Imagined Empires

This collective volume enhances the discourse on the ideological prerequisites for the emergence of Balkan nationalisms. The Balkans offer classic examples of how empires imagine they can transform themselves into national states (Ottomanism) and how nation-states project themselves into future empires (as with the Greek "Great Idea" and the Serbian "Nacertaniye"). This book examines the interaction between these two aspirations. The book is comprised of twelve essays, with a balance between historical and literary contributions. The focus is on the ideological hybridity of the new national identities and on the effects of "imperial nationalisms" on the emerging Balkan nationalisms. The authors unfold the relation between empire and nation state, proceeding from the observation that many of the new nation states acquired some imperial features and behaved as empires. This original and stimulating approach reveals the imperialistic nature of so-called ethnic or cultural nationalism.