Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Greece - 19th century'

This thesis builds on, and contributes to recent scholarship on the history of nineteenth‐century liberalism by exploring Greek legal thought and its political implications during the first decades after independence from the Ottomans (ca.1830‐1880). Protagonists of this work of intellectual history are the Greek jurists—a small group of very influential legal scholars—most of whom flocked to the Greek kingdom right after its establishment. By focusing on their theoretical contributions and public action, the thesis has two major contentions. First, it shows that the legal, political and economic thought of the jurists was not only conversant with Continental liberal currents of the Restoration, but, due to the particular local context, made original contributions to liberalism. Indeed, Greek liberals shared a lot with their counterparts in France, Italy and Germany, not least the belief that liberty originated in law and the state and not against them. Another shared feature was the distinction between the elitist liberal variant of the ‘Romanist’ civil lawyers such as Pavlos Kalligas, and the more ‘radical moderate’ version of Ioannis Soutsos and Nikolaos Saripolos. At the same time, the Greek liberals, seeking not to terminate but to institutionalize the Greek revolution, tuned to the radical language of natural rights (of persons and states) and national sovereignty. This language, which sought to control the rulers, put more contestation in power and expand political participation gained wide currency during the crisis of the 1850s, which exposed also the precarious place of Greece in the geography of European civilization. The second contention of the thesis is that this ‘transformation of thought’, informed the ‘long revolution’ of the 1860s and the new system of power this latter established. By so doing, it shows that liberal jurisprudence provided the intellectual foundations upon which the modern Greek state was build.

This thesis argues that the development of new transportation and communication networks in and around the Ottoman city of Salonica was largely responsible for its remarkable growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century. The success of these new networks of steamships, telegraphs and railways, hinged upon their ability to overcome the geographical limitations of the region which, as in any pre-industrial society, had made the movement of people and goods both glacially slow and thus costly since time immemorial. The development of these new networks had many serious effects: it served to bring Salonica and the Empire under greater influence of the European powers, deeply link it to the emerging international economy and all but destroy traditional networks such as caravans and sailing vessels. Salonica was a central part of the late Ottoman story for a variety of reasons, and thus, attempting to understand its development provides us with a way to understand the late Ottoman story as a whole.

In the following study I reappraise the nineteenth century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897). Burckhardt is traditionally known for having served as the elder colleague and one-time muse of Friedrich Nietzsche at the University of Basel and so his ideas are often considered, by comparison, outmoded or inapposite to contemporary currents of thought. My research explodes this conception by abandoning the presumption that Burckhardt was in some sense "out of touch" with modernity. By following and significantly expanding upon the ideas of historians such as Allan Megill, Lionel Gossman, Hayden White, Joseph Mali, John Hinde and Richard Sigurdson, among others, I am able to portray Burckhardt as conversely inaugurating a historiography laden with elements of insightful social criticism. Such criticisms are in fact bolstered by virtue of their counter-modern characteristic. Burckhardt reveals in this way a perspicacity that both anticipates Nietzsche's own critique of modernity and in large part moves well beyond him. Much of this analysis is devised through a genealogical approach to Burckhardt which places him squarely within a cohesive branch of post-Kantian thought that I have called heterodox post-Kantianism. My study revaluates Burckhardt through the alembic of a "discursive" post-Kantian turn which reinvests many of his outré ideas, including his radical appropriation of historical representation, his non-teleological historiography, his various pessimistic inclinations, and additionally, his non-empirical, "aesthetic" study of history, or "mythistory," with a newfound philosophical germaneness. While I survey the majority of Burckhardt's output in the course of my work, I invest a specific focus in his largely unappreciated Greek lectures (given in 1869 but only published in English in full at the end of the twentieth century). Burckhardt's "dark" portrayal of the Greeks serves to not only upset traditional conceptions of antiquity but also the manner in which self-conception is informed through historical inquiry. Burckhardt returns us then to an altogether repressed antiquity: to a hidden, yet internal "dream of a shadow." My analysis culminates with an attempt to reassess the place of Burckhardt's ideas for modernity and to correspondingly reexamine Nietzsche. In particular, I highlight the disparity between Nietzsche's and Burckhardt's reception of the "problem of power," including the latter's reluctance - which was attended by ominous and highly prescient predictions of future large-scale wars and the steady "massification" of western society - to accept Nietzsche's acclamation of a final "will to power." Burckhardt teaches us the value of history as an active counterforce to dominant modern reality-formations and in doing so, his work rehabilitates the relevance of history for a world which, as Burckhardt once noted, suffers today from a superfluity of present-mindedness.

