European University Institute Library

Portraits of the Nation, stamps, coins and banknotes in Belgium and Switzerland : 1880-1945, Alexis Schwarzenbach

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 330-343)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--European University Institute (HEC), 1997.

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Portraits of the Nation

theses

1038722699

Defence date: 13 December 1997

Alexis Schwarzenbach

EUI PhD thesesEUI theses

stamps, coins and banknotes in Belgium and Switzerland : 1880-1945

Portraits of the Nation offers a fascinating insight into the construction and development of national identity in two multilingual countries Belgium and Switzerland. This book not only shows that multilingualism was no obstacle for the development of national identity in both countries it was used as a positive means of collective identification it also demonstrates that other means of identification were much more important. These were found on a national and supra-linguistic level in Belgium the Royal Family and in Switzerland the Alps and on a local and sublinguistic level in Belgium mainly the provinces and in Switzerland the cantons. This study also shows that, contrary to what might be expected, Belgium was often more successful than Switzerland in constructing and adapting its national identity, especially in the inter-war years. Combining written and iconographic sources found in the archives of the national banks, mints and Post Offices in Berne and Brussels this book furthermore fills in an important historiographical gap using stamps, coins and banknotes as historical sources for the first time. Often neglected by historians, Alexis Schwarzenbach successfully argues that these sources have to be seen as important lieux de mernoire and that they are ideally suited for the study of the interrelated topics of memory and identity