Political Myth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A political myth is an intellectual and emotional narrative about a historical person , a political issue or a political event with a collective , meaningful and identity-creating potential. This myth unfolds its integrative potential across social and cultural rifts, whereby it achieves a self-evident and unquestionable validity. Its effect is complexity-reducing; Unmanageable connections are brought into orderly structures with the help of simple perception schemes. Is characteristic of a political myth that communicated not in accordance with the political and social events empirically verifiable facts interpreted is, but in a narrative selective and stereotyped way. If the future plays a prominent role in a utopia or ideology , historical memory takes center stage in a political myth . But it can also be a complete fake and still support ideology. In contrast to the religious myth , the political myth lacks reference to a transcendent , otherworldly world.

Demarcation

Relationship to ideology

The media scientist Andreas Dörner pointed out in a case study on the subject of "political myth" that the terms myth and ideology are often used as complete or partial synonyms in scientific linguistic usage , "whereby the boundary between ideology and theory is sometimes abolished". In order to oppose such conceptual imprecision and general definitions of the terms, he emphasized the narrative aspect of the myth: According to this, the term “myth with its structure of a symbolically condensed narrative sequence” should be distinguished from the terms ideology and theory, “although here without it Doubts are transitions and mixed forms and in particular the deep structure of these semiotic genres can show strong similarities. ”In addition to this reference to the strongly narrative nature of political myth as a general delimitation criterion, the literature also states that political myth, in contrast to ideology, is not a comprehensive interpretation of the world deliver.

Political scientist Yves Bizeul has made a more precise distinction between political myths, utopias and ideologies . Bizeul, who tried to grasp the ideology based on a definition by Cornelius Castoriadis as action-oriented belief complexes of ideas , ideals , statements of faith , doctrines and symbols , saw in it “ the substrate on which utopias and political myths flourish ”. According to this definition, ideology is (usually) a condition for the existence of a political myth. Only in exceptional cases does a reverse causality arise , in that “ an ideology originates from a myth and is shaped by it ”. In other words: Political myth is generally understood by Bizeul as part of ideology. In a special way, an entire group of myths can also be an integral part of a modern state ideology .

According to Bizeul, one difference between the older, pre-industrial myth and ideology is that the myth brought people together and ensured cohesion; thus developed an integrative effect. Ideologies, especially “isolationist and occlusive ideologies”, would have a divisive effect and mobilize forces against those who think differently. This approach emphasized a structural difference: while an ideology had an either-or structure, the both-and structure was a feature of the older myth. Bizeul stated that “ this openness has partly been lost in modern political myths ”: “ Because they were used to deliberately differentiate one (national, social, 'racial' or ideological ) group from others. “This modern demarcation does not take place through the myth itself, but because of its modern service function for the ideology. Ideologies are dependent on the world of emotions and ideas of the political myth in order to be able to take root in a population . According to their structure and function, political myths are part of modern ideologies.

Relationship to utopia

In addition to the analytical comparison of ideologies and political myths, Bizeul also tried to work out the differences between political myth and utopia. Like the historian Heidi Hein-Kircher , he diagnosed the political myth as a desire to do away with complexity and confusion. However, this characteristic would not primarily apply to utopia, for which the hope for a reconciliation in the totality and the ultimate wish for the abolition of the political are primarily characteristic. As a common feature between the older, pre-industrial myth and the utopia, a narrative function must be assigned to both . Accordingly, a myth can be present at the core of a utopia. The difference, however, also lies in the fact that utopias are drafts of the state with reference to an imaginary future; on the other hand, the older myth is a story about an act of creation , with which a sense and orientation is conveyed in relation to the present .

