Celebrating Europe: An Asian Journey

Asad-ul Iqbal Latif

Published by ISEAS Publishing 2012

Celebrating Europe

An Asian Journey

Asad-ul Iqbal Latif

https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814311519

Overview
Contents

About this book

Europe's mythical origins lie in Zeus' abduction of the Asian princess Europa. Down the real centuries, Asia has played a crucial role in the making of Europe - as an object of Orientalist fantasy and colonial desire, but also of the spread of the liberating values and humane letters associated with the continent. In this book, a lifelong admirer of Europe casts a critical yet loving eye on the continent to ask what it means to him. The book revolves around a series of personal encounters. These range from following his father to Cambridge, and meeting two Bengali lovers in Calcutta who cherish Eros with classical Greek purity, to watching his wife recover in a Polish hospital that lavishes care on her for almost free. These encounters are intertwined with passionately argued essays on the Holocaust, the Soviet ideal and the Berlin Wall as keenly-contested sites of the European imagination. A chapter on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's historical novel, The Leopard, combines literary and political analysis to peer into the heart of Italy, while an essay on champagne in France discovers the France in champagne. An analysis of secularism in the post-9/11 world defends one of the abiding legacies of Europe. Finally, a chapter on postmodern Europe upholds the European Union as perhaps the most exciting international project on offer today. The literary flair of this scholarly book captures the vividness of the intellectual engagement between Asia and Europe.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Foreword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Introduction: Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Europe Abroad Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	8
2. Gentiles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
3. The Berlin Wall Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
4. Soviets of the Mind Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
5. The Secular Soul Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
6. The Leopard’s Italy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
7. England Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
8. Champagne France Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
9. Two Bengali Greeks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
10. The Polish Hospital Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
11. Postmodern Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175

Language: English
Publisher: ISEAS Publishing
Pages
- Main content: 192

eBook

Published: February 5, 2012
ISBN: 9789814311519