{"id":80890,"date":"2017-10-07T12:42:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-07T10:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=80890"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:51","slug":"we-moeten-het-kinderlijk-denken-blijven-koesteren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/10\/07\/we-moeten-het-kinderlijk-denken-blijven-koesteren\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We need to cherish childlike thinking\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHanna van de Wetering<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Philosopher Awee Prins (1957) has written a children\u2019s book. Although he would have preferred this article didn\u2019t open that way. \u201cBecause you might as well follow that sentence up with \u2018What\u2019s next?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prins may be joking, but at the same time he\u2019s quite serious. Because De dag dat de zee weg was<\/em> (\u2018the day the sea was gone\u2019) is important to him. The story collection is a tribute to his wife, who passed away two years ago. The publication of this children\u2019s book is a ray of light in his mourning process: \u201cThis book was written out of love and published out of love. A very happy, festive occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHanna van de Wetering<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

In De dag dat de zee weg was<\/em>, Prins collected five stories that he used to tell his children Dylan and Duider. A rough version of the English edition has already been rounded off, and it will also be published in German and French. The illustrations are by famous children\u2019s book illustrator Th\u00e9 Tjong-Khing. Prins, who was a student in art school at one point, initially made his own drawings for the book. \u201cBut Awee Prins is hardly a household name in children\u2019s books. On top of which: Th\u00e9 Tjong-Khing is a true artist. He\u2019s in his eighties, so I feel honoured that he agreed to do it straight away.\u201d The result is a funny, absurdist book full of self-deprecating humour and surprising changes of perspective. Or as the illustrator puts it: stories for children aged 6 to 96.<\/p>\n

As we sit around the huge table that Prins works behind \u2013 stacked with books and with a big bowl of red grapes and a plate of olives for us to pick from \u2013 the author talks passionately about his book. When he was a child, his father would occasionally tell him stories too \u2013 during bath time. \u201cOccasionally, he would be so caught up in his story that he would keep scrubbing with his washcloth, which \u2013 for reasons unknown to me \u2013 was made of very rough fabric in those days. By the time I went to bed, my bottom used to be bright red from scrubbing,\u201d Prins says with a smile. But he no longer remembers what those stories were actually about. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s another reason why I wrote down my stories. I didn\u2019t particularly intend to publish them. Rather, I planned to show them again to my children later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

No moralising<\/h3>

Prins stresses that he hasn\u2019t written a philosophical children\u2019s book. It is neither a philosophy book for children nor a children\u2019s book with a serious, philosophical message. Although every now and then, the stories do have the hint of a moral. One of the protagonists, \u2018Oinky, the piglet who needed a bath\u2019, is addicted to mud. \u201cIf children who read my stories start using drugs later on, and at some point realise \u2018Jeez, I\u2019m turning into Oinky!\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019d be pleased to hear that, to be honest. But I don\u2019t want to moralise: all I want to do is show life in all its dimensions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stories do give a clear nod to philosophy, though, and Prins isn\u2019t afraid to laugh at himself as father and philosopher. For example, in the title story \u2018The Day the Sea was gone\u2019, an octopus dives into his bookcase to check whether the sea can actually be gone, while he could have observed as much by simply looking outside. \u201cThat\u2019s the philosopher or scientist in the worst sense: a cloistered academic who sticks to reading and glossing on articles \u2013 without ever venturing into the real world.\u201d In another story, a \u2018wise bear\u2019 holding a lecture acts as if he has all the answers \u2013 even though the solution he proposes is both idiotic and completely illogical. It still makes Prins laugh. \u201cI wanted to show my children how out of touch people can be. Because as a philosopher, you don\u2019t necessarily want your children to become philosophers too.\u201d He adds with some pride: \u201cNevertheless, they both went on to study Philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perspectivism<\/h3>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018Our childhood is far more than simply preparing for adulthood\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

It\u2019s precisely this light-hearted tone that doubles as the stories\u2019 message. And not just for children; also for adults. The moral being? \u201cThat youth is a celebration of perspectivism, which in the best scenario, we continue to cherish. For children, \u2018all voices count\u2019, and something can be true and false at the same time.\u201d Later on in life, according to Prins, we try to stifle this childlike way of thinking and grow out of it as quickly as possible. \u201cThe other day, I read in an academic study that childhood should actually be seen as our \u2018Research and Development\u2019 department. I find that disturbing, to be honest. Our childhood is far more than simply preparing for adulthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