Not least on the basis of his reading of Bloch , Bizeul came to the conclusion that utopia had lost its former meaning and function in the 20th century. According to him, the great "concrete utopias" have failed. However, the general awareness of this is accompanied by a reactivation of myths. The like-standing view that the modern political myth because of his past reference as opposed to the utopia that was considered aligned as progressive, a conservative train is inherent Bizeul informed look at a study by Jan Assmann not however. According to Assmann, a “utopian memory” was preserved in the political myth, which is why the political myth can also develop emancipatory forces and forces that transform society. Bizeul stated for the relationship between modern political myth and utopia: “ Myth and utopia both have a regressive and a progressive Janus faculty and fulfill similar functions. They integrate, create meaning and mobilize energies that can be liberating, but used again and again the legitimacy of rule . “The strict dichotomy progressive / backward-looking does not apply. Political myth - like utopia - can point to a future, but, unlike utopia, it can never describe an alternative society in detail.

Relation to the legend

Occasionally the myth is not differentiated from the legend. The myth researcher Gilbert Durand deliberately defined his concept of myth quite broadly, as it should encompass the entire area of ​​the imaginary . Andreas Dörner, on the other hand, pointed out that both the ideology and the political myth represent "collectively anchored, culturally interpreted political generators of meaning". This characteristic would at the same time distinguish them from the genres of sagas , fairy tales and legends , since the reality of these genres is more playful and non-binding. In contrast to the political myth, which develops a collective political effect, they therefore remained largely limited to the realm of private and family discourses and fantasies . The philosopher Reinhard Brandt did not deal systematically with the relationship between political myth and legend in his essay “Mythos and Mythology”, but he did explain this using a concrete example. He explained that the word myth can take the place of legend "in a casual sense" when talking about the state , but not the other way around. Legends would also be attached to "historically or perhaps mythically secured persons and events", although they do not guarantee the correctness of the story, but could be "in principle true". Bizeul does not find this can-do definition with regard to myth: He wrote that political myth - in contrast to fairy tales and fables - "always contains at least some truth".

In a book by the political scientist and historian Raina Zimmering, in which the authors demonstrated the decline in the cohesiveness of a political myth using the example of Mexican society in the 20th century, the scientist Oliver Schulz focused on muralism , which had become a national art in the 1940s . Using the example of the revolutionary myth presented there, he highlighted the political legend as part of the political myth. Schulz stated:

“It is characteristic of the use of old myths to build up completely new myths, which should be made accessible to the broad public necessary for the establishment by means of a large number of monumental image productions in public buildings. For the creation of new myths u. a. by eliminating time and place, a blurring of legend and reality , of historical events and cultural roots with current social processes and personalities takes place. "

Further delimitations

In addition to the demarcation to ideology, utopia and legend, a demarcation to the term historical politics is made in the literature . The main difference that is emphasized is that the term political myth does not just refer to historical events. The term historical politics should therefore be defined much more narrowly.

Typing

Classification of Myths

Depending on how authors have differentiated and defined the term political myth from other terms, there are different typologies . Another criterion that helps determine the typology presented is the degree of differentiation. In an article in his lexicon of political science , the political scientist Dieter Nohlen distinguished primarily historical political myths - such as the national epics published between the 15th and 19th centuries, decisive "battles" in wars (e.g. Amselfeld , Trafalgar , Waterloo , Sedan , Verdun , Somme , Stalingrad ) or a number of rulers and politicians - of future-oriented political myths in which strong future expectations can play a role, for example with a view to the idea of ​​revolution or progress and equivalent to historical memory.

In her scientific essay Political Myths , Heidi Hein-Kircher differentiated between myths of people, events, space and time. By a personal myth she understood a spiritual construct related to heroes , with which “ the present is seen as the result of the achievement of the mythically transfigured person ”. She gave examples of state and empire founders as well as founders of political movements who, as leaders , fathers or teachers , are stylized as role models for societies. The event myths, on the other hand, mainly include transfigured battles or revolutions . Hein-Kircher emphasized sacred ideas of territories and myths of time as an essential feature of spatial myths, the narratives of political heydays, which are seen as constitutive for the respective society.

