Commemorative Practices in the Humanities around 1900

Jo Tollebeek

Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

DOI: 10.4236/ahs.2015.43017                

Abstract

Around 1900, the humanities underwent a metamorphosis which led to the emergence of modern disciplines. This transformation was accompanied by another process, the building of scientific communities. The central question addressed in this essay was how these new disciplinary communities in the humanities were strengthened by commemorative practices. Those practices could be highly diverse, ranging from the dedication of a book and the circulation and collection of photographs to the organisation of tribute events, attending of funerals and writing of obituaries. The forms that these practices could take were mapped out in this essay using material drawn from the archives of three prominent (literary) historians from Belgium and the Netherlands: Paul Fredericq, Robert Fruin and Jan te Winkel.

Keywords

Discipline-Formation, Community-Building, Collective Memory, Commemorative Practices, Academic Remembrance Culture

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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