Ce travail porte sur le développement de l’hygiène publique dans le royaume de Grèce entre 1833, année de l’accession au trône du prince Othon de Bavière, et 1845, lorsqu’un système complet des lazarets et d’offices de santé trace les frontières politiques et épidémiologiques du royaume. Après avoir traité les structures de prévention sanitaire érigées tantôt à l’intérieur du pays (vaccinateurs, médecins publics, médecins municipaux) tantôt sur ses frontières, nous étudions les mesures pour lutter contre les maladies contagieuses (surtout la peste et la variole) et contre les miasmes. Nous nous efforçons d’analyser également les maladies qui déterminent la mortalité à l’époque ainsi que les théories médicales qui expliquent les mesures appliquées, en essayant de dépasser certains aspects de la distinction classique d’Erwin Ackerknecht entre contagionnisme et infectionnisme. Enfin, nous abordons la formation du corps médical officiel, processus qui a entraîné des changements dans la pratique médicale. Cet intérêt pour l’hygiène publique impose l’étude de la construction de l’Etat et de sa ‘base biologique’. L’hygiène publique définit les menaces contre lesquelles elle s’érige en même temps qu’elle construit et met en sécurité la collectivité. Dans l’Etat de police du caméraliste Othon I, ces développements sont l’affaire de la bureaucratie, de l’administration, de la force publique et de la science de la police sanitaire. Son but était la construction et la mise en ordre de l’espace public, de l’espace d’action de l’Etat, qui est tout autant naturel que social. Cet établissement d’un ordre favorise la centralisation sanitaire en même temps qu’il prétend discipliner (processus de civilisation) les éléments naturels et les forces sociales pour qu’ils puissent être coordonnés sans résistances ; autrement dit, l’action d’imposer un ordre pacifie. La police sanitaire contrôle ces processus, en reconfigurant les liens que les hommes tissent entre eux, avec la géographie, avec la nature et avec leurs maladies<br>This study is about the organization of public hygiene in the kingdom of Greece between 1833, when prince Otto of Bavaria ascends to the throne, and 1845, when the political and epidemiological frontiers of the kingdom are traced by a complete system of lazarettos and sanitary offices. We will firstly analyze the structures of sanitary prevention in the interior of the country (vaccinators, public health doctors, municipal doctors) as well as at its frontiers, and then we will focus on the measures against contagious diseases (such as the plague and smallpox) and against miasmas. We are also interested in examining the main diseases that determine the mortality of the period under scrutiny and the medical theories that explain the applicable sanitary measures. At the same time, we will review some of the aspects of the classical distinction of Erwin Ackerknecht between contagionism and miasmatic theory. Finally, we will study the difficult formation of an official group of medical professionals. The interest in public hygiene imposes the study of the biological construction of the state and, subsequently, of the state itself. Public hygiene defines the threats which it tries to prevent, and it creates and secures the collectivity. In the Police State of the cameralist king Otto, these developments are controlled by the bureaucracy, the administration, the public force and the science of medical police. Its purpose is to construct and order the public space, the space of state action, which is natural as well as social. This action of ordering imposes the centralization of health and at the same time it normalizes the natural elements and the social forces so that they can coordinate without resistance; in other words, the action of ordering pacifies. Medical police controls these processes by reconfiguring the ties that bind individuals with each other and with the geography, the nature and their diseases

