Beyond the Sea : : Reviewing the manifold dimensions of water as barrier and bridge / / Heta Hurskainen, Marta Grzechnik.

• HerausgeberIn: Grzechnik, Marta,; Hurskainen, Heta,
• Place / Publishing House: Köln : : Böhlau Verlag, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: German; English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 pages) :; illustrations
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

The dominant narratives about the seas and maritime regions in European societies have usually placed them at the periphery, distant from the social and political centres, and often perceived as empty spaces akin to deserts: they could be crossed but not used. Therefore, most categories to examine societies have been designed from a land-oriented perspective and with the Focus on land-based societies. Changing this perspective and putting the sea – the periphery – in the centre challenges traditional narratives, leading to new, enriching interpretations. Following this path, this volume re-envisions water beyond its immanent physical character – as a space ascribed with various roles and functions, both bridging and dividing: a borderland of communication, a space to govern and to invest with symbolic meaning.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Content -- Preface -- Beyond the Sea. Introduction -- “Why do we violate strange seas and sacred waters?” -- Image of Seas and Rivers as a frontier between the different worlds in Russian Medieval narrative -- Amber rosaries, Baltic furs, and Persian carpets -- The First German Dream of the Ocean -- Naval Strength and Mercantile Weakness -- From moat to connecting link -- Mining for Manganese Nodules -- The Öresund region -- Governance—an Analytical Concept to Study the Baltic Sea Region? -- Maritime Governance in the Baltic Sea Region -- Logistic Revolutions and territorial change -- Biographical Notes -- Index -- Backmatter