Limits of classification

The literary scholar Dietmar Rieger decided to assign the term " historical myth " to political myths, which was generally not clearly feasible, as part of his study of the Maid of Orléans , who was elevated to a national symbol in France and stylized as a national heroine . According to him, in view of possible theogenic , cosmogonic , eschatological and other contents , this type of myth is "not necessarily and mostly not only" to be understood as belonging to the category of political myth. The limits of classification are therefore drawn where the political in myth can no longer be analytically clearly separated from the religious . The linguist and literary scholar Tim Lörke, on the other hand, retained the term political myth in this case and understood it as an integral part of " political religion ".

Characteristics

Manifestations

The Berlin political scientist Herfried Münkler differentiates between three manifestations of political myths, which are always closely related to one another: narrative, image and staging. The narrative constitutes the real essence of the myth; it has to be told over and over again and always differently. This narrative variation is the actual “work on the myth” in the sense of Hans Blumenberg , without which the myth would solidify into dogma . On the other hand, his visualization in history painting or in memorials represents a consolidation: In the once created image, the artist commits himself to a variant of the mythical story that has been declared binding. The third manifestation is the ritual staging, for example in the form of annually celebrated commemorative days and holidays with their speeches, processions and parades.

Truth content of the myth

The term political myth describes a special possible aspect of the general term myth when it is used to emphasize a “glorious, glorious past” or an idealized idea of ​​the past. This description can then be linked to a definition of political myth as political belief , which appeals to a return to a past political order that is thought to be “ true ”. According to this definition, truth is by no means to be understood in the sense of discursive verifiability in the field of science. Based on classical mythology , as Andreas Dörner suggested, one could speak of “truths of faith”, the core of which constitutes the “ effectiveness ” of the myth, whereby this aspect also reveals a “ magical ” dimension of the political myth.

In the second volume of his "Philosophy of Symbolic Form", which was first published in 1925 under the title "The Mythical Thinking", the philosopher Ernst Cassirer dealt more closely with the question of the " objective truth" of myth. According to his myth theory, myth, which he understood as a “ symbolic form”, and reason ( logos ) are not antagonistic to one another; rather, according to him, there would be mutual penetration. In this context, Cassirer spoke of a “memory truth”. This truth of the myth would not lie in a reference to the past, but in an occurring present that actually constitutes collective history . Cassirer saw this “ culture of remembrance ” primarily characterized by a pragmatic power of consciousness , less by its objects of remembrance in the sense of a reference.

The political scientist Claus Leggewie , who traced the “myth of the new beginning” in the Federal Republic of Germany , also leaned on the “classical” conception of myth when defining the term. According to this, the myth is "an authoritarian word that denotes the given, or that which brings it close to the numinous , revealed" . And he added: “The political myth certifies what is and should be in the community , so it creates credibility in the entire breadth of the literal meaning of legitimation . Establish myths as a charter of social order, self-image and self-evident of a society. As a result, myths have foundational power, both literally and figuratively. ” From an analytical and critical perspective, Leggewie applied another concept of truth to political myth. He also wrote:

“Political myths always contain elements of truth and lies, of historiography and prophecy , of the past and the future. To that extent, they are both true and false. By establishing social and political realities , they are true. By showing the community a future, they fulfill themselves. By falsifying or hiding something (and all myths do), they sow the doubt about their validity and thus the seeds of dissidence , the counter-myth. "

Problematizing the Myth

Under the influence of his political experiences in the 1940s, Ernst Cassirer decided to redefine the state under the aspect of political myth. Now he differentiated between a myth in the sense of an unconscious symbolic activity and a myth that is consciously created against the background of a political interest . In his work Vom Mythos des Staates , published posthumously in 1949 , he described a particular danger that would emanate from modern political myths in direct comparison with human affects , coercion and oppression ; just as these phenomena would have shown themselves in the history of politics and the history of religion :

“They undertook to change people in order to be able to regulate and control their actions . The political myths acted in the same way as a snake trying to paralyze its victims before attacking. The people ... were defeated and subjugated before they had realized what was actually happening. "

According to Cassirer, the political myth would find its equivalent in political rites , which in a totalitarian state result in a uniform equality and abolition of the boundaries between state and private sphere, which means the loss of individuality , freedom and interest in personal responsibility . However, he noted that the political sophistication of making people submissive in modern times by means of political myths alone could not explain the success of Adolf Hitler . As part of his research, he also took a perspective on the history of ideas , with a particular interest in the idealism of the state of the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel . After all, the latter praised, glorified and even idolized the sovereign state . His understanding of the state therefore represented a self-image in Germany that could provide an explanation for the fascination of political myth in the time of fascism .

