In Germany, tabu had entered common parlance by the 20th Century, referring to things restricted by custom more so than law. They are the things that are implicitly excluded from society, rather than explicitly ban. They are unspoken of, unrecognised even. They are one of the tricks of human social interaction, and that is what makes them so mysterious.
The institution of the pub persists at the heart of British life, fulfilling an undeniable and necessary social role. The exercise of going for a drink at the pub is something we grow up with – reading about it, watching it on tv, hearing about pub-related antics from other people and seeing the life it fuels on nights in towns and cities across Britain. For someone who grew up that country, it’s hard to imagine social life without a pub-like venue, as malleable a setting as it is. Having spent a while living outside of Britain, I’ve been prompted to reflect on what that means and the place of the pub in everyday life.
I haven’t always found goodbyes difficult. At first, as a child, it was mainly because in performing the act of saying goodbye, I didn’t ever feel like this was a permanent end so I didn’t – in the moment – see much to be sad about.
Europa is the home of difference and diversity, where new influences are not added to anything but clash and conflict with each other, fighting on the great Hegelian battleground of culture, creed and beliefs. The problem is of course, when this civic conflict of words, arguments, images and sounds becomes one of bullets and bayonets; it is then that we remember why we need a United Europa.
Europa, I think we can say with certainty however, is and long has been much more than a place on a map, contrary to Bismarck’s note in 1876 (‘Qui parle Europe a tort. Notion géographique’). Certainly, we can take Metternich’s foreshadowing of this comment in 1847, with the assertion that Italy was purely a geographic notion, as a sign that Germans are apt as misjudging political and social developments on this continent.
In Search of Europa 