Memory is as central to modern politics as politics is central to modern memory. We are so accustomed to living in a forest of monuments, to having the past represented to us through museums, historic sites, and public sculpture, that we easily lose sight of the recent origins and diverse meanings of these uniquely modern phenomena. In this volume, leading historians, anthropologists, and ethnographers explore the relationship between collective memory and national identity in diverse cultures throughout history. Placing commemorations in their historical settings, the contributors disclose the contested nature of these monuments by showing how groups and individuals struggle to shape the past to their own ends. The volume is introduced by John Gillis's broad overview of the development of public memory in relation to the history of the nation-state. Other contributions address the usefulness of identity as a cross-cultural concept (Richard Handler), the connection between identity, heritage, and history (David Lowenthal), national memory in early modern England (David Cressy), commemoration in Cleveland (John Bodnar), the museum and the politics of social control in modern Iraq (Eric Davis), invented tradition and collective memory in Israel (Yael Zerubavel), black emancipation and the civil war monument (Kirk Savage), memory and naming in the Great War (Thomas Laqueur), American commemoration of World War I (Kurt Piehler), art, commerce, and the production of memory in France after World War I (Daniel Sherman), historic preservation in twentieth-century Germany (Rudy Koshar), the struggle over French identity in the early twentieth century (Herman Lebovics), and the commemoration of concentration camps in the new Germany (Claudia Koonz).

DID JESUS EVER REALLY EXIST--AND IF SO, WHO WAS HE?

This book, first published in 1994, sets ‘repertoire against raconteur’ in order to explore one of the world’s largest collections of folk literature. The author’s findings, and his creative and synthetic methodologies, enhance greatly our understanding of the world of the legend, and especially the basic question of ‘Who tells what to whom in the form of a legend and why?’ This work is an in-depth exploration of rural Denmark, and provides us with an excellent vantage point from which to understand legends in their cultural contexts and within the lives of their tellers.

Spenser not only dedicated The FAerie Queene to Queen Elizabeth but asserted that his romantic epic was in some sense about her rule and her realm. The informed attention that O'Connell gives to the relationship between Spenser's reflections on contemporary history and his moral design makes this volume a convincing reading of the great poem. The author shows how Spenser used Vergil as his model in celebrating and judging his own age. Originally published in 1977. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

This multifaceted work contextualizes Jesus in religion and culture by bringing together articles on folklore, history, literature, philosophy, popular culture, and theology. Many books have been written about Jesus, but this two-volume work takes a different approach than most. What sets it apart is that it emphasizes Jesus' lasting impact on world history and his legacy in the imagination over 2,000 years. Written as an introduction, the encyclopedia is equally suitable for Christians who wish to better understand the history and philosophy of their religion and for non-Christians who wish to grasp Christianity in its historical and social contexts. Alphabetically arranged entries cover representations of Jesus in the bible and the writings of key theologians, examining the essentials of philosophical and religious views across history. The set also includes hundreds of entries that reflect on the role Jesus has played in popular culture and contemporary vernacular religion—perspectives that are not usually placed alongside theology. Through the encyclopedia, students will see how artists, writers, philosophers, church figures, and others have imagined Jesus and been influenced by their perceptions of him. At the same time, primary documents will encourage students to compare and contrast ideas and evaluate arguments that have arisen over 20 centuries.

The Historical Legends of Natchez By: Harold C. Burkett Explore the rich world of the Natchez tribes, their culture, their practices, and their history with colonials in this academic history of Natchez, Mississippi. Learn all about the many stories and legends, some fact and some fiction, of one of the most unique historical cities in the US. You'll hear all about the historically accurate accounts of famous legends and tales like the true origins of the Bowie knife and the first murder case in the US.

With contributions from leading scholars, this is a uniquecross-cultural comparison of historical epics across a wide rangeof cultures and time periods, which presents crucial insights intohow history is treated in narrative poetry. The first book to gain new insights into the topic of‘epic and history’ through in-depth cross-culturalcomparisons Covers epic traditions across the globe and across a wide rangeof time periods Brings together leading specialists in the field, and is editedby two internationally regarded scholars An important reference for scholars and students interested inhistory and literature across a broad range of disciplines

" . . . it presents some of the most important folklore studies to appear in [Nordic] countries in the past thirty years." —The Scandinavian-American Bulletin " . . . will . . . be of interest to folklorists in general. The selected essays . . . deal with issues that any folklorist who wishes to be up-to-date must consider. . . . A valuable addition to folklore studies . . . " —Choice Nordic folklore studies have made major theoretical contributions to international folklore scholarship. The articles in this collection not only reflect areas in which Nordic folklore studies have been particularly strong, but also demonstrate recent changes in theoretical paradigms and empirical application.

In Literary Narratives and the Cultural Imagination: King Arthur and Don Quixote as National Heroes the author examines traditional Arthurian and Cervantine literary narratives to discuss how the two literary figures became paladins of their respective nations. Whereas the former bestows upon the homeland a positive image of Britain, based on military might, a glorious past and a promise of return, the latter contributes to a negative image of Spain based on a narrative of defeat and faded glory. In the analysis of the political intentions behind the literature that gave wings to the rise as paragons of these very famous literary characters, a semblance of the national imaginaries of the countries of their birth appears. Indeed, the tradition of Waterloo and the tradition of La Mancha are polar opposites in their Weltanschauung, and they only have in common that both heroes, Arthur and Quijote, are depicted as paladins of justice, benefactors, and redeemers of their land of birth. It is this idealized view of what is possibly the figment of a writer’s (or many different writers) pen that astonishes the reader, for behind it lies an intention to market (for internal and external consumption) both literary creations, exceeding the boundaries of the creative fiction that invented them to transform them into myths and political symbols of their respective nations.