Archive Johannes Elema

Number of the collection:

UBG 015

Call Number:

uklu Elema 015

Description of the archive made by: 

Frida van Til, 2023: 

Brief overview:

Name of the archive: 

J., Elema, (1904-1977), poet, professor of German literature

Dated: 

year: ca. 1960-1977

Size: 

8 archive boxes

Provenance:

Donation

Language of the materials:

Dutch, German, Latin, Gronings

Summary:

Archive: 

J. Elema, (1904-1977), poet, professor of German literature for the Middle Ages and the Newer Period in Groningen.

Institute: 

University of Groningen

Retainer: 

University Library, Special Collections

Provenance and acquisition: 

Biography:

Johannes Elema was born in 1904 in Leermens. He studied Germanic language and literature in Groningen, where he obtained a doctorate in 1937 for a thesis on the German poet Detlev von Liliencron. Between 1929 and 1957, Elema worked outside the province of Groningen as a secondary school teacher. In 1957, he was appointed professor of German literature for the Middle Ages and the Newer Period in Groningen. In 1970, he stepped down as professor in protest against the democratisation movement in university education, especially the reduction of the power of professors.

Elema's work was not limited to German literature. His great readership is particularly evident in his book Poetica. Perhaps his most characteristic work, which clearly shows his fascination, not with literary history in the strict sense, but with the theoretical foundations of literary theory and modern developments in its theorisation.

Apart from being a teacher and professor of High German language and literature, Elema also made himself known from a very different side: as a Groningen poet and Groningen regionalist. In 1925, he began publishing poems and short prose work in the Groningen language in Maandblad Groningen. 

After his death in 1977, some of his published and bequeathed work was collected and edited by Willem Diemer. (Hans Elema, poems). The Dutch-language work was published as ‘bequeathed poems’ in the collection Stad en Dorp.

Acquisition:

Donation

Future additions:

No future additions are expected

Contents and collation: 

The collections contains correspondence, notes, lecture materials, readings, draft versions of articles. The inventory adopts the layout Elema himself made. Notes that were together in a folder have been kept together in acid-free folders.

Instructions for users of the archive:

Accessibility

First of all, the archive is accessible for research purposes; furthermore for everyone interested in the archives.

Limitations to use

Material from this collection is for library use only. Consultation is subject to the Regulations for the Use of Library Facilities. Copying is subject to the rules of Copyright .

Accessing the archive

An inventory of the archive is available.

Use/ reproduction 

For conditions of use and reproduction, visit our website .

The copyright rests with the University of Groningen Library as owner of the collection.

Citations

When referencing (materials from) this archive, the following information must be provided in full at least once. After this, an abbreviated citation suffices.

Archive: University Library [name archive]
Individual items: Groningen UB [archive number]

Requests

The materials in this archive can be requested through SmartCat or by sending an email to the Special Collections department.