Symposium Review – Literature, Geography and the Destinies Shaped by Borders
Symposium Review – Literature, Geography and the Destinies Shaped by Borders
To what extent do individuals, social groups or cultures claim a destiny shaped by borderings?
This question was at the heart of the international and interdisciplinary symposium held at the Université de Lorraine in Metz on 20–21 March 2025. Organised by UniGR-CBS members Daniel Kazmaier (CEGIL), Frédérique Morel--Doridat (CEGIL – LOTERR) and Grégory Hamez (LOTERR), the event was supported by the UniGR-Center for Border Studies, the LLECT research group and the French National Research Agency (ANR).
The discussions highlighted the complexity of borders in their material, symbolic and narrative dimensions. The speakers analysed how borders affect territories, identities, literary narratives and collective representations.
Diverse case studies – from Rwanda to Alsace and Corsica – illustrated how borders can shape destinies, influence imaginaries and leave traces on bodies and landscapes. Literature, in particular, emerged as a space for both reflecting on and transcending borders. Examples included agro-pastoral communities in Fium’Orbu, whose identity dynamics go beyond administrative delimitations, as well as the works of Barrès and Schickele, which revealed ongoing tensions between rootedness and cosmopolitanism.
The two-day event demonstrated the relevance of a multidisciplinary approach to analysing how borders shape and are shaped by societies, across time and disciplinary boundaries.
Contact
LOTERR - Centre de recherche en géographie /
CEGIL - Centre d’Études Germaniques Interculturelles de Lorraine
