Preface & Acknowledgements

In the last decade, Europe has seen several crises – whether medially constructed or discussed in the Realpolitik of the EU – that particularly affected Southern European states and societies. In the face of such experiences, how do these countries and their communities deal with and react to these crises? What are their cultural resources of negotiating changes, adapting to new circumstances, and productively handling crises? This book sets out to discuss resources of resilience from a cultural studies perspec-tive. Its contributions initiate a dialogue between German and Southern European con-texts, offer theoretical explorations and case studies that range from literary works to music and memory, via visual representations and political communication, to ques-tions of genre and European integration. This volume emerged from an international and interdisciplinary conference held at the Villa Sciarra in Rome in September 2018. At this conference, PhD students, postdocs, and university professors from various disciplinary backgrounds, e.g. Histo-ry, the Study of German, British, Italian, and Portuguese literature and culture, or Eco-nomics and Political Science, gathered to discuss facets of Europe’s current and past crises and the various ways of how they are and may be met creatively and thus turned into productive moments. The intensive discussions during the conference paved the way for this book with its sections on literary and cultural resources of resilience, im-aginative spaces and European entangled (hi)stories