This article is based on a panel discussion around the notion of national literature, organized at the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation (Piraeus, Greece) on the occasion of the publication of the... Show moreThis article is based on a panel discussion around the notion of national literature, organized at the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation (Piraeus, Greece) on the occasion of the publication of the Greek translation of Konstantina Zanou's book Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800–1850: Stammering the Nation. This paper along with the papers by the 3 other panelists, Karen Emmerich, Vassilis Lambropoulos, and Konstantina Zanou, which all responded to Zanou's book, were published in the literary magazine Χάρτης [Chartis] under the heading "Τι ήταν ο Συγγραφέας πριν γίνει Έλληνας και η Λογοτεχνία πριν γίνει Εθνική;" ["What was the author before they became Greek and Literature before it became National"]. Show less
This dissertation studies the construction of Chinese nationalism by the Chinese government and media companies through mass communication of government-staged and abrupt events in the reform era... Show moreThis dissertation studies the construction of Chinese nationalism by the Chinese government and media companies through mass communication of government-staged and abrupt events in the reform era between 2008 and 2012. It examines how Chinese audiences express online nationalist sentiments, representing whether the communication of media events meets the social demands established by “dream discourses.” Using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, it focuses on two case studies: the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands incident. The dissertation finds that these mass media events play a significant role in shaping Chinese state nationalism and popular nationalism. The related mass communication helps the Chinese government increase or, at least, maintain its legitimacy through various strategies. The findings of this dissertation also show that as Chinese audiences have increasingly voiced themselves in the information age, the government will keep treating the robust, uneasy entanglement of nationalism, globalization, and digital media more cautiously for its social development and stability. Show less
The Reception of Voltaire’s theater in the Netherlands during the eighteenth century. Nowadays, when you think about Voltaire, you think about his “Tales”. Who does not know Candide or Zadig?... Show moreThe Reception of Voltaire’s theater in the Netherlands during the eighteenth century. Nowadays, when you think about Voltaire, you think about his “Tales”. Who does not know Candide or Zadig? However, in the XVIIIth century, he was famous and wanted to be celebrated for his theater. A few specialists already studied the reception of his theater in France. But what happened outside France? It seems that Voltaire as a dramatist was very appreciated in the Europe of the Enlightment. He is in the “United Provinces”, today the Netherlands, seen as the main figure of Classicism. Moreover, some aspects of his plays were found of particular interest: the exoticism of some of them, and specifically the patriotism often intensified in the translations. We talk about his tragedies like Zaïre, the best known, but we forget his comedies most of the time. However, the public loved them have been in a country, where despite the critics, the French culture has kept her Glory. Show less
=========ABSTRACT=========It is tempting to think of precolonial India as a harmonious society, but was it? This study brings evidence from new and unexpected sources to take position in the... Show more=========ABSTRACT=========It is tempting to think of precolonial India as a harmonious society, but was it? This study brings evidence from new and unexpected sources to take position in the sensitive debate over that question. From the investigation of six conflicts in the Deccan region it draws conclusions about group behaviour that put modern clashes in context. Some of the conflicts under investigation appear odd today but were very real to the involved, as the antagonism between Left and Right Hand castes was for about a thousand years. Other conflicts continue to the present day: the seventeenth century saw lasting changes in the relationship between Hindus and Muslims as well as the rise of patriotism and early nationalism in both India and Europe. This book carefully brings to life the famous and obscure people who made the era, from the Dutch painter Heda to queen Khadija and from maharaja Shivaji to the English rebel Keigwin=========NOTES=========First Leiden University Press edition, 2009. Entirely revised from the author’s dissertation Xenophobia and Consciousness in Seventeenth-Century India: Six Cases from the Deccan, 12-Mar-2008. Show less