Questioning the European Identity/ies. Deconstructuring Old Stereotypes and Envisioning New Models of Representation

Starting from the premise that it is essential to include Comparative, Cultural and Literary studies within European Studies, this volume aims to tackle the complex theme of European identity from an interdisciplinary perspective. It comprises essays which deal with the issue from a diachronic perspective, as well as the results of sociological investigations. The very notion of European identity has been changing in time according to different social and historical contexts, creating a juxtaposition of continuous movements which has implied a constant breaking and crossing of borders. The various contributions highlight how it must not be thought as a monolithic entity, but as being fluid, mobile and in a perpetual state of metamorphosis. Europe is a complex system in which cultures and people interact, speaking different languages, and its identity calls for difference and inevitably involves otherness. This volume also underlines how Europe suffers from an excess of economic, bureaucratic and administrative ties and from a deficit of common values, because Europe is above all a mental attitude which needs a common cultural project.