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The grand duchy of Luxembourg was created after the Napoleonic Wars, but at the time there was no 'nation' that identified with the emergent state. This book analyses how politicians, scholars and artists have initiated and contributed to nation-building processes in Luxembourg since the nineteenth century, processes that - as this book argues - are still ongoing. The focus rests on three types of representations of nationhood: a shared past, a common homeland and a national language. History was written so as to justify the country's political independence. Territorial borders shifted meaning, constantly repositioning the national community. The local dialect - initially considered German variant - was gradually transformed into the 'national language', Luxembourgish.
Sommario
List of Tables and Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. Narrating the Past
Introduction: Making Sense, Producing Meaning: Time, Memory and Historical Narratives
1. The Master Narrative of Luxembourg's History
2. The Dissemination, Reception and Public Use of the Master Narrative
3. Different Narratives?
Conclusions
Part II. Drawing the Boundaries
Introduction: From Border Patrol to Border Petrol Stations?
4. The 'Centripetal' Discursive Strategy: Nationalising the Territory
5. The 'Centrifugal' Discursive Strategy: De/Renationalising the Territory
Conclusions
Part III. Constructing the Language
Introduction
6. "Our German" (1820-1918)
7. Making Luxembourgish a Language
Conclusions
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index
Relazione
"Even without looking at the impact of the nationalising discourses it analyses, this book remains an important contribution to the wider field of nationalism studies. Indeed, it has already opened new venues for research on topics such as the development of national museums in Belgium and increased our awareness of how examining the nation-building process as a continuing development requires keeping one eye on the past and the other on the future." - Madalina Valeria Veres, in: European Review of History - Revue européenne d'histoire 19/3, p. 463-464
"Vor allem aber ist die konsequente Analyse der Konstruktion der luxemburgischen Nation auf den drei ausgewählten Untersuchungsebenen eine imponierende Leistung. Die historische Luxemburgforschung beteiligt sich seit zwei Jahrzehnten im Bereich der mittelalterlichen und der Städtegeschichte, in der Geschichte der ländlichen Gesellschaft und der europäischen Integration an den internationalen Forschungsdebatten. Mit Inventing Luxemburg gilt dies auch für die Erforschung von Nationsbildungen." - Norbert Franz, in: 10/11 (2010)
