Zef M . Segal
The College of Management Academic Studies, Media Studies, Faculty Member
- The Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo, School of Computer Science, Department MemberThe Open University of Israel, Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, Department Memberadd
- Spatial History, Digital Humanities, National Identity, History of Cartography, Communications History, History of Communication, and 25 moreHistorical network analysis, 19th Century (History), German History, Nationalism, Critical Cartography, Railway and Transportation History, Graph Theory, European History, State Building, Reterritorialization, Historical Geography, State Formation, Nationalism And State Building, Saxony (Germany), Church History, 19th Century German History, Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Ecclesiastical History, Territoriality, State-Building, Bavarian History, Baden-Württemberg, Lutheran Church History, Nineteenth-Century Church History, Catholic Church History, and German Catholicismedit
- Dr. Zef Segal explores the interrelations between communication systems, media networks, social and cultural percepti... moreDr. Zef Segal explores the interrelations between communication systems, media networks, social and cultural perceptions, focusing on the historical study of journals and maps. In addition, he is a strong advocate of the emerging field of digital humanities and social sciences in Israel, having initiated the Digital Humanities track at the Open University and being among the initial faculty members in the first Israeli DH bachelor's degree at the University of Haifa. His expertise lies in the study of social networks, mapping, and analysis of textual corpora. His current research delves into the Hebrew and American newspaper networks in the 19th century, using computational tools to identify and analyze textual and thematic connections between articles published at different times and in distant locations.
Dr. Segal holds a bachelor's degree from the Open University in History and Philosophy, a bachelor's degree from Tel Aviv University in Mathematics, two master's degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy from Tel Aviv University, and a doctorate in History from Tel Aviv University. His doctoral dissertation examines the influence of communication networks and communication infrastructures on spatial and political perceptions in the German-speaking world in the 19th century.edit
This paper explores the ways in which racial categories were invented, manipulated and represented through the medium of cartography during the nineteenth century. Drawing on the collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century... more
This paper explores the ways in which racial categories were invented, manipulated and represented through the medium of cartography during the nineteenth century. Drawing on the collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century European and American atlases in the Library of Congress, this paper examines the history of racial mapping.
It traces the changes in colors, boundaries, and regions in order to analyze the interrelations between the constraints of mapping, pseudo-scientific racial theories, and contemporary political contexts. The resulting maps were more than visual reproductions of racial ideologies; they reshaped racial theories into coherent spatial taxonomies, which were then distributed and popularized.
It traces the changes in colors, boundaries, and regions in order to analyze the interrelations between the constraints of mapping, pseudo-scientific racial theories, and contemporary political contexts. The resulting maps were more than visual reproductions of racial ideologies; they reshaped racial theories into coherent spatial taxonomies, which were then distributed and popularized.
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בניגוד למדינות אירופיות רבות אחרות, הרכבת לא נתפסה ברחבי העולם הגרמני של המאה התשע-עשרה כמנוגדת לכפריות או לטבעיות. היא נתפסה כחלק מהנוף הפסטורלי, יחד עם הנהר, העצים וחיות המשק. מאמר זה סוקר דימויים חזותיים של רכבות שהופיעו בהדפסים... more
בניגוד למדינות אירופיות רבות אחרות, הרכבת לא נתפסה ברחבי העולם הגרמני של המאה התשע-עשרה כמנוגדת לכפריות או לטבעיות. היא נתפסה כחלק מהנוף הפסטורלי, יחד עם הנהר, העצים וחיות המשק. מאמר זה סוקר דימויים חזותיים של רכבות שהופיעו בהדפסים ובגלויות דואר, כדי לבחון את התפתחות הדימוי החזותי הגרמני, אם אכן קיים דימוי מאוחד כזה, ובעיקר את התהליך שהוביל להפיכת הרכבת ל"טבעית". אף על פי שגורמים בעלי אינטרס, כגון חברות רכבת, אליטות מקומיות ומוציאים לאור יזמו ועודדו את הדימויים השונים, האיקונוגרפיה שהשתמשו בה הייתה תוצאה של תרבות חזותית גרמנית שהתקיימה ללא תלות ביוזמות אלו.
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In July 1874, a map of the dateline was published in HaTzfira, a Hebrew journal printed in Warsaw. This was, most likely, the first map published in a Hebrew journal, and the text accompanying the map acknowledges the cartographic... more
In July 1874, a map of the dateline was published in HaTzfira, a Hebrew journal printed in Warsaw. This was, most likely, the first map published in a Hebrew journal, and the text accompanying the map acknowledges the cartographic ignorance of the readers. During the years 1862–1885, 76 articles used the word “map” or inserted a map to append the text. By evaluating the images as well as the texts, this article explores the changing roles maps played in the journal’s visual and textual discourse, from a means to enlighten and educate the readers to yet another expression of the commodification and popularization of science. This is more than just a discussion about maps and map history, this is a discussion about journals, and their different functions in society.
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The history of fake news is longer and more nuanced than usually considered. This article examines a particular case study in the late nineteenth century, in which the publication of fake news in a Hebrew journal, HaTzfira, caused a... more
The history of fake news is longer and more nuanced than usually considered. This article examines a particular case study in the late nineteenth century, in which the publication of fake news in a Hebrew journal, HaTzfira, caused a severe reaction that exposed structural flaws and undercurrents of journalistic confrontation as well as differing approaches toward the role of truth within the profession. By exploring earlier manifestations of fake news, historians gain a new perspective on its causes and also the strategies for fighting it.
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During the 19th century, new and improved communication and transportation technologies expanded »the known world.« This was especially true for the interconnected Jewish world, which readily utilized these technologies to communicate... more
During the 19th century, new and improved communication and transportation technologies expanded »the known world.« This was especially true for the interconnected Jewish world, which readily utilized these technologies to communicate between remote communities. Accordingly, late 19th-century Jewish journals describe their readership, authorship and content as global rather than local. Although this concept rarely refers to the whole world, it is meaningful, since it mixes contemporary perceptions of geography, culture, race and politics. This paper explores the changing perceptions of the geographical world as reflected by Jewish media. Recent digitization of 19th-century Jewish journals, such as Hameʾasef and Hatsfira, enables a deeper understanding of the dynamic Jewish view of the world using computer-based visualizations. Digital tools, such as Geographic Information Systems and Network Visualization, are applied in order to make sense of the hidden data as a first step towards a historical interpretation toward closer reading of the computer-based-results and their contextualized meanings.
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The modern periodical is an important medium in the construction of time. Its appearance and cycles of production turn artificial time cycles into seemingly natural and accepted social rhythms. Most importantly, periodicals play an... more
The modern periodical is an important medium in the construction of time. Its appearance and cycles of production turn artificial time cycles into seemingly natural and accepted social rhythms. Most importantly, periodicals play an important role in the construction of the "present" as a time frame of occurrences that happen "now". However, the reproduced "present" shouldn't be understood independently of the production cycle of the periodical. Accordingly, this study characterizes the differences resulting from the shift in time cycles of the nineteenth-century Hebrew periodical HaTzfira. This periodical started in 1862 as a weekly and was transformed in 1886 into a daily. In order to explore the change, this chapter compares the discourse in the three years prior to the conversion of this weekly into daily (1883-1885) with the discourse in the three years following this conversion (1886-1888). Through the use of computational tools, and in particular topic modeling algorithms, which offer a general overview of large-scale textual corpora, this chapter compares discursive patterns before and after 1886. This comparison is based, on the one hand, on a nuanced qualitative analysis of the resultant topics, and on the other hand, on an original mathematical analysis of the resultant vector space. On a theoretical level, this comparison helps characterize the differences between the discursive rhythms of weeklies and dailies. It also contributes to the introduction of computational tools into the study of Hebrew historical journalism.
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This article discusses different uses of computational methods in historical journalism research. It primarily focuses on time, space, and communication in modern Jewish history. (In Hebrew)
In memory of Oren Soffer (1971-2021).
In memory of Oren Soffer (1971-2021).
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This article examines the spatial and social evolution of the network of writers in the Jerusalem-based periodical Ha-Me’asef during the years 1896 – 1914 as a compelling and dynamic example of transnational Jewish networks. The... more
This article examines the spatial and social evolution of the network of writers in the Jerusalem-based periodical Ha-Me’asef during the years 1896 – 1914 as a compelling and dynamic example of transnational Jewish networks. The periodical, which was established by Rabbi Ben-Zion Abraham Koenka in 1896, was exceptional in that it aspired to reach beyond the Jerusalem social circle, from where it originated, and become the center of a global communication network. At its apex, some of the leading rabbinical figures in Palestine, the Middle-East, Europe and America became active writers. The journal eliminated the borders of the isolated spatial unit, in this case Jerusalem, and suggested in its place a new perception of ‘place’, which would be part of a relational and trans-local network.
By using digital methodologies, such as geographic mapping (GIS) and network mapping (SNA), this article explores the interrelations between global expansion and local networks, and in particular the effects of globalization on the role of Jerusalem. It shows that a noticeable spatial expansion of the network coexisted at first with concealed spatial divides that separated between geographical regions, such as the Levant and Western Europe. Furthermore, it identifies social groups among the participating rabbis, and ongoing changes in the internal hierarchy of the contemporary rabbinical centers, as they were reflected in the periodical. The article shows that the success of the transnational network went hand in hand with the decline of Jerusalem as its center.
By using digital methodologies, such as geographic mapping (GIS) and network mapping (SNA), this article explores the interrelations between global expansion and local networks, and in particular the effects of globalization on the role of Jerusalem. It shows that a noticeable spatial expansion of the network coexisted at first with concealed spatial divides that separated between geographical regions, such as the Levant and Western Europe. Furthermore, it identifies social groups among the participating rabbis, and ongoing changes in the internal hierarchy of the contemporary rabbinical centers, as they were reflected in the periodical. The article shows that the success of the transnational network went hand in hand with the decline of Jerusalem as its center.
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Despite the dramatic effect of the railway age on the natural surroundings, it was not seen necessarily as destructive to nature. Railways were both the epitome of progress as well as integral features in pastoral landscapes. This... more
Despite the dramatic effect of the railway age on the natural surroundings, it was not seen necessarily as destructive to nature. Railways were both the epitome of progress as well as integral features in pastoral landscapes. This seemingly paradoxical perception of railways is partially explained by historicising the "naturalisation" of the German train system. This article describes the rapid transformation of the German train from a symbol of dynamic industrialisation to an integral part of the landscape. Visual images, such as lithographs and postcards, were the catalysts in this process. Railway companies, local elites and travel guide publishers promoted the process of "naturalisation" for economic reasons, but the iconography was a result of visual discourse in nineteenth-century German culture. This paper shows that unlike American, British and French depictions of railways, German artists portrayed a railway system, which rather than conquering nature, was blending peacefully into an existing natural landscape.