This thesis examines Andrew Lang’s Fairy Book series (1889-1910) as a material and cultural commodity, thereby re-evaluating neglected or overlooked aspects of its significance as a printed collection of fairy tales. First, it defines the publishing context for fairy-tale collections printed in Britain prior to the publication of The Blue Fairy Book in 1889. As such, Chapter One addresses pervasive claims that Lang’s series systematically revived a waning interest in fairy tales. The chapter first offers context for Lang’s series by providing a bibliographic history of the classic fairy tales – most of which are included in The Blue Fairy Book – in English from 1691 to 1889. It then focuses specifically on the decade of the 1880s to examine types of fairy-tale collections that were available in print prior to the series’ first volume and suggests that the fairy tale as a publishing phenomenon was more prominent in the late nineteenth century than has been assumed. Chapter Two seeks to establish how the diverse literary, cultural, and intellectual course of Lang’s career made him particularly suitable to edit a collection of fairy tales. His academic interests in literature as well as his ongoing study of fairy tales influenced his editorial strategies for The Blue Fairy Book, which then provided a model for the remainder of the series. Chapter Three examines the phenomenon of the “literary series” through an exploration of paratextual elements, such as Longmans’ production, branding, and marketing strategies as well as Henry J. Ford’s book illustrations and designs. The seasonal context in which the books were published provides a further framework for situating Lang’s series within the history of publishing fairy tales in Britain. Chapter Four considers the series’ printings and sales numbers, along with themes that are present throughout the published reception of the series. While Longmans capitalizes on Lang’s name in their branding strategies, in the popular press Lang’s name became synonymous with fairy-tale narratives. Furthermore, the series’ immediate reception challenges more recent scholarly positions regarding the very significant group of translators who contributed towards the series. Finally, Chapter Five recognizes the colonial context of the period and positions interest in fairy tales within the wider nineteenth-century phenomenon of collecting objects and narratives from across the Empire. It further demonstrates how narratives of race and colonialism influenced both text and illustration in the Fairy Books. The conclusion consists of a brief overview of Fairy Book editions that have been produced from 1910 to the present. Not only did the series achieve immediate popularity during its initial publication, but it has also remained in print for over a century. Through an exploration of the series as a material, publishing phenomenon, and by attending closely to presentational devices, this thesis re-examines the cultural significance of Lang’s Fairy Books.

La recherche a analysé la figure éclectique de Raffaele Gargiulo, marchand d'antiquités célèbre en Europe, collectionneur, personnage complexe et controversé de l'histoire du Musée de Naples, dans le monde des Antiquités napolitaines de la première moitié du XIXème siècle. À partir de sa collection d’objets provenant de la Grande-Grèce; l'une des plus riches du Musée de Naples, et en examinant en particulier les vases peints, nous avons analysé ses méthodes de travail ainsi que ses techniques de restauration, les matériaux qu’il a utilisés et les choix qu’il a faits pour reconstruire et comprendre les critères qui ont guidé la pratique de la restauration des vases du musée Royal Bourbon dans la première moitié du XIXème siècle. La recherche a analysé les événements historiques qui ont conduit le Musée Royal à acheter l’intégralité de la collection de Raffaele Gargiulo et, en particulier, sa collection de vases. Le travail effectué est accompagné de documents d'archives qui illustrent les longues négociations concernant l'achat des matériaux, commencé en 1852 et achevé en 1855 et renseignent sur les tendances et les choix effectués par le Musée Royal de Naples en étroite collaboration avec la Commission des Antiquités et des Beaux-Arts. L’enquête a permis d’en savoir plus sur le restaurateur-marchand qu’était R. Gargiulo et sur les relations qu’il entretenait avec les personnes impliquées dans ces affaires. En partant des sources bibliographiques, des anciens inventaires et des documents d’archives, nous avons identifié les vases de la collection Gargiulo (environ 481 vases) et tous les “vases Gargiulo" achetés par le Musée de Naples. Nous avons compilé le catalogue des vases, en les