Introduction to the Thematic Section
Introduction to the Thematic Section

Summary/Abstract: The images of the borders of civilizations is the main topic of the thematic section of this issue of Colloquia Humanistica. In the call for papers it was emphasised, that this issue is particularly important, because the notion of civilization is strictly related to the issue of borders since it would became meaningless without the opposition to another civilization, or the lack of it. The juxtaposition between the notion of civilization and its different antinomies seems easier to display when seen from its centre, however the shape of its border is not always clear, even if it has a foundation in clear geographical or political divisions. Thus, this border can be represented as a linear frontier between a civilized state and barbaric lands, or as a borderland which encompasses some kind of fluent transition. The civilization border can be also represented in a macro scale, shaping geographic divisions of the continents (as it was in the case of the Balkans), but its depiction can also concern the micro scale, for example the difference between an urban and a natural landscape. The notion is even broader, because it is not only treated in the context of space but also social behaviours and their evolution (which is bound with notion of the progress since the Enlightenment). The question establishing the difference between the civilized and the uncivilized is still shaping the identity of modern societies, and thus it is worth attention.

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