Beware of rhetoric when the word “Europe” pops up. Europe doesnot exist. Paris and Rome do. Europe is Robespierre and Francis of Assisi,a Jesuit college and the First World War. If Europe means anything,it is bound to be this juxtaposition of particular things, idiosyncraticcodes and traditions. And languages. Indeed, how does one keep one’sfooting in the European Babel? Latin and French have had their momentum.Today English rules. Let's be clear about the issue: English isnecessary, but will never be sufficient. We are doomed to accept pluriformityof idioms, linguistic confusion and their benefits. We are condemnedto live by our own language when it really comes to the crunch.
