The rise of the neo-avant-garde. A visual network analysis of Flemish literary magazines (1949–1959)

This article uses visual network analysis (VNA) of literary periodicals and published poets to map and trace the rise of the neo-avant-garde in Flanders between 1949 and 1959. By employing VNA, this study not only validates but also enriches existing literary-historical research, providing a more nuanced understanding of the period. The analysis challenges the traditional view that perceives experimental and traditional poetry as nearly independent and closed circuits. Instead, it uncovers significant and lasting connections between neo-avant-garde and established periodicals. Furthermore, community detection reveals the intricate interplay among neo-avant-garde, progressive, and conservative literary circuits. The neo-avant-garde scene is interwoven with the establishment through the early integration of experimental poets, the transition of poets and magazines toward neo-avant-garde aesthetics, and through emerging poets in search of their unique voices. Moreover, the fluid interplay between traditional and neo-avant-garde publication venues nuances the traditional literary-historical perspective of a radically antagonistic neo-avant-garde employing exclusion strategies against the establishment (and vice versa).