Presentations of the 16 themed sessions > Session M

Session M

Living in In-Between Spaces. Ranges of Experience and Horizons of Expectation in Intermediate Spaces

Facilitators: Denis ECKERT (Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin) & Béatrice VON HIRSCHHAUSEN (Géographie-cités)

The concept of “in-between space” ("espace d’entre-deux") was proposed by the French geographer Violette Rey in the 1990s to describe features specific to a median Europe located between the Baltic Sea and the Balkans, and at the intersection of overlapping hegemonies. In other disciplinary fields, other concepts have been used in an attempt to describe areas of cross-cultural influence. The German concept of “Zwischenraum” (intermediate space) was proposed in 2001 by the historian Philippe Ther to analyse spaces whose changing or uncertain state affiliations have shaped linguistic, social, or normative hybridities. The concept of “liminal spaces”, developed in social anthropology, has enjoyed a certain degree of interdisciplinary success, and is used to deal with situations involving both temporal and spatial “passage”, particularly in ex-Soviet bloc Europe, which was affected by the shift of geopolitical domination from East to West. Beyond the specificities of median Europe, these “in-between” situations can be found in other areas around the planet which are also acutely affected by the entanglement, competition or coexistence between cultural, national, religious or plural linguistic influences. Our hypothesis is that these places and regions have something in common: their populations are forced to live in a state of historical uncertainty. It is the  temporal and spatial dimensions of these places that we propose to explore. This session will invite specialists from regions or places that occupy an “intermediate” position to compare their analyses. Preference will be given to approaches “from below”, with focus on the experiences, expectations and strategies of ordinary actors in indeterminate geopolitical situations with high levels of uncertainty about the future.

Indicative bibliographical references

Halecki O., 1980 [1re éd. 1952], Borderlands of Western Civilization. A History of East Central Europe, Savety Harbor, Simon Publication.
Horvath A., Thomassen B., Wydra H. (dir.), 2015 [1re éd.], Breaking Boundaries: Varieties of Liminality, New York, Berghahn Books.
Koselleck R., 1990, Le futur passé. Contribution à la sémantique des temps historiques, Paris, éd. de l’EHESS.
Le Gall J., Rougé L., 2014, « Oser les entre-deux ! », Carnets de géographes, n° 7, p. 1-22.
Rey V., 1995, « L’Europe centre orientale, un “entre-deux” », in A. Bailly, R. Ferras & D. Pumain (dir.), Encyclopédie de géographie, Paris, Economica, p. 813-825.
Rey V., 2010, « Les Balkans, lecture d’un espace "d’entre-deux". Anatoli. De l’Adriatique à la Caspienne », Territoires, politique, sociétés, 2010-1, p. 45-56.
Szúcs J., 1985, Les trois Europes, Paris, L’Harmattan [trad. du hongrois par V. Charaire, G. Klahiczay, P. Thureau-Dangin].
Ther P., 2003, “Sprachliche, kulturelle und ethnische “Zwischenräume” als Zugang zu einer transnationale Geschichte Europas”, in P. Ther & H. Sundhaussen (dir.), Regionale Bewegungen und Regionalismen in europäischen Zwischenräumen seit der Mitte des 19. Jahrhundert, Marburg, Verlag Herder Institut, p. IX-XXIX.
von Hirschhausen B., 2017, dossier thématique « Frontières fantômes », L’Espace géographique, n° 46, 2017/2, p. 97-173.