Lecture II and Readings II - “EUROPEAN CULTURE” AS ROOTED IN ANTIQUITY? Flashcards
Empire
An extensive group of states or countries ruled over by a single monarch, an oligarchy, or a sovereign state.
1.1 Supreme political power over several countries when exercised by a single authority.
1.2 Absolute control over a person or group.
Civilization
The stage of human social development and organization which is considered most advanced.
1.1 The process by which a society or place reaches an advanced stage of social development and organization.
1.2 The society, culture, and way of life of a particular area.
1.3 The comfort and convenience of modern life, regarded as available only in towns and cities.
Myth of Europa
Europa ⇒ name of a princess from phoenicia (now lebanon, gaza, israel, syria)
This Myth ⇒ important: symbols coming from this as the symbols on the eu residence permit
Symbol of taurus → registration lecture II
Founding myths of Europa: Virgil’s Aeneid
Once used to underscore the idea of Europe as an entity with a clear historical ancestry. such an entity is a myth itself always a product of intercultural relations
Assuming “We are all Greek” is right?
→ encounter Paul Gallery’s quote from last week, these are no foundational stories but there is an explanation to eu civilization
all greek: some truth, dominant idea that we got from them science, democracy…
Extent from the athens school where we get philosophy
Romans: acquedotti and architecture inspired by rome = heritage and not wrong to say that somehow there are europe’s foundation in it
==> Roots in antiquity?
European culture as rooted in antiquity?
How does Delanty look at it?
- important to see how scholars impact these arguments
Gerard Delenty: My concern in this book is to dispel the mystique of Europe in order to assess the extent to which the European idea can in fact be the basis of a collective identity unencumbered by the narrow normative horizons of national identity and the chauvinism of the ‘Fortress Europe’ project.
–> Book: critical analysis of the limits of EU, articulate new identity to go beyond origin and think of a post national citizenship
What does Europe mean to the Greeks and Romans?
The world according to Herodotus,
greeks considered themselves the culture and others the barbarians : Greek vs barbarians view and mentality
- Barbarians → linguistic difference and greeks were considered perfect and civilized
Persians as Orientalism
Presentation of persians by helena and barbarian → discourse of conceptualizing
The roman never had a strong sense of Europe identity → spread of the empire outside European lands
But Delanty considers that antiquity resides in Middle Eastern roots
What can ancient Rome teach us about the migration crisis?
→ ‘the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by the law that binds them together and that gives them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other
→ “Roman citizenship was acquired by birth if both parents were Roman citizens (cives) … Otherwise, citizenship could be granted by the people, later by generals and emperors.”
- Those who became citizens were protected by the law but were engaged military with the expansion of roman empire
Roman citizenship was in contrast with the exclusiveness of greek politics
Citizenship in an inclusive way? → black and other ethnicities people because rome accepted criminals and others so diversity
Main Concepts of lecture II?
- Concepts of Empire or Civilization presuppose a clear cultural unity with clear boundaries, but those boundaries always depend on the construction of those outside and tend to ignore both internal conflicts and intercultural exchanges.
- So, they are metaphors of exclusion/inclusion: who counts as in and who counts as out.
Homogenous european civilization and captured by exchanges and ask critical questions regarding what we mean
Reviewing antiquity can provide cultural identity and multiculturalism questions
