Three anthems, a flag and a tenor : introduction -- I. Spaces -- Men in space : the construction of all-male spaces -- Movements in space : choreographies of masculinity -- II. Sounds -- Singing the nation, singing the self -- Men's sounds and silences -- Soundscapes of gender and nation : conclusion
Summary
Masculinity and Nationhood, 1830-1910 looks at 'masculine' patriotic behaviour in schools, army and parliament in nineteenth century Belgium. Schoolboys singing on excursion, soldiers acting out a shot wound on the maneuvering field and politicians raising their voices against effeminacy: all articulated their manly love of the nation in their own way. In recent years, much has been written about masculinity and citizenship in modern Europe. However, little is yet available about the learning process in which children and young men engaged in order to look, walk and talk like mature men and patriots. Belgium, at the crossroads between French, British and German notions of gender and citizenship, proves to be an ideal case-study to show not only how men were taught to move and fight, but also how they spoke and sang to express modern masculinity and patriotism
