Between Imagination and Effectiveness

In 2023, the Institute of History at the Foundation University Hildesheim and the Centre for Mediterranean Studies at the Ruhr-University Bochum held the conference “Between Imagination and Effectiveness: Mediterranean Dimensions of European History”. It dealt with this sea as a space, with the location of its borders, whether its narratives came from within or from outside, which contemporary representations developed and their consequences. Furthermore, the resulting book analyses the influence of politics and its capacities to instrumentalise existing narratives in the context of an overall European identity. The final question is about, whether imperial concepts were able to shape Mediterranean structures. With contributions by Walther-Ludwig Bernecker | Michael Broers | Deborah Cuccia | Alice Cunha | Thomas Demmelhuber | Carlos Sanz Díaz | Wolfram Drews | Jürgen Elvert | Michael Gehler | Thomas Gronier | Günther Hauser | Hans Heiss | Lukas Herrmann | Harald Kleinschmidt | Markus Koller | Nicola Labanca | Anil Can Özgün | Günther Pallaver | Lara Piccardo | Athanassios Pitsoulis | Ursula Prutsch | Michael Sommer | Benedikt Stuchtey