Many Images for a Continent. An Introduction

Abstract

For too long, the European Union has presented itself as a haven for bureaucrats, united by a hegemonic will practiced through the hyper-standardization of every aspect of social life. The result of this representation, so often weaponised by political forces hostile to the European project, has also been the reason the many images (normative acts, community projects, cultural initiatives etc.) that constitute the European discourse struggle to be recognized and read into a basic everyday narrative capable of shaping a European horizon of shared destinies. This book recognises the importance of the European discourse in its symbolic dimension and the need for it to be circulated via a wide-ranging narrative that is accessible to all citizens. As such, it explores the many images of Europe, or rather the many images through which European discourse is actually constituted in daily life, in search of their enunciative responsibility in today’s world for determining the current “State of the Union”.