IN THEIR OWN WORDS?
THE SHAPING OF DIPLOMATIC SELVES IN THEIR SOCIAL RELATIONS

Recent agent centered approach of diplomatic history has proven its innovative force, opening inter alia the stage for long overlooked agents such as the ambassador’s wife, the confessor or the courtier. Still, we have to deepen our understanding of its methodological implications. For this reason, we invite to reflect upon self-testimonies as sources of diplomatic history.
Given the plurality and diversity of early modern diplomatic agents, we assume that diplomatic self-testimonies will also reflect this manifold diversity. Furthermore, self-testimonies can be found in quite different text genres (such as autobiographies, letters or scholarly treatises). Therefore, we presume to find different evidence and perspectives on early modern diplomacy and its socio-cultural structure and practice.
In an attempt to blend approaches of research on self-testimony with the cultural history of diplomacy in an innovative and elaborate manner, we invite papers on a variety of subjects but with a clear methodological and theoretical stance:
- How were diplomatic selves and their social relations narrated and shaped?
- How did diplomatic agents work upon their self in their relational landscape, influenced by their daily life and experience?
Thus, we have in mind specific forms of self-narrative structures as well as cultural and social frames of reference. There are quite different questions to be explored but of course it is up to the authors to choose the appropriate approach. To give only a few examples, one could analyze…
- the shaping and/or changing of power constellations (cf. Gabriele Jancke 2002),
- the notions of female and male gender,
- the bodily experiences,
- categories such as success or failure, age, education, religion or social background,
- mechanisms of exclusion or inclusion,
- inter- or transcultural entanglements between European and/or non-European agents.
Our volume will be published in the context of our conference, “Perception and Representation. Brokers of Early Modern Diplomacy in their Self-Testimony” (http://representation.univie.ac.at), and in the context of the research project „Diplomacy in Conflict. Conflict Management in Early Modern Diplomacy” (direction: Dorothea Nolde, http://www.univie.ac.at/diplomacy/). Team members and editors are Julia Gebke, Stephan F. Mai, Lars-Dieter Leisner and Christof Muigg.

We invite you to submit a paper in English or German (ca. 50.000 characters including spaces).
Please send a short abstract (one page) and a short CV in English or German to julia.gebke@univie.ac.at until February 22nd 2017.

Deadlines for the final articles:
1st submission – June 30th 2017
2nd submission – November 2nd 2017