Der Newsletter +94 (07/09) [.pdf] ist online.

Dear Readers,

historical, cultural, symbolic, narrative, ethnographic, structural, and referential aspects of vampires will be discussed by international experts at the conference Vampirglaube und magia posthuma im Diskurs der Habsburgermonarchie im 18. und 19 Jahrhundert (Hörsaal, Inst. for East European History, Campus AAKH, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Wien) on July 2 to 4, 2009.

---

Geschätzte Leserinnen und Leser,

in wenigen Tagen, vom 2. bis zum 4. Juli 2009, werden historische, kulturelle, symbolische, narrative, ethnische, strukturelle und referenzielle Aspekte von Vampiren im Rahmen der Konferenz Vampirglaube und magia posthuma im Diskurs der Habsburgermonarchie im 18. und 19 Jahrhundert (Hörsaal, Inst. für Osteuropäische Geschichte, Campus AAKH, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Wien) diskutiert.

The Newsletter +92 (05/2009) is online [.pdf].

Dear Readers,

the workshop "Balkan Studies - quo vadis?" organised by Kakanien revisited, the BM.WF, and the IDM has been very successful. We would like to thank everybody who contributed to this success, the co-organisers, the discussants, the chairs, and especially the lecturers who presented excellent papers. For those who couldn't participate on April 25, 2009 the summary of the workshop has already been published in the Balkan Studies section, as well as in the Materials / Presentations and in the Editor's weblog in three parts.

---

Geschätzte Leserinnen und Leser,

der Workshop "Balkan Studies - quo vadis?", durchgeführt von Kakanien revisited, dem BM.WF und dem IDM war überaus ergiebig und erfolgreich. Ich möchte mich auch hier nochmals bei allen, die zu diesem Erfolg beigetragen haben, bedanken: bei den MitorganisatorInnen und Sponsoren, den DiskutantInnen, den ModeratorInnen dem Publikum und natürlich bei allen Vortragenden, die exzellente Präsentationen dargeboten haben. Für alle, die am 25. April 2009 nicht zum Workshop kommen konnten, wurde der Workshopbericht bereits in Materialien / Berichte, in der Anthologie "Balkan Studies" sowie in drei Teilen im Weblog Editor veröffentlicht.

The fourth and last session of the Workshop was introduced by Peter Mario Kreuter's general and personal critique of the expert's dialogue with mass media. In a rather pessimistic way Kreuter concluded on the basis of his rich experience with TV stations and newspapers that any constructive and scientific cooperation with mass-media is almost impossible.

In the second session Rossitza Gradeva gave an overview over the development of foci and definitions of Balkan Studies and the Balkans in connection or in contrary or supplementing Ottoman studies.

Yesterday's workshop on Balkan Studies was quite intense. The pretty tight schedule mirrors the high concentration of information that was given and discussed. All the speakers and presentations have been excellent, and though space for discussion was limited several debates about how to define "the Balkans" and "Balkan Studies", about the terminologiy of area studies, spatiality, cultures, and about the politics of funding and academia in general were going on.

The programme of tomorrow's workshop will be as follows (Venue: Inst. Slawistik, AAKH, 1090 Wien, Spitalgasse 9, Seminarraum 1):

Right before the start of the Workshop on Balkan Studies (April 25, 2009) Alexander Vezenkov published a revised edition of his paper History Against Geography: Should We Always Thik of the Balkans as Part of Europe? originally published by the IWM.

Maximilian Hartmuth, who initiated the upcoming Workshop on Balkan Studies has delivered and published his position paper on the current crisis or re-orientation at least of Balkan Studies.

Now follows the abstract (cf. Balkan Studies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) of Tatjana Marković (Graz/Belgrade): Balkan Studies and Music Historiography. (Self-)Representation between Nationalist Myths and Europeanisation

Balkan Studies in music historiography are mainly determined by conservative understanding that Balkan culture is still of predominantly peasant character. Consequently, presentation of the Balkan music/s is based much more on insight in traditional than in art music, esp. contemporary, or popular music and, as such, it is present in the framework of positivistic ethnomusicological writings, in the first place. Recent musicological contributions to Balkan Studies (meaning studies of Balkan, West Balkan, southeast European music) show a new, growing interest in the field, signified by two main policies: on the one hand, there are writings of the guardians of nationalist myths, who construct the concept of music history in accordance with their frozen (medieval) exclusive image of national identity and, on the other, writings of the pro-European orientated scholars, who stress the Balkans’ close connections to Western Europe. The intermingling and separation of these two approaches, their different ideological and methodological outcomes, as well as possible ways of future research, will be discussed.

The abstract (cf. Balkan Studies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9) of Karl Kaser (Graz): Disciplinary Boundaries in Question: Balkan Studies in a Globalizing World

The disciplinary boundaries between Balkan Studies and Near East and/or Middle Eastern Studies were basically drawn in the course of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century within a certain political framework and as results of European political interests. Arabic and Islamic Studies were considered as the study of the culturally other. Balkan Studies in this period of time were conceived as the »orient within«. The dissolution of the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empires by the end of 1918 changed the political landscape. Near East and Middle East Studies received the flavour of British and French Colonial Studies, whereas the German Reich was interested to explore the designated food deliverer, the Balkans, within its concept of Großraumpolitik.

Here follows the abstract (cf. Balkan Studies 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9) of Maximilian Hartmuth (Istanbul): Image-ing Balkans History: Non-Creative Others, Attention Deficits, and Art as a Problem

There are some fields in the humanities and social sciences, such as Nationalism Studies, in which the Balkans are very present, and others, such as art history and related disciplines, in which they are practically invisible. My paper is to question the impact of this condition on perceptions of the Balkans and Balkan-ness beyond the academia. Are the established interests of Balkan Studies really maintaining the image of the Balkans as an essentially conflictuous, non-creative space?

In addition to the abstracts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 follows now Rossitsa Gradeva (Sofia): The Ottoman Rule in Bulgarian Historiography

The Ottoman (often equated with Turkish) rule which had lasted for more than five centuries and continued for some parts of the country until the beginning of the 20th century, is a major point of departure in constructing Bulgarian national identity. As such it has been usually subject to a very negative and emotional evaluation in popular writing, fiction, and even in academic publications, one of the most popular terms even today being the notorious 'Turkish yoke'. On the other hand, the Bulgarian ›school‹ in Ottoman studies has produced significant works which are an important reference in many of its fields. Thus the development of Bulgarian historiography of the Ottoman period can be seen as resultant of two major factors – political, inside Bulgaria, and academic, as a constituent of international scholarship, which too can be loaded with political considerations.