A seminar on the history of Slavic politics, international relations, culture, and religion during the 6th through the 19th century.

The fascinating history of Eastern Europe includes highs of soaring cultural achievement and lows of almost unimaginable repression. But we in the West don’t know much about Eastern Europe or its history—this book helps us see why. We got interested when the region became a threat during the Cold War, but what we learned focused on the Communist period after World War II—not Eastern Europe itself or its deep history, a history that continues to live in the hearts of its peoples. James Payton offers an accessible treatment of the history of the region, an opportunity to learn about Eastern Europeans as they are. He overviews that story from pre-history to the present, examining eleven turning points that profoundly shaped Eastern European history. His treatment considers the backgrounds to the turning points, the events, and the long-lasting impacts they had for the various Eastern European nations. This helps us understand how Eastern Europeans themselves see their history—the “long haul” over the centuries, with the influence and impact of events of the sometimes-distant past shaping how they see themselves, their neighbors, and their place in the world.

The Other Europe is a general history of Eastern Europe, from the earliest times to the end of World War II. Walters provides an informed and interpretively refreshing focus on this key region. Walters' objective is to acquaint the student and nonspecialist reader with the complex past of this politically and culturally important area. The general lack of knowledge about Eastern Europe is in part due to the vast diversity of its lands (language barriers themselves have daunted many scholars) and to the fact that, before the imposition of the Soviet template in 1944-45, what is now called Eastern Europe was not usually perceived as a distinct geopolitical entity. "The other Europe" as defined by Walters encompasses Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania. Today these countries form the strategic zone between Western Europe and the Soviet Union. Walters emphasizes the phenomenon of nationalism because of its varied manifestations in the region, and he examines the way each nation sees itself, its neighbors, and the world beyond. The Other Europe describes the major events—predominantly revolution and war—that have shaped these countries' national consciousnesses and their distinctive cultural heritages.

Intellectual Horizons offers a pioneering, transnational and comparative treatment of key thematic areas in the intellectual and cultural history of Central and Eastern Europe in the twentieth century. For most of the twentieth century, Central and Eastern European ideas and cultures constituted an integral part of wider European trends. However, the intellectual and cultural history of this diverse region has rarely been incorporated sufficiently into nominally comprehensive histories of Europe. This volume redresses this underrepresentation and provides a more balanced perspective on the recent past of the continent through original, critical overviews of themes ranging from the social and conceptual history of intellectuals and histories of political thought and historiography, to literary, visual and religious cultures, to perceptions and representations of the region in the twentieth century. While structured thematically, individual contributions are organized chronologically. They emphasize, where relevant, generational experiences, agendas and accomplishments, while taking into account the sharp ruptures that characterize the period. The third in a four-volume set on Central and Eastern Europe in the twentieth century, it is the go-to resource for understanding the intellectual and cultural history of this dynamic region.

This book offers an alternative approach to the problem of Slavic ethnicity in south-eastern Europe between c. 500 and c. 700, from the perspective of current anthropological theories. The conceptual emphasis here is on the relation between material culture and ethnicity. The author demonstrates that the history of the Sclavenes and the Antes begins only at around 500 AD. He also points to the significance of the archaeological evidence, which suggests that specific artefacts may have been used as identity markers. This evidence also indicates the role of local leaders in building group boundaries and in leading successful raids across the Danube. Because of these military and political developments, Byzantine authors began employing names such as Sclavines and Antes in order to make sense of the process of group identification that was taking place north of the Danube frontier. Slavic ethnicity is therefore shown to be a Byzantine invention.

This book offers a radical reinterpretation of the Slavic pagan religion made on the basis of a thorough re-examination of all reliable sources. What did Slavic pagan religion have in common with the Afro-American cult of voodoo? Why were no Slavic gods mentioned before the mid-tenth century, and why were there no Slavic gods at all between the Dnieper and the Order? Why were Slavic foundation legends similar to the totemic myths of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe, and who were Slavic Remus and Romulus? What were the Indo-European roots of Slavic hippomantic rituals, and where was the Eastern Slavic dragon Zmey Gorynych born? Answers to these and many other provocative questions can be found in this book.

How do national stereotypes emerge? To which extent are they determined by historical or ideological circumstances, or else by cultural, literary or discursive conventions? This first inclusive critical compendium on national characterizations and national (cultural or ethnic) stereotypes contains 120 articles by 73 contributors. Its three parts offer [1] a number of in-depth survey articles on ethnic and national images in European literatures and cultures over many centuries; [2] an encyclopedic survey of the stereotypes and characterizations traditionally ascribed to various ethnicities and nationalities; and [3] a conspectus of relevant concepts in various cultural fields and scholarly disciplines. The volume as a whole, as well as each of the articles, has extensive bibliographies for further critical reading. Imagologyis intended both for students and for senior scholars, facilitating not only a first acquaintance with the historical development, typology and poetics of national stereotypes, but also a deepening of our understanding and analytical perspective by interdisciplinary and comparative contextualization and extensive cross-referencing.