5 - Being European: East and West

Summary

This essay traces events and ideas that have blurred the boundary between supranational and national conceptions of European identity, starting with the French Revolution and its ideological and geopolitical progeny. The essay is organized thematically, so following a section on “Foreground and background” are “Revolution and counter-revolution,” “Nation and supra-nation,” and “Remembering and forgetting.” Although the themes are paired opposites, the analysis shows how readily the oppositional character of the words breaks down under the pressure of historical contextualization. This notion of opposites in name only – a perception of difference that masks a profound similarity – is one that extends to the pair of opposites that appear in the title of this chapter; namely “East and West.”

Modern conceptions of European identity formed during the course of wars, revolutions, and utopian political projects that both “halves” of Europe experienced and interpreted in very localized ways, increasingly within national historical frameworks. This evolution made for disagreements regarding the nature of “universal” European values and projects between “East” and “West.” But if we pull back the curtain of false oppositions, we begin to see the outlines of a structural similarity in the way “Europeanness” is understood. The similarity rests on the premise that being “European” is not only compatible with being “national,” but is a constituent element of national identity.