Aristocratic Circles Research Articles

Akulturasi dalam Arsitektur Jawa di Yogyakarta

Title: Acculturation of Javanese Architecture in Yogyakarta; Pedimented façades in Javanese architecture at the Kraton Yogyakarta and Dalem Notonegaran
 
 At the beginning of the 20th century, European Colonialism dominated almost all parts of the world. In this period, cultural acculturation was developed between European and local cultures in the colonised territory, including architecture. Many studies concerning architectural acculturation in the late colonial era emphasised the roles of European agents in appreciating while dominating the local culture. This research presents an alternative perspective by focusing on the Javanese elite as the agents of cultural change. Javanese architecture, on the one hand, with its long tradition, has recognisable stylistic formulation. On the other hand, it has a great degree of adaptation, giving chances for acculturation with many other architectural traditions. At the beginning of the 20th century, one exciting dynamic was the façade with pediment incorporating European Neo-Classical architecture. Originating in Ancient Greek Architecture, pediments continuously developed as a reference in European architecture. In Yogyakarta, the aristocratic circle adopted a pedimented façade supported by twin columns on both ends combined with many elements of Javanese culture. This research compares several pedimented façades with various cultural sources and architectural compositions in several buildings in the Sultan’s Palace of Yogyakarta and the princely residence of Notonegaran. From this comparison, this research discovers the progressive sides of Javanese architecture with many novel syntheses incorporating European architectural elements and Javanese ornamentations with novelty in composition, technology, and representation.

The singer and denouncer of high society: the linguo-poetics of V. A. Sollogub’s novella "Noble Society" (to the 210th anniversary of the birth)

The study aims to analyse the novella "Noble Society" by V. A. Sollogub as the most typical example of the writer’s search for new realistic forms of the linguo-poetic depiction of the aristocratic circle life. Drawing on the Romanticism traditions, the writer develops his own original approach to the artistic exploration of the subject which was already extensively covered in Russian literature of the first quarter of the 19th century. Sollogub offers a kind of alternative to Lermontov’s vision of the beau monde (in content, form, and the author’s position). Without abandoning the experience of a critical and even satirical investigation of the subject, the writer tries to be objective. Using various linguistic and stylistic means, he shows the complexity of the characters, institutions, and customs of the privileged circles of the Russian aristocracy, to which he himself belonged. The article uses linguo-poetic and stylistic analysis of the text in conjunction with observations on its composition and syntax features. The text is examined from the "horizontal" and "vertical" perspectives, i. e. considering its artistic effect, biographical and social connections, as well as the structure-forming linguistic units of different levels. The paper describes composition which is understood (following Yu. M. Lotman and B. A. Uspensky) as a particular point of view and a perspective of reproducing reality. The study classifies the forms of the author’s deviations from the main course of the narrative. The combination of various lexical layers in the text is investigated as a linguo-poetic indicator of the degree of reliability of the characters’ judgments, the "exposure" of the masked truth, the author’s positive and negative evaluation. The research reveals the aphoristic (formula) "code" of high society life and some syntactic devices characteristic of V. A. Sollogub’s style (in particular, the methods of prose rhythmisation). Special attention is given to the specific high society phraseology and vocabulary used for the literary depiction of aristocratic life.

The Authority of Ulama towards Politics: The Role of Teungku, Tuan Guru and Kiai in Nation Below the Wind

This article discussed the relationship between ulama and politics in three types of elite Islamic leadership in Indonesia: Teungku in Aceh, Tuan guru in Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat, and Kiai in Java. The research was organized based on the central questions; what was the political role of Teungku, Tuan guru, and Kiai, and what was their authority in the dynamics of local and national politics? This research used qualitative methods with an ethnographic approach. Data was collected through direct observation, interviews, review of written sources, and documentation data. This article found that Teungku, Tuan guru, and Kiai, in addition to being religious elites, also played the role of political elites. With the capital of religious authority at their disposal, they were confident to engage in practical politics. Teungku in Aceh was actively involved in redefining the narrative of the Acehnese nation by promoting the formalization of Islamic Sharia through a policy of special autonomy. With this policy, Teungku's position became more substantial and strategic politically and religiously. While in Lombok, Tuan guru became a local strongman who seized legislative and executive power in Nusa Tenggara Barat. They succeeded in seizing local power from the Sasak aristocratic circles. Meanwhile, Kiai in Java appeared to color Indonesia's discourse and political system from the beginning. Nevertheless, they managed to become part of the power in national leadership history. The relationship of the three religious elites to politics was ultimately in line with the strengthening of authority, religious traditions, and religious institutions.

