Regional Translocality in Historical Perspective: The Case of Slavonia and Bosnia

The partnership will be organized around interdisciplinary research on historical interactions between Slavonia (comprising the eastern parts of the Republic of Croatia) and Bosnia (consisting of the northern and central parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina) – two neighbouring and historically heavily interconnected regions that are today delimited by the state and regional border along the river Sava – and their consequences. Also, this project will look into comparative cases in other parts of Southeast Europe and adjacent regions (such as the Pannonian Basin) and theoretical approaches to translocality in general.

The particular contribution of the project lies in the fact that in its treatment of trans-boundary interaction, exchange and communication between places, it goes beyond the concept of (trans)nationality and instead employs a much more analytically precise concept of translocality. This concept enables a more fine-grained approach that is fully capable of addressing historical ties on a “lower”, previously often ignored scale established between local rather than national contexts, in this case between the two regions of Slavonia and Bosnia and the microregions within them. According to Freitag/von Oppen (2010), there are two dimensions to the concept of translocality. In the descriptive sense, it refers to phenomena that result from a multitude of circulations and transfers. It designates outcomes of movements of people, goods, knowledge across distances and boundaries. In the research sense, it stresses the fact that interaction, exchange and communication between places, actors and concepts have far more diverse, often contradictory, outcomes than previous research on transfers assumed. Within this conceptual framework, not only the circulation of people and goods, but also the simultaneous transfer and convergences of culture and knowledge between local contexts is easily addressed.

Additionally, our project is specific in that, while bi-regionally embedded, it is trans-epochally conceived as well as – as previously stressed – open to other cases of translocal exchange in Central and Southeast Europe. Such openness in regard to other temporalities and localities aims to enable comparative perspectives that could enhance the research on the interconnectedness between Slavonia and Bosnia. Also, this is an interdisciplinary project that aims to bring together scholars that employ different approaches, come from different institutional backgrounds and have different research focuses in the field of historical, area and cultural studies dealing with Central and Southeast Europe as well as Croatia and Bosnia in particular.

Humboldt partnership between the Department for the History of Slavonia, Syrmia and Baranya of the Croatian Institute of History in Slavonski Brod (Dr. Dino Mujadžević), Centre for Mediterranean Studies at the Ruhr Universität Bochum (Prof. Dr. Markus Koller), as well as the Lehrstuhl für Ost- und Südosteuropäische Geschichte in Leipzig at the Universität Leipzig (Prof. Dr. Stefan Rohdewald).

Handbook of Mediterranean History (300-2020)

The “Handbook of Mediterranean History (300-2020)” aims to provide an introduction to, an overview of, and innovative perspectives on various themes, topics, and trends of research concerning the history of the Mediterranean. Largely historiographical in nature, the handbook will nevertheless draw on various disciplinary approaches to shed light on the region’s political, economic, cultural, and social contexts and developments. It will lay particular emphasis on Mediterranean communication and its impediments. The third volume is currently in preparation and is estimated to be published in 2024.

The project reflects the general philosophy of SIHMED to promote an integrated vision of the Mediterranean world by reflecting and fusing the width of approaches developed in different academic traditions and languages. To this end, each contribution will be co-authored by two specialists on different areas of the Mediterranean, thereby transcending the North-South dichotomy and euro-centric perspectives.

The chronological subdivision of the intended four volumes mirrors major changes of connectivity within the Mediterranean:

1. The Constantinian transformation at the beginning of the fourth century;
2. major critical changes in the Islamic world as well as in Byzantine Empire and in Latin Europe at the turn of the 11th century;
3. the „Mediterraneanization“ of the Ottoman Empire and the new Mediterranean policy of the Habsburg Empire at the beginning of the 16th century;
4. and the beginnings of European colonization of the southern Mediterranean rim in the 19th century.

The editors of Volume II (1000-1500) are Frédéric Bauden, Alexander Beihammer, Nikolas Jaspert and Roser Salicrú i Lluch. Volume III (1500-1830) will be edited by Maria Fusaro, Markus Koller and Silvia Marzagalli.

Trieste, Ville d'Empire(s), XVième à XIXème Siècles

Like Hamburg, which it was often compared to by chroniclers, Trieste was a scene of power that developed its scope of action within the realm of the Holy Roman Empire. At the same time, the city was a contact zone that enabled the exchange of military and commercial knowledge.
The project aims at reproducing the history of the city beyond the grand narrative of the Freeport (1719) dominated by "groups", the matrix of national histories and conflicts of the 19th and 20th centuries. The PFR will bring together established researchers and doctoral students specialized in different historical fields (history of the Holy Roman Empire and Germany, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Mediterranean, economic history, history of the Jewish world) and/or working in other relevant disciplines (political science, communication, urban planning, etc.).

Modern Mediterranean: Dynamics of a World Region 1800│2000

As a result of current conflicts, crises and wars, the Mediterranean is back on the agenda in the social sciences. Yet, in the field of modern history this paradigm has barely received any attention. The network therefore aims to transcend the fragmentation of separate historiographies and provide an integrated view of the late modern period of the region. It focuses on the dynamics and transformations in the region between 1800 and 2000. Instead of taking the Mediterranean as a natural given, the network will explore how this space was invented and shaped in the modern age. Against Mediterraneanist myths of Mediterranean unity, continuity and singularity, the region is conceived as a contact zone between Africa, Asia and Europe which was connected to and is comparable with other regions of the world.
The network members and guests will meet at German Mediterranean research centres (Deutsches Historisches Institut, Rom; Deutsch-Italienisches Studienzentrum, Venedig; Orient Institut, Beirut; Orient Institut, Istanbul; Zentrum für Mittelmeerstudien, Bochum; Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin) to explore themes which are at the core of current debates on Mediterranean history: modernity and tradition, port cites and islands, mobility and borders, ideology and religion, knowledge and representation, transnational and global history.
There will be a number of publications based on the results of the network discussions, among them an anthology of texts representing the new historiography of the modern Mediterranean. Thus, Mediterranean history will not only be presented as an innovative field of historical research but also as a new approach that combines European and non-European perspectives in a productive way and helps us to understand what is at stake in the region at the moment and in the future.

Head of Project: Prof. Dr. Manuel Borutta
Website: DFG Modern Mediterranean