Fumurescu, Ana
(2024)
National in Difference: Primary Schooling, Citizen-Subjects, and Imperial Notions in Romanian-Administered Dobruja, 1878-1920.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
This is the latest version of this item.
Abstract
This dissertation explores the relationship between universal schooling and nation-building in a (purportedly) post-imperial borderland. Building on recent literature on national indifference, which presents borderland actors as culturally and politically fluid, this project shows the nation-state to have been as adaptive as its citizens. Like the communities that attended the Islamic, Bulgarian, German, Greek, Russian, Armenian, French, and Jewish schools in the formerly Ottoman maritime region of Dobruja, the Romanian state constantly evaluated the viability of cultural nationalization. By emphasizing the ambiguity of legal language, the flexibility of regional policies, and the responsiveness of central actors to geopolitical pressures, this project presents the nation-state as a pragmatically agnostic actor that used nationalism much as borderland actors did – strategically and selectively. It argues that the Romanian nation-state governed its composite parts via a dynamic differentiated rule inspired by, and reflective of, imperial norms and strategies of governance. In so doing, this project emphasizes the imperfect and extended transition from a Europe of empires to one of nation-states and dissipates the smoke and mirrors of nationalist rhetoric and legislation to better understand the practical considerations underpinning state-minority interactions within the context of expansionist nation-building.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
9 January 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
18 October 2023 |
| Approval Date: |
9 January 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
6 November 2023 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
215 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > History |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Romania; mass education; primary schooling; nation-building; nationalism; Dobruja; subjecthood; citizenship; imperial; empire; Ottoman Empire; Russian Empire; Habsburg Empire; minorities; minority rights; sovereignty; national indifference; imperial nation; state-citizenship; assimilation |
| Date Deposited: |
09 Jan 2024 19:37 |
| Last Modified: |
09 Jan 2024 19:37 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/45527 |
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National in Difference: Primary Schooling, Citizen-Subjects, and Imperial Notions in Romanian-Administered Dobruja, 1878-1920. (deposited 09 Jan 2024 19:37)
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