Europe in love, love in Europe : imagination and politics between the wars

Combining the history of ideas and the history of emotions, this work explores the convergence between political and cultural ideas of Europe and the idea of love in the period between the two world wars. It investigates European unity from a political viewpoint, but also from cultural and symbolic ones, taking a critical stand towards Euro-centricism. Chapters focus on single texts, including bestselling novels, and artworks reviving the myth of Europa and the bull, set in the context of debates on marriage, sex and love in the western world. These alternate with chapters combining intellectual and cultural history with critical explorations of how historians, politicians and psychologists analyzed the crisis of European civilization. Luisa Passerini Explores The Emotional Basis Of The Idea Of A United Europe Between The World Wars, Uncovering The Meanings Of European Identity And European Unity. She Investigates The Idea Of A United Europe In Connection With A Discourse On Love Which Had Been Developing In The West Since The Seventeenth Century. These Ideas Were Debated By Literary Scholars, Novelists And Poets, Who Focused On The Theme Of Courtly Love And Its Connections With Romantic Love. In A Tour De Force Of Political And Cultural Exploration, Luisa Passerini Rediscovers The Points Of Convergence Between These Two Strands Of Thought, Finding One Of The Symbols Of Their Encounter In The Myth Of Europa, The Phoenician Princess Seduced By Zeus In The Shape Of A Bull And Brought Westward. 1. Europa In East Anglia. Europa's Beast By Ralph H. Mottram. A 'european' Love Story. Modern Men. Visuality. Olive/europa/europe -- 2. Ideas Of Europe. The Dream Of The United States Of Europe. Dawson's Christian Community. Minds Between War And Peace: Psycho-analysts And Psychologists On The Crisis Of European Civilisation -- 3. New Europe. Mitrinovic And Orage. The Adler Society. The New Europe Group And The New Britain Movement. Eutopia Or Atlantis? -- 4. Europa Reappears From A New East. Briffault's The Mothers. Europa And Europa In Limbo. Life And Death Of A Nomadic Subject -- 5. Provencal Love -- The Allegory Of Love By C.s. Lewis. A Long Dispute: The Europeanness Of Courtly Love. Travelling To Provence. Luisa Passerini. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 328-344) And Index. List of Illustrations, vi Acknowledgements, vii Introduction, 1 1. Europa in East Anglia, 27 —Europa’s Beast by Ralph H. Mottram, 27 —A ‘European’ love story, 32 —Modern men, 38 —Visuality, 43 —Olive/Europa/Europe, 46 2. Ideas of Europe, 52 —The dream of the United States of Europe, 52 —Dawson’s Christian Community, 64 —Minds between war and peace: psycho-analysts and psychologists on the crisis of European civilisation, 81 3. New Europe 105 —Mitrinovic and Orage, 105 —The Adler Society, 119 —The New Europe group and the New Britain movement, 126 —Eutopia or Atlantis?, 137 4. Europa Reappears From a New East, 149 —Briffault’s The Mothers, 149 —Europa and Europa in Limbo, 160 —Life and death of a nomadic subject, 174 5. Provencal Love – The Allegory of Love by C.S. Lewis, 188 —A long dispute: the Europeanness of courtly love, 201 —Travelling to Provence, 213 6. Between Culture and Politics, 222 —The future of the European spirit, 222 —Mosley and the British Union of Fascists, 234 —An impossible task (Margaret Storm Jameson), 239 —‘In Spain is Europe’, 247 —‘Song of the West’ (Margaret Ormiston Curie), 255 —Destiny of a myth: images of Europa and the bull, 260 —Active solidarity (Friends of Europe and Federal Union), 267 7. ‘I Love You More Than My Nationality’, 280 Epilogue, 307 Sources and References, 319 Index, 345 Before World War II an intimate connection between the ideas of Europe and romantic love was widely accepted and virtually unchallenged. Only after Europe was ravaged by war and fractured by superpower conflict was this connection called into question. Today, with the success of the European Union, such themes are reemerging in art, literature, music, and everyday conversation. In Europe in Love, Love in Europe we revisit Europe between world wars to explore the lost connections between love, culture, and ideology. Passerini investigates different ways in which historians, politicians, psychoanalysts, and psychologists analyzed the crisis of European civilization, providing a history of ideas and emotions. Her focus on specific texts ranges from best-selling novels to artworks set in the context of debates on marriage, sex, and friendship. Europe in Love, Love in Europe concludes with the story of a correspondence between spouses, an English woman and a German man during World War II, a powerful example of what it could mean to live the European dimension of a love relationship in that historical moment. Passerini offers a compelling original perspective on the modern anxiety over national identity and European unity-and a powerful rejoinder to political and cultural Eurocentrism. "Luisa Passerini explores the emotional basis of the idea of a united Europe between the world wars, uncovering the meanings of European identity and European unity.". "She investigates the idea of a united Europe in connection with a discourse on love which had been developing in the West since the seventeenth century. These ideas were debated by literary scholars, novelists and poets, who focused on the theme of courtly love and its connections with romantic love. In a tour de force of political and cultural exploration, Luisa Passerini rediscovers the points of convergence between these two strands of thought, finding one of the symbols of their encounter in the myth of Europa, the Phoenician princess seduced by Zeus in the shape of a bull and brought westward."--BOOK JACKET.