DOCSLIB.ORG

THE INSTITUTION of the MUSEUM, MUSEUM PRACTICE and EXHIBITS WITHIN the THEORY of POSTCOLONIALISM – PRELIMINARY RESEARCH Magdalena Michalik

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
THE INSTITUTION of the MUSEUM, MUSEUM PRACTICE and EXHIBITS WITHIN the THEORY of POSTCOLONIALISM – PRELIMINARY RESEARCH Magdalena Michalik museums and collections Muz., 2018(59): 28-33 Rocznik, eISSN 2391-4815 received – 01.2018 reviewed – 02.2018 accepted – 02.2018 DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0011.7254 THE INSTITUTION OF THE MUSEUM, MUSEUM PRACTICE AND EXHIBITS WITHIN THE THEORY OF POSTCOLONIALISM – PRELIMINARY RESEARCH Magdalena Michalik University of Gdańsk Abstract: The article contributes to considerations on the temporary exhibition in Berlin – “Deutscher Kolonialismus: exhibits of colonial origin that exist in Western culture, and Fragmente seiner Geschichte und Gegenwart” from 2017. on the institution of museum with regard to the terms of The problems that have been examined reveal the hybrid postcolonial theory. Moreover, it addresses practical issues structure of “semiophores” coming from outside Europe, concerning museum’s policy towards artefacts of non- which makes both their reception by the viewer and the European origin. I referred to the basic concepts used in way of their presentation by the museum difficult. The the theory of postcolonialism, such as: otherness, hybridity, article helps to realise that displaying the “otherness” of the mimicry, the Third Space, and to the interpretation of non-European cultures is quite a challenge for curators, collectibles – “semiophores” (carriers of meaning) – as named similarly as the concept of such institution like museum by Krzysztof Pomian. I presented issues related to museum must be for these cultures. This results in creation by the exhibitions, and the existence of museums in countries museum of the so-called Third Space. The soonest research affected by colonialism, using the examples of: the return should give an answer to the question asked by Professor of Maori heads (mokomokai) from French museums to Maria Poprzęcka: To what extent history of art co-created the New Zealand, permanent exhibitions of the Cinquantenaire massive structure of cultural supremacy and intellectual and Museum in Brussels and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, artistic domination, which found its institutional and material activities of the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, and the form in museums that were being erected all over the world. Keywords: postcolonialism, hybrid, semiophore, domination of the West, otherness, mimicry, Third Space. The article presented below considers – within an museums. The author applied such fundamental terms interpretation proposed by the theo engagée ry of post- of the postcolonial theory as: otherness, hybrid, mimicry, colonialism – contemporary museological thought and and Third Space, and for the purpose of interpretations of in particular themes pertaining to museum exhibits and collector items/collectibles – semiophores, a name granted permanent and temporary exhibitions presented in by Krzysztof Pomian. She also tried to approach this extremely www.muzealnictworocznik.com MUZEALNICTWO 59 93 difficult topic, especially from the viewpoint of ethics, in her resulting from a mixture of assorted cultures. The author capacity as a historian of art and not a socially engagée became particularly interested in the reception of the person. Nonetheless, in certain cases Magdalena Michalik Tricontinent in the West within an interpretation of the took the liberty of presenting a personal commentary in contemporary theory of museology and its practical aspect a suitable footnote. The subjectively selected examples – especially the organisation of exhibitions, their scientific discuss problems broached in practice. The proposed study arrangement, and concrete museum exhibits. However, in is a contribution to deliberations on museum exhibits of order to understand the essence of an object displayed in colonial origin existing in Western culture, the institution of a museum it is necessary to resort to the theory proposed the MUSEUM according to an interpretation of terms applied by Krzysztof Pomian, who in his writings about collections by the theory of post-colonialism, and the practical activity of and museums distinguished so-called semiophores: We assorted institutions in reference to objects of non-European grant the name “semiophores” to objects regarded in origin. The purpose of the chosen methodology is to widen a given community as carriers of meaning, and thus produced the interpretation perspective by including the context of the or displayed in such a manner as to attract attention while post-colonial theory. The article merely outlines the titular excluding all other functions, including that of usefulness.3 problem, examines subjectively chosen issues, and is an Objects function in two spheres: visible – in which introduction to pertinent research. each fulfils a utilitarian function, and invisible – in which the object is a carrier of the meaning granted to it and is *** excluded from the utility function; as a consequence, it is treated differently.4 The latter objects are semiophores While defining the concept of post-colonialism it is necessary functioning in the invisible world as two-sided objects to first and foremost explain that this is a term describing an that link the semiotic dimension with the material one.5 intellectual current in contemporary humanities, conceived Furthermore, meanings attributed to semiophores are in the 1980s and combining two prime lines of meaning. dynamic and change depending on the context within which The first, described as a historical category, encompasses these particular objects are found at a given moment. the theme of the socio/cultural/economic/historical Objects representing the civilisation of the Tricontinent, remnants of colonies, decolonialism, and neo-colonialism. and currently in Western museum collections, are On the other hand, Postcolonial Studies – based mainly particularly interesting examples of semiophores. This is the on the philosophy of the “Other” – analyse the politics outcome of the fact that they assume the form of hybrids of knowledge: production, control, distribution (with the described by researchers dealing with postcolonial studies; premises of the philosophy of Michael Foucault as the main in other words, they are suspended, on the one hand, within point of departure), and the representation system, i.e. in the sphere of the culture from which they originate, and, what fashion and what sort of an image (social, cultural, on the other hand, they are present in the new context of and political) do the imperial states of the coloniser and European culture and the institution of the museum. Those the colonised produce. The prime aim of discursive- two granted meanings intermingle, merge, and depending critical Postcolonial Studies is in-depth critical analysis and on the context try to dominate or eliminate each other a continuation of research on this problematic term in the – a phenomenon highly unfavourable within such a context. contemporary world. In this manner, the colonial turnabout, All disputes and discussions, which to a greater or lesser due to its current hue, can influence present-day currents, extent pertain to objects representing extra-European individuals, problems, societies, elements of culture et civilisations, are the outcome of the hybridical nature of al. and, more importantly, draw attention to colonial those objects. Claims to determine this significance can discrimination, still present in the contemporary world. assume the shape of a serious dispute frequently resolved The article will frequently apply such terms as: the West by resorting to law. – understood for the needs of this study as countries with In The Location of Culture, the publication earlier a colonial past, in particular: Portugal, Spain, Italy, Great mentioned in note 2, Homi K. Bhabha often emphasised the Britain, Belgium or the Netherlands, and the Tricontinent1 two-direction character of relations between the coloniser a term that emerged in connection with the organisation and the colonised. The impact is mutual and reveals of the Tricontinental Conference in Havana (1966), whose itself in numerous aspects. This binary feature should be participants included South American (together with the also noticed, demonstrated, and stressed in the case of Caribbean), African, and Asian countries protesting against hybrid semiophores representing precisely such a fusion the domination of the West. Granted by representatives of meanings originating from diverse cultures. Reflections of states attending the conference, it is understood as concerning semiophores derived from the Tricontinent a definition of the civilisation of three continents. should be conducted via a term appearing in postcolonial Postcolonialism pertains not only to the Tricontinent studies – hybrid or Third Space, which will comprise suitable but should be used also as a new perspective of studies methodology for studying objects and including them into conducted by the West on hybridity,2 relations (economic, museum exhibitions. social, historical, cultural, etc.) with the Tricontinent, and An interesting representative example of such the reception of the Tricontinent in Europe. The very a semiophore-hybrid are mokomokai – thirty heads of term: hybridity originates from the domain of biology and ancestors featuring cult tattoos and preserved by the Maori describes an ultimately emergent species – the hybridical people. In recent years New Zealand demanded that France outcome of a merger of two other species. Adapted for the return these objects since French collectors acquired many sake of the postcolonial theory it signifies new identities such exhibits as a result
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fifty Years on Culture, Politics and Cultural Policy
