Belgitude

Belgitude is "a term that represents [the] new approach to francophone Belgium specificity [that emerged] in the 1970s and 1980s".^[1] It involved the extent of the questioning identity of Belgians with the sense of self-mockery that characterizes them. The term was coined in 1976, by Pierre Mertens and Claude Jevaeu in as issue of the Nouvelles littéraires called "L'autre Belgique".^[1] It alludes to the concept of blackness expressed by Leopold Sedar Senghor. The Belgian identity is seen as an "hollow" identity: it is defined mostly by what it is not. For example, the Belgian is neither French, Dutch or German. At the time of the term's coinage, it was not accepted by the general population, and the term seemed to have "more cultural than political weight". At the time, belgitude could be synonymous with marginality.^[1]

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