Der Balkan als translokaler Raum. Verflechtung, Bewegung und Geschichte
The Balkan as Trans-Local Space. Entanglement, Movement and History

Summary/Abstract: The “Balkans” and “Southeast Europe” have seen a multitude of efforts to come up with unequivocal definitions of what these notions imply. Various aspects of the history of the Balkans were identified as defining markers of a historical region. The article, in contrast, argues that in light of recent methodological changes in historical scholarship, the question of the definition of the region seems to be of secondary importance. Modern history of the Balkans is one of different entanglements, transfers and relations. Historical research thus should reconstruct the relevant spatial dimensions of the relevant matters, and not start by a given spatial – be it national or regional – “container”. The historical actors were integrated in very different networks of interaction and communication. The trans-local nature of Balkan history is exemplified in the article by three biographies from the late 19th/early 20th century. These also reveal the significance of power relations in the shaping of entanglements.

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