Marijan Dović is Associate Professor at the ZRC SAZU Institute of the Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies in Ljubljana. He publishes extensively in Slovenian and English on cultural nationalism, national poets, the literary canon, systems theory, the avant-garde, and authorship.Jón Karl Helgason is a Professor in the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland. He has published monographs and articles on cultural history, metafiction and the afterlife of Iceland’s medieval literature.

'One of the most exciting comparative literary projects to appear in recent years is the Cultural Saints of the European Nation States (CSENS) project [...] Both the project and the book National Poets, Cultural Saints Canonization and Commemorative Cults of Writers in Europe by Marijan Dović and Jón Karl Helgason are ambitious in scope, and their framework has proven to be a benchmark for any such studies for years to come. The combination of a comparative literature approach, cultural memory studies, and the embracement of a new theory relating to the construction of cultural saints, national poets, and cultural nationalism is truly convincing.'Kim Simonsen (University of Amsterdam), in: Romantik. Journal for the Study of Romanticisms, Volume 06 (2017), pp. 121-123.

• Preface ... viiList of Figures, Charts, Tables, and Maps ... xiIntroduction ... 1PART 1: Towards a Theory of Cultural Sainthood1 Remembering the Dead: Contexts of Cultural Sainthood ... 11Cultural Memory and Invisible Religion ... 14Nationalism and Civil Religion ... 23Relics, Rituals, and Postulators ... 292 Commemorative Cults of Poets and Writers: A Historical Perspective ... 35From Poets’ Hero Cults to the Concept of Canonicity ... 36Medieval and Early Modern Europe: From “Poets Laureate” to the Petrarch Cult ... 42The Cult of Centenary and Denkmalwut ... 51Ritual and Cult as the Core of Commemorative Culture ... 58The Rise of National Poets as Paradigmatic Cultural Saints ... 613 The Canonization of Cultural Saints: A Dynamic Model ... 71Canonization, Canon, and Cultural Saints ... 72Vita: Potentials of the Individual for Canonization ... 78Cultus: The Production and Reproduction of Canonical Status ... 81Effectus: Consequences for Society at Large ... 91PART 2: National Poets from the European Periphery: Two Case Studies4 “Glory to Prešeren!”: Canonizing a Paradigmatic Cultural Saint ... 99Examining the Threads of Vita ... 100Opera: Poetic Cult and the “European Level” ... 106A Prelude to Canonization: The Tombstones ... 111Vodnik, the “First Slovenian Poet” ... 115The Prešeren Centenary and the Monument to the National Genius ... 122From the Monument to the National Anthem ... 134The “Slovenian Cultural Syndrome” ... 1445 “I Sensed Your Desire for Your Home”: Postulators of the Memory of Jónas Hallgrímsson ... 149Vita and Persona: Prešeren’s Nordic Twin ... 150Opera and Acta: “His Story Still Can Make the Heart Beat High” ... 155Postulators: The Role of Friends and Relatives ... 160The Jónas Monument and the Icelandic Flag ... 168The Translation and Reburial of the Poet’s Relics ... 176Cultural Saints and Cultural Capital ... 185Epilogue ... 189Bibliography ... 205Index of Names ... 226

Marijan Dović is Associate Professor at the ZRC SAZU Institute of the Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies in Ljubljana. He publishes extensively in Slovenian and English on cultural nationalism, national poets, the literary canon, systems theory, the avant-garde, and authorship.Jón Karl Helgason is a Professor in the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland. He has published monographs and articles on cultural history, metafiction and the afterlife of Iceland’s medieval literature.

'One of the most exciting comparative literary projects to appear in recent years is the Cultural Saints of the European Nation States (CSENS) project [...] Both the project and the book National Poets, Cultural Saints Canonization and Commemorative Cults of Writers in Europe by Marijan Dović and Jón Karl Helgason are ambitious in scope, and their framework has proven to be a benchmark for any such studies for years to come. The combination of a comparative literature approach, cultural memory studies, and the embracement of a new theory relating to the construction of cultural saints, national poets, and cultural nationalism is truly convincing.'Kim Simonsen (University of Amsterdam), in: Romantik. Journal for the Study of Romanticisms, Volume 06 (2017), pp. 121-123.

