Literary Canon Formation as Nation-Building in Central Europe and the Baltics

In this volume, seventeen scholars from Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia present their research on the formation and transformation of national literary canons as a practice of nation-building in Central Europe and the Baltics.The articles focus on the shaping of national identities through literature and analyze the establishment of literary canons by means of language, the role of national poets, and similar topics. Case studies of so-called minor literatures reveal common tendencies in the structure of many national canons, as well as specific responses and creative decisions in nation-building processes. This volume rethinks the relations between literature and nationalism (from the 19th century to present times) and contributes to the field of studies of historical development of nationalism.Contributors are: Olga Bartosiewicz-Nikolaev, Renata Beličová, Ramunė Bleizgienė, Paweł Bukowiec, Anna R. Burzyńska, Judit Dobry, Gergely Fórizs, Katre Kikas, Aistė Kučinskienė, Helena Markowska-Fulara, Radosław Okulicz-Kozaryn, Jurga Sadauskienė, Vaidas Šeferis, Viktorija Šeina, Brigita Speičytė, Jagoda Wierzejska, and Krystyna Zabawa.