CA23137 - Print Culture and Public Spheres in Central Europe 1500–1800 (PCPSce)

The past decade’s media revolution has profoundly changed the relationship between public speech and political authority: An unlimited virtual audience is gradually being recognised as an heir to the public sphere forming the modern state’s basis on its way to democracy during early modernity. If we as a society wish to address its ongoing transformation, this public sphere needs to be understood in its historical dimension.

The COST Action deploys the following working groups to analyse the interactions between print and public spheres in Central Europe from 1500 to 1800: (a) Public and Legal Spheres; (b) Materialities; (c) Texts and Ideas. The focus on Central Europe has three reasons: (1) Central Europe is often presented as a discursive ancillary to Western Europe, simultaneously reinforcing an imbalance of sources, data, and research; (2) Central Europe’s nonconformity to standard national paradigms, its interplay of different ‘centres’ and ‘margins’ offers valuable insights into the still relevant de-centrality of public discourse; (3) since many Central European countries figure among the ITC, the Action will contribute to asserting a historical consciousness of multiple public spheres.

Besides two long-standing desiderata – an open-access compendium and a database of data and tools – PCPS_CE will build a Central European and global network of diverse stakeholders from education, research, and cultural heritage institutions. The Action will work towards a more integrative methodology bringing together experts from different national and disciplinary backgrounds. This initiative will foster a new scholarly and public historical awareness of the diverse, non-national pasts of Central Europe.