    Cinquante ans après Culture, politique et politiques culturelles Fifty Years On Culture, Politics And Cultural Policy Sommaire Table of Contents Sommaire Table of Contents Ouverture Opening Session Frédéric MITTERRAND Frédéric MITTERRAND Maryvonne DE SAINT PULGENT Maryvonne DE SAINT PULGENT Élie BARNAVI Élie BARNAVI Le modèle français en question Examining the French Model Les missions de 1959, vues de 2009 A 2009 perspective on the aims of 1959 Antoine COMPAGNON ............................................... Antoine COMPAGNON .......................................... 5 Redéfinir une culture véritablement cultivée Redefining a genuinely cultured culture Élie BARNAVI Élie BARNAVI Réponse à Antoine Compagnon et à Élie Barnavi Response to Antoine Compagnon and Élie Barnavi Jack LANG Jack LANG CHAPITRE 1 SESSION 1 La construction de l’Europe suppose-t-elle Does the Construction of Europe une politique culturelle commune ? Presuppose a Common Cultural Policy? Les politiques culturelles dans le temps Cultural policies in European time and space. et l’espace européens. Modèles et évolutions Models and evolutions Pierre-Michel MENGER ............................................ Pierre-Michel MENGER ......................................... 10 TABLE RONDE ROUND TABLE Présidée par Jack LANG Chaired by Jack LANG Modérateur : Emmanuel LAURENTIN Facilitator: Emmanuel LAURENTIN Intervenants : Liz FORGAN, Jan-Hendrik OLBERTZ, Panel members: Liz FORGAN, Jan-Hendrik OLBERTZ, Jacques RIGAUD, Ivaylo ZNEPOLSKI Jacques RIGAUD, Ivaylo ZNEPOLSKI La politique
    [Show full text]
  • PRESS RELEASE EXHIBITION : « FORGIVENESS and RECONCILIATION » Boleslaw Kominek, an Unrecognized Father of Europe
    EXHIBITION 09.06 > 30.07.2017 FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION At Space Cardinal Bolesław Kominek AN UNRECOGNIZED FATHER OF EUROPE Ravenstein Gallery www.expokominek.com PRESS RELEASE EXHIBITION : « FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION » Boleslaw Kominek, an unrecognized father of Europe Brussels, Bozar (Ravenstein gallery) from June 9 to July 30 2017 1. The exhibition’s origins In 2007, the exhibition “Europe is our history! 50 years of European construction”, designed and produced by Tempora SA at the request of the Museum of Europe, was presented in Brussels on the occasion of the anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. The exhibition was quite naturally addressed at all Europeans, but in particular, with it being presented in Brussels, was aimed at an audience drawn from the founding Member States of the European Union. In 2009, at the request of the Municipality of Wroclaw, the exhibition was presented in Poland in a version adapted for a Polish audience. The Cardinal Kominek (1903-1974) was part of this adaptation which enabled us to discover his initiatives for reconciliation in Europe. This gave rise to the itinerant exhibition which, after Italy (The Vatican), Germany (Berlin) and Poland (Wroclaw), is today presented in Brussels: it allows us to discover the initiatives, of which most Belgians are largely unaware, of this Polish prelate in favor of reconciliation that was long thought impossible, between Germans and Poles. And therefore, more extensively between Europeans. 2. The historical context “The Poles”, explains the Professor Krzysztof Pomian, exhibition curator, “were still suffering from the scars of the war of servitude and extermination carried out by Nazi Germany against their people, their country and their culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Report of the Reflection Group of the European Cultural Foundation (2002-2004)
    EUROPEAN CULTURAL FOUNDATION Final Report Otto von der Gablentz Europe Andrei Ples¸u Z˘elimir Z˘ilnik of the Reflection Group as a Geert Mak Michael Naumann of the European Cultural Foundation Krzysztof Pomian Cultural Sonja Licht Nasr Abu Zayd (2002-2004) Project Maarten van Veen Dragan Klaic Preface One of the ways in which foundations contribute to The Europe that inspired the ECF's founding fathers society is by helping to produce social and cultural as well as the Europe of the 'Eurocrats' are capital. Foundations are private bodies acting within substantially different from the European experience the public sphere, and as such they have an of the coming generation. Continuing the nautical obligation to society to be responsible in what they metaphor, one might say that the ECF, quite an try to achieve. That said, they also have a freedom elderly vessel, sails between prestigious traditions which is less available to public bodies: the freedom and prospective shores. Having taken upon itself a to take risks. Unhindered by cumbersome wide cultural remit, from policy development to the bureaucracy, foundations can invest in undertakings promotion of artistic projects, the ECF as an that are not a 'sure thing', but which have exciting admittedly small foundation runs the risk of getting prospects. They can look beyond day-to-day 'lost in translation' unless it remains constantly open operations to explore uncharted territory and and self-critical. anticipate new directions. All the more reason, then, to invite intellectuals, Yet reality can often be a barrier to reflection, artists, media figures, policy and business experts to organisational demands prevent risk-taking, and re-conceptualize the challenges facing Europe and, individual shortcomings limit the potential to consequently, the ECF.
