Topics in German Culture and Society: German Myths - Past and Present

Are myths just fake news or ideology? Or are they are a form of symbolic capital that provides orientation and helps establish a shared identity in an impenetrable world? Why are myths so powerful and long-lived? Have science and democratic institutions displaced myth today or does myth live on in the guise of social media platforms? How do myths arise out of a complex mix of historical facts and fantasies embedded in media and structured by narrative genres? We will explore these questions through close readings of selected German myths such as Nibelungen, Luther, Preußen, Stunde Null, Wirtschaftswunder and German Wiedervereinigung in 1989.