Behind the stage of a literary text. ‘The crown of marriage was projected for them by fathers…’

The article discusses the idea of love, which in the mid-18th — early 19th cc. implied the possibility of marriage in Russian and European aristocratic circles. Behind actual or fictional marriages one can discern social and cultural ideas easily recognisable by contemporary readers. The article only considers objective factors that were rooted in traditional religious and wealth- and classrelated values and therefore seen as obstacles or taboos by any member of the society from the very outset. Most of the conditions for a real-life marriage were pre-determined by social codes and traditions, based on social stratifications which had to be observed in disregard of lovers’ feelings. The extent to which an author dared to abandon the imposed limitations demonstrated the writer’s level of innovation and their stance on social issues.

Female Portraits from Long Ago. Graphic Artworks in the Collection of the National Museum

Among the multitude of (prevalently male) portraits from the graphic art collections housed by the National Museum of Transylvanian History, there is a small number of nineteenth‑century female portraits, most of which belong to the artistic world of those times. These creations often depict figures from social and aristocratic circles or heroines brought to the public’s attention by special events. The precise artistic investigation of the portraits accomplished in romantic or Biedermeier style is completed by the presence of some compositional portraits in the collections, which bring a note of delicacy and romanticism in an austere environment.

Naming and Identities of Germanic Immigrants in the Eastern Roman Empire (5th–6th Centuries)

The article studies naming conventions among Germanic immigrants who settled in the Eastern Roman empire during the Migration Period. The author uses information from both narrative and epigraphic sources. Many immigrants, finding themselves in a cultural environment alien to them, sought to preserve their own identities. As a means of maintaining family memory, some Goths who lived in Byzantium gave their children names that would testify to their Kinsmanship. This was typical of some families among the highest Byzantine nobility having barbarian origins. This indicates that the social environment of these immigrants and their descendants generally treated them favorably. However, since the second half of the 6th century, members of such families began to appear mainly under Greek and Latin names, which can be stemmed from the growth of religiosity in the aristocratic circles. The processes of integration and assimilation for ordinary migrants largely depended on the social environment and the nature of contacts with it. Thus, many Goths who lived in Thrace retained their identities at least until the end of the 6th century. In all likelihood, they lived apart from the indigenous people. As a result, the tradition of naming their own descendants by Germanic names existed among them for a long time. Finally, Goths, whose military service took place in Asia Minor, quickly assimilated to the new environment. In all cases known to us, their sons received non-Germanic names.

A Seal of Leo Spelaiotis from the Crimea

Sigillographic sources from the Taurica supply information on the relations of this region with the central government along with provincial administrations and representatives of aristocratic circles of the Byzantine Empire, as well as with various Orthodox Church institutions. An illustration to the latter could be an eleventh-­century mollybdoboullon discovered in the Crimea, which features a rare image of the Mother of God Spelaiotissa (of the Cave) and belonged to the monk Leo Spelaiotis. From the combination of the sigillographic type and the nickname of the seal’s owner there are reasons to suppose that the monument introduced into the scholarship is not a seal of the Byzantine noble families but belonged to a representative of a famous pilgrimage centre in the Peloponnesus. The find of the seal of a clergyman of the Mother of God Spelaiotissa’s Monastery in the Crimea widens the geography of the region’s pilgrimage connections and uncovers the contacts of the Taurica priests with the monasteries in the South Pontic coast, the Asia Minor, and Central Greece.

