Marta Grzechnik Libros

The dominant narratives about the seas and maritime regions in European societies have usually placed them at the periphery, distant from the social and political centres, and often perceived as empty spaces akin to deserts: they could be crossed but not used. Therefore, most categories to examine societies have been designed from a land-oriented perspective and with the Focus on land-based societies. Changing this perspective and putting the sea - the periphery - in the centre challenges traditional narratives, leading to new, enriching interpretations. Following this path, this volume re-envisions water beyond its immanent physical character - as a space ascribed with various roles and functions, both bridging and dividing: a borderland of communication, a space to govern and to invest with symbolic meaning

This book takes as its point of departure an enthusiasm for Baltic Sea region history which appeared in some European countries after the fall of the Iron Curtain. In search for the historiographical traditions and earlier concepts which the post-Cold War concept of the Baltic Sea region is based on, it reaches back to the interwar period. The book’s comparative dimension, as well as emphasis on the relation between historical narratives and political debates, make it an interesting contribution to Baltic Sea region studies, as well as Scandinavian and Central European historical and historiographical studies.