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In this study we use computational tools to analyse the dynamic nature of the journalistic discourse as reflected in one decade (1874–83) of one Eastern European Hebrew weekly – HaTzfira. To identify latent themes in HaTzfira’s discourse... more
In this study we use computational tools to analyse the dynamic nature of the journalistic discourse as reflected in one decade (1874–83) of one Eastern European Hebrew weekly – HaTzfira. To identify latent themes in HaTzfira’s discourse we apply algorithmic topic-modelling analysis to an upgraded optical character recognition of this periodical. The analysis demonstrates two turning points in the history of HaTzfira’s discourse. The first, in the mid-1870s, reflected a shifting of balance from scientific topics to topics related to world politics. The second, and more significant, change occurred in 1881: world politics lost its dominance and there was a steep rise in topics relating to anti-Semitism. We argue that computational analysis helps reveal the life cycles and changing dominance of the overarching themes in HaTzfira and identify the main internal and external networks and influences that shape the journalistic text.
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One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently... more
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently during the 1830-1840s by three railway engineers from the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France. However, as this chapter argues, the growing popularity of the genre had little to do with the intent of the three pioneers. By looking at the context, in which flow maps appeared, rather than the technique used to design them, the chapter shows the importance of culture, politics, and ideology in understanding the changing meanings of flow maps during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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In this article we examine the differences between weekly and daily time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira. This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from weekly to daily. We use this case study to... more
In this article we examine the differences between weekly and daily time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira. This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from weekly to daily. We use this case study to identify the meanings and implications of time cycles in the discourse constructed in each format, and most specifically the different constructions of the “present” in each. We do this by using the computational tool of topic modeling. Through analysis of the topics in the three years prior to the change (1883–1885) and the three years after the change (1886–1888), we show the different patterns of topic changes within the journal.
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On December 16, 1874, Chaim Zelig Slonimski, the founder and editor of HaTsefira, concluded volume 23 of the newspaper with a harsh and critical letter which he addressed not to readers but to his writers. The seemingly innocuous title... more
On December 16, 1874, Chaim Zelig Slonimski, the founder and editor of HaTsefira, concluded volume 23 of the newspaper with a harsh and critical letter which he addressed not to readers but to his writers. The seemingly innocuous title that he attached to the letter, “A Word with Our Writers,” did not attest to the rage and frustration that appeared in the following paragraphs. The letter was directed against the newspaper’s reporters from distant Jewish communities who had taken advantage of his public stage to spread fake news.
Slonimski’s outburst followed the publication of three news items in the period October–December 1874, which had received critical responses from readers due to their allegedly biased, if not falsified, accounts of current events—a style of reportage far different from the objective and scientific journalism that Slonimski advocated. By examining the institutional and cultural background of the newspaper, the three false reports, and Slonimski’s letter, fake news is found to have been unavoidable despite Slonimski’s good intentions.
Slonimski’s outburst followed the publication of three news items in the period October–December 1874, which had received critical responses from readers due to their allegedly biased, if not falsified, accounts of current events—a style of reportage far different from the objective and scientific journalism that Slonimski advocated. By examining the institutional and cultural background of the newspaper, the three false reports, and Slonimski’s letter, fake news is found to have been unavoidable despite Slonimski’s good intentions.
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The second half of the nineteenth century saw the establishment of several Hebrew newspapers in Eastern Europe and Palestine that provided a platform for a lively political discourse reflecting varied ideological approaches. This work... more
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the establishment of several Hebrew newspapers in Eastern Europe and Palestine that provided a platform for a lively political discourse reflecting varied ideological approaches. This work focuses on one decade, 1874-1883, in the relatively long lifespan of the Hebrew weekly HaTzfira, which was founded in Warsaw in 1862. Applying computational tools to the study of the early Hebrew press requires a unique effort. The Hebrew language in general is distinct in its characters, morphological structure, and word order. The contribution of this proof-of-concept study is two-folds: First, computational analysis provides a long-term indication of trends in the discourse that cannot be attained through qualitative study. The second contribution is on the micro level: Computational analysis can potentially shed light, in a diachronic perspective, on the use of a specific term or the discussion of a specific geographical location.
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This chapter explores the geography of postal practices. The early nineteenth-century establishment of centralized state postal services, the expansion of literacy, and the reduction in paper and mailing costs gave rise to a popular and... more
This chapter explores the geography of postal practices. The early nineteenth-century establishment of centralized state postal services, the expansion of literacy, and the reduction in paper and mailing costs gave rise to a popular and public postal system. This postal system and more importantly the people’s postal practices created epistolary spaces, which lay in-between a ‘real’ world of material infrastructures and institutions and an ‘imagined’ world, in which distances shrink and the far horizons seem near. Even more than the spaces of mobility described in Chapters 8 and 9, epistolary spaces are born of free will rather than physical, ideological, or imagined constraints; they define people’s ‘territory.’
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German society in the mid-nineteenth century had become extremely mobile; people moved from place to place by foot, horses, postal carriages, ships, and trains, in increasing quantities. Chapter 9 examines railway journeys in order to... more
German society in the mid-nineteenth century had become extremely mobile; people moved from place to place by foot, horses, postal carriages, ships, and trains, in increasing quantities. Chapter 9 examines railway journeys in order to interpret the boundaries of travel in the German world. The analysis of statistical travel data reveals a self-proclaimed social boundary, which limits the directions of movement and its range. This chapter continues to develop the question of state territorial legitimacy, but complements it with a discussion of regional divisions.
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This chapter discusses two types of migration in the German world: mass emigration, primarily toward America and the migration of foreign students who studied in the various German states. Migration patterns, which include the volume,... more
This chapter discusses two types of migration in the German world: mass emigration, primarily toward America and the migration of foreign students who studied in the various German states. Migration patterns, which include the volume, destinations, and points of origin of immigrants, are used as evidence of the quality and vitality of cross-border relations and transnational networks. Simultaneously, they manifest the stability of the community of origin and its inner unity. In the German context of mid-nineteenth century, these issues had a special significance since the 1871 unification of Germany is usually described as a natural outcome of an integrated German society and cross-border German nationalism. This chapter presents the spatial relationships of the citizens in the five states as they unfold from inter-German migration patterns.
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This chapter concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions (This chapter is a revised version of Segal, Zef. 2016. ‘Regionalism and Nationalism in the Railway Cartography... more
This chapter concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions (This chapter is a revised version of Segal, Zef. 2016. ‘Regionalism and Nationalism in the Railway Cartography of Mid-Nineteenth Century Germany,’ Imago Mundi 68(1): 46–61). The evolution of a railway system in Germany, from isolated single routes into national and ultimately international networks, has been customarily linked to the political issue of unification in 1871. The infrastructural changes triggered the introduction of new maps and map signs, which overshadowed other national and political signs and should not be seen as a simple means to a nationalist end. By examining the developing iconography of railways and railway networks, this chapter demonstrates that railways were a cause of deterritorialization for regions and states and for the vision of a unified Germany.
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The cartographic naturalization of the state territory requires a formation of a distinct visual image that can be detached from its spatial context. Maps create logos by reinstating and replicating a certain spatial context. This is done... more
The cartographic naturalization of the state territory requires a formation of a distinct visual image that can be detached from its spatial context. Maps create logos by reinstating and replicating a certain spatial context. This is done through the use of colors and graphical measures, erasure of ‘unnecessary’ geographical and political elements, and a map frame that contextualizes the territory. This chapter discusses the demarcations of these logo-maps during the nineteenth century. With respect to the five German states, their utterly different cartographic representations reflected the different historical paths taken by their populations.
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The process of nationalization in the five medium-sized German states required a specific attention to the capital city and the state borders, the ‘heart’ and ‘skin’ of the emerging Geo-Body. The strengthening of the capital city was an... more
The process of nationalization in the five medium-sized German states required a specific attention to the capital city and the state borders, the ‘heart’ and ‘skin’ of the emerging Geo-Body. The strengthening of the capital city was an inseparable part of the symbolic unification of the population around the center of power and territory, yet it encountered strong opposition from rival centers. Capital cities competed against both inner state and outer state centers. Similarly, states were required to define their borders and distinguish between their state territory and ‘outside world.’ Nonetheless, nineteenth-century borders did not only consist of external state borders, but also inner borders between districts. The new post-1815 German states had to deal with new inner as well as outer borders, and the stabilization of the states depended on the naturalization of those borders. This chapter demonstrates that from the late 1830s, and especially the 1840s, states became the focus of spatial identification and inner divisions lost their importance. This was reflected cartographically in the gradual disappearance of inner boundaries and the highlighting of capital cities. However, this was not uniformly exhibited since some states, such as Hanover, remained visually depicted as fragmented, and others, such as Baden, were never drawn with an accentuated capital city.
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Nineteenth-century communication and transportation technologies and infrastructures revolutionized the way people perceived space and spatial ties. The new postal systems, steamships, railway lines, and later telegraph lines made... more
Nineteenth-century communication and transportation technologies and infrastructures revolutionized the way people perceived space and spatial ties. The new postal systems, steamships, railway lines, and later telegraph lines made distances shorter, less time-consuming, and cheaper. Many more people could travel, migrate, and dispatch messages to much longer distances. This chapter analyzes the spatial topology of postal and railway infrastructures and suggests a new understanding of their complex relationship with nationalization and territorialization processes. It is not a subordinate one, conforming blindly to a regimented national plan, but rather an independent route, relying on social and geographic connections. This type of analysis focuses on the territories left out, the gaps created by these infrastructures, and the consequences caused by them. In this sense, they do not just connect people, but also disconnect them.
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This chapter analyzes the increasing unifying role of education and the attempts of state authorities to control the geography of higher education. The study of educational infrastructures reveals that higher education institutes were... more
This chapter analyzes the increasing unifying role of education and the attempts of state authorities to control the geography of higher education. The study of educational infrastructures reveals that higher education institutes were dependent on older institutes, thus limiting the possibilities of spatial reforms. As a result, state authorities established from the mid-1830s modern-technical schools, which allowed for innovativeness and creative political structuring, but simultaneously socially stratified higher education. Despite a series of reforms regarding the spatial layouts of educational infrastructures, traditional divisions in the various states were still largely maintained.
