Researchers working on the Mediterranean space — whether adopting a macro-regional scale or focusing on a specific territory — are confronted with the dispersal of documentary material across several Mediterranean countries. Inquiry relies largely on manuscripts and archival collections, in keeping with the classical heuristic principle that there is no history without documents. These corpora, preserved in the heritage institutions of various Mediterranean states, are today partially accessible through archival databases and digital libraries, helping to mitigate the “tyranny of distance”. This evolution is profoundly transforming research practices, requiring historians to master not only traditional tools but also digital ones.

Volume Coordinators

• Dr. MERDJAA Aïcha
• Dr. DJIDJIK Zerrouk

Rationale

Mediterranean history of the modern and contemporary periods offers a particularly rich field of inquiry for analyzing the interactions, circulations, and reconfigurations that have shaped both shores of the basin. From the sixteenth century onward, the Mediterranean asserted itself as a space of imperial overlap, while its maritime domain became a site of confrontation between rival naval powers, against a backdrop of confessional conflict and closely intertwined economic interests. In the contemporary era, this space underwent a new configuration of power relations under the effect of European colonial expansion, followed by the rise of liberation movements. Writing the history of Mediterranean societies over this modern and contemporary longue durée therefore requires moving beyond established boundaries. Such a perspective calls for a decompartmentalized reading attentive to the dynamics of circulation between the two shores, in contexts marked by religious plurality, cultural diversity, and ethnic heterogeneity. It also invites an examination of relations of reciprocal influence across different domains, shaped by civilizational heritage and migration, but also produced by conflicts and European campaigns that later translated into the phenomena of colonialism and European settler colonization.

Researchers working on the Mediterranean space — whether adopting a macro-regional scale or focusing on a specific territory — are confronted with the dispersal of documentary material across several Mediterranean countries. Inquiry relies largely on manuscripts and archival collections, in keeping with the classical heuristic principle that there is no history without documents (Seignobos & Langlois, 1992, p. 13). These corpora, preserved in the heritage institutions of various Mediterranean states, are today partially accessible through archival databases and digital libraries, helping to mitigate the “tyranny of distance” (Piper, 2024, p. 180). This evolution is profoundly transforming research practices, requiring historians to master not only traditional tools but also digital ones. Archival services and manuscript repositories now widely use digitized finding aids, facilitating the location of sources and enabling faster, more efficient use of them. Moreover, close reading of sources, mediated by digital tools, can be significantly enhanced, insofar as the digitization of corpora makes it possible to integrate the history of a source — preparatory notes, exchanges about the document, and successive versions — within a single interface, offering a comprehensive grasp of the documentary production process (Clavert, 2016, p. 122).

In this context, historians are also required to mobilize this documentary material in accordance with academic methodological standards. Such use first involves establishing authenticity (Saïdouni, 2000, p. 40), provenance, and the chain of transmission of documents, before proceeding to critical analysis. This approach entails cross-referencing sources, identifying the conditions under which statements were produced, and accounting for explicit or latent biases that may have shaped the writing of events. It also requires going beyond the manifest content of documents to interrogate their silences, omissions, and implicit meanings. Finally, balance in the use of source material remains a central requirement, in order to avoid any one-sided reading and to restore the full complexity of historical configurations.

Thematic Axes

1. The importance of manuscripts and archives in reconstructing historical events.
2. Contemporary orientations and reconfigurations of historical research in the digital age.
3. Methodological frameworks for the treatment of sources in Mediterranean history, particularly issues related to historiographical approaches.
4. Contemporary orientations and reconfigurations of historical research in the age of modern technologies.
5. Archival repositories (archive centers, museums, ministerial institutions, etc.)
6. Historical research, heritage, and digital humanities.

Objectives

• Explore the methodological approaches used in the exploitation of sources relating to Mediterranean history.
• Enable researchers to acquire digital research techniques and integrate them into an approach combining digital tools and classical historiographical methods.
• Encourage the sharing of experience and the improvement of practices in historical methodology, while deepening the modes of analysis and valorization of sources from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Submission and Evaluation Guidelines

• Proposals for participation must fall within one of the volume's thematic axes.
• The abstract must be written on the first page of the text, in the language of the paper, in Times New Roman, size 11, not exceeding 300 words.
• Texts may be written in five languages: Tamazight, Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
• The Latin-script font is Times New Roman, size 12 for the body text and 10 for footnotes. The Arabic font is Sekkal Majalla, size 16 for the body text and 14 for footnotes.
• Page numbers are placed at the top right of the page.
• Subheadings are bold, size 12.
• References are cited in-text according to APA style.
• The bibliography is numbered and follows alphabetical order.
• Images, charts, and tables must be properly documented and clear, respect page margins, and avoid the use of color.

Calendar

• Official launch of the call 23/6/2026
• Submission of abstracts (proposals) 9/9/2026
• Notification to authors (abstracts)  1/10/2026
• Submission of full texts 15/1/2027
• Notification to authors (texts) 15/2/2027
• Submission of revised texts 15/3/2027
• Official publication of the volume 30/4/2027

Proposals should be sent to the following e-mail address: ouvragecollectifmedi@gmail.com

Scientific Committee Chair

• Pr. OUATMANI Settar

Scientific Committee

• Pr. AOUIMEUR Mouloud, University of Algiers 2 (Algeria)
• Pr. AIT MEDDOUR Mahmoud, University of Bouira (Algeria)
• Pr. AL-JABBARA Saleh Al-Jabbara, University of Sirte (Libya)
• Pr. BEYREM Kamel, University of M'sila (Algeria)
• Pr. Emrah Safa Gürkan, Istanbul 29 Mayıs University (Turkey)
• Pr. MEKAHLI Mohamed, University of Sidi Bel Abbès (Algeria)
• Pr. MOUSSEM Abdelhafid, University of Saïda (Algeria)
• Pr. NAGY László, University of Szeged (Hungary)
• Pr. Naceur Seddiki, Higher Institute of Human Sciences of Jendouba (Tunisia)
• Pr. LUIS Fernando Bernabé Pons, University of Alicante (Spain)
• Pr. Loucif Sofiane, University of Sétif 2 (Algeria)
• Dr. BAKRADA Djazia, University of Biskra (Algeria)
• Dr. LAFAYE Christophe, Aix-Marseille University (France)

Bibliography

Clavert, F. (2016). Une histoire par les données? Le futur très proche de l'histoire des relations internationales. Bulletin de l'Institut Pierre Renouvin (44), 122. Retrieved from https://shs.hal.science/halshs01400234v1/file/44_Clavert.pdf

Langlois, C. V., & Seignobos, C. (1992). Introduction aux études historiques. Paris: Éditions Kimé.

Piper, M. J. (2024). State of the Field Review Essay: Digital History. Australian Historical Studies, 55.

Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/1031461X.2023.2267586?needAccess=true.

Saïdouni, N. (2000). Les bases méthodologiques de l'histoire. Algiers: Dar Al-Qasbah (edition used in Arabic).