
Imagining the Balkans
Maria Todorova(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 30. April 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-19-538786-5 (ISBN)
Description
"If the Balkans hadn't existed, they would have been invented" was the verdict of Count Hermann Keyserling in his famous 1928 publication, Europe. Over ten years ago, Maria Todorova traced the relationship between the reality and the invention. Based on a rich selection of travelogues, diplomatic accounts, academic surveys, journalism, and belles-lettres in many languages, Imagining the Balkans explored the ontology of the Balkans from the sixteenth century to the present day, uncovering the ways in which an insidious intellectual tradition was constructed, became mythologized, and is still being transmitted as discourse.
Maria Todorova, who was raised in the Balkans, is in a unique position to bring both scholarship and sympathy to her subject, and in a new afterword she reflects on recent developments in the study of the Balkans and political developments on the ground since the publication of Imagining the Balkans. The afterword explores the controversy over Todorova's coining of the term Balkanism. With this work, Todorova offers a timely, updated, accessible study of how an innocent geographic appellation was transformed into one of the most powerful and widespread pejorative designations in modern history.
Maria Todorova, who was raised in the Balkans, is in a unique position to bring both scholarship and sympathy to her subject, and in a new afterword she reflects on recent developments in the study of the Balkans and political developments on the ground since the publication of Imagining the Balkans. The afterword explores the controversy over Todorova's coining of the term Balkanism. With this work, Todorova offers a timely, updated, accessible study of how an innocent geographic appellation was transformed into one of the most powerful and widespread pejorative designations in modern history.
Reviews / Votes
Outstanding. * Misha Glenny, London Review of Books * Passionate, learned, entertaining, polemical, ambitious, courageous. * Slavic Review * Contains many brilliant insights and always displays the author's enormous erudition. * CHOICE * Todorova's book is a passionate, provocative, and necessary attempt to retrace the construction of a pejorative image of the Balkans. * Nicholas J. Miller, Journal of Interdisciplinary History * Full of challenging ideas, forcefully presented opinions, references for further reading, and enlightening observations. * Gale Stokes, H-Net * By far the best work of historiography on the region. * Tomislav Z. Longinovic, Lingua Franca * [Imagining the Balkans] gained the status of a classic and it can certainly be regarded as one of the most influential books about (Southeast) European history of the past decades ... Maria Todorova's book has not lost in importance in the 20 years since it was published. It was a 'must-read' when it came out and it remains so today. * Hannes Grandits, Reviews in History *More details
Edition
Updated Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Adult education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
442 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-538786-5 (9780195387865)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

TODOROVA MARIA
Imagining the Balkans
E-Book
04/2009
1st Edition
Oxford University Press
€48.49
Available for download

Previous edition
Maria N. Todorova
Imagining the Balkans
Book
05/1997
Oxford University Press Inc
€20.00
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Maria Todorova is Gutgsell Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Author
Gutgsell Professor of HistoryGutgsell Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Content
PREFACE; CONCLUSION; AFTERWORD TO THE UPDATED EDITION; NOTES/ BIBLIOGRAPHY/ INDEX