Cost-benefit considerations

In 2004 the political scientist Herfried Münkler objected in an essay on the subject of "Antifascism as the founding myth of the GDR" against a perspective that understands the political myth exclusively in the light of untruth, misrepresentation of history , deception and deception and derives a policy of enlightenment from this , that in this discourse people think more often with polemical than analytical pairs of terms. In his study he made up his mind to question in reference to the philosopher Hans Blumenberg political myths afterwards, "how far they carried meaningfully structured narratives sense vouch, characterized trust in one's own actions thickness donate and thus political action in terms of co-action of people in the first place . allow " he also considered that the benefits of political myths almost always stood costs compared to - " and the costs of political myths are mostly high " . Since Münkler, however, understood the political myth, which he conceptually defined as a “risky narrative”, as a condition for political action and wanted to gain something from the positive aspects of the myth that he diagnosed, he concluded: “Only a world without politics would become a world without be political myths. But that by no means means that myths are myths alike. ” Research into political myths could therefore also mean that it could be seen as “ a search for explanations for the success and failure of political communities [...] in the area of ​​the orientation knowledge on which they are based ”. is understood.

German national myths

According to Herfried Münkler (see lit.), the most important myths of the Germans are :

  • Arminius (Hermann der Cherusker): The personification of Germania, fighter against foreign rule, for national independence, used in the fight against Napoleon , but also in Luther's fight against Rome . Arminius / Hermann and Barbarossa become the predecessors of Kaiser Wilhelm I in monuments .
  • Barbarossa : The emperor sleeping in Kyffhäuser , important in the (re-) establishment of the empire in 1871 .
  • Siegfried and the Nibelungen : The underhand murder of Siegfried by Hagen returned in the " stab in the back legend ". The Nibelungentreue (train to the east and loyalty in the fight, if necessary, until death) played both during war Germany's entry at the side of Austria in the First World War, a role as well as the costly battles of the German Empire in Russia in the Second World War .
  • Faust : Example of German ingenuity and inventiveness, of spiritual conflict and rebellion against God, and (in Goethe's Faust II ) as a developer of new settlement land.
  • Germania : The image drawn by Tacitus of the Germanic peoples as noble, morally pure and strong in privation, their fight against the Romans: These are the Pope and all “ Welschen ” (depending on requirements, Italians, French or Spaniards as the epitome of false and degenerate). The virtues of the Germanic peoples create the ideal of the German forest . During the Nazi era , the "forest people" of the Germanic peoples were contrasted with the "desert people" of the Jews.
  • Luther : just like Faust, a symbol of German brooding inwardness, he too, like Herrmann, in the fight against the "Welschen", for national independence.
  • Canossa : as a symbol of the struggle against Rome and the "Welschen", for national independence.
  • Bismarck : He helps Barbarossa in Wilhelm I (“Barbablanca”) to return to a renewed empire, he fights against the “Welschen” (Franco-German War, “ Kulturkampf ” against Rome, the Roman Catholic Church ), reflected in him Hermann / Arminius and Luther say, " He is not going to Canossa ".

These national myths were used in a form adapted to the respective political situation, especially in the 19th century, for the eventual unification of the Germans in the Empire of 1871, but also in the Nazi Empire to justify the expansion to the east. In addition to these national myths, Münkler also mentions the Prussian myth, the myth of Queen Luise , the city of Weimar as a refuge for the educated classics , the city of Nuremberg as the epitome of the German Middle Ages (with a large old town, castle and city wall) and the " German Rhine " ( with its historically reshaped castles ).

