Abstract In this ongoing research we are going to have a look at the starting point for the burgeoning national feelings with two smaller nations: the Slovak and the Flemish national movement. Building on the methodological framework of nationalism researcher Miroslav Hroch, one can discern a threefold stage - model in the national movements of the smaller nations in Europe, which is a thesis still needing more empirical evidence. This article attempts to compare at least one aspect of early nineteenth-century nation - building: How were the literary societies functioning in both national movements? We are working in a time scope of the first half of the 19 th century and ask ourselves the questions: until which extend reached literary societies? What was their impact? Which people were their readers, their public? Was their language, and their language-spreading aim representative for the whole nation? What similarities and differences can be found in Flanders and Slovakia in this field? Important support can be obtained from the NISE - network, which attempts to create a database on a European scale in order to stimulate and optimize comparative and transnational research on nation building.