Paper Short Abstract:

This paper discusses strategies for dealing with "peripherality" in the narratives of the inhabitants of the Czech-Slovak borderlands as a means of identity formation, (re-)defining and (re-)conceptualizing of the border.

Paper Abstract:

In 1993, Czechoslovakia broke up and two separate states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, were created, along with new state borders. The new geopolitical situation, which went hand in hand with the post-socialist transformation, brought many changes to the everyday life of the inhabitants of the Czech-Slovak borderlands. In the last 30 years, they have had to react to the closing and opening of borders or to their new position on the "periphery" of the new nation states.

Historically, the Czech-Slovak borderlands can be considered an example of “integrated borderlands”. However, borders are dynamic, their presence and meaning are changing and reactivating depending on political, security or economic factors that influence the processes of debordering and rebordering.

In recent years, scholars have conceptualized borders as discourses and practices that configure understandings of place and communities. In this context, I am interested in how the inhabitants of the Czech-Slovak borderlands cope with their position on the "periphery".

In this paper I draw on oral history interviews conducted in 2023-2024 with residents living in the Czech-Slovak borderlands. I am interested in what narrative strategies are chosen by the interviewees to overcome "peripherality", I trace the narrative construction of ambivalent and multilayered identities of the inhabitants of this region. I analyse how specific local/regional or cross-border identities are constructed in the narratives, how events from the past are used to legitimise, shape or undermine the borders. I see these processes as a source of resilience and empowerment for local actors.