Holocaust literature and the shaping of European identity after the second world war

the case of Jorge Semprun

Simonsen

pp. 205-223

in: Menno Spiering, Michael Wintle (eds), European identity and the second world war, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Abstract

War is radical conflict. Therefore the notion that it can become the root not just of one-sided identity (us against the enemy) but also of a common identity (us and the enemy) is apparently paradoxical. Yet this is not a new idea. In 1828 Goethe speculated that the Napoleonic wars, which had split Europe, might create a new basis for a common European spirit. Presumably, this common spirit would be created because of the war and not despite the war.

Cited authors

Goethe Johann Wolfgang

Semprún Jorge