Imagining the Balkans
Encyclopedia
Imagining the Balkans is a book by the Bulgaria
n academic Maria Todorova
.
Published by Oxford University Press
, United States
(May 22, 1997); ISBN 0-19-508751-8,
Maria Todorova is a Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. She specializes in the history of the Balkans
in the modern period.
in his famous 1928 publication, Europe. This book traces the relationship between the reality and the invention. Based on a rich selection of travelogue
s, diplomatic accounts, academic surveys, journalism
, and belles-lettres
in many languages, Imagining the Balkans explores the ontology
of the Balkans from the eighteenth century to the present day, uncovering the ways in which an insidious intellectual tradition was constructed, became mythologized
, and is still being transmitted as discourse.
The author, who was raised in the Balkans, is in a unique position to bring both scholarship and sympathy to her subject. A region geographically inextricable from Europe, yet culturally constructed as "the other," the Balkans have often served as a repository of negative characteristics upon which a positive and self-congratulatory image of the "European" has been built. With this work, Todorova offers a timely, accessible study of how an innocent geographic appellation was transformed into one of the most powerful and widespread pejorative
designations in modern history.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n academic Maria Todorova
Maria Todorova
Maria N. Todorova is a Bulgarian historian and philosopher who is best known for her application of Edward Said's notion of "Orientalism" to the Balkans. She is the daughter of former Bulgarian President Nikolai Todorov.-Career:...
.
Published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(May 22, 1997); ISBN 0-19-508751-8,
Maria Todorova is a Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. She specializes in the history of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
in the modern period.
Original book cover description
"If the Balkans hadn't existed, they would have been invented" was the verdict of Count Hermann KeyserlingHermann von Keyserling
Hermann Alexander Graf Keyserling was a wealthy philosopher from the aristocratic Baltic German Keyserlingk family. He married Goedela von Bismarck-Schönhausen, granddaughter of Otto von Bismarck. His son Arnold Keyserling was a renowned philosopher as well.-Life:He was born in Könno, Pernau...
in his famous 1928 publication, Europe. This book traces the relationship between the reality and the invention. Based on a rich selection of travelogue
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
s, diplomatic accounts, academic surveys, journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, and belles-lettres
Belles-lettres
Belles-lettres or belles lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. However, the boundaries of that category vary in different usages....
in many languages, Imagining the Balkans explores the ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
of the Balkans from the eighteenth century to the present day, uncovering the ways in which an insidious intellectual tradition was constructed, became mythologized
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, and is still being transmitted as discourse.
The author, who was raised in the Balkans, is in a unique position to bring both scholarship and sympathy to her subject. A region geographically inextricable from Europe, yet culturally constructed as "the other," the Balkans have often served as a repository of negative characteristics upon which a positive and self-congratulatory image of the "European" has been built. With this work, Todorova offers a timely, accessible study of how an innocent geographic appellation was transformed into one of the most powerful and widespread pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
designations in modern history.
Maria Todorova on her book
Todorova has said of the book:- "The central idea of Imagining the Balkans is that there is a discourse, which I term Balkanism, that creates a stereotype of the Balkans, and politics is significantly and organically intertwined with this discourse. When confronted with this idea, people may feel somewhat uneasy, especially on the political scene...The most gratifying response to me came from a very good BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist, Misha GlennyMisha GlennyMisha Glenny is a British journalist who specializes in southeastern Europe and global organized crime.-Biography:Glenny is the son of the late Russian studies academic Michael Glenny...
, who has written well and extensively on the Balkans. He said, 'You know, now that I look back, I have been guilty of Balkanism,' which was a really honest intellectual response"http://clasnews.clas.ufl.edu/news/clasnotes/9911/todorova.html.