East/West: A Cultural Unity that is Perceived no Longer

  • Giovanni M. D'Erme Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli

Abstract

The notion of “Europe” is geographically and culturally controversial. While of Greek origins, this unsteady concept also has other progenitors, unwilling to recognize any “external” contributions to their own culture. One of these progenitors is Denis de Rougemont’s L’Amour et l’Occident, whose “Protestant” approach to the problems posed by the sudden emergence of Troubadour poetry is just as fanciful and untenable as the “Catholic” one.

The Troubadour passion, indeed, is a sort of gnostic fever to be seen in a much bigger context than the “Cis-Dardanellian” Europe. If we compare the works of the Troubadours and Dante, for instance, we find unsurprising similarities – if little known – but when a likeness of this sort appears to connect Dante to the Persian Hafez, poet of the fourteenth century, it is quite staggering: the resemblance lies not only in general concepts, but in rhetorical images and the wording too. This paper provides evidence of these and other literary contacts between “Europe” and “Asia”. The sense of alienation we purport to feel when encountering Asian cultures appears, in fact, to be a rather recent affair.

 

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Author Biography

Giovanni M. D'Erme, Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli

Giovanni M D’Erme was appointed as Lecturer in Persian Language and Literature at the University of Venice (1969). In the 1970s, he held the office of lecturer at the universities of Venice, Bologna, and Rome as well as at the Oriental Institute of Naples, where he became a full professor of the same subject (1981), and held other offices: Director of the Asian Studies Department (1988-91), Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (1996-98), and President of the University Press Center (1999-2005).

His main interest has been Persian language and literature and the dissemination of Persian culture across Europe in the artistic, literary, and symbolic fields, which is often unexplored or misunderstood. Owing to his three-volume annotated Italian translation of the Hâfez’ ġazals commissioned by the Hafez Studies Center of Shirâz (2008) and the Fârâbi Foundation (2010), in accordance with UNESCO, ISESCO and the Presidency of the Republic of Iran, diplomas, international awards, and medals of merit have been awarded to him. For this achievement, he was also awarded the OMRI badge of Commander.

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Published
2011-11-22
How to Cite
D’Erme, G. M. (2011). East/West: A Cultural Unity that is Perceived no Longer. Between, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/278