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This chapter discusses the establishment of gendarmerie forces and a passport regime in the 1810s and customs controls in the 1830s, as means to demarcate the territory. It explains the rationale of the initial state plans in terms of... more
This chapter discusses the establishment of gendarmerie forces and a passport regime in the 1810s and customs controls in the 1830s, as means to demarcate the territory. It explains the rationale of the initial state plans in terms of territorial demarcation and the inconsistent execution. By analyzing GIS mappings of the location of the various units, the chapter shows that most forces were located in great distance from the borders and did not serve their mission. Prussian militarism and Austrian intrusive state policing are customarily described in German historiography as the German enforcement patterns of the nineteenth century. However, this chapter illustrates that the medium-sized German states did not generally implement a policy of demonstrating authority through the use of force. They understood the limits of their power and acted accordingly.
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The introduction lays out the broad relevant contexts of the story told in the chapters—historical, regional, and theoretical—and states the major arguments of the book. It surveys the historiography of German division and of German... more
The introduction lays out the broad relevant contexts of the story told in the chapters—historical, regional, and theoretical—and states the major arguments of the book. It surveys the historiography of German division and of German mobilities and delineates The Political Fragmentation of Germany’s contribution to them. It gives a short presentation of Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg, and Baden, and their history and discusses the theories of state, nation, territory, and mobility as applied in the book. Finally, it introduces the thematic order of parts and chapters, which follows the trialectics of space, as defined by Henri Lefebvre and further developed by Edward Soja.
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This paper discusses the role of capital cities in the construction of nineteenth-century German states. It describes the significant efforts that were put into strengthening new capital cities, such as Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart and... more
This paper discusses the role of capital cities in the construction of nineteenth-century German states. It describes the significant efforts that were put into strengthening new capital cities, such as Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart and Hanover, especially due to the polycentric nature of German society, and making them more central in the citizens' lives. This was done through symbolic and institutional measures. As a result, they were transformed into demographic, political, economic, administrative and iconic centers. However, demographic, geographic and historical constraints determined state infrastructural shape and form, just as much as political centrality. Consequently, existing circumstances limited the options and possibilities of the states, and prevented the creation of a German equivalent of London or Paris. This paper explores the role the capital cities of independent states, such as Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover and Württemberg, played in spatial infrastructure and spatial imagination, and shows contradictory processes of capital city development.
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The article investigates the gradual expansion of the international network of rabbinical contributors to the Jerusalem journal Ha-me’asef between 1896 and 1904. Ha-me’asef began as a dream of a twenty-nine-year-old editor, Ben-Zion... more
The article investigates the gradual expansion of the international network of rabbinical contributors to the Jerusalem journal Ha-me’asef between 1896 and 1904. Ha-me’asef began as a dream of a twenty-nine-year-old editor, Ben-Zion Cuenca, who aspired to create more than a local journal with an international readership. What he wanted was an international journal with an international authorship, a journalistic hub of international communication.
Despite Cuenca’s intentions, the first contributors were his students, teachers, and kin, all of whom members of a Jerusalem social circle of Sephardic rabbis. Although gaining international recognition was difficult in the early going, by the ninth year, contributors to the journal came from across the globe, from Tashkent in the east to Portland in the west, connecting rabbis from the various streams of Orthodox ideology. Ha-me’asef succeeded as the hub of a social network because of its ideological, theological, and thematic flexibility. Even as the network linked Jewish scholars from around the globe, however, it marginalized the Jerusalem Sephardic community whence it originated. The Sephardi voice that set the tone in the first few years was replaced by East European, British, and American voices that addressed different topics in different dialects.
We examine both the geography of expansion, using GIS mapping, and the writers’ networking, using Social Network Analysis methodologies, to understand the historical processes that powered the development of this international network. The history of the social network is described as an outcome of the geography of its members, their social milieu, and the personal history of its main protagonists, most importantly that of the editor, Cuenca.
Despite Cuenca’s intentions, the first contributors were his students, teachers, and kin, all of whom members of a Jerusalem social circle of Sephardic rabbis. Although gaining international recognition was difficult in the early going, by the ninth year, contributors to the journal came from across the globe, from Tashkent in the east to Portland in the west, connecting rabbis from the various streams of Orthodox ideology. Ha-me’asef succeeded as the hub of a social network because of its ideological, theological, and thematic flexibility. Even as the network linked Jewish scholars from around the globe, however, it marginalized the Jerusalem Sephardic community whence it originated. The Sephardi voice that set the tone in the first few years was replaced by East European, British, and American voices that addressed different topics in different dialects.
We examine both the geography of expansion, using GIS mapping, and the writers’ networking, using Social Network Analysis methodologies, to understand the historical processes that powered the development of this international network. The history of the social network is described as an outcome of the geography of its members, their social milieu, and the personal history of its main protagonists, most importantly that of the editor, Cuenca.
Research Interests: Digital Humanities, Historical GIS, Jewish History, Social Networks (History), Journalism History, and 7 moreSocial Network Analysis (SNA), History of Communication, History of Journalism, Modern Jewish History, Historical Network Research, Historical network analysis, and History of Media and Communication
The great Jewish migration to America in the turn of the 19 th century was researched excessively, specifically concerning its causes and the incorporation of the immigrants into the American society. However, research has scarcely dealt... more
The great Jewish migration to America in the turn of the 19 th century was researched excessively, specifically concerning its causes and the incorporation of the immigrants into the American society. However, research has scarcely dealt with transatlantuc communication between individuals and communities in the " new world " and communities in the " old world " , especially not with the spatial distribution of such communication. The following paper focuses on the European responsa literature as a source for such communication between the European orthodox world and the American orthodox world. While references to America in European responsa were rarities until the mid-nineteenth century, they became quite frequent along with the turn of the century mass migration. By spatially analyzing a GIS-mapping of these references between 1890 and 1930, we prove that that the existence of communication networks had a direct connection to a seemingly non-relevant parameter, the inner-orthodox debate between Hasidim and Mitnagdim. This conclusion leads to meaningful findings concerning the formation of an autonomous American rabbinical hierarchy, and the changing need of communities to relate to a distant authority. As this study demonstrates, a spatial analysis of the connections between Europe and America in the responsa literature provides some unexpected, even striking finds that may require a re-evaluation of certain historiographic commonplaces concerning the religious, and even the social history of American Jews.
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19th century Germany is fertile ground for border research. The era saw continuous processes of debordering and rebordering, starting from the creation of new and sovereign German states in place of hundreds of previously existent... more
19th century Germany is fertile ground for border research. The era saw continuous processes of debordering and rebordering, starting from the creation of new and sovereign German states in place of hundreds of previously existent principalities, and ending with the unification of these states under “imperial Germany”. This paper portrays a multi-dimensional analysis of these dual processes in the particular case of the kingdom of Bavaria, whose border is an example of a dynamic matrix and not just a static linear concept.
The analysis is done through combining three different methodologies:
(1) Locating the public institutions that demarcates the actual boundaries of the state and defines a dynamic frontier along its periphery. Such a border in fact depends on the dispersal of institutions across the state. Measuring the density of public institutions in the state identifies border regions and internal borders uncharted by plans or political borderlines.
(2) Identifying the changes of border representations on maps, which demarcates the imagined borders of the state. Maps display a multitude of optional imagined borders: some are sketched using prominent lines separating political entities on the map, others are created through the distinction between detailed parts of the map and blank ones, and yet others are demarcated by the scope of a map’s frame. The map sheds light on the primacy people give to certain boundaries over others.
(3) Identifying the living space of the society through the statistical analysis of the movement patterns of the population that demarcates a border created by interacting individuals. The daily practices of travel, migration, commerce and communication restructure the border, surrounding each individual habitat.
Each methodology creates a new image of the German state, which is entirely different than the customary political map. Comparing the infrastructural, cartographic and interaction images provides a more complex perspective of 19th century German bordering, in particular, and modern political bordering, in general. The similarities and differences between these images reveal the struggles of state bordering. They also form a distinction between successful bordering processes, such as in the states of Bavaria and Saxony, and non successful ones, such as in the states of Hannover and Wurttemberg.
The analysis is done through combining three different methodologies:
(1) Locating the public institutions that demarcates the actual boundaries of the state and defines a dynamic frontier along its periphery. Such a border in fact depends on the dispersal of institutions across the state. Measuring the density of public institutions in the state identifies border regions and internal borders uncharted by plans or political borderlines.
(2) Identifying the changes of border representations on maps, which demarcates the imagined borders of the state. Maps display a multitude of optional imagined borders: some are sketched using prominent lines separating political entities on the map, others are created through the distinction between detailed parts of the map and blank ones, and yet others are demarcated by the scope of a map’s frame. The map sheds light on the primacy people give to certain boundaries over others.
(3) Identifying the living space of the society through the statistical analysis of the movement patterns of the population that demarcates a border created by interacting individuals. The daily practices of travel, migration, commerce and communication restructure the border, surrounding each individual habitat.
Each methodology creates a new image of the German state, which is entirely different than the customary political map. Comparing the infrastructural, cartographic and interaction images provides a more complex perspective of 19th century German bordering, in particular, and modern political bordering, in general. The similarities and differences between these images reveal the struggles of state bordering. They also form a distinction between successful bordering processes, such as in the states of Bavaria and Saxony, and non successful ones, such as in the states of Hannover and Wurttemberg.
Research Interests: German History, Border Studies, Postal History, Nationalism And State Building, History of Communication, and 16 moreMigration History, 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), History of Nationalism and Nation-Building, Critical Cartography, Bavarian History, Infrastructure, Nation Building, Nineteenth-century Germany, Borderlands History, Bavaria, Nation-building, Borders and Borderlands, Bavaria history, Postal History, and Nation building and State making
The postal and railroad infrastructures have long been seen as part of the nationalization process in the nineteenth century. Both transformed society dramatically by giving the opportunity for spatial movement to the general population.... more
The postal and railroad infrastructures have long been seen as part of the nationalization process in the nineteenth century. Both transformed society dramatically by giving the opportunity for spatial movement to the general population. Unlike other political modes of nationalization, the railway and the post were meaningful only as long as they were used by the public. Only then do they create a form of voluntary ties between people. Therefore, their territorial effectiveness had an immediate connection to their importance in the creation of the modern national societies.
