The Global Vernacularisation of Regional Identities: Cultural Isomorphism at World Fairs, 1851-1939

Eric Storm

doi:10.54195/FQTN2987

The Global Vernacularisation of Regional Identities: Cultural Isomorphism at World Fairs, 1851-1939

Authors

Eric Storm

Leiden University

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8656-7283

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54195/FQTN2987_CH04

Synopsis

The Great Exhibition of 1851 was quickly followed by myriad other world fairs. At these international exhibitions, vernacular elements – folklore, peasant houses, artisanal traditions and typical dishes – were increasingly used to represent the regional diversity of the nation. As they were very successful in drawing the attention of the public, vernacular buildings and ethnographic villages became indispensable elements of every major exposition. World fairs, however, functioned as a global platform of exchange, where exhibition practices, vernacular categories and territorial identities were standardized. This can be defined as a process of cultural isomorphism, the mechanisms of which will be illustrated by analysing the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in San Diego (1915) and the Ibero-American Exhibition in Seville (1929).

Author Biography

Eric Storm, Leiden University

Eric Storm is associate professor in General History at Leiden University. His investigations focus on the history of regionalism and nationalism from a comparative perspective. Among his publications are Nationalism: A World History (Princeton up 2024) and The Culture of Regionalism: Art, Architecture and International Exhibitions in France, Germany and Spain, 1890-1939 (Manchester up 2010). He also co-edited with Joost Augusteijn Region and State in Nineteenth-Century Europe: Nation-Building, Regionalism and Separatism (Palgrave 2012), with Xose-Manoel Nunez Seixas Regionalism and Modern Europe: Identity Construction and Movements from 1890 to the Present Day (Bloomsbury 2019), with Stefan Berger Writing the History of Nationalism (Bloomsbury 2019) and with Joep Leerssen World Fairs and the Global Moulding of National Identities: International Exhibitions as Cultural Platforms, 1851-1958 (Brill 2022).