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Macedonia: Europe’s Forgotten Mirror – How German Writers Created a ‘Foreign, Distant World’

For centuries, Macedonia has been more than a place on a map. In German literature and science, it became a canvas for Europe’s own fears, ambitions, and identity crises. This video explores the groundbreaking book by Benjamin Langer, *»Fremde, ferne Welt« Mazedonienimaginationen in der deutschsprachigen Literatur seit dem 19. Jahrhundert* (originally a 2018 PhD thesis at the Free University of Berlin). Using theories like Edward Soja’s ‘Thirdspace,’ Michel Foucault’s ‘Heterotopia,’ and Maria Todorova’s ‘Balkanism,’ Langer reveals how German explorers and writers—from botanist August Grisebach to diplomat Johann Georg von Hahn—constructed Macedonia as a ‘terra incognita,’ a backward ‘other,’ and a mirror of Western superiority. Discover why this region, now North Macedonia, remains a contested space of identity and power. Watch to understand how language and literature shape our view of the world—and how the past still echoes in today’s debates over borders and heritage.