Flüssiger Kontinent : Das Mittelmeer der Moderne

Abstract

This introduction seeks out modernity in the Mediterranean and argues for a historiographical exploration of the modern Mediterranean. Firstly, it discusses the causes and effects of its double exclusion from historical research and Mediterranean studies. Secondly, it shows that the modern Mediterranean was wrongly regarded as an oxymoron by discussing new approaches and relevant topics of historical research on the Mediterranean of the nineteenth and twenteenth centuries. From the perspective of the new imperial history, it takes an overarching look at the modern Mediterranean. New forms of connectivity and mobility, cosmopolitanism and violence as well as the beginning and dark sides of political modernity become visible. The modern Mediterranean thus appears as a space in which fragmentation and interdependence, transformation and innovation were closely linked. Thirdly, the advantages of the Mediterranean paradigm are summarized: It connects local, regional, insular, national, imperial, (post)colonial and transnational studies, it draws attention to the intense interactions of Africa, Asia and Europe, and liquefies the fundamental temporal and spatial categories of our discipline.