Imagining the Balkans

The Balkans as we know them today did not exist until they were invented. This idea was first proposed by Count Hermann Keyserling in his 1928 publication, Europe. Over ten years ago, Maria Todorova explored the relationship between reality and invention in her book Imagining the Balkans. Todorova's work is based on a rich selection of travelogues, diplomatic accounts, academic surveys, journalism, and belles-lettres in many languages. She uncovers how an insidious intellectual tradition was constructed, became mythologized, and is still being transmitted as discourse. As someone who was raised in the Balkans, Todorova brings both scholarship and sympathy to her subject. In a new afterword, Todorova reflects on recent developments in the study of the Balkans and political developments on the ground since the publication of Imagining the Balkans. She also addresses the controversy over her coining of the term "Balkanism". This updated study offers a timely examination of how an innocent geographic appellation was transformed into one of the most powerful and widespread pejorative designations in modern history.