Call for papers
Dacoromania litteraria, 12/2025

Contemporary Spectres of the 19th Century in the Literature of Central and Eastern Europe

One could metaphorically say that the 19th century was the longest century in human history (Braudel 1958). It began with the French Revolution in 1789 and ended with the Great War in 1914. This century commenced with Napoleon’s actions, spanned the long reigns of Queen Victoria and Emperor Franz Joseph, and concluded symbolically with the sinking of the Titanic. It was a time of dramatic political changes (the fall of aristocracy, the rise of capitalism), social changes (women’s emancipation, the dispossession of peasants), economic changes (the industrial boom), geographical changes (the expansion of colonialism, the popularisation of travel), technical advancements (scientific discoveries and inventions in various fields), and cultural transformations (evolutions in literature and other arts, the beginnings of photography and film). This era saw the emergence of major cultural movements: Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism, characterised by a turn towards individualism and psychology on one hand, and grand social and historical diagnoses on the other. Both poetry and prose, as well as drama, saw rapid development.

The 19th century was also a period of complex situations in Central and Eastern Europe: on one hand, modern concepts of nations were emerging; on the other, many nations lacked their own state. This unique historical context created a shared experience that links the cultures of Central and Eastern Europe, both in the 19th century and in their contemporary reflections on that era. The region’s collective struggle for national identity, often in the face of imperial rule, fostered a rich cultural and literary landscape that continues to resonate today.

Moreover, the return to 19th-century themes and ideas after the fall of socialist regimes in the late 20th century highlights the enduring influence of this period on the region’s cultural imagination. This “long 19th century” has shaped the intellectual and artistic traditions of Central and Eastern Europe in profound ways, creating a common cultural thread that persists despite political boundaries.

While comparative studies of 19th-century Western European literatures are well-established (Caron, Corbin, Riot-Sarcey, Sanson 1996; Aprile, Charpy, Hincker, Lyon-Caen 2013; Kalifa 2013), a similar comprehensive approach to Central and Eastern European literatures is lacking. This gap in scholarship presents an opportunity for a nuanced exploration of the region’s literary heritage. A comparative perspective on the long 19th century in Central and Eastern Europe would not only illuminate the unique characteristics of each national literature but also reveal the interconnections and shared themes that define the region’s cultural identities.

This thematic focus is particularly relevant given the complex reception of 19th-century literature in the cultures of the region. Works such as Larry Wolff’s “Inventing Eastern Europe” (1994) and Maria Todorova’s “Imagining the Balkans” (1997) have explored how the region’s image was constructed in Western European discourse, but less attention has been paid to how Central and Eastern European cultures themselves have reinterpreted and reimagined their 19th-century heritage. Notable efforts such as the comprehensive volumes edited by Cornis-Pope, and Neubauer (2004-2010) or the recent works of Kučinskienė, Šeina, and Speičytė (2021) are commendable but remain relatively rare in the academic landscape. These initiatives highlight a growing but still underdeveloped interest in understanding how these cultures internalise, contest, and transform their own historical narratives in response to both past and present cultural dynamics.

In light of these considerations, we must ask: how do we view 19th-century Central and Eastern European literatures today? What image of the 19th-century literary life in these areas emerges from contemporary reflections on the 19th century? What does 19th-century literature mean to us today in the context of Central and Eastern Europe’s unique historical trajectory?

