The School of Sade traces the literary legacy of D.A.F. Marquis de Sade in Dutch and Flemish literature from the 1960s onward. The project explores both the reception of Sade as well as the extent to which the representation of literary sadism conveys distinct value-systems concerning sex and sexuality. The analysis generates insight into how authors inscribed themselves in a Sadean tradition and, more specifically, to what extent the deployment of sexual sadism challenges and/or reinforces societal and cultural norms regarding sex. By examining a large corpus of Dutch and Flemish authors – both canonical and lesser-known – who have drawn on Sade’s work in essays, narrative fiction, and translations, the current project establishes literary sadism as the means par excellence through which narrative agents are invited to renegotiate (sexual) values. Drawing on
methodological approaches from the fields of narrative ethics and rhetorical narratology, the project explores the complex interplay between freedom and constraint that is inherent to sadism, both on an individual and a societal level, and hence sheds new light on an era that has widely been applauded as the era of sexual liberation.