Homo Europaeus and the European project

By Anca Ionita

Can one draw a profile of the 21st century citizen living in the geographical area of Europe, a so-called Homo Europaeus of today? This is the question Julia Kristeva, an internationally renowned philosopher, sociologist, psychoanalyst and literary critic, tried to answer during the conference La culture dans le projet europeene (Culture’s role within the European project) she held last week at the French Cultural Institute in Bucharest.

Starting with a simple observation – the multilingualism of Europeans, a trait that in her opinion differentiates them from North American or Chinese citizens – Kristeva tried to capture the kaleidoscopic identity of Homo Europaeus, who can no longer be identified with the 20th century bourgeoisie, nor with the last century’s anarchist.

The ability to speak several languages brings with it the ability to think in those languages. This could be, among other things, a trigger for the rediscovery and re-evaluation of the richness of each national language, and a starting point for the birth of the new European ‘us’.

What actually is the new European identity that is currently in the making, asks Kristeva? The paradox is that European culture is based on a cult of identity, the identity dogma that has only brought troubles so far. “We have to live our identity as an open question,” she says. Identity should be a matter of constant debate, of ongoing questioning, not a ‘cult’. Homo Europaeus is very much like a researcher, constantly asking questions, including self-interrogation. “The human voice of reflection is infinite,” says the philosopher.

Kristeva’s future Europe is a space of national cultural diversity, where “the banality of thinking” (to paraphrase Hannah Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil) is undermined by the constant apolitical interrogation of identity and the valorization of national cultures.