Europe and the East: Historical Ideas of Eastern and Southeast Europe, 1789-1989

Mark Hewitson (Editor), Jan Vermeiren (Editor)

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

This volume investigates competing ideas, images, and stereotypes of a European ‘East’, exploring its role in defining European and national conceptions of self and other since the eighteenth century.

Through a set of original case studies, this collection explores the intersection between discourses about a more distant, exotic, or colonial ‘Orient’ with a more immediate ‘East’. The book considers this shifting, imaginary border from different points of view and demonstrates that the location, definition, and character of the ‘East’, often associated with socio-economic backwardness and other unfavourable attributes, depended on historical circumstances, political preferences, cultural assumptions, and geography. Spanning two centuries, this study analyses the ways that changing ideals and persistent clichéd attitudes have shaped the conversation about and interpretations of Eastern Europe.

Europe and the East will be essential reading for anyone interested in images and ideas of Europe, European identity, and conceptions of the ‘East’ in intellectual and cultural history.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Number of pages360
ISBN (Print)9780367636586
Publication statusPublished - 5 May 2023

Publication series

NameIdeas beyond Borders: Studies in Transnational Intellectual History
PublisherRoutledge

Cite this