Die Ordnung pluraler Kulturen
Figurationen europäischer Kulturgeschichte, vom Osten her gesehen
[Ordering plural cultures. Figurations of European cultural history, seen from the East]

Europe always becomes an issue when upheavals are taking place on the geopolitical or intellectual map. The authors of this volume develop five orders as parameters of investigation into European cultural history:

The establishment of national literatures as well as sacred, profane, magical languages and scriptures or the transitions between different languages and systems of writing are examined as text orders. Image orders concern the circulation of images and image practices between different registers and cultures; here it can also be shown how different image traditions meet a global image policy. Vestimentary orders illustrate how relationships of the public, private or family are regulated by clothing and how social, ethnic, religious or gender-specific identities are signalled. Ritual, cultic or mediatic modes of the expression of feelings and passions can be analysed as orders of affect, whether in private or public communication. Finally, under the consciously ambiguous concept of basic orders, both the meaning of the soil, i.e. territorial derivations and justifications, and the written and unwritten norms on which these are based are questioned.

The locations in which these orders are examined are characterized by demarcations that are not static, but flexible, if not fought over: Berlin, Yugoslavia, Georgia, Armenia, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel.

With contributions by Zaal Andronikashvili, Janis Augsburger, Esther Kilchmann, Tatjana Petzer, Andreas Pflitsch, Helen Przibilla, Vahé Tachijan, Martin Treml, and Barbara Winckler.