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Naar een verenigd en vreedzaam Europa ? Een vergelijkend onderzoek naar Europabeelden in In Europa (2004) en Grote verwachtingen (2021) van Geert Mak en Die Welt von Gestern (1942) van Stefan Zweig
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- This master's thesis explores the images of Europe that are the subject of three books: the posthumously published memories of the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig Die Welt von Gestern (1942) and the travel reports In Europa (2004) and Grote verwachtingen (2021) by the Dutch author Geert Mak. The aim of this master's thesis is to show that the way Stefan Zweig and Geert Mak write about Europe in their literary non-fiction, despite their humanist and pacifist concerns, is not entirely compatible with a European peace project. To substantiate this hypothesis, the approaches of the histoire croisée, imagology and ideology criticism were used. Also central to this master's thesis is the essay by Dag Nikolaus Hasse Was ist europäisch? Zur Überwindung kolonialer und romantischer Denkformen from 2021, which argues for a new, decolonized and deromanticized interpretation of Europe. According to this German historian and philosopher, this is the only way to conceive of a peaceful and united continent. The analysis shows that the images of Europe in the studied works by Zweig and Mak cause polarization and exclusion, as they are strongly focused on Western and Central Europe. As a result, Eastern Europe is forgotten. Moreover, these images of Europe are mainly based on a problematic, intellectualistic interpretation of culture and have a colonial and romantic tinge. They therefore leave little room for an open and dynamic interpretation of Europe that could maintain peace on the continent.