ABSTRACT

This special issue highlights the interactions between diplomats and wider audiences in their host country during the seventeenth century. The dynamic and complex relationships between diplomats and foreign audiences in the early modern period have remained somewhat under the radar. While concepts such as “soft power”, “cultural diplomacy”, and “public diplomacy” have been developed by scholars of international relations in the twentieth century to describe and analyse twentieth-century realities, we argue that early modern historians can draw inspiration from these concepts to start answering the questions how, why, and when different European states and their representatives addressed foreign audiences abroad. Taking such an approach will expand our understanding of the strategies and tools diplomats had at their disposal to engage with different audiences. We conclude this approach has the potential to open new avenues of research into the history of symbolic communication, news, public opinion, as well as early modern international relations.

摘要

本期特刊重点介绍了 17 世纪外交官与东道国更广泛受众之间的互动。近代早期外交官和外国观众之间动态而复杂的关系仍然有些不为人知。虽然 20 世纪国际关系学者提出了“软实力”、“文化外交”和“公共外交”等概念来描述和分析 20 世纪的现实，但我们认为，早期现代历史学家可以从这些概念中汲取灵感。这些概念开始回答不同的欧洲国家及其代表如何、为什么以及何时向国外的外国观众发表讲话的问题。采取这种方法将扩大我们对外交官与不同受众接触的策略和工具的理解。我们得出的结论是，这种方法有可能为符号传播、新闻、舆论以及早期现代国际关系的历史开辟新的研究途径。