Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - LuxFaSS (Luxury, fashion and social status in Early Modern South Eastern Europe)

Teaser

\"- The main objective of the project is to analyze luxury, fashion and consumption in South Eastern Europe in relation with a series of processes, such as modernization and the construction of an elite. To achieve this objective we shall adopt a comparative approach and a...

Summary

\"- The main objective of the project is to analyze luxury, fashion and consumption in South Eastern Europe in relation with a series of processes, such as modernization and the construction of an elite. To achieve this objective we shall adopt a comparative approach and a longue durée perspective, in order to highlight the shifts from one period to another within the same geographical space. In fact, luxury, fashion, and consumption are used as key-words enabling us to rediscover the past through objects, documents, languages, images, and people.

- The present research topic is highly important for those South-Eastern Europe societies that experienced the Communist regime. For a long time, history has been perverted and historical research was the first to suffer. Each step of the project brings into public debate important subjects, such as: the role of the past in the collective memory of a nation; material heritage and its relevance in re-writing the past; interpreting the Phanariot regime in light of archival documents. We aim to connect the events and developments in the Romanian Principalities with the history of the region (Balkans), thus moving beyond the national and local historical interpretation.
The first LuxFaSS international scholarly event was organized in Bucharest, with the support of the host institution (New Europe College). Participants gave papers and the event was attended by a large public of scholars from various disciplines, proving once more the interest of this research topic has for our society.
This European project can also be an inspiration for the Romanian researchers, as many of my colleagues understood that ERC projects are accessible even for Romanians.

Furthermore, as a recognition of the integration of Romanian historical research in the international framework, the President of Romania, Klaus Werner Johannis, awarded me the honorific medal \"\"Ordinul National Serviciul Credincios in grad de Cavaler \"\" / National Order of Faithful Service (rank of Knight) in a public ceremony.
http://www.presidency.ro/ro/media/album-foto/ceremonia-de-decorare-a-unor-personalitati-din-domeniul-cercetarii-unor-reprezentanti-ai-academiei-romane-si-a-unor-cadre-medicale

- The overall objectives
1. An analysis of luxury in connection with power
a) the use of luxury by the Christian elites as a way of forging their identity by focusing on material goods and cultural ideas
b) the routes of goods across South-Eastern Europe, focusing on the commercial aspects and on the networks, with people involved in all kinds of cultural and economic transfers.
2. Luxury, “Europeanization” and the consumer society.
a) the emergence of the Balkan nations, focusing on the „modern changes” seen as a process of „Europeanization” of these „new societies”
b) the consumer society and its definition in a new context brought about by the 19th century


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Work performed

The Principal Investigator and her team disseminated the results of their research within the following publications: a collective volume, a critical edition of an important narrative source, two special journal issues and more than 20 articles and book chapters. These contributions enrich the international knowledge about South-Eastern Europe. They succeeded to bring forth a great number of unknown archives and museums artefacts and to underline the importance of the region for the international historiography. The team members integrated their research findings on topics such as consumption, social status and luxury, circulation of people and identity in the international approach of global history. The Principal Investigator connected the ERC project to other international projects (HEMSEE) and research networks (for example, Transottomanica and GIS-ACORSO).
During this time period, the LuxFaSS project organised eight major international conferences. The conferences brought together renowned scholars and young promising researchers making possible a fruitful scientific dialogue on luxury, consumption and social status in early modern South-Eastern Europe.
The PI and the team members participated to national and international conferences, conventions and congresses (56), workshops (59) and some of them gave lectures or discussed their findings with students within seminars (29). The PI was especially active in making the project and its results known throughout lectures, both for academia and broader audiences. The number of research stages (66) enabled the team members to gather information about their topics and to contribute to the online database, a work still in progress. All the information can be accessed via the LuxFaSS website http://luxfass.nec.ro

Final results

Global history opened up new research paths, giving priority to comparative research on longer periods of time. In this manner, important regions were rediscovered and investigated. South-Eastern Europe is one of these regions which must be ,,explored’’ and thoroughly analysed. Emerging from the Eastern Bloc, some of the countries in this region still live under the spell of historical national myths and former Communist propaganda, used by the socialist regimes to interpret history according to their political needs. Our project intends to provide high quality research on this part of the world that will make better known its past and contribute to its understanding.

Website & more info

More info: http://luxfass.nec.ro/.