Historiography And The Shaping Of Regional Identity In Europe

This volume describes real and mental regions as the historical undertone that destined a changing Europe during the last millennium. Over the centuries, historiography - in many different forms - became an important vehicle by which to create, articulate, and express the existence, awareness, and characteristics of Europe's regions. Be it the histories of noble families that were important stakeholders in a region, urban histories describing the developing urban networks through which regions could function, dynastic histories emphasizing the relationship between ruler and region, or hagiographies describing holy men and women and their veneration as focal points within regions - all of them represented and reflected identities within an understood spatial and or mental sphere. Historiography can therefore help us to understand the way in which regions were seen from within and from without, and to understand the patterns and dynamics of regional cohesion. Moreover, it sheds light on the dialectic between nation and region, and on the relationship between the regional sphere and the wider (inter)national sphere. The authors of this volume look at individual European regions from different points of view, using historiography as a lens. They analyse the ways in which history as a construct has played a role in establishing regional identity, providing examples of the ways in which recording, interpreting, and recounting the history of regions through the ages has been instrumental in shaping these regions. The first section of the volume explores regional identity in medieval and early modern historiography; the second shows how, in the age of the invention and triumph of the European nation-state (the long nineteenth century), historiography of a new kind was applied for a deliberate creation of regional identity, or at least reflected the need for a historical confirmation of identities.

This book brings together scholars to reflect upon the significance and meaning of local and regional history, focusing on how these histories impact people’s cultural identity through traditions, culture, language, and politics. Scholars from all over the world analyze the process of communal identity construction ‒ the feeling of belonging to one state or nation regardless of one’s legal citizenship status ‒ by focusing on case studies from North America, South America, Africa, and Europe. By analyzing the cultural and social aspects of community formation through language, religion, symbols, politics, race, and blood ties, these papers reveal that national identity, rather than being an inborn trait, is more often a result of the presence of common elements in the daily lives of individuals.

Southeastern Europe is often portrayed as an area plagued by endemic nationalisms, a view that seems to be confirmed by the break-up of Yugoslavia. However, a closer look shows that the nation is not the only territorial unit of identification. Regions play an important role as well, especially those that look back on traditions that differ from those of the national state. Thus, the end of socialism also brought forward regional movements which articulated opposition to the dominance of the centralized state. These developments are furthered by the integration into the European Union, whose policy of a "Europe of the Regions" demands strong regional centres for the administration of structural funds and for the empowerment of the regions. The contributions to this volume address the dynamics of regions, regionalism and regional identities in present Southeast Europe, but also look into the history of individual regions. They provide ample material for understanding the complex nature of territorial identification in this rapidly changing part of Europe.

The subject of Euro-regions is topical and controversial, but those of Central Europe have been neglected by scholars. 'Central Europe' is demarcated variously according to geographical, political, economic and cultural criteria. The subjective term 'region' and its theoretical implications are considered in the opening chapters. The empirical section ranges in time from the appearance of the German 'stern' duchies in the Middle Ages to cross-border cooperation in the Oder area today, and geographically from Baden-Wurttemberg in the west to Transylvania, Carpatho-Ruthenia and the Kaliningrad enclave in the east. The authors all highlight the complex problems of local identity and the centrality of culture in shaping notions of the region.

Providing a valuable overview of regionalism throughout the entire continent, Regionalism in Modern Europe combines both geographical and thematic approaches to examine the origins and development of regional movements and identities in Europe from 1890 to the present. A wide range of internationally renowned scholars from the USA, the UK and mainland Europe are brought together here in one volume to examine the historical roots of the current regional movements, and to explain why some of them - Scotland, Catalonia and Flanders, among others – evolve into nationalist movements and even strive for independence, while others – Brittany, Bavaria – do not. They look at how regional identities - through regional folklore, language, crafts, dishes, beverages and tourist attractions - were constructed during the 20th century and explore the relationship between national and subnational identities, as well as regional and local identities. The book also includes 7 images, 7 maps and useful end-of-chapter further reading lists. This is a crucial text for anyone keen to know more about the history of the topical – and at times controversial – subject of regionalism in modern Europe.

In reaction to the centralizing nation-building efforts of states in nineteenth-century Europe, many regions began to define their own identity. In thirteen stimulating essays, specialists analyze why regional identities became widely celebrated towards the end of that century and why some considered themselves part of the new national self-image.

The essays in this volume analyse issues of national and regional identity during a key phase of nation-state formation in mid-nineteenth century Europe. By asking how contemporaries articulated regional and national identities, the book offers a fresh prospective on the process of nationalization in modern German, Austrian and Italian histories.