Beyond 'Hellenes' and 'Barbarians'

Kirill Postoutenko is Senior Researcher in the Special Research Area 1288 (Practices of Comparison) at Bielefeld University, Germany, and Adjunct Associate Professor (Docent) of Russian literature and culture at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is the author and editor of eight books and eighty articles devoted to the history of Russian poetry and literary criticism, history of media and communication in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, systems theory, conversation analysis, and social history of identity.

• List of FiguresAcknowledgmentsNotes on TransliterationIntroduction: ‘Asymmetrical Counter-Concepts’: Chances and ChallengesKirill PostoutenkoChapter 1. Treason as Touchstone: Asymmetrical Relations between ‘Heathens’ and ‘Christians’ in Middle High German Epic LiteraturePaul ParadiesChapter 2. “Blond Flowing Hair”, “Tumid Lips,” “Rigid Posture”, and “Choleric Temperament:” Universal Aspirations and Racial Asymmetries in Linnaeus’ Descriptions of Homo SapiensMonica LibellChapter 3. The Contribution of Asymmetrical Concepts to the Building of the Spanish Liberal discourse in the First Half of 19th Century (Methodological Reflections and Applications)Ana Isabel González MansoChapter 4. ‘Kultur’ / ‘Bildung’ vs. ‘Civilization’: A Close Look at one Conceptual Asymmetry in the Early Nineteenth-Century Finnish DiscourseHeli RantalaChapter 5. ‘Liberales' vs. 'Serviles': Symmetrisation of Asymmetrical Counter-Concepts and Political Polarization in Spain and Portugal (1810–1834)Luis Fernandez TorresChapter 6. ‘Hellenes’ Revisited: Asymmetrical Concepts in the Language of the Greek RevolutionAlexandra SfoiniChapter 7. ‘Civilization’ and ‘Barbarity’ in French Liberal Discourse During the Conquest and Colonisation of AlgeriaNere Basabe, María Luisa Sánchez-MejíaChapter 8. ‘People,’ ‘Plebs’ and the Changing Boundaries of the Political: Asymmetrical Conceptualizations in Spanish Liberalism in Comparative European PerspectivePablo Sánchez LeónChapter 9. ‘Order’ vs. ‘chaos’: Asymmetrical Counter-concepts and Ideological Struggles in the early 20th Century Russian PolandWiktor MarzecChapter 10. Dutch Mccarthyism? The Asymmetrical Opposition of ‘Democracy’ and ‘Communism’ in Holland Between 1920 and 1990Wim de JongChapter 11. Asymmetrical Oppositions and Hierarchical Structures in Soviet Musical Criticism: The Case of Essay Collection Za rubezhom (“Abroad”) (1953)Kirill KozlovskiiChapter 12. “We the Basques”, and the “Other(s)": Ethnic Asymmetries in the Basque Nationalist DiscourseIñaki Iriarte LópezConclusion: Beyond ‘Hellenes‘ and ‘Barbarians‘Kirill Postoutenko

“This volume is a significant and innovative exploration of Koselleck’s notion of asymmetric counter-concepts in the form of case studies based on a number of European cultures and histories. Beyond 'Hellenes' and 'Barbarians' places its theme firmly on the agenda of conceptual historians, which makes it a very valuable and insightful addition to conceptual history literature.” • Michael Freeden, University of Oxford