An historical dimension of European cultural heritage (original) (raw)
Related papers
2017
The Italian humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini wrote abundantly about Europe and is often viewed as a pioneer of European thought. Works previous to the treatise De Europa leave no doubt that the author pondered the subject long since. The treatise De Europa, however, has the advantage of dealing with Europe from multiple dimensions. Though the work can provide matter to make the case for an identity of Europe, Piccolomini portrays a block full of tensions and conflicts, where national languages and national identities begin to emerge. It is the historical circumstance of a Turkish threat to Europe that makes the appeal to a European identity more compelling. Still the case for European identity in Piccolomini is hardly more than an emotional response to the historical moment.
A Contribution to the Rethinking of the European Cultural Heritage
2012
In this text the author questions the possibility of unique European identity and the processes of forming the common European cultural heritage. The problem of Eurocentrism, the unstable categories of center and periphery in culture, the geopolitics influences and the problem of Eurocentrism and exclusiveness are considered as well. The incorporation of Macedonian culture in the European heritage shows a very specific angle of perception, because it has many difficulties and prejudices connected with so called “small cultures” identification. It is discussed through the examples of two eminent Macedonian intellectuals: Blaze Koneski and Goran Stefanovski.
The European Heritage from a Critical Cosmopolitan Perspective
The question of the European cultural heritage and the wider historical legacy of Europe has been the subject of much discussion in recent years as is reflected in new approaches to memory and commemoration, values, and European identity. Unlike earlier histories, which generally contained a 'grand narrative,' new histories of Europe are now generally more cautious in their assumptions about a continuity or a narrative based on the advancement of civilization. The general trend is towards a greater recognition of rupture, which must be measured against continuity, a unity in diversity and a certain problematization of the received values of tradition. This paper looks at various models for theorizing the European heritage in the wake of the end of the Grand Narrative accounts and makes the case for a critical cosmopolitan approach.
The idea of a common European cultural heritage is frequently referred to in the political discourses and practices of the EU. The idea of a European cultural heritage elevates the ideas of ownership and inheritance beyond the local, regional, or national frameworks and transforms the heritage sites and objects into a 'common good' belonging to all Europeans and into a source of a common European cultural identity. Scholars have debated the possibility of a common European cultural heritage, and in case such could exist, what it could be grounded upon. Critical scholars have asked what might be the trans-border European dimension of heritage that goes beyond the mere sum of national, regional, or local icons, or questioned the possibility of common European heritage practices due to the lack of a singular European people. Some scholars have, however, found a possible common ground for a European cultural heritage for example in urbanity, European cities and their historical environment, and the styles and movements of art and architecture. Functions and uses of the idea of European cultural heritage and the contexts in which it becomes important and meaningful have changed over the course of time and are constantly transforming. The recent societal, political, and cultural changes in Europe have influenced the notions on heritage and made the concept of a common European cultural heritage more problematic. What is a European cultural heritage and how has it been approached in recent scholarly discussions? How can a European cultural heritage be made sense of in relation to the ideas of universalism, cosmopolitanism, particularism, transnationalism, translocalism, transculturalism, and pan-Europeanism? The paper aims to clarify the meanings of a European cultural heritage and critically discuss the problematic related to its foundations.
Cultural History in Europe : Institutions – Themes – Perspectives
The Mainzer Historische Kulturwissenschaften [Mainz Historical Cultural Sciences] series publishes the results of research that develops methods and theories of cultural sciences in connection with empirical research. The central approach is a historical perspective for cultural sciences, whereby both epochs and regions can differ widely and be treated in an all-embracing manner from time to time. The series brings together, among other things, research approaches in archaeology, art history and visualistic, philosophy, literary studies and history, and is open for contributions on the history of knowledge, political culture, the history of perceptions, experiences and life-worlds, as well as other fields of research with a historical cultural scientific orientation. The objective of the Mainzer Historische Kulturwissenschaften series is to become a platform for pioneering works and current discussions in the field of historical cultural sciences.
Lingue Culture Mediazioni - Languages Cultures Mediation (LCM Journal), 2015
“A common heritage” is a recurrent catchphrase in several conventions, declarations, guidelines and policy documents produced at the supranational European level by a number of institutional actors. The concept draws inspiration from UNESCO’s worldwide celebration of the “outstanding universal value” of great heritage sites, whose property is seen to transcend national boundaries and belong to all humankind. However, as contemporary Europe has many histories, the discursive construction of a common heritage, which implies the reinvention of the past for present political uses, is understandably at odds with the shared experience of European citizenship as multifarious, when not divisive. Against the background of the most significant institutional milestones in Europe’s identity-building narratives, the study moves on to investigate a selection of official documents and cultural programs in which heritage is promoted as a tool for European integration. With the help of Critical Discourse Analysis and heritage studies, the aim is to retrace the conceivable developments of an instrumental concept that has become a strategic presence in the cultural policy of the European Union and is now identified as a key economic driver. Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, cultural heritage, European Union, heritage studies, identity
Choice Reviews Online, 1999
This third, revised and augmented edition of Peter Rietbergen's highly acclaimed Europe: A Cultural History provides a major and original contribution to the study of Europe. From ancient Babylonian law codes to Pope Urban's call to crusade in 1095, and from Michelangelo on Italian art in 1538 to Sting's songs in the late twentieth century, the expressions of the culture that has developed in Europe are diverse and wide-ranging. This exceptional text expertly connects this variety, explaining them to the reader in a thorough and yet highly readable style. Presented chronologically, Europe: A Cultural History examines the many cultural building blocks of Europe, stressing their importance in the formation of the continent's ever-changing cultural identities. Starting with the beginnings of agricultural society and ending with the mass culture of the early twenty-first century, the book uses literature, art, science, technology and music to examine Europe's cultural history in terms of continuity and change. Rietbergen looks at how societies developed new ways of surviving, believing, consuming and communicating throughout the period. His book is distinctive in paying particular attention to the ways early Europe has been formed through the impact of a variety of cultures, from Celtic and German to Greek and Roman. The role of Christianity is stressed, but as a contested variable, as are the influences from, for example, Asia in the early modern period and from American culture and Islamic immigrants in more recent times. Since anxieties over Europe's future mount, this third edition text has been thoroughly revised for the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Moreover, it now also includes a 'dossier' of some seventeen essay-like vignettes that highlight cultural phenomena said to be characteristic of Europe: social solidarity, capitalism, democracy and so forth. With a wide selection of illustrations, maps, excerpts of sources and even lyrics from contemporary songs to support the arguments, this book both serves the general reader as well as students of historical and cultural studies.
“Unity in Diversity”: the building of Europe between false identities and new complexities
The paper illustrates the European project CEC (Cradles of European Culture (2010-2015) and the Institute for Cultural Heritage (IBC) of Emilia-Romagna Region activities. IBC focused its research on a well-established theme in the history of European culture: the survival of classical culture and, in particular, the phenomenon of the "renovatio imperii" during high Middle-Ages centuries in Ravenna. A political and cultural phenomenon that Charlemagne’s successors, the emperors of the Ottonian dynasty, would pursue tenaciously, aided by some female figures of primary importance for the political and cultural history of that era, Theophano and Adelaide of Burgundy.