oa De Leeuw van Babel

Hendrik Conscience’s historical novel, The Lion of Flanders survived in the first place as an adaptation for the youth not only in the Dutch language area but also in the whole of Europe. This article examines how Conscience’s masterpiece functioned in different contexts. The article therefore focuses on the youth adaptations in Dutch, German and Hungarian. More specifically, it will give an answer to questions such as how and why this novel was published as a book for young readers and how it was adapted to the specific contexts mentioned above. The main focus of the research is the national theme, which stood central with Conscience. Attention is paid in the analyses both to the paratexts and to the adjustments of the national theme at macro- and microlevels. Finally, the results will be interpreted on the basis of the systemic contexts. The research sheds light on how different motivations can lead to very different approaches to the nationalist message.