Balkan Identities: Nation and Memory

General Series Editors: Gay Wilson Allen and Sculley Bradley

Originally published between 1961 and 1984, and now available in paperback for the first time, the critically acclaimed Collected Writings of Walt Whitman captures every facet of one of America's most important poets.

In discussing letter-writing, Whitman made his own views clear. Simplicity and naturalness were his guidelines. “I like my letters to be personal—very personal—and then stop.” The six volumes in The Correspondence comprise nearly 3,000 letters written over a half century, revealing Whitman the person as no other documents can.

Volume III covers the years in which Whitman radiated a personal and artistic magnetism, despite the paralysis that struck him in 1873. This period was full of important events, including the attempted censoring of Leaves of Grass, Whitman's renewed friendship with William D. O'Connor, and the arrival in America of Whitman's unrequited lover, Anne Gilchrist. During this period, Whitman also met Harry Stafford, the eighteen-year-old son of a New Jersey farming family. Despite his international fame, Whitman preferred to spend much of his time with the Staffords, particularly Harry, with whom he had a close but uncertain bond.

"Although the essays explore different events from various historical periods in individual countries, the authors are animated by a common denominator: opposition to rigid isolationism, preserving space for a creative dialogue, and opposition to political manipulation of national identities."-Multicultural Review,

"Todorova kept her authors engaged with each other and with the current scholarly literature on memory, history and nationalism. Their efforts to create such a rich and diverse volume must be commended." -American HIstorical Review,

Praise for the original edition:

“These letters . . . are indispensable for the serious student of American literature.”

-Library Journal,

Balkan Identities brings together historians, anthropologists, and literary scholars all working under the shared conviction that the only way to overcome history is to intimately understand it. The contributors of Balkan Identities focus on historical memory, collective national memory, and the political manipulation of national identities. They refine our understanding of memory and identity in general and explore and assess the significance of particular manifestations of Balkan national identities and national memories in the region.

The essays in Balkan Identities grapple with three major problems: the construction of historical memory, sites of national memory, and the mobilization of national identities. While most essays focus on a single country (e.g. Croatia, Romania, Turkey, Cyprus, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia), they are in dialogue with each other and share an opposition to rigid isolationist identities.

Illuminating and challenging, Balkan Identities demonstrates the ever-changing nature of a troubled and culturally vibrant region.

Balkan Identities brings together historians, anthropologists, and literary scholars all working under the shared conviction that the only way to overcome history is to intimately understand it. The contributors of Balkan Identities focus on historical memory, collective national memory, and the political manipulation of national identities. They refine our understanding of memory and identity in general and explore and assess the significance of particular manifestations of Balkan national identities and national memories in the region.

The essays in Balkan Identities grapple with three major problems: the construction of historical memory, sites of national memory, and the mobilization of national identities. While most essays focus on a single country (e.g. Croatia, Romania, Turkey, Cyprus, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia), they are in dialogue with each other and share an opposition to rigid isolationist identities.

Illuminating and challenging, Balkan Identities demonstrates the ever-changing nature of a troubled and culturally vibrant region.

Maria Todorova is Professor of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.