On Inventing Eastern Europe

In Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment, Larry Wolff argues that the Enlightenment saw philosophers and explorers move the boundaries of civilization from a north-south boundary—as was the case from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance—to an east-west boundary that continues to this day. Wolff draws on the work of Edward Said, claiming that the invention of Eastern Europe was part of the process of constructing an “orient” in Asia. Indeed, Eastern Europe was commonly referred to as “the orient of Europe” (l’orient de l’Europe), producing it into a liminal space between the Occident and the Orient.

Drawing on the work of thinkers, rulers, and explorers, Wolff succeeds in making his argument that Eastern Europe is not something that exists, or has existed, naturally.  Instead, it was produced by people living in Western Europe as a space in which Western Europeans could compare themselves against.  As such, this work is well worth reading for those interested in Eastern European history, Enlightenment history, European geography, and the production of identity.