About the Research

Ethnic stereotypes have played an important role in shaping the map of Europe over the past five centuries. These ethnic stereotypes, often referred to as national characters during the Early Modern period, were cultural constructs shaped by ethnographic, historical, and political considerations, as well as by encounters with the Other. Minorities living within larger ethnic communities were frequently marginalized and were often described by representatives of dominant peoples as non-historic peoples. Such stereotypes were perpetuated through a variety of media, including education, literature, and print culture. Numerous sources—including ethnographic compilations, maps, costume books, literary works, dictionaries, and encyclopaedias—contained stereotypical representations of different peoples and nations.

The fundamental research project Perceptions of Ethnic Identities and Stereotyping in the Early Modern Period between the Mediterranean and Central Europe (ARIS J6-70245) seeks to shed light on the largely unexplored role that ethnic stereotypes played in the emergence and consolidation of nation-states in Europe between 1492 and 1848. With a particular focus on the Habsburg lands between Venice and the Pannonian Plain, the project examines both convergences and differences in the ways specific ethnic groups were perceived, both from within and from the outside. The selection of this region is not coincidental: these lands were characterized by considerable ethnic diversity. Moreover, the Slovene-speaking population, as a smaller stateless ethnic community, provides a particularly valuable case study for examining the formation and persistence of ethnic stereotypes. Consequently, the project also investigates the contrast between ethnic stereotypes applied to peoples who possessed their own states and those who did not during the Early Modern period.