Universidade do Minho. Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade (CECS)
Abstract
After centuries of being torn apart by conflicts that remain deeply embedded in the
European collective memory, Europe’s most recent history is being written as a narrative
of redemption. In order to establish itself as a political, economic and social entity, Europe
has been emphasizing its common cultural roots and historical features of unity. For
this purpose, narratives of identity have been produced in the context of European and
national institutions that seek to replace fractures by pluralisation and forgetfulness by
redemption. However, the codification of European culture and identity has turned out to
be an extremely difficult task: the conceptual devices for theorizing Europe as a social unity
and cultural identity are insufficient and unsuitable. In addition, the conceptualization of
identity tends to be primarily related to notions such as belonging, memory and continuity
rather than to the idea of an in-progress project taking place in the present and in the
future. Recent theoretical approaches reveal how European identity narratives require
hybrid multilayered configurations in order to accommodate national, ethnic and cultural
features, as well as post-national political and economic unification. This paper attempts
to explore some processes of identity construction in an European context and to discuss
how elements that embody the ambiguity that runs through European culture - unity and
diversity, commemoration and forgetfulness - are registered in the social memory