Description
Book SynopsisThe nineteenth century laid the foundations of history as a professional discipline but also popularized and romanticized the subject. National histories were written and state museums founded, while collective memories were created in fiction and drama, art and architecture and through the growth of tourism and the emergence of a heritage industry. The authors of this collection compare Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, unearthing the ways in which history was conceived and then utilized. They conclude that although nationalistic historicism ruled in all genres, the interaction of the nineteenth century with its imagined past was far richer and more complex, both across national borders and within them. Contributors include: Niek van Sas, Andrew Mycock, Marnix Beyen, Ellinoor Bergvelt, Joep Leerssen, Joanne Parker, Anna Vaninskaya, Jenny Graham, Tom Verschaffel, Saartje Vanden Borre, Hugh Dunthorne and Michael Wintle.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Notes on Contributors Ken Haley: An Appreciation, Bob Moore PART I : INTRODUCTORY Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands and the Historical Imagination in the Nineteenth-Century: An Introduction, Michael Wintle 1. From Waterloo Field to Bruges-la-Morte. Historical Imagination in the Nineteenth Century, Niek van Sas PART II : THE SCOPE AND LANGUAGE OF NATIONAL HISTORY 2. A Very English Affair? Defining the Borders of Nation and Empire in Nineteenth-Century British Historiography, Andrew Mycock 3. Who is the Nation and What Does it Do? The Discursive Construction of the Nation in Belgian and Dutch National Histories of the Romantic Period, Marnix Beyen 4. The Colonies in the Dutch National Museums for Art and History (1800-1885), Ellinoor Bergvelt PART III: HISTORICAL FICTION AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY 5. ‘Retro-Fitting the Past’: Literary Historicism between the Golden Spurs and Waterloo, Joep Leerssen 6. The Victorians, the Dark Ages and English National Identity, Joanne Parker 7. ‘True Conception of History’: ‘Making the Past Part of the Present’ in late Victorian Historical Romances, Anna Vaninskaya PART IV: THE PAST IMAGINED IN THE VISUAL ARTS 8. Picturing Patriotism: The Image of the Artist-Hero in Britain and the Belgian Nation State, 1830-1900, Jenny Graham 9. In Search of the Historical Culture of Belgian Immigrants in Northern France, 1850-1914 , Saartje Vanden Borre and Tom Verschaffel 10. ‘Retracing the History of our Country’: National History Painting and Engraving in Britain and the Low Countries during the Nineteenth Century, Hugh Dunthorne General Bibliography Fifty Years of Anglo-Dutch Historical Conferences and Britain and the Netherlands Published Volumes, 1959-2012 Index
