UHVHNP0035 Constructing Identities in 19th Century Central Europe

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Summer 2022
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Martin Pelc, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Martin Pelc, Ph.D.
Institute of Historical Sciences – Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Timetable of Seminar Groups
UHVHNP0035/A: Mon 8:55–9:40 PraPed, M. Pelc
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main idea of the course is that identities are not a primordial heritige, on the contrary, they can be constructed actively. The 19th century as the "prehistory of today" means a turn in European History in the process of substitution premodern identities by modern ones. Some traditional identities are instrumentalized, but new ones have to be invented in order to grant the population a satisfying orientation in the rapidly changing world. The course aims at showing that the modern identities have a different quality than the pre-modern ones. The main focus is on state/national identities which were pivotal to the 19th century Europe. Geographically, the course focuses on Central Europe, i. e. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose complicated ethnical, confessional and social structure provides a high number of examples of construction of modern identities.
Learning outcomes
The main idea of the course is that identities are not a primordial heritige, on the contrary, they can be constructed actively. The 19th century as the "prehistory of today" means a turn in European History in the process of substitution premodern identities by modern ones. Some traditional identities are instrumentalized, but new ones have to be invented in order to grant the population a satisfying orientation in the rapidly changing world. The course aims at showing that the modern identities have a different quality than the pre-modern ones. The main focus is on state/national identities which were pivotal to the 19th century Europe. Geographically, the course focuses on Central Europe, i. e. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose complicated ethnical, confessional and social structure provides a high number of examples of construction of modern identities.
Syllabus
  • 1. Changing Identities in the Age of Modernization
    2. Europe as a Cultural Construct and the "Others"
    3. German Nation and German State
    4. Austria-Hungary: An Empire Without Identity?
    5. Language and Modern National Identity
    6. Historiography and Modern National Identity
    7. Representing Nation
    8. Constructing National Identities: The Czech Case
    9. Constructing National Identities: The Jewish Case
    10. Constructing National Identities: European Comparation
    11. Modern Social Identities in Central Europe
    12. Discussing other modern identities
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Pierre Nora. Between Memory and History. Les Lieux de Mémoire, in: Representations, No. 26, Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory (Spring, 1989), pp. 7?24 (online on JSTOR). info
  • Claudio Magris. Der Habsburgische Mythos in der österreichischen Literatur (published as Il mito Absburgico nella letteratura austriaca moderna, 1963). info
  • William M. Johnston. Der österreichische Mensch. Kulturgeschichte der Eigenart Österreichs (published 2009). info
  • Josep Fontana. Europe before the mirror (published 1994, Czech: Evropa před zrcadlem, 2001). info
  • Hagen Schulze. Hagen Schulze: States, Nations and Nationalism: From the Middle Ages to the Present (published 1998, Czech: Stát a národ v evropských dějinách, 2003). info
  • Jürgen Kocka. Jürgen Kocka: The Middle Classes in Europe, in: The Journal of Modern History 67 (December 1995), pp. 783?806 (online on JSTOR). info
  • Linda Young. Middle-Class Culture in the Nineteenth Century. America, Australia and Britain (published 2003). info
  • Miroslav Hroch. Miroslav Hroch: National Self-Determination form a Historical Perspective, in: Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes, Vol. 37, No. 3/4 (September-December 1995), pp. 283?299 (online on JSTOR). info
  • Eric Hobsbawm. Nations and Nationalism since 1780: programme, myth, reality (published 1990; Czech Národy a nacionalismus od roku 1780. Program, mýtus, realita). info
  • William M. Johnston. The Austrian Mind. An Intellectual and Social History (published 1972; German: Österreichische Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte, 2006). info
  • Břetislav Horyna. Idea Evropy. Pohledy do filosofie dějin. Praha, 2001. info
Teaching methods
Lecture supplemented with a discussion
Assessment methods
oral examination
Language of instruction
Czech
Teacher's information
" 80% attendance in classes
" active participation in discussions
" critical essay of 5-10 pages debating a chosen modern myth
The course is also listed under the following terms Summer 2023, Summer 2024, Summer 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2022, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/summer2022/UHVHNP0035