Negentiende-eeuwse Nederlandse toneelbewerkingen van Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables

Theatrical Adaptations of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables in 19th-century Netherlands In the field of Adaptation Studies, in Anglo-Saxon countries and even more in the Netherlands, filming and not theatrical adaptation is focus of attention. In this article – a case study on Dutch theatrical adaptations of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables – is shown what this type of historical research into ‘page-to-stage’ appropriations can yield. In the 1860s adaptations of Hugo’s famous novel received a lot of attention in Dutch newspapers. Most reviewers seem to sympathise with the social criticism, manifested in Les Misérables. The critical debate over this type of theatrical adaptations is enlightening for scholars interested in the grey area between popular and more elitist culture.