Microsoft Word - Warland_v3_definitive.doc


Studies	
  on	
  National	
  Movements,	
  1	
  (2013)	
  	
  	
  |	
  	
  	
  REVIEWS	
  

Geneviève	
  Warland	
  240	
  

Anne-­Marie	
  Thiesse	
  (ed.),	
  La	
  culture	
  des	
  nations.	
  Special	
  issue	
  
of	
   La	
   matière	
   et	
   l’esprit,	
   no.	
   16	
   (Mons:	
   Université	
   de	
   Mons,	
  
2010)	
  72	
  pp.,	
  ill.,	
  ISBN	
  9782872828012.	
  

Review	
  by	
  Geneviève	
  Warland	
  

The	
  interdisciplinary	
  review	
  La	
  matière	
  et	
  l’esprit,	
  edited	
  by	
  the	
  University	
  
of	
  Mons,	
  asks	
  a	
  number	
  of	
  different	
  specialists	
  to	
  provide	
  the	
  intellectual	
  
contribution	
   for	
   each	
   edition.	
   In	
   this	
   edition,	
   Anne-­‐Marie	
   Thiesse,	
  
directeur	
  de	
  recherches	
  at	
  the	
  CNRS,	
  well	
  known	
  for	
  her	
  work	
  La	
  création	
  
des	
   identités	
   nationales.	
   Europe,	
   XVIIIe-­XXe	
   siècle	
   (Paris,	
   Le	
   Seuil,	
   Points	
  
Histoire,	
  2001),	
   invited	
  other	
  specialists	
  to	
  give	
  a	
  short	
  insight	
  from	
  the	
  
perspective	
  of	
  their	
  main	
  research	
  topic	
  (around	
  eight	
  pages).	
  It	
  resulted	
  
in	
  a	
  very	
  persuasive	
  collection	
  of	
  texts	
  showing	
  how	
  nationalism	
  was	
  and	
  
still	
   is	
  constructed	
  in	
  different	
  European	
  countries.	
  The	
  sample	
  includes	
  
France,	
  Germany,	
  Greece,	
  Italy,	
  the	
  Republic	
  of	
  Macedonia	
  and	
  Moldavia.	
  
The	
  main	
  concern	
  relates	
  to	
  nationalism	
  as	
  a	
  voluntary	
  construction	
  by	
  a	
  
cultural	
  or	
  political	
  group	
  coming	
  to	
  a	
  great	
  part	
  from	
  the	
  transfer	
  of	
  ideas,	
  
ideologies	
   and	
   symbolic	
   figures,	
   borrowed	
   from	
   other	
   countries.	
   In	
   her	
  
introduction,	
  Thiesse	
  stresses	
   the	
   fact	
   that	
  all	
  academics	
  share	
  now	
  the	
  
constructivist	
   view	
   on	
   nationalism,	
   recognising	
   the	
   fact	
   that	
   all	
   nation	
  
states	
  are	
  based,	
  since	
  the	
  eighteenth	
  century,	
  on	
  political	
  grounds	
  as	
  well	
  
as	
  on	
  cultural	
  elements.	
  Moreover,	
  she	
   insists	
  on	
   the	
   impact	
  of	
  cultural	
  
transfers	
  on	
  national	
  cultures	
  in	
  Europe	
  over	
  the	
  last	
  two	
  centuries.	
  Michel	
  
Espagne,	
   with	
   Michael	
   Werner	
   one	
   of	
   the	
   ‘fathers’	
   of	
   the	
   concept	
   of	
  
cultural	
  transfer,	
  illustrates	
  the	
  transformations	
  of	
  cultural	
  goods	
  from	
  one	
  
culture	
  to	
  another	
  implied	
  by	
  the	
  transfers	
  in	
  order	
  to	
  adjust	
  social	
  needs	
  
(for	
   instance,	
   the	
   reception	
   of	
   Kantian	
   moral	
   philosophy	
   as	
   a	
   basis	
   for	
  
French	
  republican	
  pedagogy	
  and	
  instruction).	
  He	
  also	
  insists	
  on	
  the	
  fact	
  
that	
  the	
  same	
  structure	
  is	
  at	
  odds	
  in	
  European	
  and	
  in	
  colonial	
  contexts:	
  the	
  
transfers	
   operate	
   often	
   with	
   reciprocal	
   influences	
   (the	
   French	
   and	
  
Vietnamese	
  literatures	
  serve	
  as	
  an	
  example).	
  	