    [Show full text]
  • MAKING SENSE of CZESLAW MILOSZ: a POET's FORMATIVE DIALOGUE with HIS TRANSNATIONAL AUDIENCES by Joanna Mazurska
    MAKING SENSE OF CZESLAW MILOSZ: A POET’S FORMATIVE DIALOGUE WITH HIS TRANSNATIONAL AUDIENCES By Joanna Mazurska Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in History August, 2013 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Michael Bess Professor Marci Shore Professor Helmut W. Smith Professor Frank Wcislo Professor Meike Werner To my parents, Grazyna and Piotr Mazurscy II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my Dissertation Committee: Michael Bess, Marci Shore, Helmut Smith, Frank Wcislo, and Meike Werner. Each of them has contributed enormously to my project through providing professional guidance and encouragement. It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the support of my mentor Professor Michael Bess, who has been for me a constant source of intellectual inspiration, and whose generosity and sense of humor has brightened my academic path from the very first day in graduate school. My thesis would have remained a dream had it not been for the institutional and financial support of my academic home - the Vanderbilt Department of History. I am grateful for the support from the Vanderbilt Graduate School Summer Research Fund, the George J. Graham Jr. Fellowship at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, the Max Kade Center Graduate Student Research Grant, the National Program for the Development of the Humanities Grant from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and the New York University Remarque Institute Visiting Fellowship. I wish to thank to my friends at the Vanderbilt Department of History who have kept me company on this journey with Milosz.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political Background of Europeana.Eu Portal1
    Dušan Miletić УДК 32:008.91(04) The Political Background of Europeana.eu Portal1 Abstract: This paper examines the political background of the European cross-domain cultural and scientifi c heritage portal Europeana.eu from multiple perspectives, as it is simultane- ously a reaction to the Google Books projects that is deemed a threat to European cultural infl uence, and a part of the EU’s identity-forging strategies. While examining Europeana’s for- mat, the paper goes on to suggest that this website is not a regu- lar digitized heritage portal, arguing that a new kind of supra- national identity requires a new kind of cultural institution to support it. The last part of the paper fi nds that in fulfi lling its two major tasks – promoting cultures of European nation-state and bringing their common cultural heritage to fore – Euro- peana treats the later as a higher priority. Keywords: Europeana, Politics, Culture, Heritage, Identity Culture, identity and politics rarely exist as separate, independent spheres. More often they form an interwoven web of infl uences and support and reinforce each other, to an extent that sometimes it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Culture played a signifi cant role in formation of identities of newly formed nation-states during the nineteenth century, and the European Union recognizes culture as a key element which is necessary for successful European integration. Most of its cultural projects have a promi- nent identity-forging and cultural cohesion dimension, and Europeana is not an exception to that rule. Even though it’s clearly stated political agenda is often mentioned in the works dealing with this portal, it is rarely elaborated.
    [Show full text]
  • Report on the Activities of the Museum of the Second World War in 2014 Report on the Activities of the Museum of the Second World War in 2014
    Report on the activities of the Museum of the Second World War in 2014 Report on the activities of the Museum of the Second World War in 2014 Gdańsk 2015 Table of contents Important events of 2014 7 Work on the permanent exhibition 11 Museum construction 15 Collection 21 Scholarly activity and publications 35 Exhibitions 43 “The Explosion” film and multimedia performance 49 Educational activity 53 National and international cooperation 65 About the Museum 71 Professor Paweł Machcewicz, director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk. Photo: Renata Dąbrowska/Agencja Gazeta. Report on the activities of the Museum of the Second World War in 2014 n 2014 the Museum began to “grow” out of the ground. The construction of the vital elements of Ithe underground section of the building had been completed. The future location of the permanent exhibition, the underground part is going to be the “heart” of the Museum. Walking on the bottom floor, which is a huge concrete slab placed 15 metres below the ground level, you can clearly see the outline of the future exhibition space, the individual rooms, and the main interior “avenue”, designed as a reflection of the main street of the Wiadrownia quarter — a Gdańsk quarter which used to be here until 1945 and whose remains were unearthed during the archaeological survey preceding the construction of the Museum. Aside from the construction, efforts are being made to obtain valuable exhibits for the exhibition. Let us mention only two of which the Museum acquired in 2014. The Norwegian Armed Forces Museum presented us with a German Enigma coding machine, which is to serve as a reminder that it was the Polish mathematicians who broke its code back in the 1930s, greatly contributing to the later victory of the Allies.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics of the Past: the Use and Abuse of History
    Cover History and Politics:Mise en page 1 3/20/09 4:04 PM Page 1 Twenty years after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism the battles about the right interpretation of the twentieth century past are still being fought. In some countries even the courts have their say on what is or is not the historical truth. But primarily politicians have claimed a dominant role Politics of the Past: in these debates, often mixing history and politics in an irresponsible way. The European Parliament has become the arena where this culminates. Nevertheless, not every Member of Parliament wants to play historian. That is the The Use and Abuse of History background of Politics of the Past, in which historians take the floor to discuss the tense and ambivalent relationship between their profession and politics. Pierre Hassner: “Judges are no better placed than governments to replace open Edited by dialogue between historians, between historians and public opinion, between citizens and within and between democratic societies. That is why this book is Hannes Swoboda and such an important initiative.” Jan Marinus Wiersma Politics of the Past: The Use and Abuse of History The of the Past: Politics Cover picture: Reporters/AP 5 7 2 6 2 3 2 8 2 9 ISBN 92-823-2627-5 8 7 QA-80-09-552-EN-C ISBN 978-92-823-2627-5 9 Politics of the Past: The Use and Abuse of History Edited by Hannes Swoboda and Jan Marinus Wiersma Dedicated to Bronisław Geremek Bronisław Geremek, historian, former political dissident and our dear colleague, was one of the speakers at the event which we organized in Prague to commemorate the Spring of 1968.
