Journey "To the Eas": In Search of Complexity

Abstract

The special issue of Quaderni di Comunità, entitled Eastern Europe Echoes: Narratives, Cultures, and Memories from the Adriatic Wars to Dayton’s Legacy (1946–2026), presents itself as a vibrant and dynamic mosaic of perspectives on the fate of the Adriatic-Balkan region, weaving together original essays, thematic sections rich in analysis and multidisciplinary insights that delve into the partisan resistance during the anti-fascist struggle, the socialist propaganda that shaped collective identities, the indelible traumas of Srebrenica as an open wound in European memory, and the complex post-Dayton reconciliations that continue to shape the fragile balances in the Balkans. Born of the fertile soil of Puglia, nourished by a history of Mediterranean exchanges and migration, the volume takes Puglia as a privileged vantage point over the eastern Adriatic, a historical and cultural bridge between Italy and the Balkans, where the waters do not divide but strengthen destinies intertwined by centuries of conflicts, landings and alliances. Central to the book is the pioneering role of the interdisciplinary research conducted by the Gramsci Foundation of Puglia, an institution that has successfully blended cultural activism with academic rigour in a practice of public and militant research.