Research group Beyond Horizons in Cultural Transfer Studies
The theme group 'Beyond Horizons in Cultural Transfer Studies' is part of the Research Centre for Arts in Society. Past and Present.
Main focus is to study the "construction" of minor and mixed language communities as (emerging) transnational and transcultural space.In focusing on the intricate interplay between national, transnational and regional literatures, the research will explore the significant tension found between the local, subnational and global levels, at which language and cultural politics tend to operate as inclusive and exclusive forces.
See for more information:
http://www.rug.nl/research/arts-in-society/expertisedomeinen/beyondhorizons?lang=en
Related to the theme group are a.o. U4Society network Cultural Transfer Research, which includes researchers of different backgrounds and expertise. It aims to build an EU-network in cultural transfer studies and to initiate research and collaboration by organizing workshops once a year and preparing applications for EU-funding. Workshops were organized in Groningen (2014), Uppsala (2015), Ghent (2016), Uppsala (2017) and Göttingen (2019). The workshop in Tartu in 2020 was postponed due to the Covid-19 situation.
Related to the research group is the Summer School 'Beyond Horizons. Transmitting and Writing New Identities of Minorities and Migrants in and Beyond Europe' organized in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
The sixth (hybrid) edition will be held in August 2021. See for more information: https://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/beyond-horizons/?lang=en
In 2013 two PhD-thesis were successfully defended:
June 25th Els Biesemans got her PhD from the University of Ghent with the thesis Vertalers van Scandinavische literatuur naar het Nederlands tussen 1860 en 1940. Ghent 2013 (project: 'The reception of Scandinavian Literature in The Netherlands and Flanders 1860-1940. A Comparative Analysis of the Role of Networks and of the Impact of the Ethnolinguistic Discourse').
March 14th Ester Jiresch got her PhD from the University of Groningen with the thesis Im Netzwerk der Kulturvermittlung. Sechs Autorinnen und ihre Bedeutung für die Verbreitung skandinavischer Literatur und Kultur in West- und Mitteleuropa um 1900 (project Scandinavian Literature in Europe around 1900: the Influence of Language Politics, Gender and Aesthetics).
Research Scandinavian Literature in Europe around 1900: the Influence of Language Politics, Gender and Aesthetics, part III.b.4. of the research programme Autonomy and the "new" Independence in the Arts of the Groningen Research School for the Study of the Humanities (GRSSH).
Project description:
Around 1900, Scandinavian literature was regarded in Europe as a representation of a new literary movement, and was presented by writers, literary historians and cultural transmitters as a possible alternative paradigm. The image of Scandinavian literature in Europe between 1880 and 1900 was rather uniform: it was regarded as a rejuvenating and progressive literature. However, from the beginning of the twentieth century until about 1930, there was a gradual transition in the reception of Scandinavian literature towards other themes and characteristics, such as greater emphasis on describing nature.
The main factors influencing the reception of Scandinavian literature and the (literary) national self-image varied from region to region. In Flanders, for example, the emphasis in certain circles was placed on the German character of a literary work and the extent to which it could be seen as a counterbalance to French influence. In the Netherlands, cultural and literary exchange with other Germanic minor-language regions in Northern-Europe was also regarded as important, but emphasis was also placed on the language-political aspect, women's emancipation and the larger number of women authors in Scandinavian literature. Around 1900, debates on masculinity and femininity played an important part throughout Europe in the transmission and reception of Scandinavian literature. The "new woman" entered the scene and Scandinavian thinkers such as Ellen Key (1849-1926) and Laura Marholm (1854-1928), criticised radical feminism and formulated an essentialist variant. Notably, many women were active in the field of literary and cultural transmission as translators, intermediaries, reviewers, journalists, or as Maecenae. It is striking that some of the women who entered these traditionally male professions, and who could themselves be regarded as "new women", required male authors (e.g. Henrik Ibsen, 1828-1906), as well as female authors to describe the female characters in their works as submitting to their role as wives and mothers.
The aim of this research programme is to analyse how the aforementioned influences affected the reception of Scandinavian literature: the influence of language politics, the changing image of women and, on a metalevel, the confrontation between "old" and "new" literary movements where Scandinavian literature served as a catalyst. The main theme of this research project is the influence of ethnolinguistic nationalism and gender on the development of a national literary image. Until now, research has consisted mainly of bilateral and/or inventory studies. The aim of this programme is to place the reception of Scandinavian literature in a comparative European context. The research will be based on two methodological components: (1) an institutional and cultural-historical approach, and (2) discourse analysis.
Within the project, research will be carried out in cooperation with the University of Ghent (Belgium), the University of Uppsala and other universities in Sweden (e.g. Göteborg, Södertörn) and universities with similar projects (e.g. Vienna).
During the period 2004-2010, the following themes will be dealt with:
2004-5: Ethnolinguistic nationalism in the Dutch-speaking region and Scandinavia
2006-7: Women in the field of cultural transmission (1880-1930)
2008-9: Transmission of Scandinavian literature and the war of mainstreams in Europe around 1900
Project Coordinator: Dr Petra Broomans
PhD-projekt
2005-2008
Ester Jiresch: "Die Rolle von Netzwerken in der Arbeit von weiblichen Vermittlern skandinavischer Literatur und Kultur und das von ihnen vermittelte Bild in Europa um 1900. Eine vergleichende Studie des niederländischen/flämischen und deutschen/ österreichischen Sprachraums."
New projects:
2006-2009
"Peripheral Autonomy? Longitudinal analyses of cultural transfer in the literary fields of small language communities", an internationalization project of the Groningen Research School for the Study of the Humanities together with the universities of Ghent and Uppsala. Interested and do you want to get a password to the forum? Please send an e-mail to p.broomans@rug.n
See also: Workshops.
2008-2012
'The reception of Scandinavian Literature in The Netherlands and Flanders 1860-1940. A Comparative Analysis of the Role of Networks and of the Impact of the Ethnolinguistic Discourse'.
PhD-project:
Roald van Elswijk (1974) is appointed to the project 'The reception of Scandinavian Literature in The Netherlands and Flanders 1860-1940. A Comparative Analysis of the Role of Networks and of the Impact of the Ethnolinguistic Discourse'. He currently writes a Ph.D. on "The image of 'the Other/Self' and the discourse on national identity in reception documents", by means of a content analysis of both reception documents and ego documents. More specifically, Roald van Elswijk will analyse the discourse about cultural and national identity in these documents.
Els Bielemans is appointed to the same project and will carry out her research at the sister department of the University of Ghent. She currently writes a Ph.D. on 'Scandinavian networks in the Netherlands and Flanders'.