    [Show full text]
  • (1946-2000) (Association Institut Littéraire "Kultura") (Poland) Ref N° 2008-54
    MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER Archives of the Literary Institute in PARIS (1946-2000) (Association Institut Littéraire "Kultura") (Poland) Ref N° 2008-54 PART A – ESSENTIAL INFORMATION 1 SUMMARY ARCHIVES of THE LITERARY INSITUTE in PARIS (1946-2000) (Association Institut Littéraire “Kultura”) The Archives of the Literary Institute are the complete documentation of the Institute’s activities in the years 1946-2000. They are a unique collection, which depicts the work of an unparalleled emigration institution, which, thanks to the intellectual and political vision implemented for decades by its founders and leaders, played an extremely vital role in one of the most important historical events of the 20th century – the peaceful victory over the communist dictatorship and the division of the world into two hostile political blocs. The Institute significantly contributed to the success of the transformation of 1989-1990s by creating intellectual and political foundations, which, through a dialogue of the elites, allowed for reconciliation between the nations of Eastern and Central-Eastern Europe. The Institute also deserves recognition because it enabled the intellectuals of this part of Europe to participate in a wide international intellectual exchange in a period of an information blockade and censorship that lasted till the end of the 1980s. The Institute fulfilled the functions of: • the publishing house that produced the journal “Kultura” that inspired intellectuals from Central-Eastern Europe and fought against censorship in the countries under totalitarian rule, • a centre of independent political thought for emigrants from Eastern European countries, such as Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Baltic countries, • an organizer of support for authors, dissidents and independent organizations from countries behind the Iron Curtain in the 1950s and 1960s, especially for organizations that were established in the 1970s, like e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sarmatian Review
    THE SARMATIAN REVIEW Vol. XVIII, no. 1 January 1998 The Range of Central European Literatures Polish Yiddish German Poetry Short Story Children’s Warsaw in the eighteenth century. 498 THE SARMATIAN REVIEW January 1998 The Sarmatian Review (ISSN 1059- “The March Breezes, ” a 5872) is a triannual publication of the Polish In- From the Editor powerful Hemingwayesque story by the stitute of Houston. The journal deals with Polish, In order to be noticed in German writer Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Central, and Eastern European affairs, and their American society, a common-interest was ably translated by Professor Hal implications for the United States. We specialize group (we prefer this designation to the in the translation of documents. Rennert. It deals with what is still Subscription price is $12.00 per year for individu- ideologized ‘minority’) has to be insufficiently known and understood in als, $18.00 for institutions and libraries ($18.00 described in a language that incorporates German society: Nazi behavior toward for individuals, $24.00 for libraries overseas, air the idiom of the day and remains both Polish peasants and Polish mail). The views expressed by authors of articles comprehensible to the group in question. do not necessarily represent those of the Editors intellectuals in World War II. or of the Polish Institute. Articles are subject to The Irish have described themselves Among the crop of excellent editing. Unsolicited manuscripts are not returned abundantly, the central and eastern reviews, we would like to single out unless accompanied by a self-addressed and Europeans less so. The writers John Mark Wegierski’s comments on the stamped envelope.
