When Was the Nation ? Golden Ages and Identities

Arreu d’Europa, el nacionalismeromàntic tendia, en la seva faseinicial, a desenvolupar una enyorançamedievalista. Això prengué unaforma específica en aquelles àrees on,durant l’època feudal, havien estatreialmes independents, i que varenperdre aquesta independència feudalcom a conseqüència del procés demodernització. Contrastaré exemplesde reflexions literàries sobre «la pèrduade la sobirania» escrites a Escòcia,Polònia, Hongria i Catalunya, per talde correlacionar la seva aparició, comtambé la seva obsolescència en fasesposteriors de desenvolupament

Heart to Heart: The Power of Lyrical Bonding in Romantic Nationalism

In nineteenth-century nation-building, the textual genres investigated by researchers are usually long-distance, mediated ones, such as journalism and the novel. This article attempts to assess the function of a much more intimate literary genre, the lyrical, in that process. Lyricism was a central poetical element in Romanticism; its emotive, affect-centered mode was seen as specifically “immediate”, non-mediatized and deeply personal (and therefore non-political). How could this register aid the formation of self-defining national communities? The article suggests a special role for female poets and a privileged position of the lyrical in the interplay between print-disseminated literature and oral-performative literature, in shaping the nation as an “emotive community”

Notes toward a Definition of Romantic Nationalism

While the concept ‘Romantic nationalism’ is becoming widespread, its current usage tends to compound the vagueness inherent in its two constituent terms, Romanticism and nationalism. In order to come to a more focused understanding of the concept, this article surveys a wide sample of Romantically inflected nationalist activities and practices, and nationalistically inflected cultural productions and reflections of Romantic vintage, drawn from various media (literature, music, the arts, critical and historical writing) and from different countries. On that basis, it is argued that something which can legitimately be called ‘Romantic nationalism’ indeed took shape Europe-wide between 1800 and 1850. A dense and intricately connected node of concerns and exchanges, it affected different countries, cultural fields, and media, and as such it takes up a distinct position alongside political and post-Enlightenment nationalism on the one hand, and the less politically-charged manifestationsof Romanticism on the other. A possible definition is suggested by way of theconclusion: Romantic nationalism is the celebration of the nation (defined by its language, history, and cultural character) as an inspiring ideal for artistic expression; and the instrumentalization of that expression in ways of raising the political consciousness

Rebirth of a nation or 'The incomparable toothbrush': the origin story and narrative regeneration in Sri Lanka

I examine the post-Independence role of Sri Lanka’s origin story, revealing the ways in which the foundational myth of the Mahavamsa functions as a conflicted site of cultural ‘encompassment’ (Kapferer) in literary and political discourse. Through an analysis of the fiction of Tissa Abeysekara, Carl Muller and the assassinated president Ranasinghe Premadasa, I show how the scripting of this myth in fiction reveals a shift from the celebratory drives of nationalism to a critique of patriotism in a way that both reflects and anticipates a broader paradigmatic shift in the construction of belonging and the outsider found in post-war Sri Lanka

“Of every land the guest”: Aubrey de Vere’s travels

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Studies in Travel Writing on 01/06/2016, available online: doi: 10.1080/13645145.2016.1169589The experience of travel, the figure of the traveller, the relationship between landscape and nationality, and a complex attitude towards colonization are extremely important in the poetry and prose of Aubrey de Vere. Alongside ideas of emigration and exile in the Irish context, the wider intellectual and spiritual significance of travel is explored in poems such as ‘A Farewell to Naples’, ‘Lines Written Under Delphi’, or ‘A Wanderer’s Musings at Rome’, and in de Vere’s travel book Picturesque Sketches of Greece and Turkey (1850). De Vere’s ideal traveller must be hardy, embracing “an emancipation from the bondage of comforts”, and reining in his exuberant Romantic sensibility with careful “management of the mind” and “moral temperance”. This is very far removed from “that universal nuisance”, the Philistine Englishman abroad, of whom he is reminded all too frequently, particularly in Greece and in the Ionian islands, a British protectorate. But de Vere’s self-definition against the English traveller begins to unravel in Constantinople, where he embraces a new national identity as a Frank among an alien people. His experiences in the East also redefine his understanding of Ireland as “an Eastern nation in the West”

