Culture of Halandra

The culture of Halandra is diverse, with influences drawn from the many different immigrant communities that have come to call Halandra home. While other cultures view cultural diversity as a strength, Halandrians derive their sense of community from a sense of mixed unity. In other words, the mixture of cultures and ethnicities within Halandra's borders have come together to produce a unique culture unlike any other.

Literature

Halandra's literary work can be divided into three distinct periods. The early literary period of Halandra focuses on nature and frontier life. The second period is post-colonial literature, following independence in 1788. The third period is the modern era, starting in the post-war era.

Early Literature

Since Halandra's settling, poetry and prose works have thrived. The earliest author of note was Frank Witt (1720-1766), whose works focused primarily on nature and the countryside. Witt's output was impressive. During his short life he wrote forty-three sonnets, thirty one haiku, and six multi-page free-verse poems totalling more than five hundred lines. In the last ten years of Witt's life, as peasant rebellions began to flare, Witt began to move toward prose literature. He wrote three incomplete novels, including The Furnace, a novel dealing with a peasant family killed for association with the Voorhoede van Juli movement in Zeeland. Even in its incomplete form, The Furnace remains one of the most popular works in Halandra.

Post-Independence Literature

Following independence from the Netherlands, an unusually harsh winter caused a famine which killed thousands in the south of the country, prompting a mass-migration to the north. The literature of this period deals with the themes of death and loss, the migration, and hope for the future. What is striking about this period is the sense of optimism in the face of hardship.

At the time of the famine, Halandra's leaders were in the process of drafting the national constitution, representing the beginning of the formation of a universal Halandrian identity. This most likely accounts for the undertone of optimism in what were, by all other standards thoroughly bleak works of literature. Works that exemplify this early post-independence literature include De Rood Horizon (The Red Horizon) by Leo van Stratten (1778 - 1841).

After the worst of the famine passed in 1800 and the population recovered, literature focused on the early European immigrant experience. Irish-Halandrian Neville Fitzpatrick wrote Stranger Shores in 1820, a somewhat humourous chronicle of the life of an Irish immigrant couple navigating the precarious social landscape of multicultural Valerius and the Tolstoy-esque Halandrian bureaucracy.

Modern and Post-Modern Literature

Florian Wilhelmus (F.W.) Vauban is widely considered the greatest 20th century writer of Halandrian literature. Born in Sophia in 1899 and raised in Valerius from the age of eleven, Vauban wrote several influential works of literature, poetry and non-fiction, some of which was highly critical of the government, capitalism, and social darwinism. The most influential of Vauban's works is the Netherworld series, which chronicles the history of a fictional syndicate in Valerius's criminal underworld.

Florian Vauban International Airport in Valerius is named for the novelist and a large statue of him stands in Centennial Park.

The Japanese-Halandrian humourist and satirist Kuriyama Fudeko (1946 - ) is highly popular as well.

Music

Pop and Rock

Halandrian pop music has made a limited mark on the rest of the world but Halandrians take great pride in their home-grown musical talent and unique sound. Thriving underground scenes exist in Valerius, Sophia and Vissingenpolder and students make a hobby of circulating bootlegs and recordings of obscure artists and garage bands amongst themselves.

Major Artists and Hometowns

• Commercial Pop (Vissingenpolder)
• Drunken Tai Chi Master (Sheffield Crossing, Valerius)
• Sheffield Crossing (Sheffield Crossing, Valerius)
• St. Barnabas (St. Barnabas, Valerius)
• This Savage Land (Aeronafon, Valerius)
• Hannah Pedersen (Suiddorp, Valerius)
• Voorhoede van Voorhoede (Vissingenpolder)
• Yukio (Sophia)

Film

Halandrian cinema is renowned for its creativity. Famous directors such as Ludwig Hoshino, Paolo van Zant, and Petra Anderson have all made names for themselves. Cinema is extremely popular in Halandra. It is not uncommon for people to attend a screening once every two weeks. There are as many as six major national film festivals every year around Halandra, and the Valerius International Film Festival is a major international event in the world of cinema.

Food

Halandrian food is influenced by many different styles and cultures. Elements of Dutch, French, German and even Japanese and Chinese cuisine can be found in the fusion that characterises Halandrian cooking. Barbecue, a throwback to colonial and agrarian days, is widely popular. A typical Halandrian dinner may consist of spicy grilled seafood, vegetables, and rice.

The single quintessential dish is restenspot, a Zeelandse slang name that loosely translates as "leftovers stew." It's not unlike gumbo, with sausage or fish, beans, rice, onions, peppers, and any number of other ingredients. No two restenspots are the same.

Any food that could be considered truly "Halandrian" is hard to pin down. Most Halandrians are fond of the many different ethnic cuisines that are available. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, and American food are all extremely popular, possibly because of the sheer blandness of the sorts of foods considered "traditional" in Halandra.