Crisis of the Early Modern Period, Caravaggism, and the Rise of Gallery Painting

In this essay, the emergence of Caravaggist naturalism has been analyzed at the intersection of two historical configurations. The first was a macro-process, an epochal crisis that the Reformation brought with it. The Reformation turn caused a comprehensive crisis of legitimacy that manifested itself in all spheres of life in Western culture: from religion to politics and to the status of images. The most important element of this early modern paradigm was the gradual formation of a new episteme (or system of knowledge organization) that can be defined as postclassical or modern. The classical episteme implied a fixed, stable, and static relationship between images, i.e. phenomena and words, i.e. discourse. The modern episteme was the moment of disintegration of this static worldview, when the organic connection between things and words, the visible and the sayable, came into danger and even a complete discrepancy. The second process took place on the micro-level and was related to the social structuring of Rome at the end of the 16th century, when there was an obvious gap between the “official” policy of the Church and the taste of high aristocratic circles; from this structuring arose the difference between the “official” art of the Counter-Reformation (which nurtured the aesthetics of the altarpiece) and the “unofficial” art, intended for the art market and consumption in a semi-private or completely profane social setting. The once unquestionable space of religion was thus split into the “micro-spaces” of politics and art, with their own special systems of legitimization.

The Castilian Origins of the EpithetMio Cid

In this paper I argue that the Mio Cid epithet, most widely associated with the Castilian warrior exile Rodrigo Díaz and traditionally believed to have been bestowed upon him by Arabic speakers, is in fact an autochthonous Castilian formula closely related to equivalent hybrid formulas such as Mi Anaya and Mi Echa. Close attention to the charters of the Northern Meseta allows us to flesh out a small but significant corpus of such references and also observe such names being used in a second idiosyncratic way as generic witnesses. By framing the Mio Cid usage within this broader onomastic tradition, a more solid geography and chronology emerge and these in turn indicate a relatively widespread use of such terms in late eleventh and early twelfth-century Castile, initially in aristocratic circles, before the epithets morphed into personal names.

Строительство в Северной Македонии в период возвращения под византийское владычество

Architectural landscape of the Northern Macedonia after reinstallation of the Byzantine jurisdiction in no way may be called homogenous. The monuments are characterized by diverse approaches to the form, construction, technology and style. All of them have different ratios of “provincial” and “metropolitan” architectural features. Nonetheless, the extant monuments, their architectural allusions to the Constantinopolitan architecture and their history available to us testifies to the importance of the Macedonian theme for the Byzantine Empire. Primary evidence is given by the large building projects renewing religious centres –— bishoprics of Vodoća and Morodviz, archbishopric of Ohrid. Monasteries, founded, by the members of the imperial family of the Komnenoi, prove the vital interest of the Byzantine aristocratic circles in the Northern Macedonia. This research has been completed with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), project № 20-18-00294.

METAFISIKA POLITIK: MENIMBANG KEKUATAN ARISTOKRASI DALAM PILKADA BELU DAN MALAKA TAHUN 2020

Abstract
 This writing intends to describe the carrying out of election of district heads of Belu and Malaka regencies of the East Nusa Tenggara Province in December 2020. This paper is of the opinion that the election of district heads in these two regencies involved the perspective of political metaphysics. According to indigenous tradition of the Belunese and the Malakans, the metaphysical power is transformed into the personality of the raja. Raja is the representation of the divine, the incarnation of god (Maromak Oan) and endowed politically with rights to govern. In the general election of the Malaka and Belu district heads, the pair candidates running for the posts of regent and vice regent did their best to win the electoral contestation by building their political power through the coalition of political parties, through campaign for mass support, through political physics that mobilizes all political machinery as well as through pataphysics that make use of the virtual networks. Nevertheless, the coalition of political parties still take into account the power of metaphysical politics based on aristocracy. The nobilities are considered worthy to become the persons endowed with privileges to govern. Therefore the election of district heads does not necessarily always have to do with coalition, campaign and money politics, but also with tradition and belief of the voters who demonstrate their preference to the candidates from the aristocratic circles.

