| CompaRes |
|
|
Speech of Beata Elzbieta Cieszynska The SPEECH OF Beata Elzbieta Cieszynska - THE PRESIDENT OF COMPARES, delivered at the Camoes Institute during the Opening session of the International Conference: "Iberian and Slavonic Cultures in Contact and Comparison: Towards Crisis and Prosperity", held at the Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, 26-28 April, 2007. I would like to express my great satisfaction for being today in this opening session of the International Conference that has as theme "Iberian and Slavonic Cultures in Contact and Comparison: Towards Crisis and Prosperity". This session is equally dedicated to the public presentation of the International Society for Iberian-Slavonic Studies - CompaRes. CompaRes co-organizes this first international scientific meeting in cooperation with the Centre of Literatures in Portuguese of the Universities of Lisbon. First and foremost, I must express my gratitude for the extraordinary support that the founders of the Association and the promoters of this scientific event received from the entities that are present here today, as well as from other institutions that are mentioned in the program of this conference. On behalf of the Association I preside – CompaRes - I wish to thank the enthusiastic support of Camões Institute in the person its Madam President, Dr. Simonetta Luz Afonso. The Camões Institute not only offered a financial contribution for the accomplishment of this event, but also expressed the wish of joining the projects of the Association through the celebration of a protocol that will be signed in this session. With initiatives, as the one inaugurated today, we intended to contribute to the construction of a united Europe, approaching through knowledge and culture, geographically distant countries and with opposite historical backgrounds, but that want to build a common history in the diversity of their languages and of their cultural identities. We want, therefore, to build a Europe, where the geographical location of a country doesn't matter, where it is unimportant if the country belongs to the so-called peripheries or the so-called centres, but a Europe that houses a community of countries, where all have a word to say and an important role to play. In this new Europe with which we dream, it will become more and more decisive to transform the diversity of cultures, with their richness and potentialities, so that they can all stop being peripheral and become centres. The encounter we promoted presents, in a symbolic way, the logotype of our Association, which alludes to the ancient seal of the Knights Templars. In this seal, we can see two knights riding the same horse and sharing, this way, both destiny and culture. But, if in the original seal, the Knights Templars held shields, we, in CompaRes, replaced the shields with a book. A book covers the two knights, as can be seen in the logo of CompaRes, present in its Internet site. The members of CompaRes, are convinced that the ideary of the united contemporary Europe, will be easier to reach, through a real encounter of cultures that has knowledge as main path. For this reason, our Association has as central objective, as it is, in fact, announced by its name, the pursuit of initiatives of scientific, cultural and pedagogic character, to support and to promote the Iberian-Slavic studies in Portugal and in the world. We want to support and develop the comparatist investigation, in an interdisciplinary perspective, especially in the areas of social and human sciences. Equally, we intended to promote the development of academical studies, such as: the Slavs in Iberian countries and the Iberians in the Slavonic countries, searching the aggregation and support of national and international institutions. We would like, for instance, to offer courses and scholarships in the areas of cultural sciences, in partnership with other academical and cultural institutions. It is also our aim to create conditions for the direct translation of works by Iberian and Slavic authors based in the original languages and to foment editions, reeditions and respective studies. It will also be our pledge to promote a deepened reflection on the social, cultural and political identities of Slavic and Iberian countries, as well as on their relationships with Europe and the world. Besides, we will try to promote diversified cultural actions, such as: conferences and exhibitions, always in a strict partnership with other entities that share our ideary. Finally, it is our objective to bring about, at least, an Iberian-Slavic scientific meeting a year, that shall take place in a different city of an Iberian or Slavic country. We will also have an annual publication of CompaRes yearbook. Thus being, we hope that today’s session, so full of meaning, here in the illustrious Camões Institute, where the cooperation protocol will be signed, will be symbolic and a yet a true and large step in the journey through that fascinating road that will lead us to the great dream of approaching our brother peoples. |
|
|