Imagology: On using ethnicity to make sense of the world

International audienceThis article outlines the theory and method of imagology, the discursive study of ethnotypes (stereotypical attributions of national character). Imagology has a respectable history and academic presence, but adjustments are needed in the light of recent developments. These include: [a] the replacement of the national-modular categorization of literary traditions by a polysystemic approach; [b] the decline of print fiction as a the premier narrative medium, and the rise of film, TV, and other media; [c] the realization that ethnotypes are often encountered in occluded form (deployed ironically or as "meta-images"; or in a «banal» or latent background presence, as dormant frames); [d] new, «intersectional» notions of identity formation; [e] the demise of Eurocentrism and the rise of postnationalism. While these emerging challenges call for an adjustment of imagological analysis, the present climate of identity politics also demonstrates an ongoing, indeed urgent need to address what remains the core business of imagology: deconstructing the discourse of national and ethnic essentialism.Cet article décrit la théorie et la méthode de l’imagologie, l’étude discursive des ethnotypes (attributions stéréotypiques de caractéristiques nationales). Historiquement et dans le monde universitaire, l’imagologie jouit d’une respectabilité indéniable, mais des ajustements sont nécessaires en raison de certaines évolutions récentes. Ces évolutions comprennent : a) Le remplacement de la catégorisation modulaire nationale des traditions littéraires par une approche polysystémique ; b) Le déclin des ouvrages de fiction imprimés en tant que support narratif dominant, face au développement des films, de la télévision et d’autres médias ; c) Le constat que les ethnotypes sont souvent présents de façon cachée (employés de façon ironique ou comme « méta-images » ; ou encore sous forme de présence « banale » ou latente en arrière-plan, comme cadres implicites) ; d) De nouvelles notions « intersectionnelles » quant à la constitution de l’identité ; e) La fin de l’eurocentrisme et la montée du postnationalisme. Ces remises en question nécessitent évidemment un réajustement de l’analyse imagologique, mais le contexte actuel des politiques identitaires démontre également qu’il continue d’être nécessaire, et même urgent, de s’attaquer à ce qui reste le cœur de l’imagologie : la déconstruction du discours essentialiste sur la nation et l’ethnicité

Note per una definizione del nazionalismo romantico Notes towards a definition of romantic nationalism

Sebbene il concetto di «nazionalismo romantico» stia diventando sempre più diffuso, il suo utilizzo corrente tende ad accentuare la vaghezza inerente ai due termini che ne sono costitutivi, il Romanticismo e il nazionalismo. Il fine di questo articolo è di delineare il concetto in maniera più chiara e definita, e a tale scopo viene qui preso in esame un vasto campione di attività e pratiche nazionaliste declinate in chiave romantica e di produzioni e riflessioni culturali di epoca romantica declinate in chiave nazionalistica provenienti da vari paesi e tratte da diversi tipi di media (letteratura, musica, arti, storiografia e critica). Su tale base si sostiene qui che un fenomeno legittimamente definibile come “nazionalismo romantico” abbia effettivamente preso forma in tutta Europa fra il 1800 e il 1850. Si tratta di un nodo denso e aggrovigliato di connessioni di interessi e di scambi che influenzò diversi paesi, ambiti culturali e media e che in quanto tale occupa una posizione distinta a fianco del nazionalismo post-illuminista da un lato e delle manifestazioni politicamente meno scottanti del Romanticismo dall’altro. A mo’ di conclusione viene proposta una possibile definizione: il nazionalismo romantico è la celebrazione della nazione (definita dalla sua lingua, dalla sua storia e dal suo carattere culturale) come ideale ispiratore dell’espressione artistica e l’utilizzo di tale espressione nelle modalità di elevamento della coscienza politica. While the concept «Romantic nationalism» is becoming widespread, its current usage tends to compound the vagueness inherent in its two constituent terms, Romanticism and nationalism. In order to come to a more focused understanding of the concept, this article surveys a wide sample of Romantically inflected nationalist activities and practices, and nationalistically inflected cultural productions and reflections of Romantic vintage, drawn from various media (literature, music, the arts, critical and historical writing) and from different countries. On that basis, it is argued that something which can legitimately be called ‘Romantic nationalism’ indeed took shape Europe-wide between 1800 and 1850. A dense and intricately connected node of concerns and exchanges, it affected different countries, cultural fields, and media, and as such it takes up a distinct position alongside political and post-Enlightenment nationalism on the one hand, and the less politically-charged manifestations of Romanticism on the other. A possible definition is suggested by way of the conclusion: Romantic nationalism is the celebration of the nation (defined by its language, history, and cultural character) as an inspiring ideal for artistic expression; and the instrumentalization of that expression in ways of raising the political consciousness