Sketched by themselves. From cultural identity to socigraphy.

In the first half of the XIXth Century, numerous books were published throughout Europe, that combined the satirical depiction of manners ("étude de moeurs") with the form of the self-portrait. These books, usually organised in edited collections, offered a textual and iconic representation of different types associated with social groups or professions. This research project comprises two complementary parts. On the one hand, a special issue of the online KULeuven-UCL journal "Interferences littéraires - Literary interferences" (www.interferenceslitteraires.be) will be prepared on this panoramic literature (W. Benjamin) in cooperation with international experts. On the other hand a website will be set up for the scientific online edition of this literature, from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century in Europe (incl. Germany, England, Austria, Spain, France, Belgium). For the first time this project will gather all resources on this topic and bring them on an international level.

Keywords:XIXth Century in Europe, National identity, Panoramic literature, Literature en society

Disciplines:Theory and methodology of literary studies