classant par type de céramique et en rédigeant une fiche pour chacun d’eux. À travers le catalogage des vases, qui a permis la reconstruction de la collection, nous avons cherché à identifier et à mettre en évidence les goûts du collectionneur R. Gargiulo mais aussi des personnes impliquées dans les choix (ministre, directeur du Musée, experts), qui ont déterminé un certain style pour les collections du Musée de Naples<br>The research focuses on the eclectic figure of Raffaele Gargiulo, who was a dealer, an expert, a restorer, a collector, a controversial figure in the history of the Naples Museum and Neapolitan antiques market in the first half of the nineteenth century. Starting from his collection of antiquites, one of the richest coming from Magna Graecia and which arrived in the Naples Museum, we have primarily examined the vases and have tried to analyze the restoration methods, the materials used and the choices made to reconstruct the criteria that guided the practice of the vases restoration in the Royal Bourbon Museum in the first half of the nineteenth century. The research analyzes the historical events that led to the purchase, by the Museum, of Raffaele Gargiulo’s collection, focusing mainly on the study of the vases collection. The research, enriched by archival documentation aimed at illustrating the long negotiation in the acquisition of the objects, which began in 1852 and ended in 1855, has shown the judgements and the choices made by the Neapolitan Museum in cooperation with the Commissione di Antichità e Belle Arti. Furthermore, it has contributed to define the figure of the restorer-dealer Gargiulo and his relationship with the people interested in the deal. A combination of archival documentation, old inventories and surveys in the Museum’s stores has allowed us to identify the Gargiulo’s vases collection (about 481 vases) and all the "Gargiulo’s vases" in the Museum. The vases catalogue has been created, in order to classify them according to type of ceramic, with an individual file for each vase. Thanks to the catalogue, which has aimed to the reconstruction of the collection, we have been able to highlight the aspects related to the criteria and to the taste of the collector Gargiulo and of the figures involved (Minister, Director of the Museum, experts, etc.). They have all contributed to the enrichment of the collections of the Naples Museum through the variety of artifacts and provenance from different locations in the Naples Kingdom.The research has also investigated the figure of the restorer Gargiulo, his "career" and his activities at the «Officina dei Vasi Italo-greci» of the Naples Museum. The restoration methods have been analyzed on some vases that still preserve the ancient interventions, focusing on a comparative study between old photos and archival documentation<br>La ricerca ha analizzato l'eclettica figura di Raffaele Gargiulo, commerciante, abile restauratore, collezionista, figura controversa nella storia del Museo di Napoli e dell’antiquaria napoletana nella prima metà del XIX secolo. Partendo dalla sua collezione, una delle raccolte più ricche di materiali di provenienza magnogreca mai giunte nel Museo di Napoli, esaminando in particolare i vasi, si è cercato poi di analizzare i metodi di restauro, i materiali adoperati e le scelte attuate per ricostruire e comprendere i criteri che guidarono la pratica del restauro dei vasi del Museo Borbonico nella prima metà dell'Ottocento. La ricerca ha analizzato le vicende che hanno portato all’acquisizione da parte del Museo Borbonico della collezione di Gargiulo nella sua totalità e, in particolare, della collezione vascolare. Il lavoro, corredato da documenti archivistici volti ad illustrare la lunga trattativa nell'acquisizione dei materiali, iniziata nel 1852 e conclusa nel 1855, ha messo in evidenza le valutazioni, le tendenze e le scelte operate a Napoli presso il Museo in stretto rapporto con la Commissione di Antichità e Belle Arti e ha contribuito a delineare la figura del restauratore-commerciante Gargiulo e il suo rapporto con le figure che, più o meno appassionatamente, si interessarono alla vicenda.Sono stati individuati, sulla base delle fonti, degli antichi inventari e dei documenti archivistici, i vasi della collezione Gargiulo (481 vasi ca.) e tutti i “vasi Gargiulo” immessi