The construction of national identity in the historiography of Czech art

NX Arts in general;HM Sociology;DJK Eastern Europe

Filipova, Marta ; Stirton, Paul

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Culture and Creative Arts

关键词: historiography of art, national identity, Czech art, Central Europe, history of art, ideology, nationalism, institutional art history;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/791/1/2009Filipovaphd.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

National identity can be expressed in many ways by individuals, groups and states.Since the nineteenth century, Central Europe has been undergoing rapid changes inthe political, social and cultural spheres, which was reflected in the self-definitionof the nations living in this region, and in their definition by others. The Czechpeople, who until 1918 were a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, gave birth to anational revival movement in the nineteenth century and eventually emancipatedthemselves to create an independent Czechoslovakia. The idea of „nationalidentity“ was, therefore, crucial and this was enhanced in many areas of humanactivity, including the construction of a historical legitimacy for the nation.The struggle for recognition of the historical existence of the Czech nation was alsoprojected into the discourse adopted for historical and contemporary art writing andexhibition practice. In this thesis, I focus on the ways in which Czech nationalidentity was constructed in the historiography of art. I shall argue that the variousideologies which influenced the writers led to an understanding of Czech art asepitomising certain qualities of the Czech nation. At the same time, the Czechnation was presented as highly advanced because of its artistic achievements.I shall explore how art historians, historians, artists, archaeologists and philosopherscreated their notion of a Czech national art on the basis of either negotiating acompromise with the various ethnic groups, methodologies and politicalaffiliations, or by emphasising their opposition to the same. Another contested areawas the concept and political uses of artistic quality. It will be my aim to examinebroader circumstances of these contestations in the Introduction and more specificideological motivations behind Czech art history in the subsequent chapters. InChapter One, I shall outline the main places where art history was practiced inBohemia and Moravia which were crucial for constructing the discourse on nationalart. Chapter Two examines the texts of the first Czech art historians in the secondhalf of the nineteenth century who became interested in the national aspects ofCzech art because of the political and cultural climate. In Chapter Three, I shallexamine the nineteenth century debates between Czech and German authors on theorigins of mediaeval art, confirming Czech or German national identity3respectively. Chapter Four studies the rise of Czech art history as a “scientific”discipline in Prague and the attempts of Czech art historians at itsprofessionalisation, which – nevertheless – did not abandon a nationalisticdiscourse. The main focus of Chapter Five is the co-existence of nationalistic viewsof Czech art with the attempts of artists and art critics to bring Czech art into adialogue with Western art. In the following chapter, Chapter Six, this practice isexplored in the context of the Viennese university and the so-called Vienna Schoolof art history, particularly the work and legacy of Max Dvořák. The influence of theSchool on Czech art history is the topic of Chapter Seven, which again brings upthe question of the divide between international and national perspectives of Czechart. Criticism of the Czech Vienna School followers from various groups of arthistorians is examined in Chapter Eight. Finally, in Chapter Nine, I conclude withthe exploration of the rise of a new concept of art historical identity, the concept ofCzechoslovak identity.