  



Studies	
  on	
  National	
  Movements,	
  1	
  (2013)	
  	
  	
  |	
  	
  	
  REVIEWS	
  

Geneviève	
  Warland	
   241	
  

National	
  culture	
  has	
  to	
  do	
  with	
  political	
  identity.	
  The	
  cases	
  of	
  Macedonia,	
  
Moldavia	
   and	
   also	
   Padania	
   in	
   the	
   North	
   of	
   Italy	
   best	
   illustrate	
   their	
  
intertwinements	
   and	
   their	
   social	
   and	
   political	
   implications.	
   As	
   far	
   as	
  
Padania	
   (the	
   region	
   of	
   the	
   Po	
   valley)	
   is	
   concerned	
   (article	
   by	
   Martina	
  
Avanza),	
  the	
  promoters	
  of	
  this	
  regional	
  identity	
  are	
  well	
  aware	
  that	
  they	
  
tend	
  to	
  construct	
  a	
  new	
  identity	
  by	
  manipulating	
  old	
  traditions.	
  They	
  also	
  
know	
  that	
  adopting	
  purely	
  economic	
  justifications	
  to	
  sustain	
  the	
  political	
  
demands	
  of	
  their	
  party,	
  the	
  Lega	
  Nord,	
  would	
  be	
  insufficient.	
  Therefore,	
  
the	
  cultural	
  reference	
  to	
  a	
  forgotten	
  nation,	
  which	
  has	
  to	
  resurge,	
  is	
  part	
  of	
  
the	
  political	
  agenda.	
  

Established	
  in	
  1991	
  as	
  an	
  independent	
  Republic,	
  Macedonia	
  struggles	
  with	
  
both	
   Greece	
   and	
   Bulgaria	
   on	
   cultural	
   matters	
   (article	
   by	
   Tchavdar	
  
Marinov).	
   First,	
   its	
   name	
   is	
   contested	
   by	
   Greece,	
   which	
   considers	
   it	
   to	
  
belong	
  to	
  the	
  region	
  of	
  Thessaloniki.	
  Second,	
  Bulgaria	
  sees	
  Macedonia	
  as	
  
one	
  of	
  its	
  provinces,	
  which	
  was	
  the	
  heart	
  of	
  Bulgarian	
  nationalism.	
  Third,	
  
Bulgaria	
  suggests	
  that	
  the	
  building	
  of	
  a	
  national	
  identity	
  in	
  Macedonia	
  is	
  
related	
  to	
  Serbian	
  nationalists’	
  manipulation,	
  arguing	
  that	
  Macedonia	
  is	
  at	
  
the	
  centre	
  of	
  the	
  Serbian	
  medieval	
  territory.	
  In	
  this	
  context,	
  the	
  reference	
  
to	
  culture	
   is	
  a	
  highly	
  controversial	
  one:	
  on	
   the	
  one	
  side,	
  Greeks	
  do	
  not	
  
want	
  Macedonians	
  seeing	
  themselves	
  as	
  heirs	
  of	
  Philippe	
  II	
  and	
  Alexander	
  
the	
  Great;	
  on	
  the	
  other	
  side,	
  controversies	
  still	
  exist	
  between	
  Bulgarians	
  
and	
   Macedonians	
   on	
   the	
   national	
   belonging	
   of	
   a	
   group	
   of	
   nineteenth-­‐
century	
   intellectuals,	
   having	
   been	
   either	
   nationalist	
   Bulgarians	
   or	
  
Macedonians	
  striving	
  for	
  independence.	
  	
  

Moldavia’s	
   case	
   is	
  no	
   less	
  difficult	
   (article	
  by	
  Petru	
  Negură):	
  under	
   the	
  
Soviet	
   regime,	
   the	
   region,	
   inhabited	
   by	
   several	
   populations	
   divided	
   in	
  
upper	
  and	
  lower	
  classes,	
  had	
  to	
  adjust	
  to	
  communist	
  ideals.	
  It	
  resulted	
  in	
  
the	
  creation	
  of	
  the	
  Moldavian	
  language,	
  based	
  on	
  a	
   local	
  dialect	
  derived	
  
from	
  the	
  Romanian.	
  Depending	
  on	
  the	
  political	
  strategies	
  with	
  regard	
  to	
  
neighbouring	
  Romania,	
  numerous	
  language	
  reforms	
  followed,	
  like	
  the	
  use	
  
of	
  either	
  the	
  Cyrillic,	
  either	
  the	
  Latin	
  alphabet.	
  Nowadays,	
  the	
  country	
  is	
  
still	
  divided	
  between	
  the	
  Romanian	
  identity	
  and	
  the	
  Moldavian	
  one.	
  It	
  has	
  
a	
  political	
  impact,	
  the	
  political	
  right	
  putting	
  forward	
  the	
  first	
  one	
  while	
  the	
  
political	
  left	
  favours	
  the	
  second	
  one.	
  



Studies	
  on	
  National	
  Movements,	
  1	
  (2013)	
  	
  	
  |	
  	
  	
  REVIEWS	
  

Geneviève	
  Warland	
  242	
  

The	
   different	
   cases	
   briefly	
   sketched	
   here	
   show	
   that	
   many	
   cultural	
  
references	
  are	
  shared,	
  translated	
  and	
  opposed	
  when	
  it	
  comes	
  to	
  identity	
  
building.	
   They	
   also	
   illustrate	
   that	
   nationalism	
   is	
   still	
   alive	
   even	
   if	
   the	
  
European	
  Union	
  seeks	
  to	
  propose	
  an	
  alternative	
  political	
  model.	
  All	
   the	
  
historical	
   contributions	
   in	
   this	
   edition	
   indicate	
   that	
   we	
   cannot	
   escape	
  
history	
  if	
  we	
  wish	
  to	
  better	
  understand	
  the	
  present.	
  A	
  lively	
  and	
  helpful	
  
little	
  book!