    [Show full text]
  • Die Immigration Und Integration Der Polnischen Juden Von 1968 in Israel
    Eik Dödtmann Exil oder Heimat? Die Immigration und Integration der polnischen Juden von 1968 in Israel Eine qualitative Fallstudie auf Basis von Interviewanalysen Pri ha-Pardes | 8 Pri ha-Pardes | 8 Eik Dödtmann Exil oder Heimat? Die Immigration und Integration der polnischen Juden von 1968 in Israel Eine qualitative Fallstudie auf Basis von Interviewanalysen Universitätsverlag Potsdam Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbiblio- graphie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.de abrufbar. Universitätsverlag Potsdam 2013 http://verlag.ub.uni-potsdam.de/ Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam Tel.: +49 (0)331 977 2533 / Fax: -2292 E-Mail: [email protected] Die Schriftenreihe Pri ha-Pardes wird herausgegeben von Nathanael Riemer im Auftrag der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. in Verbindung mit dem Institut für Jüdische Studien der Universität Potsdam ISSN (print) 1863-7442 ISSN (online) 2191-4540 Zugl.: Potsdam, Univ., Magisterarbeit, 2007 Dieses Werk ist unter einem Creative Commons Lizenzvertrag lizenziert: Namensnennung – Keine kommerzielle Nutzung – Keine Bearbeitung 3.0 Deutschland Um die Bedingungen der Lizenz einzusehen, folgen Sie bitte dem Hyperlink: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/de/ Druck: docupoint GmbH Magdeburg Layout und Satz: Frank Schlöffel Umschlaggestaltung: Attila Szamosi ISBN 978-3-86956-249-0 Zugleich online veröffentlicht auf dem Publikationsserver der Universität
    [Show full text]
  • European Identity: Historical Fact and Political Problem7
    SIX KRZYSZTOF POMIAN European Identity: Historical Fact and Political Problem7 magine we are invited to answer two questions: is it possible to speak of a Chi- nese identity, formed in history, which makes China different from the rest I of the world? Can the Chinese find an inspiration in this for their future? For an average Chinese person, an affirmative answer to both questions would be so self-evident as to obviate the need to ask them. For an average European looking at China from the outside, the answers would be no less obvious. But the same European would be much more hesitant if posed the questions with respect to Europe. Where does this difference between Chinese and European identity arise? The answer is easily given. A Chinese person is accustomed to thinking of China as a unified cultural and political entity; as an empire. Europeans, on the other hand, think in terms of plurality: a plurality of idioms, cultural regions, religions, and within religions, confessions. Not to mention, of course, the plurality of nations. The latter has imposed itself so powerfully and for so long on the European imagination that for Europeans, Europe as a reality other than a sum of nations is problematic. It seems self-evident that to be a Dutchman or a Pole is to have a com- mon language, a particular education, traditions, prejudices, habits, customs, and so on. But what it means to be a European is by no means obvious. That is why asking after “European identity” is futile without first showing that one can speak meaningfully of Europe not only as a continent, or as a Union, but also as a cultural and historical formation that is complementary to and superimposed upon nations.
    [Show full text]
  • ANNUAL REPORT 2018 POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES of ACADEMY POLISH the Order of the White Eagle
    ANNUAL REPORT 2018 POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES of ACADEMY POLISH The Order of the White Eagle The oldest and highest state decoration of the Republic of Poland, awarded for remarkable civil and military merits, during the time of peace and war, for the glory and development of the Republic of Poland. It is awarded to the most eminent Poles and the highest-ranking representatives of foreign countries. In 2017 President Andrzej Duda decorated two members of the Polish Acad- emy of Sciences with the Order of the White Eagle in recognition of their contribution to the development of Polish medicine and for their achieve- ments in scientific and research work: Professor Ryszard Jerzy Gryglewski Polish pharmacologist and physician, ordinary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences since 1991, Professor emeritus at the Collegium Medi- cum, Jagellonian University, recipient of honorary doctorates from numerous universities worldwide. In 1976, together with S. Bunting, J. Vane and S. Moncada, he discovered prostacyclin, which set off many further scientific discoveries. A year later he discovered the first selective inhibitor of throm- boxanes. One of the most-cited authors in the world literature in the field of biomedical sciences in the A. HRECHOROWICZ/KPRP A. years 1965‒2005. Professor Mieczysław Chorąży Specialist in biochemistry and molecular biology of cancer, ordinary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, longtime Head of the Department of Biology of Cancer of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute – Oncology Center in Gliwice. Recipient of the title of doctor honoris causa from the Medi- cal University of Bialystok and Medical University of Silesia.
    [Show full text]