The Shared Dream of the Americas: An Introduction to Americanity

Abstract

While the cultural identities of Latin America, Québec and the Antilles have long been forged around a single reference, namely to their European past, they currently show signs of rupture and heterogeneity. Thinkers from Québec (Sherry Simon, Pierre Nepveu, Gérard Bouchard), the Antilles (Glissant, Chamoiseau, Confiant) and Brazil (Bernd) have been revisiting the concepts of origin and space from a completely different perspective. No longer would Europe be the anchor of their totalitarian-shaped cultural identity; the roots and origins of this identity construction would have to be found elsewhere, in a new environment perhaps, embracing the modernity and diversity that are celebrated in the concepts of hybridity, transculturalism, creolization, which all slowly lead to a mythical crossroads: America.

However, the establishment of a symbolic relation with the American territory remains somewhat problematic as the concept of Americanity relies on diverse discourses which can be contradictory at times. In this essay, I aim to shed light on the trendy concept that Americanity has become. On the one hand, I will point out the ambiguity that surrounds the concept, and on the other hand, I will briefly explain how the different perspectives in the reappropriation of the American space could lead to the establishment of America as a shared elsewhere.