nel Museo. Si è redatto il catalogo dei vasi, diviso per classi ceramiche e con la redazione di singole schede per ogni vaso. Attraverso il catalogo e quindi la ricostituzione della collezione, si sono potute individuare, nella sua varietà di classi ceramiche e di provenienze, gli aspetti relativi ai criteri e al gusto di Gargiulo e delle figure coinvolte (Ministro, Direttore del Museo, esperti, etc.) che hanno determinato anche una scelta di gusto e di rappresentatività per le collezioni del Museo di Napoli. La ricerca ha anche preso in esame la figura del restauratore Gargiulo, la sua “carriera” e la sua attività presso «l’Officina dei Vasi Italo-greci» del Museo di Napoli. Si sono esaminati i metodi di restauro su alcuni vasi che ancora conservano gli interventi antichi, anche attraverso uno studio comparativo tra le foto antiche e i documenti di archivio

Ce travail a pour objectif la mise en évidence des interférences entre la presse et la littérature. en étudiant les "romans athéniens" de Grigorios Xénopoulos, publiés en feuilleton entre 1913 et 1945 dans la presse athénienne, nous examinons le champ littéraire et journalistique grec depuis la fin du XIXe siècle et jusqu’à la deuxième guerre mondiale, la description de l’espace urbain (Athènes) et la présence de l’interdiscours dans les romans. Nous traitons le corpus dans l’optique d’une littérature de presse, médiatique et largement accessible. Enfin, dans le sillage de l’analyse du discours et particulièrement de la nouvelle rhétorique, nous examinons la dimension argumentative des textes et l’image de l’auteur dans la fiction, telle qu’elle est perçue notamment à travers le réseau intertextuel<br>This work aspires to the description of the connection between the press and the literature. by studying Grigorios Xenopoulos’"Athenian novels", published in serial form between 1913 and 1945 in the Athenian press, I examine the greek literary and journalistic field from the end of the 19th century until the world war II, the description of the urbain space (Athens) and the interdiscourse in the novels. the corpus is treated from the point of view of the media and the largely accessible press literature. Finally, following on from the discourse analysis and in particular from the new rhetoric, I examine the argumentative dimension of the texts and the image of the author in fiction, as it is perceived in particular through the intertextual network

From the first electric lights in London along Pall Mall, and in the Holborn Viaduct in 1878 to the nationalisation of National Grid in 1947, the narrative of the simple ascendency of a new technology over its outdated predecessor is essential to the way we have imagined electric light in London at the end of the nineteenth century. However, as this thesis will demonstrate, the interplay between gas and electric light - two co-existing and competing illuminary technologies - created a particular and peculiar landscape of light, a 'lightscape', setting London apart from its contemporaries throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Indeed, this narrative forms the basis of many assertions made in critical discussions of artificial illumination and technology in the late-twentieth century; however, this was not how electric light was understood at the time nor does it capture how electric light both captivated and eluded the imagination of contemporary Londoners. The influence of the electric light in the representations of London is certainly a literary question, as many of those writing during this period of electrification are particularly attentive to the city's rich and diverse lightscape. Though this has yet to be made explicit in existing scholarship, electric lights are the nexus of several important and ongoing discourses in the study of Victorian, Post-Victorian, Modernist, and twentieth-century literature. This thesis will address how the literary influence of the electric light and its relationship with its illuminary predecessors transcends the widespread electrification of London to engage with an imaginary London, providing not only a connection with our past experiences and conceptions of the city, modernity, and technology but also an understanding of what Frank Mort describes as the 'long cultural reach of the nineteenth century into the post-war period'.

