Constructing borderland identities in Romania and Bulgaria: the case of interwar Dobruja (1912-1939)
This paper addresses the shifting identities of a disputed borderland territory, using the interwar Dobruja province as an example, and following the transformation of its political and ethnic boundaries through the eyes of various public participants in the dispute. Their views are explored as vit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Tabula |
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| Online Access: | https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/261401 |
| Summary: | This paper addresses the shifting identities of a disputed borderland
territory, using the interwar Dobruja province as an example, and following the transformation of its political and ethnic boundaries through the eyes of various public participants in the dispute. Their views are explored as vital sources which reflect Bulgarian and Romanian policies in the region and their interactions with the Great Powers. The paper indicates that identity debates had very little influence on the actual population of the region, appealing mainly to various external powers and the political and intellectual “elites” of both countries. A state is viewed as a system of social networks, therefore a contested border becomes a space where those interconnections assume the roles of nationalizing markers. Therefore, the paper proposes to regard a borderland dispute not as a typical pattern of othering, but as an attempt to establish interconnections and make it even more “national” than the regions non-contested. |
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| ISSN: | 1331-7830 1849-1685 |