Culture ‒ Power ‒ Identity A comparative study of power structures in culture based on the example of the German-speaking and the Croatian-speaking theatre in Croatia in 19th century
In the age of modernization and liberalism, theatre became one of the most important global mass media. Colonialism and migrations followed by the emergence of new theatre audiences ‒ particularly the middle class ‒ induced the renaissance of travelling theatre companies. It was precisely this kind of theatre, which played a crucial role in a global expansion of the transnational German-speaking theatre market in the nineteenth century. This research project aims to generate the worldwide topography of the German-speaking theatre market, which was in the nineteenth century extending from Habsburg monarchy, Balticum and Russia to the United States of America and the South African Republic. The main focus of the research is on the role of the German-speaking theatre in creating a cultural identity and contributed to an “imagined community” (Anderson) outside German-speaking countries. By developing a case study on the German-speaking theatre in Croatian in the nineteenth century, the project investigates one kind of historical paradox: while the German-speaking theatre facilitated the creation of a common cultural identity and transnational community, it also stimulated and accelerated the development and the institutionalisation of the national culture.