As I work on my project proposal for tomorrow, I am still facing fundamental issues with finding the appropriate or ideal topic. The past six weeks has given me a seemingly strong basis of Transnational History, its reach, abilities, short comings etc… and I’ve really enjoyed how refreshing and innovative the class has been especially as my time at St Andrews comes to a close. While I am probably falsely confident in understanding the transnational approach, I am much less confident in putting it into practice.
I originally took this class because of a book I read last semester in my 20th century German Identity course, Between Yesterday and Today by Christian Bailey. The book covers the initial process and interest of European Integration from the German perspective from 1920-1950. I have studied this period of German history heavily, but never this unique element. This book prompted my new interest in European Integration and the forming/creation of the European identity. For my project this semester, I would ideally like to focus on one or multiple European cities, and how their unique mix of identities, cultures and histories have constituted them as European capitals complimenting or even superseding their regional or national identities.
As I have started to pin down more specifics of my topic, a few issues have surfaced. The topic of European Integration is and was a quite complex and multi-faceted process and finding the appropriate narrowed focus is important. I want to avoid writing a teleologically history of Europe’s transformation into what we see now. I also want to challenge myself to look beyond just western cities and find the connections that tie them to the far reaching eastern parts of the continent.
In addition, Konrad’s post on sources has raised a lot of important issues for me and my area of study. Since my time at university I have become extremely passionate about German history and culture. I look to further this interest in Grad School and/or my profession. The language barrier has already presented numerous issues for multiple modules I have taken at St Andrews, most notably in choosing my dissertation topic. Until I am fluent in the language, I am unsure of which path to take. It is extremely frustrated to be inhibited my language. Am I realistically unable to cover or even touch on the histories of places and spaces that have no textual english evidence. I know it will be a problem I will continue to face, but I am determined to find ways of overcoming my hindrance.