Cultural History of Slovene Place

This course is part of the programme
Bachelor's study programme Cultural history (1st level)

Objectives and competences

Student is acquainted with the history of the great cultural-historical epochs, which marked and formed the Slovene space. By identifying differences and linkages among them, the student is familiarized with the issue of civilizational continuity and discontinuity and with the strategies of accepting initiatives from abroad. Similarly, one gets acquainted with the contribution of Slovenes and other inhabitants of Slovenian place to the European culture. In the 2nd academic year the emphasis of the subject is on the overview, while in the 4th year particularly significant chapters are elucidated.

Prerequisites

The subject is the intersection of the intire Culture History Programme. It is particularly linked to Cultural Heritage in Historical Perspective.

Content

The aim of the subject is to acquaint the students with basic features of cultural and intellectual history in the Slovene lands from Early Moder period to the end of 20th Century. They are also familiarized with crucial movements that decisively marked spiritual and historical shifts in Europe (the »schools« of classical world, Carolingian Renaissance, Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism-Naturalism, Fin de Siècle, Avantgardisms, »ressentiments«).
By comparing the situations in other European countries (border countries in particular) the students should independently expose emphases of historical events and processes in the Slovene lands. At the same time they should in no lesser extent point out the meaning of cultural and intellectual initiatives from abroad and draw attention to various strategies of accepting impulses from broader civilizational environments. In the chapters, dedicated to the Modern history, it is necessary to demonstrate gradual European cultural/intellectual opening to other civilizational circles (particularly to the Islamic, Indian and Chinese).
The students attending the subject are trained to carry out an independent research in the field of intellectual and cultural history (with seminar papers). They are also acquainted with a huge variety of sources, that enable analysis of this problem field (language, literature, music, visual arts, philosophical studies, theoretic and ideological texts).

Intended learning outcomes

Students master and understand how the Slovenian place in different eras of history is connected to the events in Central Europe and the Mediterranean. The students are able to conduct independent research work on the basisi of sources from different areas of history. They connect the knowledge of different scpecialised histories and the synthetic overview which deals with the development of structures and relationships.

Readings

Basic:

  • Janez Cvirn (ur.), Slovenska kronika XIX. stoletja, Nova Revija, Ljubljana 1995- Catalogue
  • Marjan Drnovšek, Drago Bajd (ur.), Slovenska kronika XIX. in XX. stoletja, Nova revija Ljubljana, 1995- Catalogue1 Catalogue2
  • Karen Harvey (ed.), Histroy andd Material Culture, Routledge, Oxon-New Yourk, 2009 Catalogue
  • Micaheale Rotheberg, Multidirectional Memory (Uvod), Stanford University Press, Stanford 2009 Catalogue E-version
  • Primož Simoniti, Humanizem na Slovenskem in slovenski humanisti do srede XVI. Stoletja. Slovenska matica, Ljubljana 1979 Catalogue
  • Dieter Scholz, Irina Hiebert Gru, Joachim Jaeger, Die Kunst der gesellschaf 1900-1945, Sammlung der Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2021 Catalogue
  • Relevant literature for any particular or significant issue is specified at the lectures. At the seminar work, which is an integral part of a study process, there is an emphasis on archival documents, and material kept in the libraries and museums.

Assessment

Seminar paper and oral exam.

Lecturer's references

Gostujoči profesor z afiliacijo:
Yale Univeristy (1999-2000); Universitaet Wien (2006/2007); Columbia University New York – poletni semester 2012-2013); Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio (zimski semester 2016-2017).

Pomembnejša dela zadnjega destletja:
The Land of Shadows (2012); The Great War and Memory in Central and
South-Eastern Europe (2016); Media of Memory (2020) , Zgodovina historične misli, druga prenovljena izdaja (2016); Of Red Dragons and Evil Spirits: Post-Communist Historiography Between Democratization and the New Politics of History (2017). The Land Between. A History of Slovenia, tretja prenovljena izdaja 2023;

In his research, Dr. Oto Luthar focuses on issues of history and historiography, philosophy of history, history of modern intellectual practices, historical revisionism, modern history of ideas and cultural history of the Great War.
In 2011, Dr Luthar was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour, a recognition of his endeavours for improvement of collaboration between ZRC and Austrian institutions in the fields of history, history of art, ethnology, Slavistics, musicology and philosophy.
Dr Luthar is member of the International Advisory Board of the Institute for Culture Studies and Theatre History of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and member of the External Advisory Board of the Centre for the Study of the Balkans, Goldsmiths College, University of London; member of the permanent delegation of the Republic of Slovenia for cooperation in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and member of its academic work group; and member of the National Geographic Slovenia Editorial board.