Date: 2019
Type: Thesis
Izidor Kršnjavi : a sketch of an intellectual at the turn of the twentieth century
Florence : European University Institute, 2019, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis
VRANIC, Igor, Izidor Kršnjavi : a sketch of an intellectual at the turn of the twentieth century, Florence : European University Institute, 2019, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/64468
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This study examines the cultural and political work of the first professional art historian in Croatia, Izidor Kršnjavi (1845-1927). Special emphasis is given to intellectual and political currents of mid-nineteenth century Vienna and Kršnjavi’s education there. Education in the imperial center shaped his liberal worldview and influenced his socio-political ideas and actions. One of those ideas was reconciliation between the empire and the nation. Contrary to the widely-held belief that the empire and nations were permanently clashing, I present how the empire often unintentionally fostered nationalism. My aim is to present how the empire and the nation tried to find answers and resolve their imperial and national problems in the new socio-political context of growth in industrialization, population, literacy and nationalization of most spheres of life. More particularly, I want to present on Kršnjavi’s case how imperial and national elites cooperated thanks to the Habsburg’s policies of protecting and fostering diversity of its population, unlike the forceful assimilation of other European empires. Kršnjavi's initiatives had the main aim in achieving political goals through the nationalization of culture. These initiatives included areas such as arts and crafts, architecture, scholarly work, academic and public lectures, and opened debates with main questions like the dominant character of the Croatian nation, the Croatian legal system and its national territories. Kršnjavi’s liberal idea that he could persuade everyone to accept his view through open debate and arguments left him unable to adapt to the new socio-political reality at the turn of the twentieth century. Ironically, Kršnjavi’s initiatives often had the opposite effects of what he intended - instead of bridging the national differences, his initiatives deepened them further.
Additional information:
Defence date: 4 October 2019; Examining Board:
Prof Pieter M. Judson, European University Institute (Supervisor);
Prof Stéphane Van Damme, European University Institute;
Prof Mark Cornwall, University of Southampton;
Prof Stjepan Matković, Croatian Institute for History
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/64468
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/94128
Series/Number: EUI; HEC; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Elite (Social sciences) -- Croatia; Nationalism -- Croatia -- History; Croatia -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
Preceding version: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/59645; http://hdl.handle.net/1814/64469
Version: Chapter 3 'Kršnjavi and Arts Society' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Izidor Kršnjavi and Beginning of Arts
and Crafts Movement in Zagreb in the 1880s' (2017) in the journal 'Studia slavica et balcanica petropolitana'; Chapter 6 'Kršnjavi as editor of Kronprinzenwer' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'The problem of top-down empire building : the last Kronprinzenwerk volume on Croatia-Slavonia' (2017) in the journal 'Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino/Contributions to the contemporary history'