For a comparative history of Alsace and Transylvania
Affiliations
Faculty of Letters, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Bd. Carol I 11, 700506 Iași, Romania
History
Received May 6, 2014
Accepted June 3, 2014
Published January 13, 2015
Key words
Dedication
To Jean-Noël Grandhomme
Abstract
Alsace and Transylvania are two historical border provinces which have been intensely debated throughout history and which have always been interrelated with each other in discourses of politicians as well as of intellectuals and of historians. By our study we would like to set forth a plea for a comparative history of Alsace and Transylvania (as two border provinces) and to yield a first set of arguments in favour of such a scientific endeavour. Once established the advantages and the methods upon which an inquiry of comparative history rests, we could better understand the particular identity and the ways in which these two sideline provinces have related to their centres of power. Thus the monolithic and exclusive national history may be replaced by a fragmentary and/or peripheral standpoint which would bring to light different aspects concerning local or regional history, regionalism or the relationship between the centre and its periphery.
Copyright
© 2015 The Authors. Publishing rights belong to the Journal. The article is freely accessible under the terms and conditions of the CC-BY Open Access licence.