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The P arthenon M arbles as icons of nationalism in nineteenth‐century B ritain
Author(s) -
RoseGreenland Fiona
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/nana.12039
Subject(s) - nationalism , prestige , optimal distinctiveness theory , national identity , civilization , state (computer science) , newspaper , sociology , political economy , political science , economic history , media studies , history , law , politics , philosophy , psychology , linguistics , algorithm , computer science , psychotherapist
Theories of nationalism place native culture at the core of national self‐fashioning. What explains a state's adoption of foreign objects to sustain national identity? In this paper, I argue that the incorporation of the P arthenon M arbles into B ritish public life is an early example of supranational nationalism. The nineteenth‐century ‘art race’ was a competitive field in which E uropean nation‐states vied for prestige. Of the thousands of art trophies that were brought to B ritain from M editerranean and N orth A frican countries, the P arthenon M arbles were uniquely iconicised. Using data from period newspapers and official documents, I assert that this was because they were assiduously presented as pre national by B ritish authorities. In this way, they belonged simultaneously to no nation, to every nation, and to B ritain. The case demonstrates the emergence of a particular form of national distinctiveness that transcended the smallness of particularity and rose to the level of universal civilisation.