In seeking answers to these questions, we propose examining the enduring impact of 19th-century literature in Central and Eastern Europe. Therefore, we invite submissions on topics including, but not limited to:

  • What does the 19th century mean in the 21st century?
  • Continuations, breaks, and bridges between 19th- and 21st-century Central and Eastern European literatures.
  • The presence of 19th-century literature in 21st-century literature (continuations, inspirations, sequels).
  • Inspirations from the 19th century in 21st-century literature (forms, styles, genres, plots).
  • 21st-century historical novels set in the 19th century.
  • 21st-century biographies of 19th-century writers and poets.
  • 19th-century literatures in light of the latest trends in literary studies (e.g., ecocriticism, postcolonialism, affect theory, (auto)biography, feminism, gender, queer studies).
  • 19th-century literatures through quantitative and qualitative research.
  • Towards new syntheses – what do Romantic poetry, Realist novels, and Romantic/Realist dramas mean in the 21st century?
  • Locality and community in 19th-century literatures.
  • Cultural flows, borders, and borderlands – 19th-century literatures from a comparative perspective.
  • Is a canon possible in the 21st century – a local and/or transnational canon of 19th-century Central European literatures?
  • 19th-century writers as critics and theorists – what did they read, and what did they write about?
  • How is 19th-century non-fiction (e.g., reportage, memoirs, letters) read today?
  • What do contemporary translation studies say about 19th-century literatures?
  • 19th-century literatures in contemporary films and series.
  • Important 19th-century literary figures – their “afterlife” in 21st-century literature and culture.
  • How are 19th-century Central and Eastern European literatures currently read in Western Europe and the United States?

Please submit your proposals to the editors:

dr Tomasz Krupa, tomasz.krupa@uj.edu.pl
dr. hab. Mateusz Skucha, prof. UJ, mateusz.skucha@uj.edu.pl

Deadlines for submissions (in English or in French):

ABSTRACTS  (around 300 words): November 15, 2024.
FULL PAPERS (around 8000-9000 words): February 15, 2025.

Author Guidelines:

https://www.dacoromanialitteraria.inst-puscariu.ro/en/nr.php

General Bibliography:

Aprile, Sylvie; Charpy, Manuel; Hincker, Louis; Lyon-Caen, Judith, (eds.), „Quel est l’avenir du XIXe siècle?”, Revue d’histoire du XIXe siècle, 47, 2013.

Braudel, Fernand, „Histoire et Sciences sociales: La longue durée”, Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, vol. 13, no. 4, 1958, pp. 725–753.

Caron, Jean-Claude; Corbin, Alain; Riot-Sarcey, Michèle; Sanson, Rosemonde, (eds.), „(Re)penser le XIXe siècle”, Revue d’histoire du XIXe siècle, no. 13, 1996.

Corbin, Alain (dir.), Histoire du corps. 2: De la Révolution à la Grand Guerre, Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 2005.

Cornis-Pope, Marcel; Neubauer, John (dir.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, vol. 1-4, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 2004-2010.

Dović, Marijan; Jón Karl Helgason (dir.), Great immortality: studies on European cultural sainthood, Brill, Leiden Boston, 2019.

Hobsbawm, Eric, The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848, World Publishing Company, Cleveland, 1962.

Hobsbawm, Eric, The Age of Capital: 1848-1875, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1975.

Hobsbawm, Eric, The Age of Empire: 1875-1914, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1987.

Kalifa, Dominique, „Que reste-t-il du XIXe siècle ?”, Revue d’histoire du XIXe siècle, no. 47, 2013, pp. 11-14.

Křížová, Markéta; Malečková, Jitka (dir.), Central Europe and the Non-European World in the Long 19th Century, Frank & Timme, Berlin, 2022.

Kučinskienė, Aistė; Šeina, Viktorija; Speičytė, Brigita (dir.), Literary canon formation as nation-building in Central Europe and the Baltics: 19th to early 20th century, Brill, Leiden, 2021.

Moretti, Franco, Atlas of the European Novel: 1800-1900, Verso, London, 1999.

Osterhammel, Jürgen, Die Verwandlung der Welt: eine Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, Beck, München, 2009.

Perrot, Michelle (dir.), Histoire de la vie privée. 4: De la Révolution à la Grand Guerre, Seuil, Paris, 1987.

Salmi, Hannu, Nineteenth-Century Europe: A Cultural History, Polity, Cambridge, 2008.

Todorova, Maria, Imagining the Balkans, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.

Wolff, Larry, Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1994.