Publisher's Synopsis
The question of the founding myths of Europe is particularly virulent in the age of globalization. If you want to create a European network, you have to reflect on the European dimensions of national cultures and pursue their potential to create identity for the continent. A founding myth of Europe is that of the wisdom of Egypt. It has been intensively propagated since the Enlightenment and contrasted with the other founding mythical pillars of the continent, Hebraism and Hellenism. Thanks to Napoleon's expedition to Egypt and the deciphering of hieroglyphs, this myth plays a major role in French literature in the so-called classical modern era. Using the example of the numerous memory images of Egypt, one can observe how the best-known authors of the modern age, including Nerval, Baudelaire, Gautier, Mallarmé, identify such mythical images as fictional projections, but do not give up their claim to create meaning and legitimation.
