{"id":2212,"date":"2023-04-20T12:22:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T10:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/fhse-fr\/events\/conference-before-maastricht-identity-and-place-in-european-writing-before-the-eu\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T12:22:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T10:22:37","slug":"conference-before-maastricht-identity-and-place-in-european-writing-before-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/fhse-fr\/events\/conference-before-maastricht-identity-and-place-in-european-writing-before-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference: Before Maastricht: Identity and Place in European Writing before the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

\u201cThe past is a foreign country, they do things differently there\u2026\u201d The opening line of L.P. Hartley\u2019s 1953 novel The Go-Between<\/i> sets the tone for a work that comments on a traumatic \u2018hideous century\u2019 and on the challenges of piecing together personal and collective identities in a present haunted by the past. As reflected in Hartley\u2019s novel, the need to build identity models adapted to the present demands the investigation and interrogation of the ways in which these identities are informed by past responses to large-scale political destabilisation. The European Union can be seen as an attempt to prevent such shattering destruction and to durably contain fascist and communist movements, honouring the immense blood toll of 20th-century conflicts. The supranational structures of the EU have become central facets of contemporary European identities, which some perceive as essential instruments of European stability, while others decry their potential for uniformity and exclusion.<\/p>

As the 21st century approaches its 25th year, the nations and people of Europe find themselves confronted with a difficult present, marked by the repercussions of COVID-19, Brexit, war in Ukraine, and a global energy crisis. These events and crises invite comparisons with, and distinctions from, the challenges of previous centuries that continue to inform much of the contemporary discussion around the ideological and political collective identity of Europe and the European Union, as well as personal identities within Europe.<\/p>

The idea of Europe as a political and cultural community, and what is defined as (and as not) European, has preoccupied writers and artists for centuries, and continues to generate fierce debate among scholars across and throughout disciplines. Literature, as a prominent medium of imagining, reflecting on, and constructing identities, can offer significant insight into the ways in which Europe was conceptualised before the organisational structures of the EU started developing at the midpoint of the 20th century. Literary writing, fictional or non-fictional, enables an understanding of cultural responses to the events of history and is therefore vital to forging insights into the foundations of present identity models, their spectrum, and their history.<\/p>

This conference addresses the pressing need for a historical perspective on real and imagined forms of European coherence and invites scholars to investigate literary, aesthetic, and philosophical engagements with European identity produced before the formation of the European Union.<\/p>

Keynote Speakers<\/strong>: Prof. Gerardine Meaney (University College Dublin) and Prof. Frank Shovlin (University of Liverpool)<\/p>

REGISTRATION & CONTACT<\/strong>: Ass. Prof. Anne-Marie Millim (anne-marie.millim@uni.lu<\/a>); Dr. James Gallacher (james.gallacher@ext.uni.lu<\/a>)<\/p>

Download the conference programme<\/strong><\/p>

Join the conference online via Webex:<\/p>