Piet is often portrayed as a mischievous but rarely a mean-spirited character. Parents used to tell their children that if they have been good, Zwarte Piet will bring them gifts and sweets, but if they have been bad, Piet will scoop them up, stuff them in his huge dufflebag and spirit them away to Spain as punishment. Though this is increasingly uncommon nowadays, he can still carry some type of whip or scourge, especially a birch, which could be used for birching or in modern words, to chastise children who have been too naughty to deserve presents. The character is believed to have been derived from pagan traditions of evil spirits. Also told for decades is a story that the Zwarte Pieten are black because of chimney soot and/or in mockery of the darker Spanish occupiers of the Low Countries in centuries past.
The traditions of the Saint Nicholas feast are in part at least of medieval origin, if not much older. St. Nicholas himself, as described in the Dutch tradition shows some similarities to Wuotan/Odin, which suggests that the duo have a pre-Christian origin. Possible precursors to Zwarte Piet can be found in Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin.
[edit] Current affairs
During recent years the role of Zwarte Piet has become part of a recurring debate in the Netherlands. Present-day observations in the Netherlands under controversy include holiday revellers blackening their faces, wearing afro wigs and bright red lipstick, and walking the streets throwing candy to passers-by.
Accepted in the past without controversy in a once largely ethnically homogeneous nation, today Zwarte Piet is somewhat controversial and greeted with mixed reactions. Many Dutch see him as a cherished tradition and look forward to his annual appearance (In 2008 two foreign artists who wanted to discuss Zwarte Piet received threats). Other Dutch people detest him, seeing the character as an expression of racism. Opponents point to the fact that Zwarte Piet was created in an era (1850) when the practice of slavery, including by Dutch slavers, was relatively common. Observers outside the Netherlands also tend to see Zwarte Piet in terms of the history of slavery and blackface.
A lack of international awareness of the Zwarte Piet imagery is sometimes cited as a factor in the ongoing use of the character, as well as a general lack of organization in Dutch efforts to discontinue the imagery. During the annual celebration of Keti Koti, on the 1st of July, Emancipation Day remembering the end of slavery, there is always a healthy discussion about ending the Zwarte Piet tradition, since the amount of people against Zwarte Piet is steadily growing. In 2009 these discussions are being held in several cities during Keti Koti, like in the city of Leeuwarden where in 2009 for the first time there is a festival for Keti Koti as well. Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands has visited several Keti Koti festivals in the past and is expected to take part in this discussion again in 2009. His politcal party the CDA thinks that respect towards one another is very important and crucial in a modern society.
The lyrics of traditional Sinterklaas songs and some parents warn that Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet will leave well-behaved children presents, but punish those who have been naughty. They will kidnap bad children and carry these children off in a sack to their homeland of Spain, where, according to legend, Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet dwell out of season.
Foreign tourists, particularly Americans, often experience culture shock upon encountering the character. Since the last decade of the 20th century there have been several attempts to introduce a new kind of Zwarte Piet to the Dutch population. These Zwarte Pieten have replaced the traditional black make-up with all sorts of colours. These multi-colored Pieten are unpopular amongst the Dutch population and are not catching on.[4] In 2006 the NPS (en: Dutch Programme Foundation) replaced the black Pieten by these rainbow-coloured Pieten, but in 2007 they reverted to the traditional all-black Pieten.[5]
In 2008, on CBS's "The Early Show" and the NBC syndicated "The Martha Stewart Show", comedian Stephen Colbert cited the story of Black Peter and Sinterklaas as his preferred means of celebrating Christmas, proclaiming himself a "Christmas Originalist". The appearances coincided with the release of his Christmas special, "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!".
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Sinterklaas:Illustraties" (HTML). 1814-1948. http://www.kb.nl/uitgelicht/kinderboeken/sinterklaas/sinterklaas-ill.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- ^ Images at "Man, I Don't *Get* Zwarte Piet". http://web.archive.org/web/20070408195815/http://www.awfulgood.com/doa-archives/000212.php.
- ^ Booij, Frits. "Opzoek naar Zwarte Piet (in search of Zwarte Piet)" (HTML). http://www.sint.nl/html/history/lezing.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- ^ Charles Trueheart, 'Black Peter' a tradition that divides Dutch, Chicago Sun-Times, December 3, 1999. Accessed on the Internet Archive February 17, 2008, archived from FindArticles.com July 8, 2007.
- ^ (Dutch) Piet weer zwart ("Pete black again"), De Telegraaf, November 15, 2007. Accessed online February 17, 2008.
[edit] External links
- David Sedaris, Six To Eight Black Men
