Cosmopolitanism and the Postnational

In recent years postnational theory has become a primary tool for the analysis of European integration. Though interpretations of the concept vary, there is a wide consensus about postnationalism as a way to forge a European identity beyond a particular national history. In line with the German historical context in which this key concept was formulated in the first place, postnationalism is considered to be an adaptation of Kantian cosmopolitanism to the conditions of the modern world. This collection of essays is the first to systematically and comparatively explore the links between postnationalism and cosmopolitanism within the context of the “New Europe”.

The process of European integration, the EU cultural policies and the European Space of Higher Education are stimulating a revival of “European literature,” whose definition fits neither within the 19th- and 20th-century concept of “Western masterpieces,” nor that of a simple addition to the national canons. Notwithstanding this new interest in the idea of European literature as seen in new university seminars and courses, there are as yet no textbooks or other academic tools that help to approach this issue in a systematic and comparative way.

Academics interested in teaching a “European literature” seminar only have at their disposal textbooks in French —such as the Précis de literature européenne— which still approach the issue from a quite Gallocentric point of view and in which the idea of national literature still plays a key role. The primary market our book aims at is therefore the large undergraduate, graduate, and professional readership that looks for a collection of texts which, instead of offering a synthetic view of European literature, problematizes the very idea of ‘European literature.’