This book is essential reading on the spatial concepts that two erstwhile neighboring cultures, Lithuanian and German, once associated with one physical space - a Lithuanian region in Prussia. Covering a period of five centuries, the author explores how, when, and, most importantly, why these concepts have been developed and transformed, regulating the spatial imagination of several generations. The study focuses on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, presenting the narratives, representations, and geographic conceptions of the region that existed in these two national cultures. The volume shows how knowledge about ""their own"" space ended up serving as a tool for both Lithuanian and German political aspirations and how it challenged the spatial concepts about this area in the previous century.

About the Author
Vasilijus Safronovas is principal investigator at the Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology, at Klaip?da University. He has published widely on issues of memory, identity, and cultural contact. His recent study Kampf um Identitat: Die ideologische Auseinandersetzung in Memel/Klaipeda im 20. Jahrhundert (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015) was awarded the Immanuel-Kant-Forschungspreis from the German Federal Government.

Reviews

"By bringing the neglected case of Prussian Lithuania into a dialogue with research on the Russian Empire, Safronovas' book fills an important gap in scholarship, and enables us to build up a picture of the complex articulation of ideas about 'Lithuania' that occurred within different states and across borders. ... The book is well written, extensively researched and draws attention to a region which has often been overlooked in the wider discussion on spatial concepts of Lithuania. One of the particular strengths of the book is Safronovas' ability to bring German, Lithuanian, Russian and Polish sources into a dialogue with one another to historicise the spatial discourse on 'Lithuania' within the multilingual and pre-national context of the long 19th century. The book no doubt occupies a key place in the historiography of 19th-century Lithuanian and Prussian history, but also raises many questions and topics that will resonate with scholars who are interested more broadly in the invention and construction of national spaces spanning administrative or imperial border regions." -Catherine Gibson, European University Institute, Lithuanian Historical Studies Vol. 22

-- Catherine Gibson * Lithuanian Historical Studies *



Book Information
ISBN 9781618115249
Author Vasilijus Safronovas
Format Hardback
Page Count 470
Imprint Academic Studies Press
Publisher Academic Studies Press