Cultural Mediation in Europe, 1800-1950

International exchange in European cultural life in the 19th and 20th centuriesFrom the early nineteenth century till the middle of the twentieth century, cultures in Europe were primarily national. They were organized and conceived of as attributes of the nation states. Nonetheless, these national cultures crossed borders with an unprecedented intensity even before globalization transformed the very concept of culture. During that long period, European cultures have imported and exported products, techniques, values, and ideas, relying on invisible but efficient international networks. The central agents of these networks are considered mediators: translators, publishers, critics, artists, art dealers and collectors, composers. These agents were not only the true architects of intercultural transfer, they also largely contributed to the shaping of a common canon and of aesthetic values that became part of the history of national cultures. Cultural Mediation in Europe, 1800-1950 analyses the strategic transfer roles of cultural mediators active in large parts of Western Europe in domains as varied as literature, music, visual arts, and design.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Contributors
Amélie Auzoux (Université Paris IV-Sorbonne), Christophe Charle (Université Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne), Kate Kangaslahti (KU Leuven), Vesa Kurkela (University of the Arts, Helsinki), Anne O’Connor (University of Galway), Saijaleena Rantanen (University of the Arts, Helsinki), Ágnes Anna Sebestyén (Hungarian Museum of Architecture, Budapest), Inmaculada Serón Ordóñez (University of Málaga), Renske Suijver (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), Tom Toremans (KU Leuven), Dirk Weissmann (Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès)

Introduction
Reine Meylaerts, Lieven D’hulst & Tom Verschaffel

I. ACTORS

James/Diego/Jaime Clark: Shedding Light on the Translator who Sparked Modern Spanish Translations of Shakespeare
Inmaculada Serón Ordóñez

Hendrik Willem Mesdag: An Enterprising Artist and Collector
Renske Suijver

Paris in the Late Nineteenth – Early Twentieth Century: The Consecration of European Letters or the Production of “Belles Infidèles”?
Amélie Auzoux

II. JOURNALS

Cultural Transfer Through Translation in The Edinburgh Review, 1802-1807
Tom Toremans

Mediating Breuer: The Transfer of Images and Texts on Marcel Breuer’s Tubular Steel Furniture
Ágnes Anna Sebestyén

Spreading the Word and Image of Modernism: Christian Zervos and Cahiers d’Art, 1926-1960
Kate Kangaslahti

III. POLITICS

Towards a Comparative History of Mediators: Double Men and Women
Christophe Charle

Mediating Through Translation: Irish Cultural Nationalism and European Importations
Anne O’Connor

Germany as a Cultural Paragon: Transferring Modern Musical Life from Central Europe to Finland
Vesa Kurkela & Saijaleena Rantanen

Dada – Rag-time – Cabaret: Artistic Internationalism and Multilingual Writing in Walter Mehring’s Work
Dirk Weissmann

Index of names

Tom Verschaffel

Tom Verschaffel is professor of cultural history at KU Leuven.

Reine Meylaerts

Reine Meylaerts is full professor of comparative literature and translation studies at KU Leuven.

Lieven D'hulst

Lieven D’hulst is emeritus gewoon hoogleraar Franstalige letterkunde en vertaalwetenschap aan de Letterenfaculteit van de KU Leuven.

Amélie Auzoux

Christophe Charle

Kate Kangaslahti

Vesa Kurkela

Anne O'Connor

Saijaleena Rantanen

Agnes Anna Sebestyén

Inmaculada Serón-Ordónez

Renske Suijver

Tom Toremans

Tom Toremans is Lecturer in English literature and literary theory at the Katholieke Universiteit Brussel (partner in Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel), and affiliated researcher at the Department of Literary Studies of KU Leuven. He is co-founder and member of the steering committee of the Centre for European Reception Studies, based at the Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel.

Dirk Weissmann

Tom Verschaffel