The Balkans between Europe and Orient. Image of the Balkans in the Czech and French popularizing journalism (1875-1914)

The following work is, in general area, focusing on questions of cultural history of 19th and 20th century - mainly to the questions of cultural stereotypes and identities. In the spirit of modern methodological approaches towards studies of history, it presents the comparison of image of Balkan in Czech and French popular science journalism at the turning point of 19th and 20th centuries. The concrete target of the study is to find out what was the image of so called Balkan peninsula, that was offered to the well educated Czech and French public in the sources (mainly magazines) of non-fiction character in between 1875 and 1914. Comparison of Czech and French view of the Balkan represents an attempt for comparison of points of views of the two different cultural and historical environments. The Czech perspective is the view of a "small" (non-state) nation, which was in the given time making an attempt for a cultural and national emancipation in the frame of multinational empire. On the other side is the French perspective of a "big" (state) nation, which has been, at the turning point of the 19th and 20th century, a cultural, political and colonial power. The aspect of methodology of this work is inspired by the modern methodological approaches focused on studying cultural stereotypes and identities. The..