Культурная трансформация развода в доисламском и исламском Иране

Целью исследования является сравнительный анализ культурных диахронных изменений института развода в конкретные исторические эпохи развития иранского общества. Материалами послужили исторические источники, работы иранских культурологов, философов, историков и социологов. Исследовано влияние зороастризма на практику разводов в древнем Иране. Рассмотрены изменения в культуре развода, произошедшие с принятием ислама. Определено, что культурную трансформацию развода, наряду с религиозной догматикой, определяли распространение арабской и тюркской культур, а также западной культуры. Парадигмы шиитской религии и дискурс революции влияли на культуру иранской семьи и институт развода после 1979 г. Сделан вывод, что отношение различных поколений иранцев к разводу всегда было негативным, но в разные исторические периоды имело свою специфику. Иранская семья до конца не утратила своих традиций, что не позволяет расценивать процессы трансформации развода как детрадиционализацию. The aim of this article is a comparative analysis of cultural diachronic changes in the phenomenon of divorce in specific historical periods of the development of Iranian society. The study employs historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods, and the method of empirical observations. The materials are historical sources, works of Iranian cultural scientists, philosophers, historians, and sociologists. The culture of divorce in ancient Iran is investigated, the rarity of this phenomenon in the Achaemenid era is noted, its causes are indicated, and the social reaction to incest and polygamy is revealed. The influence of Zoroastrianism on the practice of marriage and divorce in the Sassanid Empire is studied. In this era, consanguine marriages (xwedodah) and chakar zani (divorce of a woman from a man with the subsequent adoption by him of children born by a woman in the next marriage), as well as the prevalence of polygamy in aristocratic circles, are noted. The changes in the culture of divorce that took place in Iran with the adoption of Islam (650) are considered, the established mechanism of Islamic divorce is described. The peculiarities of divorce are noted during the seizure of Iran by the Turks, the rise to power of the Khorezmshahs, the Mongol conquest, and the rule of the Timurids. Various aspects of divorce in the Safavid era are analyzed, the significance of mahr (the remuneration that a wife received upon marriage) for financial support of a woman in case of divorce is determined. An increase in the number of divorces during the reign of the Afsharids and their decrease in the era of the Qajars, who were adherents of Islamic fundamentalism, are noted. The influence on marriage and divorce of the modernization processes that took place during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty is considered. It has been found that as these processes deepened, the number of divorces increased. The procedures for divorce and the possible consequences of divorce for a woman at that time are described. The cultural changes that affected the institution of divorce after the Islamic revolution are examined. It is determined that the attitude of society towards divorce has been progressively changing from rejection and condemnation to a widespread “divorce by mutual consent” in recent years. It is concluded that the attitude of different generations of Iranians to divorce has always been negative, but in different historical periods this attitude had its own specifics. At the same time, the Iranian family has not completely lost its traditions, which does not allow regarding the processes of transformation of divorce as detraditionalization.

The Traditions of Mummers, Court Masquerades, and Secular Balls

The article examines the origins of the traditions of mummers, which are closely related to pagan beliefs and rituals, the cult of the Sun, solar symbols, traditions of the Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, as well as the Roman Saturnalia and the Scandinavian Yule. The tasks and functions of mummer’s rituals are revealed, which are protective, symbolic-mythological, solar-symbolic, magical, imitative, instructive, and pedagogical, as well as an erotic character associated with fertility. Wearing a mask or disguise, dressing up in animal skins and in costumes of the opposite sex filled the human personality with new content, sacred meaning, and broadcast the concept of “not - I” or “I am different” to the world. The main rituals of the Slavs associated with dressing (Svyatki and Kolyada), which are a hybrid of pagan and Christian Orthodox traditions, have been determined and characterized. Vechernitsa is specific Ukrainian entertainment, an obligatory attribute of winter Svyatki. The main functions of Vechernitsa are entertainment, sexually developing, sacred, and protective. The Slavic phenomenon of foolishness is considered, which manifested itself as a sacral clowning, a voluntary renunciation of worldly life, and dressing up for the glory of God. The extremely negative attitude of the Orthodox Church to the rituals associated with dressing up and mummering, fortune telling, games, and other kinds of entertainment was determined. A number of prohibitive decrees emanating from the Orthodox clergy did not have the proper effect, since winter rites were becoming part of the culture of the Slavs. Ritual permeated the culture of the Cossacks of the Zaporizhzhia Sich, despite the fact that religion occupied an important place in their lives, enriching it with a high meaning. In the Middle Ages, masquerade penetrates into aristocratic circles and is gradually reborn into the salon-secular style and presupposes the complementarity of two cultural traditions - Western European and native Slavic. The court masquerade balls demonstrate a close connection with the archaic theater, the genre of the English court Masque, the French court ballet, and the Italian intermezzo.

