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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 1530: Materiality and Medievalism, I: Nationalism and the Appropriation of Medieval Objects

Thursday 4 July 2019, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:State University of New York, Oneonta
Organiser:April Harper, Department of History, State University of New York, Oneonta
Moderator/Chair:Karl Christian Alvestad, Department of History, University of Winchester
Paper 1530-aThe Tall Man's Ring: Tsar Kalojan between Medieval and Socialist Bulgaria
(Language: English)
Francesco Dall'Aglio, Department of Medieval History of Bulgaria, Institute for Historical Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Folk Studies, Medievalism and Antiquarianism, Political Thought
Paper 1530-bHistory/Divination/Hate: The Use of Medieval Runes as a Link to the Past, a Neo-Pagan Talisman, and a Thinly Veiled Sigil of Hate
(Language: English)
Donald Burke, English & Foreign Languages, Cerro Coso Community College, California
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Medievalism and Antiquarianism, Political Thought
Paper 1530-cMedievalism and Nation-Building in the French Revolution
(Language: English)
April Harper, Department of History, State University of New York, Oneonta
Index terms: Art History - General, Medievalism and Antiquarianism, Political Thought
Abstract

This session is focused on the use of medieval objects in nation-building and nationalism. The use of objects - in this case, jewelry, runic inscriptions, and general art - were powerful signifiers of imagined pasts. In some cases the objects helped to create an image of solidarity, while in others, the misuse of these objects created unwanted and dangerous links to the imagined past that have profound impact on the present.