National Megalomania and Imagination of the Ancient World

Jie-Hyun Lim (ed.)

National Megalomania and Imagination of the Ancient World

This book juxtaposes the nationalist megalomaniac fantasies in imagining ancient histories in Global Easts—namely, Eastern Europe, East Asia, and Middle East. Those delusions not only feed historical fabulations and memory wars, but also elevate epistemological conflicts into physical violence. Very often, today’s genocidal wars and military clashes cannot be perceptible without knowing the delusive nationalist megalomania about the past. Despite the long distance between Eastern Europe and East Asia, the ways of imagining ancient history are surprisingly close. For instance, the racist German “Volk” is synonymous with the postcolonial Korean “.. (minjok),” which is again close to the primordialist concept of nation in the communist regime. An examination of the uncanny similarities of the megalomanic fantasies about the ancient past in Poland, both Koreas, Germany, Yugoslavia, Israel, and imperial France will shed new light on the Global Easts as a problem space.

Forthcoming publication. Pre-orders will open a few weeks before publication date.

Editor

Jie-Hyun Lim

Jie-Hyun Lim is distinguished professor of global history and founding director of the Critical Global Studies Institute at Sogang University, and the editor of “Global Easts” series. His recent books include Global Easts: Remembering, Imagining, Mobilizing (2022) and Victimhood Nationalism: History and Memory in a Global Age (2025).
Title
National Megalomania and Imagination of the Ancient World
Editor
Price
€ 129,00
ISBN
9789048572670
Format
Hardback
Number of pages
272
Language
English
Publication date
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5117/9789048572670
Dimensions
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Series
Global Easts
Categories
Contemporary History
Heritage and Memory Studies
South East Asia
Discipline
Academic - History and Politics
Imprint
CEU PressCEU Press - Logo
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgement
Introduction - “National Megalomania in Imagining Antiquity in Global Easts” - Jie-Hyun Lim (Sogang University, Seoul)
I. Sublimation: Lost Glory and National Regeneration
1. “Collective Megalomania and Hypochondria in the Balkans” - Igor .tiks (FMK, Belgrade/University of Ljubljana)
2. “Creating Pyongyang’s Legitimacy: North Korea’s Excavation and Reconstruction of the Tomb of King Dongmyeong” - Jeongbin Lee (Kyung Hee University, Seoul) and Inwook Kim (Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul)
3. “Ultranationalist Pseudohistory in South Korean Popular Culture” - Moonyoung Lee (Independent Researcher)
4. “Bridge of Memory: Ancient History in the Construction of Israeli National Identity” - Krystyna Stebnicka (University of Warsaw)
II. Anachronism: Enmeshing Present into Ancient
5. “Louis Bertrand’s National Megalomania and Colonial Fascism” - Yong-Woo Kim (Korea National University of Education)
6. “The Genealogy of Korean Ultranationalist Pseudohistory and the Struggle for Historiographical Hegemony” - Kyoung-ryang Ki (Catholic University of Korea, Seoul)
7. “Manipulating Archaeological and Genetic Research in the Theories of Turbo-Slavic Supporters” -Pawel Janik (University of Warsaw)
III. Authochthonism: Lest Their History Step into “Our Sacred Territory”
8. “Legacy of G.siorek. Contemporary Creators of Pseudohistorical Theories and Their Recipients” - Roman .uchowicz (University of Warsaw)
9. “The Historiographical Conflict between South Korea and China in the 2000s and the Question of ‘National History’” - Chong-jun An (Seoul Metropolitan University)
10. “Nihonshoki and Blurring Modern Boundaries in East Asia” - Dong-min Lim (Keimyung University, Daegu)
Epilogue - “Nations in Schizophrenia: Reiterating the German Illusion of Völkisch History in (Post) Colonial Korea” - Jin-Sung Chun (Busan National University of Education)
Index

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