TY - JOUR AB - <p>This article deals with the Flemish cult-writer J.M.H. Berckmans (1953-2008). In contrast<br>to the existing attention for the marginal existence of the author or the influence of jazz-music<br>on his writing, my analysis will focus on the author’s articulation of the theme of<br>madness. Relying on methodological insights of discourse analysis, and the theory of posture<br>littéraire in particular, i.e. the way in which the author himself creates an image of the<br>writing subject J.M.H. Berckmans through the use of interviews in popular magazines like<br>Humo and through his (auto)fictional oeuvre, brings to the fore a complex functioning of<br>madness. I will argue that next to granting the author authority and credibility to write<br>about madness as he emphasizes his own madness, madness also serves as the polar opposite<br>of the lucidity of the writing process itself and the reading strategy the author suggests.<br>Berckmans uses the popular image of the manic-depressive and the schizophrenic to<br>strengthen this trichotomy while employing the discursive possibilities of interviews and<br>fiction. In addition, Berckmans creates a profile of his reading public as a ‘dumb’ audience<br>and emphasizes underestimation as an essential part of his literary posture.</p> AU - Arnout De Cleene DA - 2011/2// DO - 10.21825/kzm.v65i0.17594 IS - 0 VL - 65 PB - Koninklijke Zuid-Nederlandse Maatschappij voor Taal- en Letterkunde en Geschiedenis PY - 2011 TI - Het meest complete mafke: De functie van waanzin in het postuur van J.M.H. Berckmans T2 - Handelingen - Koninklijke Zuid-Nederlandse maatschappij voor taal- en letterkunde en geschiedenis UR - https://openjournals.ugent.be/kzm/article/id/72008/ ER -