The cultural borders of Europe are today more visible than ever, and with them comes a sense of uncertainty with respect to liberal democratic traditions: whether treated as abstractions or concrete realities, cultural divisions challenge concepts of legitimacy and political representation as well as the legal bases for citizenship. Thus, an understanding of such borders and their consequences is of utmost importance for promoting the evolution of democracy. Cultural Borders of Europe provides a wide-ranging exploration of these lines of demarcation in a variety of regions and historical eras, providing essential insights into the state of European intercultural relations today.
Tabella dei contenuti
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction
Mats Andrén & Ingmar Söhrman
PART I: THE CHALLENGES OF RELIGIOUS BORDERS
Chapter 1. Territorial and Religious Identifications in Europe
Linda Berg
Chapter 2. Europe with or without Muslims: Creating and Maintaining Cultural Boundaries
Göran Larsson & Riem Spielhaus
Chapter 3. Ilm al-Hududuyya: Un-Inheriting Eurocentricity
Klas Grinell
PART II: LINGUISTIC BORDERS IN PRACTICE
Chapter 4. When the Intercultural Goes National: Textbooks as Sites of Struggle
Katharina Vajta
Chapter 5. The Pluricentric Borders of Bavaria
Barbara Loester
Chapter 6. The Influence of Imagined Linguistic Performances
Ingmar Söhrman
PART III: MENTAL SPACES AND BARRIERS
Chapter 7. Mental Barriers Replacing Nation-State Borders
Fernand Fehlen
Chapter 8. Crossing Borders and Redefining Oneself: The Treacherous Life of Aino Kallas
Katarina Leppänen
Chapter 9. Evolving Symbolic Divides: in Basque Language Promotion Logos
Johan Järlehed
PART IV: SCHOLARS MAKING BORDERS
Chapter 10. The Controversial Concept of European Identity
Mats Andrén
Chapter 11. The EU as a ‘Large Space’? Carl Schmitt and the Contemporary Dilemmas of Political Rituals and Cultural Borders
Jon Wittrock
Chapter 12. How Prehistory Becomes Crucial for Border Making
Per Cornell
Conclusion
Thomas Lindkvist & Katharina Vajta
Index
Circa l’autore
Katharina Vajta is senior lecturer in French at the Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of Gothenburg, where she also is Head of Department.