This book juxtaposes national anthems of thirteen countries from central Europe, with the aim of initiating a dialogue among the peoples of East-Central Europe.
We tend to perceive a national anthem as a particular mirror, involuntarily reflecting an image of nation and homeland; but how does it represent the community for whom it sounds? To answer this question, the book deploys a comparative approach – anthems are presented in the light of those of neighbouring countries, with the conviction that one of the key features of true Europeanness is good relations between neighbours. The development trajectory of the modern nation is the context in which the book examines the history of such national symbols, alongside the symbolic content of poetry, images of the homeland and nation depicted in the anthems, as well as the sometimes longer processes which led to the adoption and legal codification of current state symbols.
The Anthems of East-Central Europe will be a great resource for researchers, journalists, college and university students, politicians trying to impact emigrees from this region and emigrees themselves.
Author(s): Csaba G. Kiss
Series: Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 162
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Introduction: The Dialogue of Anthems
1. Nationalism and Nation-Building in East-Central Europe
2. National Symbols and Myths
3. The National Anthem
A literary genre and national symbol
Types of modern national anthems
The anthem’s role in national representation
4. Collective Symbols: Anthem Archetypes
5. The Poem-Symbols of National Representation
Selected texts
Texts in the context of their authors’ cultures
Classification of texts by their themes
Dynastic anthems
Revolutionary marches, “folk anthems”
Anthems glorifying the ideal landscape of the homeland
Anthems of the memory and value community
Between myth and history
6. The “Interaction” of Anthems
7. Images of Homeland and Nation in the Anthems
In the context of understanding the nation in East-Central Europe
Country, homeland, territory
Imagined Homelands
Religious and denominational identity in the anthems
Homelands by language and origin
The horizon of humanity
Features of the national self-image
The homeland as Eden, Arcadia and Canaan
The homeland as a tragic space
Adopted values, freedom vs. slavery
Images of self and enemy
Unity and dissension
8. National History and Its Heroes
9. Symbols of Space in the Anthems
10. Paths to the Rank of National Anthem
11. After the Second World War
Appendix: Anthems and National Symbol-Poems
Bibliography
Index