M.A.<br>In this study we describe, analyze and assess the educational system that was valid as the elementary education during the period of the kingship of Othon (1833 - 1862). Based on the given law, unpublished historical documents and the relevant Greek and foreign bibliography we try to present the frame of the founding and function so that we can end p with safe results. After the flourishing of education during the time of Kapodistrias (1828 - 1831) we face a regression because of the anarchy that reigned in Greece for two years after loannis Kapodistrias' violent death. King Othon's regency formed a Special Committee to study the issue of education and in February 1834 an Act was issued "About primary schools" that was based on the French law of Guizot (1833) and was valid up to 1880. According to this order, studying at "primary school or people's school" was made compulsory and the responsibility for the primary school was given to the Municipal Authorities, as far as both the founding and the operation were concerned. Even if this was of a de-centralized and progressive character, it failed because no financial sources were provided, there was no equivalent cultural level at the time, nor the experience, the organization and the scale of priorities of the social needs. It was obviously affected by the Prussian Educational System so it didn't give results, since it ignored the Greek reality. However it was foreseen in the founding law that all children regardless of sex or financial situation would study at school. The Ministry of Education with later circulars tried to improve the legislated system but these acts were more informative than serious. Except for the primary schools there were also secondary ones (grammatodidaskaleia) but there was an attempt to eliminate their number to their total abolition. Private schools were also founded but they didn't have the same results because of the lack of teaching personnel as well as special schools for the practice of the teachers to-be. Providence was also taken for separate schools for boys and girls since ethics of the time didn't allow mingling pupils of both sexes. The category of private schools included kindergartens. The management of the Primary Education had as central organs the Secretariat of Church and Public Education and the General Inspector of Primary Schools. As regional executive organs there existed inspecting committees at country and region level, various other committees and the teachers themselves. The teaching personnel consisted of the teachers that were divided into three grades, among them, women teachers coming mostly from the Filekpedeftiki Eteria (The Society of the Friends of Education) and experienced teachers (grammatodidaskaloi) without any studies at all who taught the basics. A School was founded for the education of teachers, a School of two years study where subjects of general knowledge were taught. This public school didn't function: properly, examinations were loose and it was finally led to decadence. In 1864 the National Assembly abolished it to re-organize it on a new basis. The teacher besides teaching the various subjects had to observe his pupils behavior outside school too. In case a teacher violated his duty or went beyond it, he was punished as it was expected by the law. There was a problem with the payment (the Municipal Authorities didn't pay on time nor they shared the fees that parents paid or gave the money for the rent). Subjects were divided in compulsory and non-compulsory ones according to the teacher's judgment. Lessons of religion were also taught to non-orthodox pupils. The subjects were very useful to the pupils regardless their interest on further education or not. But basically education was limited to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) because of the lack of properly educated teachers, the necessary books and the materials and mainly the parents' limited finances that prevented them from educating their children. As far as the educational method that was used was the alternate teaching and in some small schools the co-teaching. As books they used various publisher's editions after having taken the permit of the Ministry of education. In 1856 a competition of writing text books was held and some of the were approved. Every six months, public examinations were held. Their legislated frame was formed according to a series of Ministerial orders but there were problems since many times these examinations were just a typical procedure and the mingling of the Mayor was inevitable. Generally we see that during the kingship of Othon there was the will and the attempts as far as the State was concerned to found the Primary Education on a serious base. Bu various factors such as the lack of able teachers, the financial weakness of the State, the Municipalities and the parents, made it difficult for schools to operate and didn't have the expected results, without this meaning that there was not a certain progress in the attempt to provide the essential education to Greek people.