However, most research on the topic had focused on the general appearance of these two facilities, such as uniforms, stations and stamps, and not on the actual spatial deployment. Examining the spatial topology of both infrastructures suggests a new understanding of their complex relationship with nationalization and territorialization processes. Not a subordinate one, conforming blindly to a regimented national plan, but rather an independent route, relying on social, historic and geographic connections. This type of analysis focuses on the territories left out, the gaps created by these infrastructures, and the consequences caused by it. In this sense, they do not just connect people, but also disconnect them.
The emergence of mass communication and transportation networks during the nineteenth century coincided with the evolution of newly independent German states, such as Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg and Baden that gained independence in 1815. Deconstructing the gradual development of their postal and railway networks, prior to the German unification of 1871, provides a reason for the different futures of each of these states, in terms of internal integration; a reasoning which relies on the ability to communicate as a fundamental building block of modern national communities. Moreover, this infrastructural analysis depicts a Germany, which is much less connected and united than the history of German unification usually acknowledges.
However, most research on the topic had focused on the general appearance of these two facilities, such as uniforms, stations and stamps, and not on the actual spatial deployment. Examining the spatial topology of both infrastructures suggests a new understanding of their complex relationship with nationalization and territorialization processes. Not a subordinate one, conforming blindly to a regimented national plan, but rather an independent route, relying on social, historic and geographic connections. This type of analysis focuses on the territories left out, the gaps created by these infrastructures, and the consequences caused by it. In this sense, they do not just connect people, but also disconnect them.
The emergence of mass communication and transportation networks during the nineteenth century coincided with the evolution of newly independent German states, such as Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg and Baden that gained independence in 1815. Deconstructing the gradual development of their postal and railway networks, prior to the German unification of 1871, provides a reason for the different futures of each of these states, in terms of internal integration; a reasoning which relies on the ability to communicate as a fundamental building block of modern national communities. Moreover, this infrastructural analysis depicts a Germany, which is much less connected and united than the history of German unification usually acknowledges.
Research Interests: Historical Geography, German History, Border Studies, Historical GIS, Postal History, and 26 moreState Formation, State Building, Communications History, History of Communication, 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Railway History--18th and early 19th Centuries, Railway and Transportation History, Modern German History, Spatial History, German railways, History of Media and Communication, Borders and Borderlands, Railway History, Transport and mobility history, History of Railways, Territory and Territorialization Processes, Railway Infrastructure, Mobility and Transport History, Postal History, History of mobility, Mobility history, Communication history - Postal History - Epistolography, Nation building and State making, German unification 1871, and Modern Postal History
The end of the Holy Roman Empire marked the beginning of a new era in the German world. Napoleon transformed hundreds of small political entities into 37 sovereign states, each one with an individual tale of integration and... more
The end of the Holy Roman Empire marked the beginning of a new era in the German world. Napoleon transformed hundreds of small political entities into 37 sovereign states, each one with an individual tale of integration and territorialization. The delimitation of religious boundaries was an important feature of these tales, since a centralized administration would not accept cross-border religious authorities. The previously existent competition between religious and political authorities could not be tolerated by these developing new states. This was not just a matter of legal reforms or secularization but rather a question of spatial boundaries regarding the formal definition of religious districts and their correspondence with the state ones.
The reformation and counter-reformation roughly divided the German population into three religious churches: Catholic, Lutheran and Reform. The subsequent religious wars of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to a relatively clear spatial and political division between the different churches. The Peace of Augsburg (1555) in particular, which officially ended the first wave of religious wars, established the principle of “Curius region, eius Religio”, thus forming a legal and binding connection between the choice of religion and political affiliation. However, the chaotic Holy Roman Empire was not a place for homogeneity or rational distribution of authority. Consequently, Catholic principalities with small Protestant minorities and Protestant principalities with small Catholic minorities were quite common in the eighteenth Century. As a result, religious authorities often operated beyond the realm of their political territorial affiliation.
The late eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century brought about two fundamental changes to church/state relations: first, the restructuring of German territories into 37 states changed the demographics and the relative homogeneity of past centuries; second, the evolving modernization and growing bureaucracies of the various states expanded the horizons of the state public sphere and the levels of centralization it aspired.
Officials of these new states, influenced by French centralism, operated under a primary directive of integrating the new territories. The existence of cross border religious authorities was both a threat to the concept of state centralism and popular integration, due to the large religious minorities. This led to both legal and spatial delimitation of religious authorities, Catholic and Protestant, in all the states. In this article, I will analyze the spatial strategies used by five medium sized German states, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg and Baden. Although these states differed in demographic, political, social, economic and geographical circumstances, I will show that the essential strategies were identical, and were a response to the nature of the Catholic and Protestant Churches, and not the specific circumstances of each state.
The reformation and counter-reformation roughly divided the German population into three religious churches: Catholic, Lutheran and Reform. The subsequent religious wars of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to a relatively clear spatial and political division between the different churches. The Peace of Augsburg (1555) in particular, which officially ended the first wave of religious wars, established the principle of “Curius region, eius Religio”, thus forming a legal and binding connection between the choice of religion and political affiliation. However, the chaotic Holy Roman Empire was not a place for homogeneity or rational distribution of authority. Consequently, Catholic principalities with small Protestant minorities and Protestant principalities with small Catholic minorities were quite common in the eighteenth Century. As a result, religious authorities often operated beyond the realm of their political territorial affiliation.
The late eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century brought about two fundamental changes to church/state relations: first, the restructuring of German territories into 37 states changed the demographics and the relative homogeneity of past centuries; second, the evolving modernization and growing bureaucracies of the various states expanded the horizons of the state public sphere and the levels of centralization it aspired.
Officials of these new states, influenced by French centralism, operated under a primary directive of integrating the new territories. The existence of cross border religious authorities was both a threat to the concept of state centralism and popular integration, due to the large religious minorities. This led to both legal and spatial delimitation of religious authorities, Catholic and Protestant, in all the states. In this article, I will analyze the spatial strategies used by five medium sized German states, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg and Baden. Although these states differed in demographic, political, social, economic and geographical circumstances, I will show that the essential strategies were identical, and were a response to the nature of the Catholic and Protestant Churches, and not the specific circumstances of each state.
Research Interests: Historical Geography, German History, Reterritorialization, State Formation, State Building, and 15 moreNationalism And State Building, Saxony (Germany), Church History, 19th Century German History, Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Ecclesiastical History, Territoriality, State-Building, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Baden-Württemberg, Catholic Church History, Nineteenth-Century Church History, Lutheran Church History, German Catholicism, and State Buildng
This article concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions. The evolution of a railway system in Germany, from isolated single routes into national and ultimately... more
This article concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions. The evolution of a railway system in Germany, from isolated single routes into national and ultimately international networks, has been customarily linked to the political issue of unification in 1871. The infrastructural changes triggered the introduction of new maps and map signs, which overshadowed other national and political signs and should not be seen as a simple means to a nationalist end. By examining the developing iconography of railways and railway networks, I argue that railways were a cause of deterritorialization for regions and states and for the vision of a unified Germany.
Cet article porte sur la cartographie des chemins de fer allemands au milieu du XIXe siècle et son influence sur les perceptions spatio-politiques. L’évolution du système ferroviaire allemand, depuis de simples lignes isolées vers des réseaux nationaux et au final internationaux, a été communément associée à la question politique de l’unification de 1871. Les changements de l’infrastructure provoquèrent l’introduction de nouvelles cartes et de nouveaux signes conventionnels, qui éclipsèrent d’autres signes nationaux et politiques et qui ne doivent pas être considérés comme de simples moyens mis en œuvre dans une optique nationaliste. En examinant le développement de l’iconographie des chemins de fer et des réseaux ferrés, je soutiens que les chemins de fer furent une cause de déterritorialisation pour les régions et les Etats et pour la vision d’une Allemagne unifiée.
Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit der Eisenbahnkartographie Deutschlands in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts sowie mit ihrer Wirkung auf politisch-räumliche Konzepte. Die Entwicklung des deutschen Eisenbahnnetzes, von einzelnen isolierten Routen zu nationalen und schließlich internationalen Systemen, wurde gewöhnlich mit dem politischen Prozess hin zur staatlichen Einheit von 1871 in Verbindung gebracht. Die Veränderungen der Infrastruktur lösten den Einsatz neuer Karten und neuer Kartenzeichen aus, die andere national und politisch bedeutungsvolle Elemente von den Karten verdrängten, die aber nicht einfach als Mittel auf dem Weg zum Nationalismus verstanden werden sollten. Die Untersuchung der sich entwickelnden Ikonographie der Eisenbahn und des Eisenbahnnetzes legt nahe, dass diese ein Beispiel für die Auflösung von Regionen oder Staaten darstellte und auf die Vision des geeinten Deutschland verwies.
Este artículo se centra en la cartografía ferroviaria alemana de mediados del siglo XIX y en su influencia en las percepciones espacio-políticas. La evolución del sistema ferroviario alemán, desde rutas individuales aisladas a redes nacionales y en última instancia internacionales, ha sido tradicionalmente vinculada a la cuestión política de la unificación en 1871. Los cambios en infraestructuras provocaron la introducción de nuevos mapas y signos cartográficos que eclipsaron otros signos nacionales y políticos, y no deben ser considerados como simples medios con fines nacionalistas. A partir del examen del desarrollo iconográfico de los ferrocarriles y redes ferroviarias, sostengo que los ferrocarriles fueron una causa de la no territorialización de las regiones y de los estados, en favor de la visión de una Alemania unificada.
Cet article porte sur la cartographie des chemins de fer allemands au milieu du XIXe siècle et son influence sur les perceptions spatio-politiques. L’évolution du système ferroviaire allemand, depuis de simples lignes isolées vers des réseaux nationaux et au final internationaux, a été communément associée à la question politique de l’unification de 1871. Les changements de l’infrastructure provoquèrent l’introduction de nouvelles cartes et de nouveaux signes conventionnels, qui éclipsèrent d’autres signes nationaux et politiques et qui ne doivent pas être considérés comme de simples moyens mis en œuvre dans une optique nationaliste. En examinant le développement de l’iconographie des chemins de fer et des réseaux ferrés, je soutiens que les chemins de fer furent une cause de déterritorialisation pour les régions et les Etats et pour la vision d’une Allemagne unifiée.
Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit der Eisenbahnkartographie Deutschlands in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts sowie mit ihrer Wirkung auf politisch-räumliche Konzepte. Die Entwicklung des deutschen Eisenbahnnetzes, von einzelnen isolierten Routen zu nationalen und schließlich internationalen Systemen, wurde gewöhnlich mit dem politischen Prozess hin zur staatlichen Einheit von 1871 in Verbindung gebracht. Die Veränderungen der Infrastruktur lösten den Einsatz neuer Karten und neuer Kartenzeichen aus, die andere national und politisch bedeutungsvolle Elemente von den Karten verdrängten, die aber nicht einfach als Mittel auf dem Weg zum Nationalismus verstanden werden sollten. Die Untersuchung der sich entwickelnden Ikonographie der Eisenbahn und des Eisenbahnnetzes legt nahe, dass diese ein Beispiel für die Auflösung von Regionen oder Staaten darstellte und auf die Vision des geeinten Deutschland verwies.
Este artículo se centra en la cartografía ferroviaria alemana de mediados del siglo XIX y en su influencia en las percepciones espacio-políticas. La evolución del sistema ferroviario alemán, desde rutas individuales aisladas a redes nacionales y en última instancia internacionales, ha sido tradicionalmente vinculada a la cuestión política de la unificación en 1871. Los cambios en infraestructuras provocaron la introducción de nuevos mapas y signos cartográficos que eclipsaron otros signos nacionales y políticos, y no deben ser considerados como simples medios con fines nacionalistas. A partir del examen del desarrollo iconográfico de los ferrocarriles y redes ferroviarias, sostengo que los ferrocarriles fueron una causa de la no territorialización de las regiones y de los estados, en favor de la visión de una Alemania unificada.
Research Interests:
A comparison between five nineteenth-century German states demonstrates the importance of postal systems for nation-building and nationalism. Prior to the formal unification of Germany under Emperor Wilhelm of Prussia in 1871, the various... more
A comparison between five nineteenth-century German states demonstrates the importance of postal systems for nation-building and nationalism. Prior to the formal unification of Germany under Emperor Wilhelm of Prussia in 1871, the various German states evinced scant political, administrative, social, or geographical cohesion until their postal systems created a communications infrastructure that gradually eroded traditional barriers.
Research Interests: Historical Geography, German History, Border Studies, Historical GIS, Postal History, and 12 moreState Formation, Communications History, Saxony (Germany), History of Communication, 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Borders and Frontiers, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Borders and Borderlands, History of information flows, and Mobility and Transport History
State construction is never purely a result of intentional planning. While the usual depiction of the history of state construction focuses on official plans, as well as on reforms and their success or failure, I wish to draw attention to... more
State construction is never purely a result of intentional planning. While the usual depiction of the history of state construction focuses on official plans, as well as on reforms and their success or failure, I wish to draw attention to the hidden currents, supporting or hindering state integration. This article depicts the unintentional dynamics that change the course taken by intended official plans. Unlike the public nature of intentional state creation, unintentional dynamics have to be searched for and uncovered with more subtle techniques. I will analyze the success of state integration from the perspective of border construction, and more specifically through the spatial visibility of borders both in practice and in the imagination.
Research Interests: Historical Geography, Digital Humanities, German History, Border Studies, State Formation, and 12 moreNationalism, History of Cartography, State Building, History of Political and Institutional Reform, 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Critical Cartography, Historical Cartography, State-Building, Spatial History, Borders and Borderlands, and State Buildng
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Digital Humanities, Historical GIS, Immigration, Jewish History, Immigration History, and 7 moreCommunication and migration studies, Hassidism, Spatial History, Migration, Study of Diaspora, Science Communication and Community Development, Responsa Literature, Digital Humanites, and Jewish Migration
Research Interests:
Research Interests: European History, German History, History of Education, Transnationalism, Border Studies, and 25 moreNationalism, History of Cartography, Political History, History of Public Administration, Saxony (Germany), Migration Studies, History of Communication, Migration History, 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Time geography, Railway and Transportation History, Modern German History, Police History, Critical Cartography, History of Customs and Smuggling, PhD Thesis, Institutional history, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Borders and Borderlands, History of Germany, Mobility and Transport History, Landesgeschichte Baden-Württemberg, and Mobility history
Research Interests:
Research Interests: German History, History of Education, State Formation, State Building, Nationalism And State Building, and 17 moreHistory of Public Administration, History of Universities, Saxony (Germany), 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Religious History, Modern German History, Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Ecclesiastical History, Local and regional history, PhD Thesis, Institutional history, State-Building, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Catholic Church History, Landesgeschichte Baden-Württemberg, and Nineteenth-Century Church History
Research Interests: Military History, German History, State Formation, State Building, Nationalism And State Building, and 15 moreHistory of Public Administration, Saxony (Germany), 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Police History, History of Customs and Smuggling, Local and regional history, PhD Thesis, Institutional history, State-Building, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Customs Unions, Landesgeschichte Baden-Württemberg, and Zollverein
Research Interests: German History, Nineteenth Century Studies, Postal History, State Formation, State Building, and 20 moreNationalism And State Building, History of Public Administration, Saxony (Germany), History of Communication, 19th Century German History, 19th Century (History), Railway and Transportation History, Modern German History, Institutional history, State-Building, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Historical network analysis, German railways, Railway History, History of transportation, History of Railroads, Landesgeschichte Baden-Württemberg, Postal History, and Transportation History
Dieses Buch analysiert die Entwicklung der deutschen Territorialstaaten im neunzehnten Jahrhundert durch das Prisma von fünf Mittelstaaten: Bayern, Sachsen, Hannover, Württemberg und Baden. Sie stellt die Frage, wie ein Staat zu einem Ort... more
Dieses Buch analysiert die Entwicklung der deutschen Territorialstaaten im neunzehnten Jahrhundert durch das Prisma von fünf Mittelstaaten: Bayern, Sachsen, Hannover, Württemberg und Baden. Sie stellt die Frage, wie ein Staat zu einem Ort wird, und argumentiert, dass es sich dabei um einen umstrittenen und vielschichtigen Prozess handelt, einen langsamen und ungleichmäßigen Fortschritt. Die Studie nähert sich dieser Frage aus einem neuen und entscheidenden Blickwinkel, nämlich dem der Räumlichkeit und der öffentlichen Mobilität. Die behandelten Themen reichen von der Geografie des Staatsapparats über die Ästhetik der deutschen Kartografie bis hin zu den Bewegungsabläufen der Öffentlichkeit. Das Buch stellt die Annahme in Frage, dass territoriale Abgrenzung in erster Linie eine Angelegenheit von Politik und Diplomatie ist, und zeigt, dass politische Territorien durch alltägliche Praktiken und Vorstellungen konstruiert werden.
Dieses Buch ist eine Übersetzung einer englischen Originalausgabe. Die Übersetzung wurde mit Hilfe von künstlicher Intelligenz erstellt. Eine anschließende menschliche Überarbeitung erfolgte vor allem in Bezug auf den Inhalt, so dass sich das Buch stilistisch anders liest als eine herkömmliche Übersetzung.
Dieses Buch ist eine Übersetzung einer englischen Originalausgabe. Die Übersetzung wurde mit Hilfe von künstlicher Intelligenz erstellt. Eine anschließende menschliche Überarbeitung erfolgte vor allem in Bezug auf den Inhalt, so dass sich das Buch stilistisch anders liest als eine herkömmliche Übersetzung.
Research Interests:
Motion in Maps, Maps in Motion argues that the mapping of stories, movement, and change should not be understood as an innovation of contemporary cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human cartography with a longer history... more
Motion in Maps, Maps in Motion argues that the mapping of stories, movement, and change should not be understood as an innovation of contemporary cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human cartography with a longer history than might be assumed. The authors in this collection reflect upon the main characteristics and evolutions of story and motion mapping, from the figurative news and history maps that were mass-produced in early modern Europe, through the nineteenth- and twentieth-century flow maps that appeared in various atlases, up to the digital and interactive motion and personalized maps that are created today. Rather than presenting a clear and homogeneous history from the past up until the present, this book offers a toolbox for understanding and interpreting the complex interplays and links between narrative, motion, and maps.
Research Interests:
Motion in Maps, Maps in Motio n argues that the mapping of stories, movement, and change shou ld not be understood as an innovation of contemporary cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human cartography with a longer history... more
Motion in Maps, Maps in Motio
n argues that the mapping
of stories, movement, and change shou ld not be
understood as an innovation of contemporary
cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human
cartography with a longer history than might be
assumed. The authors in this collection reflect upon the
main characteristics and evolutions of st ory and motion
mapping, from the figurative news and history maps that
were mass produced in early modern Europe, through
the nineteenth and twentieth century flow maps that
appeared in various atlases, up to the digital and
interactive motion and personali zed maps that are
created today. Rather than presenting a clear and
homogeneous history from the past up until the present,
this book offers a toolbox for understanding and
interpreting the complex interplays and links between
narrative, motion, and maps.
n argues that the mapping
of stories, movement, and change shou ld not be
understood as an innovation of contemporary
cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human
cartography with a longer history than might be
assumed. The authors in this collection reflect upon the
main characteristics and evolutions of st ory and motion
mapping, from the figurative news and history maps that
were mass produced in early modern Europe, through
the nineteenth and twentieth century flow maps that
appeared in various atlases, up to the digital and
interactive motion and personali zed maps that are
created today. Rather than presenting a clear and
homogeneous history from the past up until the present,
this book offers a toolbox for understanding and
interpreting the complex interplays and links between
narrative, motion, and maps.
Research Interests:
This book analyses the development of German territorial states in the nineteenth century through the prism of five Mittelstaaten: Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg, and Baden. It asks how a state becomes a place, and argues that it... more
This book analyses the development of German territorial states in the nineteenth century through the prism of five Mittelstaaten: Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg, and Baden. It asks how a state becomes a place, and argues that it involves a contested and multi-faceted process, one of slow and uneven progress. The study approaches this question from a new and crucial angle, that of spatiality and public mobility. The issues covered range from the geography of state apparatus, the aesthetics of German cartography and the trajectories of public movement. Challenging the belief that territorial delimitation is primarily a matter of policy and diplomacy, this book reveals that political territories are constructed through daily practices and imagination.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
“Territorial states”, “nation states” and “sovereign states” are used almost synonymously to describe the building blocks of the modern international landscape. Furthermore, this is seen as an integral part of the modernization of... more
“Territorial states”, “nation states” and “sovereign states” are used almost synonymously to describe the building blocks of the modern international landscape. Furthermore, this is seen as an integral part of the modernization of political structures and international relations. While the historiography of this process has focused on the territorialization and nationalization of the individual state, it has neglected the issue of the “other state”; the perception of foreign territorial states as international building blocks. In fact, the perception of international uniformity is almost taken for granted, and the history behind it has never been told.
