Periodicals beyond Hierarchies: Challenging Geopolitical and Social ‘Centres’ and ‘Peripheries’

Abstract

This special issue of the Journal of European Periodical Studies emerges from the 10th International European Society for Periodical Research (ESPRit) conference and postgraduate workshop, held in September 2022 at the Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI) in Budapest, Hungary, in collaboration with the Petőfi Literary Museum – Kassák Museum. Focused on the theme of ‘Periodicals beyond Hierarchies: Challenging Geopolitical and Social “Centres” and “Peripheries” through the Press’, the conference attracted scholars from diverse backgrounds who explored core–periphery tensions in various contexts. The essays included in this issue, stemming from selected presentations at the Budapest conference, offer an introduction to the spatial breadth and historical dimensions of the centre–periphery lens within periodical studies. Building upon theoretical foundations dating back to Raúl Prebisch’s recognition of core–periphery disparities in the 1920s, and subsequent critiques such as Immanuel Wallerstein’s identification of semi-peripheral regions, these essays critically engage with the evolving discourse surrounding core–periphery dynamics. Ultimately, this collection encourages a nuanced understanding of periodicals as cultural maps that survey the complexities of collaboration, competition, and conflict across diverse geographic landscapes. By doing so, it prompts critical interrogation of the centre–periphery model, questions its utility in enriching our understanding of periodical dynamics, and challenges preconceived notions of centrality and peripherality within periodical studies specifically, and cultural studies more generally.