House of European History celebrates European literature

With ‘Celebrating European History', the House of European History will pay attention to the history and contemporary role of European literature on Wednesday 12 October. The four editors of the book 'Lettres européennes - Histoire de la littérature européenne', published a few months ago, will co-organise the event.

It was the Czech writer Milan Kundera who remarked in his 2005 book 'The Curtain' that "Europe has not managed to view its literature as a historical unit, and I continue to insist that this is an irreparable intellectual loss.”

That gap has now been filled with the 1,200-page book ‘Lettres européennes - Histoire de la littérature européenne’. The voluminous publication collects contributions from more than 200 academics, literary critics and writers from across Europe.

With the support of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the House of European History and the four publishers of the book, Annick Benoit-Dusausoy, Guy Fontaine, Jan Jędrzejewski and Timour Muhidine, will host an event on the history and contemporary role of European literature on Wednesday, 12 October 2022, from 12 to 2 pm. The event, held in English and French, will take place at the museum at 135 rue Belliard in Brussels.

The welcome address will be given by Dita Charanzova, Vice-President of the European Parliament. Constanze Itzel, director of the museum, will also speak. Subsequently, several European writers from across Europe, representing the diversity of the European literary landscape, will discuss different aspects of the role of literature in the current geopolitical context: Matei Vişniec and John Retallack ('Literature and migration'), Kenan Görgün ('Being a European writer') and Aslı Erdoğan ('Literature and resistance').

More information on the event can be found on the website of the House of European History.

(AHU)

© BELGA PHOTO HERWIG VERGULT