This research takes an initial step towards such a story by examining the cartographic depiction of new sovereign states in German Atlases between 1800 and 1939. Through the deconstruction of maps depicting states in their first two decades of their existence, I question the concept of uniformity and shed new light on the role of sovereignty and territoriality in the international landscape. This is done by using both quantitative methods, analyzing the number of maps depicting each state and the temporal change in these figures, and qualitative methods, examining the semiotic role of state symbols in the various maps.
Contrary to the general assumption that the territorial state had become prominent during the 18th and 19th centuries, this paper shows that even in the early 20th century the correlation between territoriality and sovereignty was an issue of the geopolitical standing of the state in question. Although states were important as actors in the international politics, they were not necessarily seen as the most important territorial entities. European, South-American, African, Arab and South-East Asian states were treated differently in German maps, and were given completely different cartographic roles, which were rarely the leading ones, as colonies, empires and sub-state regions were regularly seen as more crucial for the mapmaker.
This research takes an initial step towards such a story by examining the cartographic depiction of new sovereign states in German Atlases between 1800 and 1939. Through the deconstruction of maps depicting states in their first two decades of their existence, I question the concept of uniformity and shed new light on the role of sovereignty and territoriality in the international landscape. This is done by using both quantitative methods, analyzing the number of maps depicting each state and the temporal change in these figures, and qualitative methods, examining the semiotic role of state symbols in the various maps.
Contrary to the general assumption that the territorial state had become prominent during the 18th and 19th centuries, this paper shows that even in the early 20th century the correlation between territoriality and sovereignty was an issue of the geopolitical standing of the state in question. Although states were important as actors in the international politics, they were not necessarily seen as the most important territorial entities. European, South-American, African, Arab and South-East Asian states were treated differently in German maps, and were given completely different cartographic roles, which were rarely the leading ones, as colonies, empires and sub-state regions were regularly seen as more crucial for the mapmaker.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Cartography, German History, Critical Geopolitics, Border Studies, and 22 moreSovereignty, Colonialism, History of Cartography, Cartographic History, 20th Century German History, 19th Century German History, Territoriality, Critical Cartography, Historical Cartography, Atlas, German Colonialism, Nineteenth-century Germany, Nineteenth Century German Thought, Spatial History, Cartographic Representation, Borders and Borderlands, Colonial cartography, State sovereignty, German colonial history, History of Colonialism, Territorialisation, and State Territory
The aim of this paper is to expand the possibilities of political cartography beyond the limited scope that current cartography offers. Over the last century visual models have improved tremendously, and yet political mapping has not... more
The aim of this paper is to expand the possibilities of political cartography beyond the limited scope that current cartography offers. Over the last century visual models have improved tremendously, and yet political mapping has not evolved, and still portrays the same territorial structuring of the world, as it did since the seventeenth century. Although social, cultural and political circumstances have changed, these have only affected the choice of symbols, scales and colors, and not the larger picture, the geometry of the political map. As a result, we are trapped by this geometry, which affects our understanding of political spaces, and spatial connections. I intend to illustrate alternative geometries that enable other interpretations of politics in space, and consequently free us from the shackles of Euclidean geometry.
Research Interests:
Migration is a social phenomenon that breaks apart the "accepted" boundaries of a society and creates a new transnational society that unites new communities with old ones. However, migration waves usually occur after such connections... more
Migration is a social phenomenon that breaks apart the "accepted" boundaries of a society and creates a new transnational society that unites new communities with old ones. However, migration waves usually occur after such connections already exist, and thus, in fact, reflect and strengthen existing transnational societies and do not necessarily create them. Both aspects of the interrelations between migration and national identities demonstrate that the existence of migration reflects transnational ties. As a result, migration patterns, which include the volume, destinations and points of origin of immigrants, are evidence of the quality and vitality of cross-border relations. Simultaneously, they manifest the stability of the community of origin and its inner unity.
In the German context of mid-nineteenth century, these issues had a special significance since the 1871 unification of Germany is usually described as a natural outcome of an integrated German society and cross-border German nationalism. In this paper, I will present the spatial relationships of the citizens in five German states that constitute the "third Germany": Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Wurttemberg and Baden, as they unfold from inter-German migration patterns. The primary focus of analysis is the inner-integration of these nineteenth century German states and the questionable existence of a single German society.
Migration patterns are not only used to compare between the various German states, but also to question the authenticity of the state itself. Issues regarding state integration, regional perceptions and German nationalism are treated when examining migration statistics from a district level of analysis rather than a state level analysis, which is the customary resolution in migration research. Consequently, accepted political spatial categories such as state boundaries are questioned in this paper.
Results show that some of these states, such as Saxony and Bavaria, were better integrated than others. More importantly, the manifested disunity between the various states provides an alternative explanation to the inability of these "third Germany" states to work together against Prussia and Austria. In addition, the paper shows that German unification predated the emergence of a unified German society, and questions the existence of popular German nationalism during these years.
In the German context of mid-nineteenth century, these issues had a special significance since the 1871 unification of Germany is usually described as a natural outcome of an integrated German society and cross-border German nationalism. In this paper, I will present the spatial relationships of the citizens in five German states that constitute the "third Germany": Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Wurttemberg and Baden, as they unfold from inter-German migration patterns. The primary focus of analysis is the inner-integration of these nineteenth century German states and the questionable existence of a single German society.
Migration patterns are not only used to compare between the various German states, but also to question the authenticity of the state itself. Issues regarding state integration, regional perceptions and German nationalism are treated when examining migration statistics from a district level of analysis rather than a state level analysis, which is the customary resolution in migration research. Consequently, accepted political spatial categories such as state boundaries are questioned in this paper.
Results show that some of these states, such as Saxony and Bavaria, were better integrated than others. More importantly, the manifested disunity between the various states provides an alternative explanation to the inability of these "third Germany" states to work together against Prussia and Austria. In addition, the paper shows that German unification predated the emergence of a unified German society, and questions the existence of popular German nationalism during these years.
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Despite the dramatic effect of the railway-age on the natural surroundings, it was not seen necessarily as destructive to nature. Railways were both the epitome of progress and modernism as well as integral features in pastoral rural... more
Despite the dramatic effect of the railway-age on the natural surroundings, it was not seen necessarily as destructive to nature. Railways were both the epitome of progress and modernism as well as integral features in pastoral rural landscapes. This seemingly paradoxical perception of railways is partially explained by historicizing the 'naturalization' of the German train system. This paper describes various stages in the transformation of the German train from a symbol of dynamic industrialization to an integral part of the landscape. Visual images, such as cartographic artifacts, lithographs and postcards were the catalysts in this process. They embedded the railway into the landscape and consequently led to a perception of technology as both revolutionary and natural. Railway companies, local elites and travel-guide publishers promoted the process of 'naturalization' for economic reasons but the iconography was a result of a visual discourse in nineteenth century German culture. This paper shows that unlike American, British and French depictions of railways, German representations tended to de-industrialize the existence of railways in urban and natural environments. German artists portrayed a railway system, which rather than conquering nature, was blending peacefully into an existing natural landscape.
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This paper provides an overview of the ways in which German cartographers depicted new states around the world during the golden age of the production of German atlases, 1800-1939. During these years, 78 new non-German states gained... more
This paper provides an overview of the ways in which German cartographers depicted new states around the world during the golden age of the production of German atlases, 1800-1939. During these years, 78 new non-German states gained independence and were subsequently portrayed in German atlases. By looking for long term cartographic patterns in these maps, I explore geopolitical worldviews reproduced by the atlases and by the maps. This paper shows that there was no uniform representation of new states in political maps, and that the variation largely depended on the region, in which the state was located. Eurocentric views, colonial agendas, and the German reception of nineteenth century American wars of independence were given visual interpretations. This paper shows that there has never been a universal concept of 'state', since it has been given a meaning based on its location on the globe.
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The history of fake news is longer and more nuanced than usually considered. This article examines a particular case study in the late nineteenth century, in which the publication of fake news in a Hebrew journal, HaTzfira, caused a... more
The history of fake news is longer and more nuanced than usually considered. This article examines a particular case study in the late nineteenth century, in which the publication of fake news in a Hebrew journal, HaTzfira, caused a severe reaction that exposed structural flaws and undercurrents of journalistic confrontation as well as differing approaches toward the role of truth within the profession. By exploring earlier manifestations of fake news, historians gain a new perspective on its causes and also the strategies for fighting it.
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During the 19th century, new and improved communication and transportation technologies expanded »the known world.« This was especially true for the interconnected Jewish world, which readily utilized these technologies to communicate... more
During the 19th century, new and improved communication and transportation technologies expanded »the known world.« This was especially true for the interconnected Jewish world, which readily utilized these technologies to communicate between remote communities. Accordingly, late 19th-century Jewish journals describe their readership, authorship and content as global rather than local. Although this concept rarely refers to the whole world, it is meaningful, since it mixes contemporary perceptions of geography, culture, race and politics. This paper explores the changing perceptions of the geographical world as reflected by Jewish media. Recent digitization of 19th-century Jewish journals, such as Hameʾasef and Hatsfira, enables a deeper understanding of the dynamic Jewish view of the world using computer-based visualizations. Digital tools, such as Geographic Information Systems and Network Visualization, are applied in order to make sense of the hidden data as a first step towards a historical interpretation toward closer reading of the computer-based-results and their contextualized meanings.
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One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently... more
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently during the 1830-1840s by three railway engineers from the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France. However, as this chapter argues, the growing popularity of the genre had little to do with the intent of the three pioneers. By looking at the context, in which flow maps appeared, rather than the technique used to design them, the chapter shows the importance of culture, politics, and ideology in understanding the changing meanings of flow maps during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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This chapter analyzes the increasing unifying role of education and the attempts of state authorities to control the geography of higher education. The study of educational infrastructures reveals that higher education institutes were... more
This chapter analyzes the increasing unifying role of education and the attempts of state authorities to control the geography of higher education. The study of educational infrastructures reveals that higher education institutes were dependent on older institutes, thus limiting the possibilities of spatial reforms. As a result, state authorities established from the mid-1830s modern-technical schools, which allowed for innovativeness and creative political structuring, but simultaneously socially stratified higher education. Despite a series of reforms regarding the spatial layouts of educational infrastructures, traditional divisions in the various states were still largely maintained.
