About the Journal

Prisms is an annual and peer-reviewed historiographical online journal aiming at publishing original research on the history of the 19th and 20th century. While the notion of Southeast Europe as a coherent and static entity has rightly been questioned, we will maintain and rethink this geographical focus: Encompassing Asia Minor, the Balkan Peninsula, and a portion of the Northern Mediterranean, we shall focus on a highly heterogeneous region that, at the same time, is marked by some considerable similarities deriving from historical factors: Southeast Europe is broadly conceived as an area characterized by an imperial and multiconfessional heritage, comparatively late nation building processes accompanied by migration and displacement, ethno-nationalist violence and contested border regimes. Furthermore, fascist occupation and collaboration, state socialist and authoritarian regimes and, after 1989, high exposure to neo-liberal economy are elements of a common historic legacy. These broad features, amongst others, constitute the journal’s thematic scope.

Prisms welcomes source-based articles focusing on a range of levels, from the local to the state, up to transnational and cross-regional connections. Acknowledging the region’s various entanglements, we particularly appreciate contributions both taking into consideration recent methodological innovations in historical sciences as well as putting the region into broader European and global frameworks.

The journal is not confined to senior scholars, and we especially encourage early stage researchers to submit articles (8,000 – 10,000 words) as well as relevant book reviews (1,500 – 2,000 words) and conference-reports (1,500 – 2,000 words). Prisms also welcomes proposals from guest editors for special issues.