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This text reflects on identities from an African archipelago in the Atlantic that is part of the Spanish state. The Canary Islands were the first place colonized by Europeans in their expansion toward America. The text focuses on identity formation throughout the twentieth century. Reference is made to Canarian artists and poets such as Tomás Morales and Alonso Quesada, and more recent artists of international stature such as Manolo Millares, Martín Chirino, and César Manrique. The international context and the destruction of the idea of Europe are reflected from various perspectives. Reference is made to travelers who drew analogies between Canary Islanders and Native Americans, and the notion of "displacement" at every level is addressed. The article also discusses "foreigners" traveling back and forth in the era of advanced technology, globalization, and mass tourism. As Stefan Zweig and Franz Rosenzweig have observed since the 1920s, in the age of border control, anyone can become a "foreigner." "Europe: Passage and Reflections" was born within the context of the exhibition "Europe, that Exotic Place" (2019–2020) and expands upon the reflection on insularities undertaken in the exhibition "Island Horizons" (2009–2010), which featured artists and writers from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, the Canary Islands, the Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde, and Réunion. The article also arose from the "Islands, Images, Imaginaries" discussion series held at Duke University in 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of work in psychology demonstrates that individual preferences and personality traits are reflected in contemporary cultural productions. Human preferences have specific cognitive signatures in cultural productions, such as the baby schema (e.g., round face, high forehead, big eyes, small nose and mouth) in portraits, and pair-bonding elements (e.g., love at first sight, tragic separations) in romances. These cognitive signatures share similar characteristics, which makes it possible to trace them across time and space, and quantify their evolution. Cognitive signatures within cultural productions can therefore function as cognitive fossils, thereby paving the way for a new and exciting field of inquiry at the intersection of psychology and history. Psychology is crucial for understanding human history. When aggregated, changes in the psychology of individuals – in the intensity of social trust, parental care, or intellectual curiosity – can lead to important changes in institutions, social norms, and cultures. However, studying the role of psychology in shaping human history has been hindered by the difficulty of documenting the psychological traits of people who are no longer alive. Recent developments in psychology suggest that cultural artifacts reflect in part the psychological traits of the individuals who produced or consumed them. Cultural artifacts can thus serve as 'cognitive fossils' – physical imprints of the psychological traits of long-dead people. We review the range of materials available to cognitive and behavioral scientists, and discuss the methods that can be used to recover and quantify changes in psychological traits throughout history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]