One example that Prins offers his first-year students is the question \u2018What is a landscape?\u2019 \u201cFor a farmer, it is where he herds his livestock and grows his crops. For a couple in love, it\u2019s where they can find a pleasant and secluded place to meet. For a hiker, it\u2019s a place of beauty that he can walk through and admire. And for a surveyor, it\u2019s an area that you can measure. All these perspectives are simultaneously true, depending on your premises. \u201cThe nice thing about children\u2019s way of thinking is that they adopt all these perspectives \u2013 \u2018all voices count\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mixed thinking<\/h3>

According to Prins, we need to take care not to lose sight of this perspectivism and all become \u2018surveyors\u2019. \u201cAt university, we put far too much emphasis on solely training our neocortex. Everyone is learning how to \u2018measure\u2019 and is expected to become a critical \u2018world citizen\u2019. While criticism \u2013 like irony, scepticism and cynicism \u2013 is above all a means to detach oneself from a subject. The word \u2018criticism\u2019 comes from the Greek \u2018krinein\u2019, which means \u2018to distinguish\u2019.\u201d In contrast, Prins advocates dedication rather than criticism, and argues for \u2018mixed thinking\u2019: the awareness that things are inherently diffuse; that everything is a question of accents and perspective. \u201cChildren still have this state of mixed thinking. It\u2019s a quality that we \u2013 wrongly \u2013 do our utmost to leave behind us when we grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHanna van de Wetering<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Which is not to say that Prins wants us to endlessly protract our childhood, or put it on a pedestal. His main point is that we should realise that time and time again, we try to reduce the world around us to problems and solutions \u2013 even though this is by no means the full story. \u201cThere\u2019s this nice quote by Peter Sloterdijk: \u2018Adulthood is something that comes after desperation.\u2019 I think that at a certain point, children find out that they aren\u2019t able or allowed to persevere in this mixed thinking. They struggle with this during adolescence and the \u2018quarter-life crisis\u2019. Adulthood is a crude answer to this question, by suddenly becoming very detached, business-like and critical. But life isn\u2019t as easy as adulthood wants you to believe: it\u2019s far more complicated and vague.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy ending<\/h3>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018All parents have mixed feelings about their children and \u2013 no less important \u2013 all children have mixed feelings about their parents\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Virtually anything that can go wrong does go wrong in Prins\u2019s stories. \u201cAfter reading the book, my youngest son Duider said: \u2018Daddy, I don\u2019t remember it being so heavy.\u2019 Indeed, this can be heavy going for a kid: a prawn who dreams that he\u2019s lying on a barbecue, then wakes up to discover that the sea has disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n

And even heavier: in one of the stories, the parents of \u2018Clever Hans\u2019 have taken off to become happy themselves \u2013 rather than keep focusing on the happiness of their children. \u201cSure, that\u2019s incredibly hard-hearted, but true nonetheless. Everyone keeps parroting each other about how \u2018every parent loves his or her children\u2019 and \u2018only wants the best for them\u2019, and that \u2018having a child is the most wonderful moment of your life\u2019. But that\u2019s only half the story. All parents have mixed feelings about their children and \u2013 no less important \u2013 all children have mixed feelings about their parents. As I wrote in \u2018Clever Hans\u2019: \u201cIn real life, you hardly ever have a happy ending; the only things with an ending are rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why do the stories all have a happy ending then? \u201cTo be honest, some time ago, I woke up bathing in sweat with that exact worry on my mind. But come on: a children\u2019s book that has some arthouse theme \u2013 where the worst is always just around the corner, breaking the beloved protagonist in the process \u2013 who would want to inflict that on a kid?\u201d Smiling: \u201cThey have to be able to sleep after reading one of these stories! It\u2019s great enough if children enjoy the idea that things can turn out very differently than you would think or expect. And that something can go completely wrong and then occasionally \u2013 and sometimes even simultaneously \u2013 turn out for the best anyway. That may be my only concession to na\u00efve thinking \u2013 to the utopian reasoning of criticism and science. The idea that everything will continue to improve and turn out right. Even I am affected by \u2018Hollywooditis\u2019 to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\t
\n\t\t

De dag dat de zee weg was<\/em> was published by De Bezige Bij in mid-September. The book presentation will be held on Saturday 7 October at Donner. On Tuesday 10 October, Prins will be a guest on Studio Erasmus to talk about his new book.<\/p>\n

Price: \u20ac 17,99<\/p>\n

EAN: 9789023463313<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t