HERE STANDS OUR MLADIC: An Analysis of the Debate surrounding the Statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Hoorn between 2011 and 2020.

Abstract

In this thesis I examine the way the discourse surrounding the statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Hoorn has changed between 2011 and 2020 and how this has influenced the local political attitude towards the statue. The presentation of the Coen statue in public media and the Westfries Museum has changed dramatically over the past nine years. Contextualisation and problematization of the statue in the discourse created by these institutions have developed in relation to the shifting focus of the societal debate on colonial heritage. The debate surrounding the Coen statue has increasingly become part of a broader discussion on racism and inequality. Consequently, the political attitude has shifted significantly and support for the removal of the statue is growing. This thesis attempts to examine and explain these developments in the attitude towards colonial heritage objects such as this statue, contributing to larger debates in the field of colonial heritage and memory. By approaching the debate on colonial heritage from a new perspective and looking at the influence of heritage institutions and public media on the perception of and political attitude towards such heritage, I try to shed a new light on the way European communities deal with controversial objects from their past.