Oto Luthar – författare

This is a history of a space – a space between the Panonian plain in the East and the most northernmost bay in the Adriatic in the West, from the eastern Alps in the North and the Dinaridic mountain area in the South. It is also a history of all the different people who lived in this area. The authors show that the Slavs did not settle an empty space and simply replace the Celto-Roman inhabitants of earlier times; they are, on the contrary, presented as the result of reciprocal acculturation. The authors show that the Slovenes made more than two important appearances throughout the entire feudal era; the same holds for later periods, especially for the twentieth century. This book offers a concise and complete history of an area that finally became an integral part of Central Europe and the Balkans.

The Land Between is the first concise history of Slovenia and Slovenes written in English by leading scholars from the country. The authors base their arguments on Slovenian, former Yugoslav, and Western sources to provide a comprehensive account of Slovenes’ political, social, economic and cultural history, from early Slav settlements to the present day. The authors focus on Slovenian history but, to their credit, manage to place it in a wider context of empires and states to which Slovenian lands had belonged throughout history. The book will be of use to students of Slovenia and East-Central Europe, to diplomats, journalists, tourists, and anyone interested in this part of the world. It represents a welcome addition to the historiography of Slovenia and former Yugoslavia as well as a unique insight into the state of scholarship in post-1991 Slovenia. Dejan Djokić, historian, National University of Ireland, Maynooth A study which makes the reader feel and understand that since the end of the Cold War there is a new lease of life for Central Europe. The former borderlands between East and West construct their new identities. Slovenia is one of the most successful new democratic societies in the middle of Europe. This book is an excellent history of Slovenia which maps the narrative of a small European people without falling into the traps of national mythmaking. Writing about a small European country with two million inhabitants which crave for Central European, Mediterranean and Balkan traditions at the same time is no simple task. The book makes fine reading for everybody interested in understanding the fascinating and creative complexities in the heart of Europe. Highly recommendable for history lovers and historians alike! Emil Brix, historian and ambassador, Director of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien – Vienna School of International StudiesThe book presents a concise and intelligible history of the Slovenes. The authors take into due consideration the history of the territory between the Eastern Alps and the Pannonian Plain, starting with the period that began long before the first Slavic settlements. Thus, they wish to emphasize that the Slovenes’ ancestors did not settle an empty territory, but rather coexisted with other peoples and cultures ever since their arrival in the Eastern Alps. This has enabled them to build a community shaped by countless influences stemming from a long period of living alongside German, Romance, and South Slav neighbors in a melting pot of languages, cultures, and landscapes. The same reasons have most probably also contributed to the perception of their land as a “land in between.” Constituting a link between Eastern and Western Europe, Slovenia has recently also been increasingly perceived as the meeting point of Central Europe and the Balkans. Today, history still occupies the central position in the life of the Slovenes. The heroic period of emancipation has been completed and the Slovenes will be bracing themselves for a no less turbulent period of challenging “essentialist” notions of identity in order to create a thoroughly open society.

Der Sammelband beschäftigt sich mit der Anwendung kulturwissenschaftlicher Ansätze im zentral- und südosteuropäischen Kontext. Zu Wort kommen Forscherinnen und Forscher, die sich mit einschlägigen Fragen im Bereich von Kulturanalyse und Kulturwissenschaft beschäftigen. Die film- und literaturwissenschaftlichen Aufsätze verbindet die Bezugnahme auf historische Ereignisse sowie deren kulturellen Hintergrund, den wir ansonsten nur auf der Ebene des Politischen wahrnehmen. Mit Blick auf konkrete Beispiele werden dabei methodische und theoretische Fragen zu Alterität, Raum, Gedächtnis & Erinnerung sowie Identität thematisiert und entfaltet.

The collapse of the communist states is regarded as the starting point of the new Europe. With this turning point, historical narratives have had to be rewritten in the post-socialist countries. Focusing on the little known case of Slovenia, this issue of zeitgeschichte offers a comprehensive survey of the transformations affecting collective memory and the writing of history in one post-communist country. The essays analyze the ways in which Slovenian society has grappled with traumatic historical events and thus give insight into the ongoing struggle over the interpretation of Slovenia''s past. Given the proliferating illiberal tendencies in the political culture of numerous European countries, the strategies of historical revisionism described in this issue are likely to be of considerable interest not only to scholars interested specifically in the case of Slovenia.