Thirty years after the collapse of Communism, and at a time of radically diverse kinds of identity politics, including anti-migrant, anti-Roma, anti-Muslim and anti-establishment movements, this book analyses how Roma identity is expressed in contemporary Europe. From backgrounds ranging from political theory, postcolonial, cultural and gender studies to art history, feminist critique and anthropology, the contributors reflect on the extent to which a politics of identity regarding historically disadvantaged, racialized minorities such as the Roma can still be legitimately articulated. In part, the contributors argue, the answer lies in a movement beyond classic identity politics and any opposition between essentialism and constructivism.

While the fate of minorities under Nazism is well known, the earlier expulsions of Germany's unwanted residents are less well understood. Against a backdrop of raging public debate, and numerous claims of a 'state of exception', tens of thousands of vulnerable people living in the German Empire were the victims of mass expulsion orders between 1871 and 1914. Groups as diverse as Socialists, Jesuits, Danes, colonial subjects, French nationalists, Poles, and 'Gypsies' were all removed, under circumstances that varied from police actions undertaken by provincial governors through to laws authorising removals passed by the Reichstag. Purging the Empire examines the competing voices demanding the removal or the preservation of suspect communities, suggesting that these expulsions were enabled by the decentralised and participatory nature of German politics. In a surprisingly responsive political system, a range of players, including the Kaiser, the Reichstag, the bureaucracy, provincial officials, and local police authorities were all empowered to authorise the expulsion of unwanted residents. Added to this, the German press, civic associations, chambers of commerce, public intellectuals, religious societies, and the grassroots membership of political parties all played an important role in advocating or denouncing the measures before, during and after their implementation. Far from revealing the centrality of authoritarian caprice, Germany's mass expulsions point to the diffuse nature of coercive sovereign power and the role of public pressure in authorising or censuring the removals that took place in a modern, increasingly parliamentary Rechtsstaat.

Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe offers a critical examination of the reception of Ibero-Islamic architecture in medieval Iberia and 19th-century Europe. Taking selected case studies as a starting point, the volume challenges prevalent readings of interconnected cultural and artistic phenomena.

Der Vampirmythos findet in der Populärkultur als Blutsauger und Übermensch Resonanz. Es geht um die rätselhafte Frage des Übergangs der Toten ins Jenseits, das Spannungsfeld von Eros und Thanatos. Seit mehr als 200 Jahren nach der Veröffentlichung von John Polidoris "The Vampyre. A Tale" (1819) ist der Vampir Bestandteil der europäischen Literaturen. Als liminale Figur konnotiert er Invasion und ist damit eng mit der Abwehr des (fremden) Anderen assoziiert; als ambivalente Figur signifiziert der Vampir faszinosum und tremendum, steht für Kulturkontakt und Abgrenzung gleichermaßen. Der Vampir fungiert seit der Aufklärung selbst als Reflexionsfigur unterschiedlicher Wissenskulturen und ist derart für die Fragestellung des kulturellen Transfers doppelt relevant. Insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund aktueller Entwicklungen in Europa mit gegenwärtig einhergehender Angst vor Überfremdung entwickelt die Figur neues Deutungspotential. Die Grenze zwischen Tier und Mensch, belebt/unbelebt, dem Heiligen und dem Profanen, zwischen Genres und Medien, zwischen Kulturen, gesellschaftlichen Schichten, Geschlechtern, geographischen Räumen – all diese Aspekte thematisiert dieser Band am Beispiel der Grenzgängerfigur Vampir. Mit Beiträgen von: Raul Calzoni, Maria Grazia Cammarota, Silvia Casazza, Michela Gardini, Kirsten von Hagen, Peter von Möllendorff, Alexandra Müller, Marco Sirtori, Martin Spies, Bernhard Unterholzner, Alessandra Violi

With contributions from musicologists, historians, sociologists, anthropologists and literary scholars, this book provides an interdisciplinary perspective on how different modes of musical sociability - ranging from opera performances to collective singing and internet fan communities - inspire ""imagined communities"" that not only transcend national borders, but also challenge the boundaries between the self and the other. While the relationship between music and nationhood has been widely r...

The history of written Romani literature is only about 100 years old, and thus Romani literatures are still being defined and consolidated. At least two special features characterize this young literature: on the one hand, it is a multilingual diasporic world literature that often can be characterized as engaged literature and tries to deconstruct various age-old stereotypes of the minority. On the other hand, female authors play a strikingly prominent role. Female authors frequently achieve visibility with their texts on the national book markets. Some authors appear in their own texts as committed feminists and/or human rights activists. For other authors, sexuality and gender play a less prominent role in their works. Additionally, women often also play very central roles in texts by male authors. Therefore, this volume aims to explore the different facets of Romani literatures on two interrelated axes. First, the essays explore the status of several diverse works as transnational world literature. Second, the contributions examine the significance of writing as a form of social engagement and self-empowerment. What emerges is the observation that mainly women authors have been speaking out and standing up for their rights as women and Romnya. With contributions from: Oksana Marafioti, Ana Belén Martín Sevillano, Martin Shaw, Kirsten von Hagen, Marina Ortrud M. Hertrampf, Emilia Kledzik, Florian Homann, Paola Toninato, Sidonia Bauer, Lorely French, Viola Parente-Capková