Karel R. van Kooij (ed.), ABIA South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index

Indo-Iranian Journal -     

Einoo,Shingo; Jun Takashima,From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration [Japanese Studies on South Asia No. 4]

Indo-Iranian Journal -     

The Eighth Argument. Identity,Ethnicity and Political Culture in Sixteenth-Century Scandinavia

What was a Swede in the 16th century? How did people identify themselves and others, and what political role did collective identities play before the coming of modern nationalism? One would perhaps expect that there exist many works proposing answers to such questions. Within the humanities, there has been a steadily increasing interest in culture and identities in the last few decades. Nevertheless, few have asked such questions. When dealing with medieval and early modern Europe, historians have put the questions rather in this way: Was the Swede of the 16th century Swedish in the modern sense? Did nations and/or nationalism exist before the end of the 18th century? The discussion of medieval and early modern identities has been severely limited by "the nationalicistic trap". Identities before the late 18th century have been studied in order to look for the roots of modern national identity, to find out where nations originate, or to argue that nationalism is a purely modern phenomenon. I intend to fall into that trap myself later in this article, discussing why nationalism and national identity are less fitting concepts when dealing with the 16th century. But basically, I seek to uncover and conceptualize the identities of the time in their own right.     

Raven,Ellen and Helga L. Lasschuijt [Edd.]: ABIA. South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index. Volume Two,parts 1 and 2

Indo-Iranian Journal -