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This article examines the spatial and social evolution of the network of writers in the Jerusalem-based periodical Ha-Me`asef during the years 1896-1914 as a compelling and dynamic example of transnational Jewish networks. The periodical,... more
This article examines the spatial and social evolution of the network of writers in the Jerusalem-based periodical Ha-Me`asef during the years 1896-1914 as a compelling and dynamic example of transnational Jewish networks. The periodical, which was established by Rabbi Ben-Zion Abraham Koenka in 1896, was exceptional since it aspired to reach beyond the Jerusalem social circle, from where it originated, and become the center of a global communication network. At its apex, some of the leading rabbinical figures in Palestine, the Middle-East, Europe and America became active writers. The journal eliminated the borders of the isolated spatial unit, in this case Jerusalem, and suggested in its place a new perception of 'place', which would be part of a relational and trans-local network. By using digital methodologies, such as geographic mapping (GIS) and network mapping (SNA), this article explores the interrelations between global expansion and local networks, and in particula...
This chapter discusses the establishment of gendarmerie forces and a passport regime in the 1810s and customs controls in the 1830s, as means to demarcate the territory. It explains the rationale of the initial state plans in terms of... more
This chapter discusses the establishment of gendarmerie forces and a passport regime in the 1810s and customs controls in the 1830s, as means to demarcate the territory. It explains the rationale of the initial state plans in terms of territorial demarcation and the inconsistent execution. By analyzing GIS mappings of the location of the various units, the chapter shows that most forces were located in great distance from the borders and did not serve their mission. Prussian militarism and Austrian intrusive state policing are customarily described in German historiography as the German enforcement patterns of the nineteenth century. However, this chapter illustrates that the medium-sized German states did not generally implement a policy of demonstrating authority through the use of force. They understood the limits of their power and acted accordingly.
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Despite the dramatic effect of the railway age on the natural surroundings, it was not seen necessarily as destructive to nature. Railways were both the epitome of progress as well as integral features in pastoral landscapes. This... more
Despite the dramatic effect of the railway age on the natural surroundings, it was not seen necessarily as destructive to nature. Railways were both the epitome of progress as well as integral features in pastoral landscapes. This seemingly paradoxical perception of railways is partially explained by historicising the “naturalisation” of the German train system. This article describes the rapid transformation of the German train from a symbol of dynamic industrialisation to an integral part of the landscape. Visual images, such as lithographs and postcards, were the catalysts in this process. Railway companies, local elites and travel guide publishers promoted the process of “naturalisation” for economic reasons, but the iconography was a result of visual discourse in nineteenth-century German culture. This paper shows that unlike American, British and French depictions of railways, German artists portrayed a railway system, which rather than conquering nature, was blending peaceful...
Research Interests:
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently... more
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently during the 1830-1840s by three railway engineers from the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France. However, as this chapter argues, the growing popularity of the genre had little to do with the intent of the three pioneers. By looking at the context, in which flow maps appeared, rather than the technique used to design them, the chapter shows the importance of culture, politics, and ideology in understanding the changing meanings of flow maps during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Research Interests:
This is the first release of a 3 twenty topic model of HaTzfira (1883-1885, 1886-1888, 1883-1888) TOPICS_HZF_LDA_K20A0.2B0.02_1886_1888-20191030T223027Z-001.zip TOPICS_HZF_LDA_K20A0.2B0.02_1883_1885-20191030T223240Z-001.zip... more
This is the first release of a 3 twenty topic model of HaTzfira (1883-1885, 1886-1888, 1883-1888) TOPICS_HZF_LDA_K20A0.2B0.02_1886_1888-20191030T223027Z-001.zip TOPICS_HZF_LDA_K20A0.2B0.02_1883_1885-20191030T223240Z-001.zip TOPICS_HZF_LDA_K20A0.2B0.02_1883_1888-20191030T223208Z-001.zip
of paper 0447 presented at the Digital Humanities Conference 2019 (DH2019), Utrecht , the Netherlands 9-12 July, 2019.
German society in the mid-nineteenth century had become extremely mobile; people moved from place to place by foot, horses, postal carriages, ships, and trains, in increasing quantities. Chapter 9 examines railway journeys in order to... more
German society in the mid-nineteenth century had become extremely mobile; people moved from place to place by foot, horses, postal carriages, ships, and trains, in increasing quantities. Chapter 9 examines railway journeys in order to interpret the boundaries of travel in the German world. The analysis of statistical travel data reveals a self-proclaimed social boundary, which limits the directions of movement and its range. This chapter continues to develop the question of state territorial legitimacy, but complements it with a discussion of regional divisions.
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This chapter concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions (This chapter is a revised version of Segal, Zef. 2016. ‘Regionalism and Nationalism in the Railway Cartography... more
This chapter concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions (This chapter is a revised version of Segal, Zef. 2016. ‘Regionalism and Nationalism in the Railway Cartography of Mid-Nineteenth Century Germany,’ Imago Mundi 68(1): 46–61). The evolution of a railway system in Germany, from isolated single routes into national and ultimately international networks, has been customarily linked to the political issue of unification in 1871. The infrastructural changes triggered the introduction of new maps and map signs, which overshadowed other national and political signs and should not be seen as a simple means to a nationalist end. By examining the developing iconography of railways and railway networks, this chapter demonstrates that railways were a cause of deterritorialization for regions and states and for the vision of a unified Germany.
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<jats:p>This volume argues that the mapping of stories, movement and change should not be understood as an innovation of contemporary cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human cartography with a longer history than... more
<jats:p>This volume argues that the mapping of stories, movement and change should not be understood as an innovation of contemporary cartography, but rather as an important aspect of human cartography with a longer history than might be assumed. The authors in this collection reflect upon the main characteristics and evolutions of story and motion mapping, from the figurative news and history maps that were mass-produced in early modern Europe, through the nineteenth- and twentieth-century flow maps that appeared in various atlases, up to the digital and interactive motion and personalised maps that are created today. Rather than presenting a clear and homogeneous history from the past up until the present, this book offers a toolbox for understanding and interpreting the complex interplays and links between narrative, motion and maps.</jats:p>
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Nineteenth-century communication and transportation technologies and infrastructures revolutionized the way people perceived space and spatial ties. The new postal systems, steamships, railway lines, and later telegraph lines made... more
Nineteenth-century communication and transportation technologies and infrastructures revolutionized the way people perceived space and spatial ties. The new postal systems, steamships, railway lines, and later telegraph lines made distances shorter, less time-consuming, and cheaper. Many more people could travel, migrate, and dispatch messages to much longer distances. This chapter analyzes the spatial topology of postal and railway infrastructures and suggests a new understanding of their complex relationship with nationalization and territorialization processes. It is not a subordinate one, conforming blindly to a regimented national plan, but rather an independent route, relying on social and geographic connections. This type of analysis focuses on the territories left out, the gaps created by these infrastructures, and the consequences caused by them. In this sense, they do not just connect people, but also disconnect them.
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The cartographic naturalization of the state territory requires a formation of a distinct visual image that can be detached from its spatial context. Maps create logos by reinstating and replicating a certain spatial context. This is done... more
The cartographic naturalization of the state territory requires a formation of a distinct visual image that can be detached from its spatial context. Maps create logos by reinstating and replicating a certain spatial context. This is done through the use of colors and graphical measures, erasure of ‘unnecessary’ geographical and political elements, and a map frame that contextualizes the territory. This chapter discusses the demarcations of these logo-maps during the nineteenth century. With respect to the five German states, their utterly different cartographic representations reflected the different historical paths taken by their populations.
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In this article we examine the differences between weekly and daily time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira. This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from weekly to daily. We use this case study to... more
In this article we examine the differences between weekly and daily time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira. This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from weekly to daily. We use this case study to identify the meanings and implications of time cycles in the discourse constructed in each format, and most specifically the different constructions of the “present” in each. We do this by using the computational tool of topic modeling. Through analysis of the topics in the three years prior to the change (1883–1885) and the three years after the change (1886–1888), we show the different patterns of topic changes within the journal.
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This chapter discusses two types of migration in the German world: mass emigration, primarily toward America and the migration of foreign students who studied in the various German states. Migration patterns, which include the volume,... more
This chapter discusses two types of migration in the German world: mass emigration, primarily toward America and the migration of foreign students who studied in the various German states. Migration patterns, which include the volume, destinations, and points of origin of immigrants, are used as evidence of the quality and vitality of cross-border relations and transnational networks. Simultaneously, they manifest the stability of the community of origin and its inner unity. In the German context of mid-nineteenth century, these issues had a special significance since the 1871 unification of Germany is usually described as a natural outcome of an integrated German society and cross-border German nationalism. This chapter presents the spatial relationships of the citizens in the five states as they unfold from inter-German migration patterns.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The process of nationalization in the five medium-sized German states required a specific attention to the capital city and the state borders, the ‘heart’ and ‘skin’ of the emerging Geo-Body. The strengthening of the capital city was an... more
The process of nationalization in the five medium-sized German states required a specific attention to the capital city and the state borders, the ‘heart’ and ‘skin’ of the emerging Geo-Body. The strengthening of the capital city was an inseparable part of the symbolic unification of the population around the center of power and territory, yet it encountered strong opposition from rival centers. Capital cities competed against both inner state and outer state centers. Similarly, states were required to define their borders and distinguish between their state territory and ‘outside world.’ Nonetheless, nineteenth-century borders did not only consist of external state borders, but also inner borders between districts. The new post-1815 German states had to deal with new inner as well as outer borders, and the stabilization of the states depended on the naturalization of those borders. This chapter demonstrates that from the late 1830s, and especially the 1840s, states became the focus of spatial identification and inner divisions lost their importance. This was reflected cartographically in the gradual disappearance of inner boundaries and the highlighting of capital cities. However, this was not uniformly exhibited since some states, such as Hanover, remained visually depicted as fragmented, and others, such as Baden, were never drawn with an accentuated capital city.
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This chapter explores the geography of postal practices. The early nineteenth-century establishment of centralized state postal services, the expansion of literacy, and the reduction in paper and mailing costs gave rise to a popular and... more
This chapter explores the geography of postal practices. The early nineteenth-century establishment of centralized state postal services, the expansion of literacy, and the reduction in paper and mailing costs gave rise to a popular and public postal system. This postal system and more importantly the people’s postal practices created epistolary spaces, which lay in-between a ‘real’ world of material infrastructures and institutions and an ‘imagined’ world, in which distances shrink and the far horizons seem near. Even more than the spaces of mobility described in Chapters 8 and 9, epistolary spaces are born of free will rather than physical, ideological, or imagined constraints; they define people’s ‘territory.’
