Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Frontier worker
(905 words)

In its lexical meaning and as a legal term, frontier worker denotes a person living in a border region whose workplace is across the border. In a broader sense, the term refers to those who cross boundaries between different spheres - between disciplines, artistic genres, and most of all, between cultures. In this sense, the generally neutral tone of frontier worker shades toward that of the primarily negatively connoted renegade. In the military context, renegades were associated with desertion, and thus with treason. Cultural renegades and frontier runners between …

Cite this page
Gareis, Iris, “Frontier worker”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_020438>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180208



▲   Back to top   ▲