CATHERINE MORLAND’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN JANE AUSTEN’S NORTHANGER ABBEY

Throughout the ages, the development of human character has always been an important issue for the establishment of a good society. Since Platon and Aristoteles, who handled morality and education, up to the present educational sciences and psychology, many books with various views have been written, and many researches have been carried out. Besides, scientific studies have focused upon human nature and tried to explain it through genetic, socio-genetic, social or sociocultural approaches, according to which they developed educational systems and institutions in order to have humans act in the desired way. Since the primitive religions and beliefs, which emerged in order to explain the mysterious natural events, and get rid of the fear of the unknown, up to the present heavenly religions, it has always been an important goal to direct human behaviour into a moral and socially acceptable set of conduct.By setting the Victorian period as the basis of her novels, Jane Austen deals particularly with the morality of the period. As a realist author, she attaches great importance to the depiction of her female characters in their struggle to overcome their depravity and achieve higher social status. In Northanger Abbey, a novel of her early period as an author, the protagonist Catherine Morland needs to construct a new existence and attain a new personality by transforming herself from the poor villager girl into an acceptable woman in an aristocratic circle. Her lack of education, ignorance of human nature and aristocratic circles, as well as loneliness with no experienced adult to guide her leave her alone in a seemingly hostile and indifferent environment, where she has to find her own path by her own means. She finds herself amid the world of aristocrats and her personality develops in line with the choices and decisions she makes. This article, which examines her character development, aims to trace personality development through social and psychological terms, and analyse the transformation in her attitudes and perceptions.

СИМВОЛІКА ТРОЯНД В САДОВО-ПАРКОВОМУ МИСТЕЦТВІ РІЗНИХ ІСТОРИЧНИХ ЕПОХ

СИМВОЛІКА ТРОЯНД В САДОВО-ПАРКОВОМУ МИСТЕЦТВІ РІЗНИХ ІСТОРИЧНИХ ЕПОХ

‘What! From outback steppe villages...’

The image of Pushkin’s Tatiana has proved magnetic for scholars of Russian literature and spiritual traditions alike. The article offers a look at Tatiana through the eyes of her contemporaries, visualizing her as an active figure in provincial and St. Petersburg aristocratic circles. Tatiana Larina owes her excellent homeschooled education mostly to her own determination and a knack for self-improvement. She is hardly a humble rustic beauty, nor is she oblivious to contemporary intellectual pursuits. The author proves that Tatiana’s transformation into a brilliant socialite is by no means a mere exaggeration by the poet, but naturally follows from her innate talents nurtured in ‘rural solitude’. The study of Tatiana’s evolution is presented in the context of numerous historical facts.

Kalila and Dinna by Nasrullah Munshi (review)