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This article focuses on one decade, 1874–1883, in the relatively long lifespan of the Hebrew weekly Ha-Tzefirah, which was founded in Warsaw in 1862. Applying computational tools to the study of the early Hebrew press requires a unique... more
This article focuses on one decade, 1874–1883, in the relatively long lifespan of the Hebrew weekly Ha-Tzefirah, which was founded in Warsaw in 1862. Applying computational tools to the study of the early Hebrew press requires a unique effort. The Hebrew language in general is distinct in its characters, morphological structure, and word order. The contribution of this proof-of-concept study is two-fold: First, computational analysis provides a long-term indication of trends in the discourse that cannot be attained through qualitative study. The second contribution is on the micro level: Computational analysis can potentially shed light, in a diachronic perspective, on the use of a specific term or the discussion of a specific geographical location.
Research Interests:
This chapter analyzes the increasing unifying role of education and the attempts of state authorities to control the geography of higher education. The study of educational infrastructures reveals that higher education institutes were... more
This chapter analyzes the increasing unifying role of education and the attempts of state authorities to control the geography of higher education. The study of educational infrastructures reveals that higher education institutes were dependent on older institutes, thus limiting the possibilities of spatial reforms. As a result, state authorities established from the mid-1830s modern-technical schools, which allowed for innovativeness and creative political structuring, but simultaneously socially stratified higher education. Despite a series of reforms regarding the spatial layouts of educational infrastructures, traditional divisions in the various states were still largely maintained.
Research Interests:
This paper discusses the role of capital cities in the construction of nineteenth-century German states. It describes the significant efforts that were put into strengthening new capital cities, such as Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart and... more
This paper discusses the role of capital cities in the construction of nineteenth-century German states. It describes the significant efforts that were put into strengthening new capital cities, such as Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart and Hanover, especially due to the polycentric nature of German society, and making them more central in citizens' lives. This was done through symbolic and institutional measures. As a result, they were transformed into demographic, political, economic, administrative and iconic centres. However, demographic, geographic and historical constraints determined state infrastructural shape and form, just as much as political centrality. Consequently, existing circumstances limited the options and possibilities of the states, and prevented the creation of a German equivalent of London or Paris. This paper explores the role the capital cities of independent states such as Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover and Wurttemberg played in spatial infrastructure and spatial im...
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One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently... more
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently during the 1830-1840s by three railway engineers from the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France. However, as this chapter argues, the growing popularity of the genre had little to do with the intent of the three pioneers. By looking at the context, in which flow maps appeared, rather than the technique used to design them, the chapter shows the importance of culture, politics, and ideology in understanding the changing meanings of flow maps during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Research Interests:
We demonstrate a novel personalized, multifaceted entity-relation graph visualization. Since entities we are linked to are part of our lives (and profile) and help to understand who we are and what are we interested we enable users to... more
We demonstrate a novel personalized, multifaceted entity-relation graph visualization. Since entities we are linked to are part of our lives (and profile) and help to understand who we are and what are we interested we enable users to explore entities they are linked to in a specific context. For that purpose, we adapt the typed entity-relation graph (profile) concept. In the context of an academic conference, we allow scholars to explore a graph of related entities and a word cloud representing the links, providing the user a comprehensive, compact and structured overview about the explored scholar. In this demonstration, the users, as case study are the participants of UMAP'20, will be asked to explore an entity relation graph (profile) of a given participant (who accepted that his profile be presented to others for the matter of this research), and then based on this process, to give feedback about each of the visualization elements and the overall experience. Based on the in...
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We demonstrate an intelligent, personalized, multifaceted visualization of people recommendation using a personalized 2D entities graph and a word cloud for exploration by the user. This visualization aims to show non-trivial connections,... more
We demonstrate an intelligent, personalized, multifaceted visualization of people recommendation using a personalized 2D entities graph and a word cloud for exploration by the user. This visualization aims to show non-trivial connections, e.g., those that the user may had forgotten about, but they are interesting and relevant. Since entities we are linked to are part of our lives (and profile), they help to understand who we are and what are we interested in. We adapt the typed entity-relation graph (profile) concept as introduced by [1] and based on this presentation we visualize the entity profile. In this demonstration, the users, as case study are the participants of IUI'20, will be able to explore their own personalized entities graph based on entities and relations that the system harvest about them (after getting their approval), from the web for finding interesting connections that they may meet in the context of this conference.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions. The evolution of a railway system in Germany, from isolated single routes into national and ultimately... more
This article concerns German railway cartography in the mid-nineteenth century and its effects on spatio-political perceptions. The evolution of a railway system in Germany, from isolated single routes into national and ultimately international networks, has been customarily linked to the political issue of unification in 1871. The infrastructural changes triggered the introduction of new maps and map signs, which overshadowed other national and political signs and should not be seen as a simple means to a nationalist end. By examining the developing iconography of railways and railway networks, I argue that railways were a cause of deterritorialization for regions and states and for the vision of a unified Germany.
Research Interests:
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently... more
One of the most commonly used types of maps today are flow maps, which simultaneously depict movement in time, place, and volume on a geographical map, as seen in GPS navigation devices. This type of map-making was invented independently during the 1830-1840s by three railway engineers from the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France. However, as this chapter argues, the growing popularity of the genre had little to do with the intent of the three pioneers. By looking at the context, in which flow maps appeared, rather than the technique used to design them, the chapter shows the importance of culture, politics, and ideology in understanding the changing meanings of flow maps during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Research Interests: Historical Geography, German History, Border Studies, Historical GIS, Postal History, and 13 moreState Formation, Communications History, Saxony (Germany), History of Communication, Applied Economics, Interdisciplinary History, Borders and Frontiers, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Borders and Borderlands, Historical Studies, History of information flows, and Mobility and Transport History
Research Interests: Historical Geography, German History, Border Studies, Historical GIS, Postal History, and 13 moreState Formation, Communications History, Saxony (Germany), History of Communication, Applied Economics, Interdisciplinary History, Borders and Frontiers, Bavarian History, Spatial History, Borders and Borderlands, Historical Studies, History of information flows, and Mobility and Transport History
This article investigates the gradual expansion of the international network of rabbinical contributors to the Jerusalem periodical Ha-me'asef between 1896-1904. Ha-mea'sef began as a dream of a 29 year old editor, Ben-Zion Cuenca, who... more
This article investigates the gradual expansion of the international network of rabbinical contributors to the Jerusalem periodical Ha-me'asef between 1896-1904. Ha-mea'sef began as a dream of a 29 year old editor, Ben-Zion Cuenca, who aspired to create more than a local journal with an international readership. What he wanted was an international journal with an international authorship, a journalistic hub of international communication.
Despite Cuenca's intentions, the first contributors to the periodical were his students, teachers, and kin, all of whom were members of the social circle of Jerusalem Sephardic orthodoxy. Although gaining international recognition was difficult the early going, by its 9th year contributors to ha-me'asef came from across the globe: from Tashkent in the east to Portland in the west and, connecting rabbis from various streams of Orthodox ideology. Ha-me'asef succeeded in becoming the hub of a social network primarily due to its ideological, theological and thematic openness and flexibility. While early on Jerusalem's centrality--symbolic and geographical--was important to its success, it gradually marginalized the Jerusalem Sephardic community whence it originated. The Sephardi voice that tset the tone in the periodical's first few years was replaced by East European, British and American voices that addressed alternative topics in a variety of dialects and tones.
The article examines both the geography of ha-me'asef's diffusion, using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, and the writers' networking, using Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodologies, to understand the the historical processes that that powered the development of this international network. The history of the social network is described as an outcome of the geography of its members, their social milieu, and the personal proclivities and circumstances of its main protagonists, most importantly that of Ben Zion Cuenca, ha-me'asef's proprietor and editor.
Despite Cuenca's intentions, the first contributors to the periodical were his students, teachers, and kin, all of whom were members of the social circle of Jerusalem Sephardic orthodoxy. Although gaining international recognition was difficult the early going, by its 9th year contributors to ha-me'asef came from across the globe: from Tashkent in the east to Portland in the west and, connecting rabbis from various streams of Orthodox ideology. Ha-me'asef succeeded in becoming the hub of a social network primarily due to its ideological, theological and thematic openness and flexibility. While early on Jerusalem's centrality--symbolic and geographical--was important to its success, it gradually marginalized the Jerusalem Sephardic community whence it originated. The Sephardi voice that tset the tone in the periodical's first few years was replaced by East European, British and American voices that addressed alternative topics in a variety of dialects and tones.
The article examines both the geography of ha-me'asef's diffusion, using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, and the writers' networking, using Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodologies, to understand the the historical processes that that powered the development of this international network. The history of the social network is described as an outcome of the geography of its members, their social milieu, and the personal proclivities and circumstances of its main protagonists, most importantly that of Ben Zion Cuenca, ha-me'asef's proprietor and editor.
Research Interests:
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the establishment of several Hebrew newspapers in Eastern Europe and Palestine that provided a platform for a lively political discourse reflecting varied ideological approaches. This work... more
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the establishment of several Hebrew newspapers in Eastern Europe and Palestine that provided a platform for a lively political discourse reflecting varied ideological approaches. This work focuses on one decade, 1874-1883, in the relatively long lifespan of the Hebrew weekly HaTzfira, which was founded in Warsaw in 1862. Applying computational tools to the study of the early Hebrew press requires a unique effort. The Hebrew language in general is distinct in its characters, morphological structure, and word order. The contribution of this proof-of-concept study is two-folds: First, computational analysis provides a long-term indication of trends in the discourse that cannot be attained through qualitative study. The second contribution is on the micro level: Computational analysis can potentially shed light, in a diachronic perspective, on the use of a specific term or the discussion of a specific geographical location.
Research Interests:
In this article we examine the differences between weekly and daily time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira. This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from weekly to daily. We use this case study to... more
In this article we examine the differences between weekly and daily
time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira.
This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from
weekly to daily. We use this case study to identify the meanings
and implications of time cycles in the discourse constructed in
each format, and most specifically the different constructions of
the “present” in each. We do this by using the computational tool
of topic modeling. Through analysis of the topics in the three
years prior to the change (1883–1885) and the three years after
the change (1886–1888), we show the different patterns of topic
changes within the journal.
time cycles in the nineteenth-century Hebrew newspaper HaTzfira.
This newspaper changed its publication format in 1886 from
weekly to daily. We use this case study to identify the meanings
and implications of time cycles in the discourse constructed in
each format, and most specifically the different constructions of
the “present” in each. We do this by using the computational tool
of topic modeling. Through analysis of the topics in the three
years prior to the change (1883–1885) and the three years after
the change (1886–1888), we show the different patterns of topic
changes within the journal.