More than just a sea

The word Mediterranean normally refers to the sea of the same name, as well as the surrounding territories.

The Mediterranean is as much the land as the sea. It is “that profound being”, in words of Braudel3 “the sum of never-ending random acts, accidents and repeated achievements”…frequently under a “tragic light” of which Camus4 talks about. The Mediterranean has surpassed geographical boundaries and has elevated the word to the category of an idea, a concept, a historic personality, a place loaded with representations.

In fact, when one talks about the “Mediterranean”, except if one refers to a precise maritime aspect, one rarely automatically thinks of solely the sea or a territory more or less defined, but the mention of this word is converted into an immediate reference to the set of characteristics and diversities of the space, instead of the space itself.

It is evident that this perception has undergone progressive fragmentation during the last few eras. Herodoto’s “our sea”, Julius Cesar’s “mare nostrum”, the “sea of the Rum” from Arabic texts, the “white sea” of the Turkish people or Isidore of Seville’s “mare mediterraneum”, were “seas”. Methods of communication, of knowledge, of adventure, of transportation, of commerce and confrontation. Also, obviously, where we supply ourselves with sea food.

Even though the same waters bathe all coasts of this space, yesterday and today, the horizons have not been exactly the same: from the North or the Sound, from the East to the West, the vision of this space differs and the representations of the Mediterranean are, consequently, diverse. This set of diversities is the cultural richness of the Mediterranean5.

3 Fernand Braudel. The Mediterranean. Espasa Calpe, 1987.
4 Albert Camus, La Culture Indigène, La Nouvelle Culture Mediterranéenne,
Gallimard, La Pléiade, 1965.
5 This intimate reference illustrates the many denominations that the Mediterraneans receive for each community, at times, such as in the case of Tanger for example, for each city. The Adriatic Sea, the Ligurian Sea, Tirreno, Jonico, Egean, the Marmara, of Crete and many other “Mediterranean seas”.