Reviewed by: Kalila and Dinna by Nasrullah Munshi Albrecht Classen Nasrullah Munshi. Kalila and Dinna, trans. from the Persian by Wheeler Thackston. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 2019. 187 pp. Recent scholarship has begun to explore more specific lines of contact between India, the Middle East, and Europe during the late Middle Ages. One most impressive example of global literature already at that time was Nasrullah Munshi's Kalila and Dinna, which made its way to medieval Europe and was available in numerous different translations. It was based on the Indian Pañcatantra. This collection of animal stories in the ancient fable tradition served exceedingly well as a kind of "mirror for princes," and the didactic approach was obviously highly welcomed by, and useful to, aristocratic circles in many different cultures. Despite many adaptations and modifications, in essence, Kalila and Dinna exerted a deep influence on many East and West cultures and can certainly be regarded as a prime example of global literature. There could be many ways of making this enormously influential collection of fables better known to modern audiences, such as translating it into a modern language, and here into English. Wheeler Thackston draws from the Persian translation created by Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrullah around 1120, although that one was subsequently replaced several times by newer and more expansive Persian versions, such as the one by Husayn Va'iz Kahifi (late fifteenth century) and by Abu'lFazl (again ca. 100 years later). On the basis of either the Arabic or the Persian version, medieval European poets such as Rabbi Joel, Giovanni da Capua (John of Capua), Agnolo Firenzuola, Anton Francesco Doni, and Anthonius von Pforr created their own rendition, and those in turn became the sources for a variety of early modern translations into a range of other languages. The original collection often was also called Bidpai Fables, but in Nasrullah's version, we only hear of the Brahman and Raja of India who debate with each other about ethical conflicts and issues. Comparing the many different translations, it proves to be rather complicated and highly confusing to distinguish the 'original' from subsequent renditions. Thackston translates in essence Nasrullah's version, published by Mujtabā Mīnuvī-Ţihrānī in 1983 (in a previous [End Page 221] footnote [6], listed as published in 1964), but he also draws from the Arabic version edited by Louis Cheikho (1905, rpt. 1981), whereas he deletes many quotations of Arabic poetry included by Nasrullah. The issue of authenticity of the available text thus remains rather murky, so it proves to be helpful that Thackston begins with a concordance of the tales as they appear in the ancient Sanscrit (Pañcatantra), in Syriac, Arabic, medieval Persian (Nasrullah) and late medieval Persian (Kashifi). In short, there is a lot of confusion, and the present English translation does not necessarily clarify this complicated situation. The translator offers first Nasrullah's preface, then the preface by Ibn alMuqaffa and the one by Buzurjmihr Bokhtagan, who is introduced only in a footnote as advisor to the Persian kings Kavadh I (d. 531) and Chosroēs I Anoshirvan (d. 579). This can only be the physician named Burzoë whom Thackston mentions at the beginning of this book as the author of the Middle Persian translation, but how can it be that here we face his preface, whereas Thackston claims that Burzoë's work has been completely lost (ix)? This is then followed by the latter's testament, but we do not learn anything about the critical edition. Thereupon follows the body of the text, but there are no explanatory notes, no references to relevant scholarship, and we are missing a bibliography or an index. It would have been extremely important if Thackston had made transparent his translation method, that is, whether he rendered the Middle Persian text literally, or more freely. In fact, the translator took quite a bit of liberty in dealing with his source text, eliminating passages that are "insolubly problematic." He follows here the model of Kashifi who had already deleted them, which leads Thackston to the conclusion that "these places in the text were already corrupt in his time" (xvi). The general reader might...

Ivan the Terrible: Reform and Reaction

Introduction. Hugh F. Graham (1925–1994) was a famous American historian, Professor at California State College (Bakersfield, USA), specialist in Greek and Latin sources for early Russian history, he also translated a number of R.G. Skrynnikov’s works into English. In this article, devoted to the epoch of Ivan IV the Terrible, H. Graham presented his view on the political processes that took place in the highest strata of the Moscow State that constituted the closest circle of Ivan IV the Terrible and that could influence the internal reforms and foreign policy in the state. Materials. The study is based on the works of Russian and foreign historians, which allowed the author of the article to show controversial issues and prepare the article using the problem approach (their names and titles of the works are specified in references). In addition, H. Graham drew attention to the data from the following published sources: the works of I. Peresvetov, Protestant pastor in Lithuania Pavel Oderborn, and others. Analysis. In this article, the author consistently outlined the events of the reign of Ivan IV: he paid attention to the reforms of the Elected Rada, the oprichnina, and the postoprichnina period. H. Graham noted that along with the active study of the oprichnina period by historians, the issue of functioning was missed, while Zemstvo acted in accordance with the former administrative and institutional norms, continued to function under the traditional aristocratic leadership of the princes I.F. Mstislavskii and I.D. Belskii, whom Ivan IV, in fact, called co-rulers, proclaiming: “We three hold all the power”. H. Graham did not agree with the view of the oprichnina as a struggle with the aristocratic circles. The historian saw the following paradox: almost all the victims were leading figures in the new world, and not advocates of the old order. They were responsible for developing management tools and served in key institutions, participating in the centralization process promotion. They helped the tsar to acquire more authoritarian power he so longed for. Results. It is the contention of this paper that the reign of Ivan the Terrible was not atypical, but simply a continuation in its own way of the regular path of development the Muscovite monarchy had long been following. However, a man still able to provoke such wildly disparate assessments of his character and accomplishments will continue to fascinate psychologists, bellettrists, historians, and popularizers alike. They will keep returning to him and hope that someone someday will at last manage to capture the elusive essence of the era and of the man himself in such a way as to win general acceptance. The abstract is prepared by Candidate of Sciences (History), Associate Professor N.V. Rybalko.

