%0 Journal Article
%T The Father on Display: The House of Jean Monnet and the Construction of European Identity
%A Christoffer K£¿lvraa
%J Culture Unbound : Journal of Current Cultural Research
%D 2012
%I 
%X In the 1980s, the EC engaged in trying actively to construct a European identity, primarily through a ¡®manufacturing of symbols', such as a common flag, hymn and day of celebration. A lesser-known element of this symbolic construction was the elevation of the recently deceased Jean Monnet to a position as the undisputed ¡®founding father¡¯ of Europe. The 'sanctification' of Monnet culminated in the con-version of his house ¨C purchased by the European Parliament ¨C into a museum of his deeds and of the European project that they served. This article seeks to ana-lyse the construction of Monnet as a founding father for EUrope, first by investi-gating the context of the acquisition of his house and the establishment of the mu-seum in the 1980s, and subsequently by analysing the present exhibition in it.
%K European Identity
%K Jean Monnet
%K Museums
%K Myth
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.124747