The Close and the Distant Balkans. Building up Identities in the Context of Economic Development 1878-1912
The Close and the Distant Balkans. Building up Identities in the Context of Economic Development 1878-1912

Author(s): Roumiana Preshlenova
Subject(s): Ethnohistory, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Period(s) of Nation Building
Published by: Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS)
Summary/Abstract: Admittedly, collective identities are specific and complicated intellectual constructions. Apart from the obvious contemporary scientific controversies between the concepts of “the leading constructionist” Benedict Anderson and the critics of provable collective identities, an attempt will be made at retracing some aspects of collective identities in the Balkans associated with or expressed in relevant economic terms. Pride of place is accorded to the feelings of belonging both as a self-consciousness, self-determination, self-recognition and as mutual/reciprocal perception. The necessary admission of their multiple layers predetermines the acceptance of fl uctuating imaginary maps where frontiers could be optional. Identity as a specifi c sociological term will be used as a determinant toward neighbours, Europe as a whole, the Great Powers and other historical and political constituents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - a period of significant political and economic changes in the region’s life. Admittedly, all this relates more or less to the process of nation building. The study is focusing on contemporary uses of the Balkans before the Balkan wars, rather than on later political discourses and present-day scientifi c discussions on sense, essence and non-sense of the Balkan(s) as a construct .[...]

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