From the periphery to the centre

Immemorially a frontier land, the area between the Alps and the Adriatic has found itself marginalized since the Second World War: one of the peripheries of Europe, at least of Western Europe. But now a new wind is blowing through the Alpine-Adriatic region: the EU enlargement of 2004 has led to the collapse of some historical frontiers and the prospect – now inescapable – of a further opening to the Balkans has turned this area into one of the motors of European integration. “And as always happens in such cases, culture is more progressive than politics”, points out PRIMUS-HEINZ KUCHER , head of the Department of German at the University of Klagenfurt; during the recent ‘Summer University’ in Graz (held by COMECE in collaboration with the University of Graz and the diocese of Graz-Sackau at the castle of Soggau, in Austria, from 2 to 16 September) he gave a lecture on “Interculture between Alps and Adriatic”, a journey of discovery of the cultural climate that reigns in the border lands between Italy, Austria and Slovenia. “In Austria – said Kucher – relations with Slovenian culture have considerably improved over the last ten years. In Carinthia the exponents of this minority culture have obtained greater public recognition, and in Slovenia too, the most famous writer of the Carinthian Slovene minority, Ivan Cankar, was awarded the most prestigious Slovenian literary prize two years ago. Cultural exchanges and relations are being strengthened, and the same goes for the Italian-speaking zone, Friuli and Trieste. In these cases cultural relations have never been particularly strong, but joint initiatives, bonds of friendship, even simple translations are now being registered, such as the fine anthology of poetry in the three languages of Friuli (in Friulan, Italian and German). And in this sense the Carinthian political climate, perceived as hostile due to its xenophobic past, has basically been of some help, because it has stimulated culture to develop its own autonomous dimension, decoupled from that of politics”. Can culture be a factor of cohesion for the Alpine-Adriatic region? “Undoubtedly. Even if there are difficulties in its realization: cohesion must take the form of concrete projects, but these often have to combat the slow pace of bureaucracy. Of course a lot more could be done, especially starting out from the grass roots and from schools: there are many forms of cooperation between various schools, but it’s also true to say that often they result from mere personal contacts between teachers or headmasters. At Udine, for example, there’s an interesting initiative, an international lycée. But these are niche operations: just as at the university level with Erasmus-Socrates, it should be possible to plan a similar project for the school system, thus enabling students to begin at an early age to get to know the situations that surround them, not just with mere excursions but with periods of prolonged residence abroad. After having been a frontier zone for centuries, with the enlargement of the European Union to the Balkans, the Alpine-Adriatic region will suddenly become one of the heartlands of the continent. Is it ready to become an agent of integration, after having been a factor of division for centuries? “Undoubtedly it is not only a desirable, but also a feasible prospect. Anyone who travels a lot in this area knows that some processes of transformation have long been underway: with the enlargement of 2004 some historic frontiers were swept away, and visiting Slovenia today one cannot but realise how much it has changed. I think in particular of Ljubljana, which has always been a city with a certain fascination, redolent of the atmosphere of Mitteleuropa, but now it has become a culturally lively capital, able to offer far more opportunities for development and debate. And a similar phenomenon is taking place in Klagenfurt, as in Trieste, where there is far greater opening to Eastern Europe than there was a few years ago. Perhaps what was dreamt of by the Istrian intellectual Peter Kandler in the 19th century is now taking place: he saw Trieste as the gateway to the Orient”. In these processes is culture more progressive than politics? “If it is alert, it is always some steps ahead. What politics feels it has to do was already discovered by culture as a necessity: cultural sensibility consists in discovering and formulating projects that politically are not yet capable of being realised. In the Alpine-Adriatic area some steps in this direction are being made, and a large part of the ‘frontier’ intellectuals are conscious of this need”. Looking further ahead, to the Alps: could this historic barrier finally become a window, a means of communication? “We know the Alps have always represented a barrier between North and South. But in this case the opening to the Balkans could be a help; the Balkan populations, far more than others, have always given proof of looking far beyond the Alps: it’s enough to think of the contacts between Czech, or Serbian culture, and that of France. The Alps have always been an obstacle, it’s true, but people have always found ways of getting round it: and in this perspective an opening to the Balkans could help to find new roads of communication also between North and South”.