Rethinking Europe

The Goethe Society of India (GSI) was founded in 1997. it seeks to promote scholarly research on the work of the German writer, poet, thinker, scientist and administrator Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), and on the classical German heritage together with their relationship to contemporary cultural developments. It emphasizes the European context of this heritage and its comparative international dimensions symbolized by Goethe’s notion of World Literature. The GSI actively promotes an academic dialogue between India, the German speaking countries and Europe. It functions as a free association of scholars and its conferences are documented annually by a yearbook. The possibility of a multipolar world, witnessed in the widening political boundaries of Europe is a development which has led to a rethinking of the idea of Europe. Reflecting these concerns, the Goethe Society of India organized a conference at the Centre for German Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University with academics from the fields of literature and culture studies. The Yearbook, which brings together the proceedings of this conference, will interest readers across the disciplines of European Studies, Political Science, Comparative Literatures, as also the informed general reader.