In the aftermath of the Great Revolution, the borders of
Europe were redrawn during the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15).
Borders were not only geographical and political, but also social and
conceptual. New social ladders appeared, and the Bildungsbürgertum assumed a
strong voice in defining cultural borders. Simultaneously, transitions in
regional conceptualisations took place, with Northern, Southern, and Eastern
parts of Europe positioned onto the margins in relation to such centres as
Paris, Berlin and Vienna. On the other hand, those on the margin started to
construct their own peripheries and to draw their own maps in their search for
a folk culture. In the early nineteenth century the discourses on both space
and time were negotiated anew due to the rise of modern geography and
historical writing. Simultaneously the increase in travelling and the impact of
industrial capitalism contested the national borders drawn in the Congress of Vienna.
The anthropologist and historian James Clifford has
argued that every culture is “a travelling culture” by definition; that is,
there is no culture without movement. Keeping this idea in mind, it is
particularly important to focus on early nineteenth century Europe, where the
idea of ‘travelling’ was especially vital, to consider the cultural and
conceptual ramifications of the social and political turmoil of the time and to
focus on the locational imagination surrounding the concept of culture. This
does not only refer to simultaneous regions or entities, both of which exist
synchronically. Cultural maps are always transparent and cumulative in the
sense that earlier maps, their sites, and itineraries are subsumed under the
more recent and visible ones. This book aims at making visible the notions of
culture, civilisation, and Bildung with respect to particular cultural maps.
The chapters of the book can focus, for example, on the
following themes:
►
What were the sites of culture, civilisation and Bildung and how were these
sites employed in defining these concepts?
►
What kind of borders did this process of definition and its inherent spatial
imagination produce?
►
What were the connecting routes between the supposed centres and the
peripheries in early nineteenth-century Europe, and
►
What were the strategies of envisioning, negotiating and transforming cultural
territories in early nineteenth-century Europe?
The book is based on the research project Travelling
Notions of Culture, funded by the Academy of Finland. We have already chapters
drawing especially on Nordic, German and Italian examples. Now we welcome
proposals for additional chapters on the above themes. We also welcome new
ideas and openings related to the book’s rationale. We would be especially
pleased to receive submissions on Eastern European, Mediterranean, French and
British perspectives.
Timetable
Deadline for abstracts (250 words): 31 May 2014
Author meeting (optional): September 2014
Deadline for draft articles (c. 8000 words, incl. notes
and bibliography): December 2014
Deadline for final manuscripts: May 2015
Publication: Spring 2016
Inquiries and submissions: Hannu Salmi, hansalmi@utu.fi