"Richard Kearney:
Do you believe that there is such a thing as the "whole mind of Europe"?
George Steiner: I believe that there is in the history of Europe a very strong central tradition, which is by no means an easy one to live with. It is that of the Roman Empire meeting Christianity. Our Europe is still to an astonishing degree, after all the crises and changes, that Christian Roman Empire.......
It is very striking that when General de Gaulle, who really used to think hard about these things, was interviewed and asked: "Are there three or four authors who are Europe to you?" he said immediately, without hesistating, "Of course, Dante, Goethe, Chateaubriand". The astonished interviewer, having fallen like an elephant into the pit, said, "What, Monsieur? No Shakespeare?" And the icy smile came, "You asked me about "Europe"". In that joke there is a deep Roman Christian truth."
From "Visions of Europe: Challenging Ideas in Dialogue" by Richard Kearney, 1992.
Do you believe that there is such a thing as the "whole mind of Europe"?
George Steiner: I believe that there is in the history of Europe a very strong central tradition, which is by no means an easy one to live with. It is that of the Roman Empire meeting Christianity. Our Europe is still to an astonishing degree, after all the crises and changes, that Christian Roman Empire.......
It is very striking that when General de Gaulle, who really used to think hard about these things, was interviewed and asked: "Are there three or four authors who are Europe to you?" he said immediately, without hesistating, "Of course, Dante, Goethe, Chateaubriand". The astonished interviewer, having fallen like an elephant into the pit, said, "What, Monsieur? No Shakespeare?" And the icy smile came, "You asked me about "Europe"". In that joke there is a deep Roman Christian truth."
From "Visions of Europe: Challenging Ideas in Dialogue" by Richard Kearney, 1992.