Abstract

What is—and what was—“the world”? Though often treated as interchangeable with the ongoing and inexorable progress of globalization, concepts of “world,” “globe,” or “earth” instead suggest something limited and absolute. This innovative and interdisciplinary volume concerns itself with this central paradox: that the complex, heterogeneous, and purportedly transhistorical dynamics of globalization have given rise to the idea and reality of a finite—and thus vulnerable—world. Through studies of illuminating historical moments that range from antiquity to the era of Google Earth, each contribution helps to trace the emergence of the world in multitudinous representations, practices, and human experiences.

Erling Sandmo is Professor of History at the University of Oslo and the director of the National Library of Norway's Center for Historical Cartography. His most recent books are Monstrous: Sea Monsters in Maps and Literature, 1491-1895 (2017) and the co-edited Circulation of Knowledge: Explorations in the History of Knowledge (2018). He is currently working on a book on Olaus Magnus.

“This is a thought-provoking collection of essays that deals with a question of interest to scholars across the humanities. It is enriched by the broad range of approaches and topics present in each essay.” • Sara-Louise Cooper, University of Kent

“Conceptualizing the World is a fantastic, original cornucopia of valuable insights into how humans have thought about and experienced the world across history.” • Ingjerd Hoëm, University of Oslo

Helge Jordheim is a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo. His latest book is a global history of the concepts of civility and civilization, written with an international team of scholars (Civilizing Emotions, 2015). At present he is writing a book on the cultural history of time in the eighteenth century.