D.Litt. et Phil.<br>The fundamental axle of this work is the educational and ideological policy during the years 1833-1862 concerning the secondary education. That’s to say, it is attempted the research and presentation all those of factors that directly or indirectly are involved in the molding/shaping and organization of the secondary education during King’s Othon reign, something which is imprinted both on the educational speech, and on the particular school activity. Specifically, the related laws and circulars are presented and the significance or the possibilities of application are evaluated. Further more, the way of acceptance or their reaction to them is located. This also has a special meaning, because during this period the steady basis of secondary education of Greek nation is formed. This is proved by the way of the formation and organization to a great degree development of the school plant. Thinking so, the basic matters and work inquiries, which are mentioned to European lending and domestic needs, the educational uniformity, the legislative frame and thoughts, the United organization of the secondary main circle of the circular education, the school liturgy according to regions of the Greek country and the by chance particularities, the orientation of the religions professional education, the education of Greek women, teachers, school children, pedagogic instructive teaching and educational task. Documents as primary sources were developed and kept in the General files of state “mainly in Kapodistrias’ and king Othon’s files” in the historic and ethnological society of Greece, in private files and collections. At the same time, those days what was written in the press was searched and was seriously taken into account as well as the existing bibliography. Finally the work was structured into eleven parts. The first part is mentioned to the conceptual and historic frame and what is related to the educational operation as well as the school work analyzed there. The second part includes what there was in Greece before 1833, mainly in Kapodistrias’ government. In the next part (c) entitled “The institutional operation in the secondary Education” the laws, thoughts and philosophy, directions and articles are analyzed. The foundation and operation both of Greek schools and high schools are the contents of fourth part. In the fifth part there are the economic possibilities and resources of the Medium Education and explicit information is given for the financial grants, the housing school problem and the luck in supervisory material. The next part concerns the common inferior education of Greek girls and as a rule the limited possibilities that they had for attending the courses of secondary education. The syntax and development of the analytic programs of study as well as the teaching of lessons is the content of the seventh part. In the eighth part the synthesis of the instructive corpus, the conditions of nominated teachers, their salary, their duties and obligations are examined. It follows “9th part” a certain report to the extend of school potential, registration conditions of students in Greek schools and high schools, according to their geographical regions as well as their fathers’ and guardians’ social and occupational data. The teaching works, in general, studies, penalties, wages, examinations, progress, reactions etc, are evaluated in the tenth part. The work is completed by the account of discoveries and general conclusions.

The theme of the dissertation is the reception of the Classical Antiquity in the Czech Literature between 1880 and 1910. The aim was to analyse the ways in which Czech culture related to the Classical Antiquity in the period of increased concern with Classical topics, motifs and forms. The first, largest part, methodologically inspired by the demythicizing perspective of Vladimír Macura and Jiří Rak, concerns with stereotypical views of the Classical Antiquity particularly prominent in the contemporary discourse: the antithetical image of noble Greece and corrupted Rome, the topos of bright Hellenic Sun and clear Sky, the ideology behind the common opinion that Ancient sculptures were all white (and the reactions to the discovery that they were, in fact, polychrome), the topos of a Greek athletic body and its employment in the policy of the Czech sports movement 'Sokol' (Falcon), and last but not least the topos of a man unspoilt by civilization and living in accordance with the Nature. Separate chapters are also devoted to two then important intermediaries of reception, grammar schools and translation. In the second part, attention is drawn to the representation of the Classical Antiquity in dramatic plays by Jaroslav Vrchlický, especially the dramatic trilogy Hippodamie, and their reception in...

Title: National identity and assimilation in relation to the social environment in Plovdiv (18th - 19th century) Abstract: The dissertation presented here arises from the perception of national identity being a kind of collective identity, which is designated by state (political) as well as non-state (cultural) nation-constituting symbols. I have tried to examine the permanence, stability and objectivity of these symbols in relation to the social environment in Plovdiv during the process of national awakening as part of Bulgarian national movement (18th - 19th century). During this period the central position in Plovdiv's social environment was held by a numerous group of people so-called Graecomen. Graecomen voluntarily renounced their Bulgarian-origin identity and exchanged it for a Greek identity. The origins of Graecomania may be found in the long-term cultural and economical co-existence of the Bulgarians and the Greeks. Since the Middle Ages there was a stable Greek community in Plovdiv, which dominated significantly the social climate. This dominance became the key motivating factor for the spread of Graecomen as Bulgarian burgers tried through the means of a favourable marriage to infiltrate the Greek community and in this way to achieve a higher social status. The highest level of intensity of...