Transnational Heritage in Nationalized Historiography

The projected study "Transnational heritage in nationalized historiography" is the follow-up project to the previous project financed by the FWF on "The Pera Society in Istanbul from 1918/23 to date". The study focuses on the controversy that is typical for many areas in Southeast Europe surrounding a (common) historical heritage that is claimed by two or more sides, each with its own distinct point of view, with the aim of advancing their own national, possessive interests. The starting point for the projected study is a transnationally orientated comparison of Istanbul (Galata-Pera) with modern Saloniki as a Greek city, located in the center of the region of Macedonia with its historical ethnic mix; from 1430 to 1912/13 it was a part of the Ottoman Empire and, after Constantinople and Smyrna, the third largest port in the Empire. Both examples involve one and the same problem but in locally different contexts: both centers belonged for almost 500 years to the Ottoman Empire and have a transnational historical heritage that is still evident today but is dealt with in the form of nationalized Turkish or Greek or, in the case of Saloniki, above all Jewish historiography, since the mid-1980s only. What is innovative about the proposed study is: (1) its transnational orientation, whereby genuine, heterogeneous source material produced in Istanbul, the Athenian diaspora and Saloniki will be subject to impartial and equitable treatment, and not used in support of hegemonic aims or interpretations based in nationalized historiography; (2) by including audiovisual and illustrated sources and museums the study does justice to the recent trends of "visual -" and "spatial turn " and of "iconic criticism"; (3) the combined concept using historical comparatistics and the historical-transfer approach represents a new trend in historical research that was only developed in the late 1990s (Siegrist, Middell); (4) by applying this approach to problems involving Southeast Europe there will be put more emphasis on the subject of "Southeast Europe" in international discourse on cultural research and be provided a new direction for transfer research in general. From a transnationally orientated, comparative perspective the project will stress on a) the chronological frame and circle of recipients; b) the categorization of the historical heritage (social, material, functional, ideational, organizational heritage); c) the process of transformation from "milieu de mémoire" to "lieu de mémoire "; finally the study will examine d) the interrelation between cultural and economical capital in respect of coming to terms with a complex past with a special emphasis on external influences such as those from the European Community.

The projected study "Transnational heritage in nationalized historiography" is the follow-up project to the previous project financed by the FWF on "The Pera Society in Istanbul from 1918/23 to date". The study focuses on the controversy that is typical for many areas in Southeast Europe surrounding a (common) historical heritage that is claimed by two or more sides, each with its own distinct point of view, with the aim of advancing their own national, possessive interests. The starting point for the projected study is a transnationally orientated comparison of Istanbul (Galata-Pera) with modern Saloniki as a Greek city, located in the center of the region of Macedonia with its historical ethnic mix; from 1430 to 1912/13 it was a part of the Ottoman Empire and, after Constantinople and Smyrna, the third largest port in the Empire. Both examples involve one and the same problem but in locally different contexts: both centers belonged for almost 500 years to the Ottoman Empire and have a transnational historical heritage that is still evident today but is dealt with in the form of nationalized Turkish or Greek or, in the case of Saloniki, above all Jewish historiography, since the mid-1980s only. What is innovative about the proposed study is: (1) its transnational orientation, whereby genuine, heterogeneous source material produced in Istanbul, the Athenian diaspora and Saloniki will be subject to impartial and equitable treatment, and not used in support of hegemonic aims or interpretations based in nationalized historiography; (2) by including audiovisual and illustrated sources and museums the study does justice to the recent trends of "visual -" and "spatial turn" and of "iconic criticism"; (3) the combined concept using historical comparatistics and the historical-transfer approach represents a new trend in historical research that was only developed in the late 1990s (Siegrist, Middell); (4) by applying this approach to problems involving Southeast Europe there will be put more emphasis on the subject of "Southeast Europe" in international discourse on cultural research and be provided a new direction for transfer research in general. From a transnationally orientated, comparative perspective the project will stress on a) the chronological frame and circle of recipients; b) the categorization of the historical heritage (social, material, functional, ideational, organizational heritage); c) the process of transformation from "milieu de mémoire" to "lieu de mémoire"; finally the study will examine d) the interrelation between cultural and economical capital in respect of coming to terms with a complex past with a special emphasis on external influences such as those from the European Community.