The European archipelago
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Europe of the Cold War has vanished. In the place of what was once a homogeneous space consisting of “the East” and “the West”, we now find fragments, enclaves, and islands. Some see this as unfinished work, but in reality these are the parts that are fitting themselves together to form the new Europe. This renewal takes the form of disintegration, for the time being at least. It is more fruitful to pay attention to the very real fragments than to the whole, which for the time being is only a promise. Official rhetoric accepts this when it celebrates fragmentation and disintegration as pluralization or “diversity in unity”. Disintegration is a time of disillusion, and so of enlightenment. It also reveals the forces that must enter into play if something new is to emerge.
(Osteuropa 8/2005, pp. 9–26)
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Archipelago Europe
Európa szigetcsoport
L'Europe est un archipel