Europe and the East - Historical Ideas of Eastern and Southeast Europe, 1789-1989

This volume investigates competing ideas, images, and stereotypes of a European ''East'', exploring its role in defining European and national conceptions of self and other since the eighteenth century.

Through a set of original case studies, this collection explores the intersection between discourses about a more distant, exotic, or colonial ''Orient'' with a more immediate ''East''. The book considers this shifting, imaginary border from different points of view and demonstrates that the location, definition, and character of the ''East'', often associated with socio-economic backwardness and other unfavourable attributes, depended on historical circumstances, political preferences, cultural assumptions, and geography. Spanning two centuries, this study analyses the ways that changing ideals and persistent clich-attitudes have shaped the conversation about and interpretations of Eastern Europe.

Europe and the East will be essential reading for any