Shared Stories and Creative Dissonances

How Can Literature Contribute to Current Reflections on European Identity?

Abstract

Over the past years, European cultural organizations have initiated several transnational literary projects to reflect on what binds Europeans together. As part of a research project that examines what role these literary projects play in the debate on European identity, this article explores expectations held by the organizers of these initiatives. Drawing on discourse analysis, documents such as project plans are researched to examine discourses on European political and cultural identity, as well as the main argumentative strategies deployed by organizations to legitimize the literary contribution to the debate on Europe as a unity.