Historians and Nationalism: East-Central Europe in the Nineteenth Century (Oxford Historical Monographs)

Peripheral cultures have been largely absent from the European canon of historiography. Seeking to redress the balance, Monika Baár discusses the achievements of five East-Central European historians in the nineteenth century: Joachim Lelewel (Polish); Simonas Daukantas (Lithuanian); Frantisek Palacký (Czech); Mihály Horváth (Hungarian) and Mihail Kogalniceanu (Romanian). Comparing their efforts to promote a unified vision of national culture in their respective countries, Baár illuminates the complexities of historical writing in the region in the nineteenth century. Drawing on previously untranslated documents, Baár reconstructs the scholars'shared intellectual background and their nationalistic aims, arguing that historians on the European periphery made significant contributions to historical writing, and had far more in common with their Western and Central European contemporaries than has been previously assumed. Contents......Page 10 Introduction......Page 14 Lelewel......Page 32 Daukantas......Page 38 Palacký......Page 42 Horváth......Page 48 Kogalniceanu......Page 53 The democratization of historical writing......Page 59 Commitment and impartiality......Page 66 Romantic progressivism......Page 70 Self-congratulation versus emancipation......Page 74 The blueprint of national historiography......Page 77 Consolation and encouragement......Page 82 Conclusion: desiderata and fulfilments......Page 85 The transformation of historiographical standards......Page 88 Learned societies......Page 91 Universities......Page 97 Publication of primary sources......Page 102 Journals......Page 104 Auxiliary sciences......Page 108 Censorship......Page 109 Conclusion......Page 113 Enlightenment in national contexts......Page 116 Herder’s legacy......Page 122 The impact of the Scottish Enlightenment......Page 126 The Spätaufklärung in Göttingen......Page 131 Encounters with Nikolai Karamzin......Page 137 Contemporary resonances: the French liberal school......Page 141 Conclusion......Page 145 The fecundity of inferiority complexes......Page 149 Language as a bridge: in the service of unity......Page 154 Language as evergreen cowberry: representing continuity......Page 157 The unique language: antiquity and other virtues......Page 160 Enriching the national culture through translations......Page 165 The Lithuanian Robinson......Page 167 Promoting academic language in Hungary......Page 170 The birth of modern political language in Romania......Page 173 Towards creating ‘original’ scholarship......Page 176 Conclusion......Page 178 The interest in origins and early societies......Page 180 The vantage point: Tacitus......Page 185 Nordic antiquity......Page 187 Indo-European antiquity......Page 191 Putative Czech antiquity......Page 194 Roman antiquity......Page 199 Semi-Nomadic antiquity......Page 202 Conclusion......Page 206 The study of feudalism in historical scholarship......Page 209 Conquest and colonization......Page 213 The late arrival of feudalism and its illegitimate nature......Page 216 Humanitarianism, common sense and urban liberties......Page 218 Feudal institutions as national institutions......Page 222 Creating modern society: the emancipation of the peasantry......Page 224 Liberalism versus democracy......Page 228 Ways of change: reform versus revolution......Page 232 Conclusion......Page 234 The evolution of master narratives......Page 237 Virtue in the forest: pagan Lithuania......Page 239 Poland: a true republic......Page 244 The Czechs: a small nation’s contribution to liberty......Page 249 The Hungarian constitution and the spirit of liberalism......Page 255 Romania: united and independent......Page 261 Conclusion......Page 266 Images of the self and others......Page 269 External others: the neighbours......Page 272 Internal others: the Jews......Page 277 Internal others: the Jesuits......Page 283 Internal others: women......Page 286 Symbolic geography: East, West and their alternatives......Page 288 The Cyrano de Bergerac effect......Page 291 Negation and analogy: the nation’s mission......Page 295 Conclusion......Page 299 Conclusion......Page 302 Bibliography......Page 318 D......Page 348 H......Page 349 K......Page 350 M......Page 351 R......Page 352 Z......Page 353 Peripheral cultures have been largely absent from the European canon of historiography. Seeking to redress the balance, Monika Baar discusses the achievements of five East-Central European historians in the nineteenth Joachim Lelewel (Polish); Simonas Daukantas (Lithuanian); Frantisek Palacky (Czech); Mihaly Horvath (Hungarian) and Mihail Kogalniceanu (Romanian). Comparing their efforts to promote a unified vision of national culture in their respective countries, Baar illuminates the complexities of historical writing in the region in the nineteenth century. Drawing on previously untranslated documents, Baar reconstructs the scholars' shared intellectual background and their nationalistic aims, arguing that historians on the European periphery made significant contributions to historical writing, and had far more in common with their Western and Central European contemporaries than has been previously assumed.