This article was originally published in Dutch on the platform Neerlandistiek, which focuses on Dutch language and literature. You can read the original Dutch version here.
50 Years of Srefidensi: Suriname in Global Dutch Studies
On November 25, Suriname celebrates 50 years of independence. Dutch studies in the US paid attention to this at the Interdisciplinary Conference for Netherlandic Studies (ICNS) in June and at the De Vries-VanderKooy Memorial Lecture (University of Michigan) in October. In this article, Denice Gravenstijn and Annemarie Toebosch discuss independence, the first Surinamese-Dutch curriculum in the U.S., and the importance of a strong position of Suriname in global Dutch Studies.
Annemarie: What does 50 years of Surinamese independence mean to you?
Denice: Fifty years of Srefidensi—the Sranan Tongo term for independence—is something that touches me deeply. I was born after independence, my sister just before, in September 1975. Around that time, my mother was given a choice: move to the Netherlands and become Dutch, or stay and be a Surinamer – and claim our freedom. My mother chose Suriname. Our family's story is similar to that of so many Surinamese who took the step towards a new, uncertain but hopeful future of sovereignty and self-determination.
Growing up in independence taught me what it means to imagine our own future, to celebrate who we are in all our differences, and to build a country grounded in respect – lespeki – and unity. As a Surinamese immigrant in the US, I now look at this with different eyes. I feel what it means to have grown up in a free country, while in the US—a settler colony—so many people are still marginalized by descendants of Europeans. Colonialism has not disappeared here; it has a new face. In Suriname, decolonization is an ongoing process, a way of reclaiming our identities beyond the legacy of colonialism. For fifty years, Suriname has been forging its own path so that our culture—and Surinamese Dutch—proudly takes its place on the world stage now. Srefidensi is more than a commemoration; it is progress. It is freedom in motion.
Annemarie: Dr. Shanti Venetiaan, chair of the board of Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeK), delivered our De Vries – VanderKooy Memorial Lecture in October. Can you tell us a bit more about her visit?
Denice: At the end of September, I had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Venetiaan to the University of Michigan. Born in Suriname under Dutch colonial rule, Dr. Venetiaan went to study mathematics in the Netherlands after high school. Unlike most of her fellow students, she returned to Suriname after receiving her doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. As the first female chair of AdeK and founding dean of AdeK's Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, she has influenced the academic future of Suriname over the past 25 years. During her visit, she met with deans and heads of centers to strengthen the ties between our institutions. In my class, where I had been the only Surinamese person my students had ever met, she gave students a new perspective on Suriname.
During a tour of Detroit, Dr. Venetiaan visited the Monument of the Underground Railroad, the last "station" before escaped enslaved people reached their freedom in Canada. It reminded me of the Maroons in Suriname who escaped from the plantations, and also of the Dutch roots of American slavery. The histories of Suriname, the Netherlands, and the United States are closely intertwined.
Dr. Venetiaan's lecture "Suriname 50 Years Srefidensi: Journey of a Small, Multi-Ethnic Nation" was the highlight of the week. After the performance of the Surinamese national anthem by university carillonist Dr. Tiffany Ng, Dr. Venetiaan explained what the line "Hoe Wij Hier Ook Samen Kwamen" (no matter how we came here together) has meant for a free Suriname. As the daughter of Ronald Venetiaan, three-term President of Suriname who led our country through turbulent years of change, she embodied the highest ideals of public service and national unity in her lecture. Her words touched many deeply.
Denice: In June, we were panelists at the ICNS conference. How did this panel connect with the decolonization of our Dutch program?
Annemarie: This year, the American Association for Netherlandic Studies (AANS) made the decision to devote special attention to Suriname in its ICNS conference at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. As AANS president, Herman de Vries, previously wrote in Mondiaal Neerlandistiek, two academics from Suriname were invited with generous support from the Stichting Koningin Wilhelmina Professoraat. Rita Tjien Fooh (Nationaal Archief Suriname and AdeK) and Hilde Neus (AdeK) joined us in presenting the panel "Srefidensi: Suriname at 50." The panel highlighted Suriname as an example of resilience in a changing world. This ties in perfectly with what we do in our Minor in Dutch Language and Culture, a program that prioritizes the former and current colonized world.
Annemarie: Dutch is the language of three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, but Dutch studies remains primarily focused on the Low Countries. How are you changing the balance?
Denice: In response to the new Minor program, a position for a second instructor was created at our institution with the requirement that the candidate speak one or more languages of the colonized world in addition to Dutch. A native speaker of Sranan Tongo and Surinamese Dutch, I was hired two years ago to design our new Surinamese Dutch curriculum.
It's quite the task. There are no teaching methods for Surinamese Dutch, so I am building my curriculum from scratch using authentic Surinamese materials such as De Taalgym (language gym) and 10 Minuten Jeugdjournaal (10 minute youth news). A group of guest lecturers have visited my courses in the past years, including Rita Tjien Fooh and Hilde Neus, Mirella Nankoe and Kirtie Algoe (AdeK), Jo-Ann Monsels (Kinderuniversiteit Suriname), and Christa Wongsodikromo (researcher on Javanese Suriname).
To both of us: In the spring of 2026, we will be taking a group of students to Suriname. What will we be doing on this study abroad trip and what do we hope will result from this?
Annemarie: We have received a grant from the university that will allow ten students to travel to Suriname for two weeks, at little or no charge to the student. The study abroad trip will focus on language, culture, and religion. I teach Jewish Studies in addition to Dutch, and I will be taking our students to Jodensavanne, the Arya Dewaker temple, the Neve Shalom synagogue, and the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Mosque. I have never been to Suriname and will learn as much as our students will.
Denice: Students will collaborate with AdeK, Kinderuniversiteit Suriname, and other local organizations. Learning within the language area is irreplaceable. I will help my students deepen their knowledge of linguistic diversity, from Surinamese Dutch and Sranan Tongo to Sarnámi Hindustani, Javanese Surinamese, the Maroon languages, and the indigenous languages that I myself studied at AdeK during and after college. In organizing the trip, I have come to understand that I have never been to the Netherlands and need to go there soon to better understand the world of Netherlands Dutch.
In closing: Colonialism took away and continues to take away the voices and stories of the colonized world. In the US, we have the saying "Nothing about me without me." It is important that Suriname tells its own story, directly and not through the Netherlands. Hopefully, we in the US can be an example for a just and equitable role for Suriname in global Dutch studies.