• Preface ... viiList of Figures, Charts, Tables, and Maps ... xiIntroduction ... 1PART 1: Towards a Theory of Cultural Sainthood1 Remembering the Dead: Contexts of Cultural Sainthood ... 11Cultural Memory and Invisible Religion ... 14Nationalism and Civil Religion ... 23Relics, Rituals, and Postulators ... 292 Commemorative Cults of Poets and Writers: A Historical Perspective ... 35From Poets’ Hero Cults to the Concept of Canonicity ... 36Medieval and Early Modern Europe: From “Poets Laureate” to the Petrarch Cult ... 42The Cult of Centenary and Denkmalwut ... 51Ritual and Cult as the Core of Commemorative Culture ... 58The Rise of National Poets as Paradigmatic Cultural Saints ... 613 The Canonization of Cultural Saints: A Dynamic Model ... 71Canonization, Canon, and Cultural Saints ... 72Vita: Potentials of the Individual for Canonization ... 78Cultus: The Production and Reproduction of Canonical Status ... 81Effectus: Consequences for Society at Large ... 91PART 2: National Poets from the European Periphery: Two Case Studies4 “Glory to Prešeren!”: Canonizing a Paradigmatic Cultural Saint ... 99Examining the Threads of Vita ... 100Opera: Poetic Cult and the “European Level” ... 106A Prelude to Canonization: The Tombstones ... 111Vodnik, the “First Slovenian Poet” ... 115The Prešeren Centenary and the Monument to the National Genius ... 122From the Monument to the National Anthem ... 134The “Slovenian Cultural Syndrome” ... 1445 “I Sensed Your Desire for Your Home”: Postulators of the Memory of Jónas Hallgrímsson ... 149Vita and Persona: Prešeren’s Nordic Twin ... 150Opera and Acta: “His Story Still Can Make the Heart Beat High” ... 155Postulators: The Role of Friends and Relatives ... 160The Jónas Monument and the Icelandic Flag ... 168The Translation and Reburial of the Poet’s Relics ... 176Cultural Saints and Cultural Capital ... 185Epilogue ... 189Bibliography ... 205Index of Names ... 226

Marijan Dović is Associate Professor at the ZRC SAZU Institute of the Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies in Ljubljana. He publishes extensively in Slovenian and English on cultural nationalism, national poets, the literary canon, systems theory, the avant-garde, and authorship.Jón Karl Helgason is a Professor in the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland. He has published monographs and articles on cultural history, metafiction and the afterlife of Iceland’s medieval literature.

'One of the most exciting comparative literary projects to appear in recent years is the Cultural Saints of the European Nation States (CSENS) project [...] Both the project and the book National Poets, Cultural Saints Canonization and Commemorative Cults of Writers in Europe by Marijan Dović and Jón Karl Helgason are ambitious in scope, and their framework has proven to be a benchmark for any such studies for years to come. The combination of a comparative literature approach, cultural memory studies, and the embracement of a new theory relating to the construction of cultural saints, national poets, and cultural nationalism is truly convincing.'Kim Simonsen (University of Amsterdam), in: Romantik. Journal for the Study of Romanticisms, Volume 06 (2017), pp. 121-123.

• Preface ... viiList of Figures, Charts, Tables, and Maps ... xiIntroduction ... 1PART 1: Towards a Theory of Cultural Sainthood1 Remembering the Dead: Contexts of Cultural Sainthood ... 11Cultural Memory and Invisible Religion ... 14Nationalism and Civil Religion ... 23Relics, Rituals, and Postulators ... 292 Commemorative Cults of Poets and Writers: A Historical Perspective ... 35From Poets’ Hero Cults to the Concept of Canonicity ... 36Medieval and Early Modern Europe: From “Poets Laureate” to the Petrarch Cult ... 42The Cult of Centenary and Denkmalwut ... 51Ritual and Cult as the Core of Commemorative Culture ... 58The Rise of National Poets as Paradigmatic Cultural Saints ... 613 The Canonization of Cultural Saints: A Dynamic Model ... 71Canonization, Canon, and Cultural Saints ... 72Vita: Potentials of the Individual for Canonization ... 78Cultus: The Production and Reproduction of Canonical Status ... 81Effectus: Consequences for Society at Large ... 91PART 2: National Poets from the European Periphery: Two Case Studies4 “Glory to Prešeren!”: Canonizing a Paradigmatic Cultural Saint ... 99Examining the Threads of Vita ... 100Opera: Poetic Cult and the “European Level” ... 106A Prelude to Canonization: The Tombstones ... 111Vodnik, the “First Slovenian Poet” ... 115The Prešeren Centenary and the Monument to the National Genius ... 122From the Monument to the National Anthem ... 134The “Slovenian Cultural Syndrome” ... 1445 “I Sensed Your Desire for Your Home”: Postulators of the Memory of Jónas Hallgrímsson ... 149Vita and Persona: Prešeren’s Nordic Twin ... 150Opera and Acta: “His Story Still Can Make the Heart Beat High” ... 155Postulators: The Role of Friends and Relatives ... 160The Jónas Monument and the Icelandic Flag ... 168The Translation and Reburial of the Poet’s Relics ... 176Cultural Saints and Cultural Capital ... 185Epilogue ... 189Bibliography ... 205Index of Names ... 226