Lost in Translation? How Images of Europe Are Translated

Europe is a fragile construct. For some, Europe is synonymous with progress, humanity and freedom – for others it stands for intolerance and slavery, colonialism and genocide. Who translates the various, often rivaling perceptions of Europe and in what way? The danger, that the concept of Europe could be lost in the diversity of its translations is quite real. Social cohesion and political action cannot be established without an understanding of the split and divisive memories, common visions, values and cultural assets. The societal relevance of European images and their translations is thus not to be undervalued – history is omnipresent and of great consequence through them.

The network for this project, supported by the BMBF, explores, together with the Universities of Kassel and Gießen and the Center for Contemporary Research in Potsdam, how perceptions of Europe have changed throughout the major 20th century caesuras, how Europe is generally construed and mediated and how it is perceived from various spatial perspectives. The project covers matters of the intercultural and cross-media understanding of Europe, the visualization of European history and media coverage of images of Europe.

In doing so, various medias or agents of translation are approached: printed media and parliamentary debates dispute Europe and European memory from a more ephemeral perspective, while textbooks, memorials or political symbols are geared at transmission. All media unites a specific selectivity, however, with which they translate images of Europe. Codes, symbols and narrative patterns that suggest transnational or trans-generational translation processes, bridges or continuities are used through these means.

The subprojects survey Europe from shifting centers and peripheries: Germany, France, Spain and Poland conceive of themselves, in varying ways and at various times, as European centers; England and the USA represent a view of Europe from the periphery.

The project at the Georg Eckert Institute deals with the presentation and processing of the European colonial past in German, French and English textbooks from the 20th century.

Web Site: www.lost-in-translation.org

Project Assistant: Dr. Susanne Grindel

Project Coordinator: Daniel Stange, M.A.