- 12 April 2017
- Mots clés University of Amsterdam Vintilă-Ghiţulescu Seminar
From Bucharest to Constantinople with Love and Commerce: An Artisan’s Journey from 1817
Travel Cultures Research and EAST Seminar, Department of European Studies, University of Amsterdam
In her talk, Dr. Vintilă-Ghiţulescu will present the memoirs of Dumitrache Merişescu, an artisan from Bucharest who travelled from Bucharest to Constantinople in various guises. The paper will explore firstly this young man’s initiation into both amorous and commercial liaisons, and secondly, the manner in which he reinvents himself in the course of his journey, adopting new clothes and learning new languages. These memoirs, unpublished and hitherto unknown to historians, demonstrate how a mobile identity is fashioned across the Balkan region, uniting people of the same religion (Orthodox Christians) who find a common cultural language even if they belong to different ethnic groups.
About the speaker:
Constanţa Vintilă-Ghiţulescu is Principal Investigator for the ERC project Luxury, Fashion and Social Status in Early Modern South-Eastern Europe (http://luxfass.nec.ro) hosted by New Europe College, Bucharest, and Senior Researcher at the "Nicolae Iorga" Institute of History, Bucharest.
She was a fellow at Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, in 2015-2016. She is the author of many books, including Liebesglut: Liebe und Sexualität in der rumänischen Gesellschaft 1750-1830, Frank&Timme, Berlin, 2011; Im Schalwar und mit Baschlik. Kirche, Sexualität, Ehe und Scheidung in der Walachei im 18. Jarhundert, Frank&Timme, Berlin, 2013; From işlic to top hat: fashion and luxury at the gate of the Orient, Iniciativa Mercurio, Valadolid, 2011; (as editor) From Traditional Attire to Modern Dress: Modes of Identification, Modes of Recognition in the Balkans (XVIth-XXth Centuries), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011.
Date: 12 april 2017, 17:00 - 18:30
Venue: Bushuis/Oost-Indisch Huis, Kloveniersburgwal 48, room F.211.B, 1012 CX Amsterdam