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Making Sense in a World that is Falling Apart : Imperial Narratives of State, Diversity and Modernity

Heilo, Olof LU (2021) In Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe p.37-54
Abstract
This chapter strikes a bridge from current-day imaginations to pre-modern concepts of empire. It shows how, on the one hand, modern visions of empire are echoing political and religious notions of an all-encompassing rule that go back to Antiquity. On the other hand, it stresses how such modern conceptualizations tend to fall short on understanding diversity in a world where state penetration and identity articulation were dependent on various intermediaries. This paper shows how pre-modern Habsburg and Ottoman approaches to unity and diversity came into conflict with modernisation projects that tried to reduce the number of intermediaries and thus created a need for narratives of power that connected rulers to subjects in a new way. The... (More)
This chapter strikes a bridge from current-day imaginations to pre-modern concepts of empire. It shows how, on the one hand, modern visions of empire are echoing political and religious notions of an all-encompassing rule that go back to Antiquity. On the other hand, it stresses how such modern conceptualizations tend to fall short on understanding diversity in a world where state penetration and identity articulation were dependent on various intermediaries. This paper shows how pre-modern Habsburg and Ottoman approaches to unity and diversity came into conflict with modernisation projects that tried to reduce the number of intermediaries and thus created a need for narratives of power that connected rulers to subjects in a new way. The emergence of articulate, interconnected and self-aware classes in both empires that tied hopes for political progress to narratives of nation created both challenges and possibilities for the two dynasties. This created the premise for media discourses where the empire was envisioned as a nation of many peoples. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Narrated Empires : Perceptions of Late Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism - Perceptions of Late Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism
series title
Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe
editor
Chovanec, Johanna and Heilo, Olof
pages
18 pages
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
external identifiers
  • scopus:85130612837
ISSN
2523-7985
2523-7993
ISBN
9783030551995
9783030551988
9783030552015
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-55199-5_2
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
9e419644-bf17-40ee-9387-cee40a7cdb70
date added to LUP
2023-02-25 23:47:35
date last changed
2024-05-28 11:09:14
@inbook{9e419644-bf17-40ee-9387-cee40a7cdb70,
  abstract     = {{This chapter strikes a bridge from current-day imaginations to pre-modern concepts of empire. It shows how, on the one hand, modern visions of empire are echoing political and religious notions of an all-encompassing rule that go back to Antiquity. On the other hand, it stresses how such modern conceptualizations tend to fall short on understanding diversity in a world where state penetration and identity articulation were dependent on various intermediaries. This paper shows how pre-modern Habsburg and Ottoman approaches to unity and diversity came into conflict with modernisation projects that tried to reduce the number of intermediaries and thus created a need for narratives of power that connected rulers to subjects in a new way. The emergence of articulate, interconnected and self-aware classes in both empires that tied hopes for political progress to narratives of nation created both challenges and possibilities for the two dynasties. This created the premise for media discourses where the empire was envisioned as a nation of many peoples.}},
  author       = {{Heilo, Olof}},
  booktitle    = {{Narrated Empires : Perceptions of Late Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism}},
  editor       = {{Chovanec, Johanna and Heilo, Olof}},
  isbn         = {{9783030551995}},
  issn         = {{2523-7985}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{37--54}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Macmillan}},
  series       = {{Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe}},
  title        = {{Making Sense in a World that is Falling Apart : Imperial Narratives of State, Diversity and Modernity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55199-5_2}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-030-55199-5_2}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}