The Trubetskoi Circle: Aristocratic Petit-Maatres in Mod-Eighteenth Century St Petersburg

This paper is an attempt to reconstruct the social and cultural life of young aristocrats in mid-eighteenth century St Petersburg by focusing on one aristocratic circle, one that revolved around Prince Nikita Trubetskoi, the procurator-general. In particular it traces the ways on which sociable behavior and libertine practices intertwined with early traces of “Enlightenment,” affective turn, and discoursing on important societal issues such as the rules of noble service and the status of the nobility.

Grandhotels: Luxusräume und Gesellschaftswandel in New York, London und Berlin um 1900 by Habbo Knoch

Reviewed by: Grandhotels: Luxusräume und Gesellschaftswandel in New York, London und Berlin um 1900 by Habbo Knoch Jan Logemann Grandhotels: Luxusräume und Gesellschaftswandel in New York, London und Berlin um 1900. By Habbo Knoch. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2016. Pp. 495. Cloth €24.90. ISBN 978-3835319110. Few places better captured the sense of grandeur, refinement, and modernity of turn-of-the-century metropolitan life than its new luxury hotels. Much like upscale department stores, they catered to the needs and tastes of a select few, but they sparked the imagination and desires of the wider society. Habbo Knoch's Grandhotels tells the history of these magnificent spaces, which reflect broader transformations of metropolitan cities and their society between the final decades of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. The time "around 1900" witnessed the decline of traditional social stratifications throughout the Atlantic world and the rise of new patterns of consumption and sociability. Large hotels provided a prominent stage on which these transformations played out; they were at once symptom and cause of a more differentiated consumer modernity. Over nearly 500 pages, Knoch takes the reader on a dazzling tour of these modern-day palaces and invites us to experience them through the eyes of contemporaries. The first two chapters sketch the emergence of the modern hotel over the course of the long nineteenth century from a transnational perspective. He emphasizes the importance of British travelers in propelling the hotel business and distinguishes between the continental European model of the family hotel, geared towards aristocratic customers seeking the privacy of their homes in faraway places, and the American urban [End Page 651] hotel, characterized by its public facilities and a culture of republican sociability. The Swiss Alps and the US East Coast alike influenced the development of new models of hospitality. Spurred on by railroads and industrialization, hotels grew in size and number, and the reader is given a detailed picture, based on travel guides and urban registers, of how the "modern" and professional hotel was constructed in the minds and expectations of contemporaries. By 1900, the age of the truly lavish "grand hotel" had arrived, exemplified by the Savoy in London, the Adlon in Berlin, and above all the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Knoch connects the proliferation of these temples of extravagance to the rise of the global metropolis and long-distance travel (particularly the advent of luxury steamships and train lines like the Orient Express). Equipped with the latest technological innovations from telephones to bathrooms and elevators, hotels also embodied the modern organization. New occupations appeared, including lift boys, waiters, porters, concierges and maître d's, who managed the constant interplay between an urban public and the privacy of hotel guests. Hotel managers joined professional organizations whose publications promoted the transnational circulation of new standards and the latest fashion. Hotel detectives surveilled the sumptuous entry halls and restaurants, which at once became centers of urban sociability and a refuge from hectic modern life. Grandhotels furnishes a comparative social and cultural history of urban high society as it played out within the confines of these luxury spaces. Everywhere—but especially in New York—traditional elites and aristocratic circles had to contend with new arrivals, foreigners, businessmen, and parvenus. Hotel dinners, dances, and restaurants reflected a society where status had become more fluid, but contemporary writers and commentators also voiced concern about the potential for moral corruption inherent in hotel life. Women traveling alone, imposters preying on guests, and other dangers became the focus of critiques of the modernity these hotels represented. World War I, finally, marked a crossroads: whereas the US continued to experience a boom in large hotels with over two thousand rooms, European hotels, shaken by political conflict, economic crises, and the decline of old, aristocratic elites, never regained their prewar grandeur. In films and popular literature hotels caught the attention of a new media culture, while the American model and the American traveler became ever more controversial figures in European eyes. We encounter the familiar tropes of modernity and its discontents, but Knoch interweaves the threads of his narrative masterfully, demonstrating the central place occupied by hotels in turn...