Author Event: The Dutch World of Washington Irving with Dr. Elisabeth Funk

Meet Elisabeth Paling Funk, author of The Dutch World of Washington Irving, which tells an alternative origin story of American literary culture. Funk explores what the young Irving would have read, heard, and observed during his early life and career in New York City, once part of the former colony of New Netherland, where he was surrounded by Dutch-speaking neighbors and relatives and Dutch literature. Based on these sources, The Dutch World of Washington Irving argues that Irving's Knickerbocker works—not only his History but also his Hudson Valley stories—represent a crucial effort to preserve Dutch life and folk customs in the Hudson Valley in the face of Anglo-Americanization.

In Knickerbocker's History of New York, first published on Saint Nicholas Day 1809, Washington Irving introduced the Dutch Saint Nicholas as patron saint and folk hero, changed his appearance, and manipulated his character traits. This presentation will concentrate on the highlights of this process. Irving's adoption of the Dutch "Sinterklaas" is responsible for the survival of what was originally a transplanted regional celebration among New Yorkers of Dutch descent into the nationally cherished American Santa Claus.

Copies of The Dutch World of Washington Irving will be available for purchase during the event and a portion of the sales will support the Ten Broeck Mansion. Donations to support the Ten Broeck Mansion are gratefully appreciated.

2 pm: Author Presentation & facilitated Q&A from audience.

2:45 pm Book signing and refreshments/reception on the Ten Broeck Mansion porch to follow. Event concludes at 3 pm.

Advanced registration is required since space is limited. Please cancel your registration if you are not able to attend so that others may.

To make your visit enjoyable and safe for all:

1) By car: please park in our Livingston Avenue lot, GPS address 136 Livingston Avenue, Albany NY. Free off-street parking. Our historic neighborhood has sidewalks for easy pedestrian access. See our website for information on public transportation.

2) Please wear comfortable shoes for walking on historic, sometimes uneven surfaces (no spike heels). Bags should be smaller than a backpack. Please no touching of historic museum collections, and no food may be brought into the Ten Broeck Mansion. Water (in bottles) may be brought into historic museum spaces.

About the Author:

Born in the Netherlands, Elisabeth Paling Funk received her PhD from Fordham University, taught English at the university level, and is now a translator, editor, and independent scholar. Her articles on Dutch and Dutch-American literature have been published in the Netherlands and America. She lives in the Hudson Valley.

Image captions: book cover, The Dutch World of Washington Irving courtesy of Cornell University Press(detail). Below: author Elisabeth Paling Funk, courtesy author; book coverThe Dutch World of Washington Irving courtesy of Cornell University Press

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