Abstract:

The paper analyses political strategies deployed for promoting European culture in USA (documents and recommendations approved by the European institutions, highlighting overall aims of external cultural relations of the EU). It compares ‘theoretical’ goals with ‘actual’ actions, that is, cultural activities undertaken by the cultural operators in Washington DC, focusing on spreading the achievements of European art in the US. Finally, it evaluates the effectiveness of Cultural Diplomacy conducted by the EU and its partners.

The paper focuses on how policies are performed, discursively negotiated and constructed in different political and cultural environment abroad. Effectiveness of various type of actions such as European Month of Culture, European Days, or European Houses, in propagating knowledge about European history of the nations, its culture. The paper investigates strong/weak points of the current state of affairs in implementing the cultural relations of the EU in USA.