After the Second World War, there were two founding myths: in the west of Germany the “ economic miracle ”, combined with the “ rubble women ” and the “ miracle of Bern ” as a sign of the rebirth of national self-confidence, in the east the purified rebirth from the spirit of “ anti-fascism ”. Both founding myths have a true core, but also aspects that can be critically questioned.

See also

Web links

literature

  • Berding, Helmut (ed.): Myth and Nation. Studies on the Development of Collective Consciousness in Modern Times 3 , Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1996 (Suhrkamp Taschenbuchwissenschaft 1246), ISBN 3-518-28846-6 .
  • Bernek, Rüdiger: Dramaturgy and Ideology. The political myth in the Hikesiedemas of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides . 2004.
  • Bizeul, Yves (ed.): Political myths and rituals in Germany, France and Poland , Berlin 2000 (series: Ordo Politicus, Vol. 34), ISBN 978-3-428-09918-4 .
  • Cassirer, Ernst : From the myth of the state. Philosophical foundations of political behavior (reprint of the 1949 edition without any changes), 2002.
  • Conermann, Stephan (ed.): Myths, history (s), identities. The struggle for the past , EB-Verlag, Schenefeld / Hamburg 1999 (Asia and Africa, Vol. 2), ISBN 3-930826-52-6 .
  • Dörner, Andreas: Political Myth and Symbolic Politics. The Hermann myth. On the emergence of the national consciousness of the Germans . Reinbek 1996.
  • Flacke, Monika (ed.): Myths of the Nations. A European panorama. An exhibition of the German Historical Museum under the patronage of Federal Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl. Volume accompanying the exhibition from March 20, 1998 to June 9, 1998 , 2nd edition, Köhler & Amelang, Munich / Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-733-80221-7 .
  • Galli, Matteo / Preusser, Heinz-Peter (eds.): German founding myths . Heidelberg: Winter 2008 (Yearbook Literature and Politics 2), ISBN 978-3-8253-5416-9 .
  • Knabel, Klaudia / Rieger, Dietmar / Wodianka, Stephanie (eds.): National myths - collective symbols. Functions, constructions and media of memory , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005 (forms of memory, vol. 23), ISBN 3-525-35581-5 .
  • Link, Jürgen / Wülfing, Wulf (ed.): National myths and symbols in the second half of the 19th century. Structures and functions of concepts of national identity . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991 (Language and History 16), ISBN 3-608-91062-X .
  • Münkler, Herfried : The Germans and their myths . Rowohlt, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-87134-607-1 .
  • Speth, Rudolf: Nation and Revolution. Political Myths in the 19th Century . Opladen 2000.
  • Voigt, Rüdiger (ed.): Myth State. Carl Schmitt's understanding of the state . Baden-Baden 2001.
  • Wülfing, Wulf / Bruns, Karin / Parr, Rolf: Historical mythology of the Germans 1798–1918 . Wilhelm Fink, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-7705-2605-8 .
  • Zimmering, Raina: Myths in the Politics of the GDR. A contribution to the exploration of political myths . Opladen 2000.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andreas Dörner: Political Myth and Symbolic Politics. The Hermann myth - On the origin of the national consciousness of the Germans. Reinbek near Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-499-55568-9 , pp. 42-62.
  2. ↑ a b c Claus Leggewie : The myth of the new beginning. The founding stages of the Federal Republic of Germany: 1949–1968–1989. In: Helmut Berding (Ed.): Myth and Nation. Studies on the Development of Collective Consciousness in Modern Times. Frankfurt a. M. 1996, pp. 275-302. (Available online: Archive polylogos .)
  3. ↑ a b c d Heidi Hein-Kircher : Political Myths . In: From Politics and Contemporary History . Issue 11 (2007). Available online: APuZ archive
  4. ↑ z. B. the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
  5. ^ A b Andreas Dörner: Political Myth and Symbolic Politics. The Hermann myth - On the origin of the national consciousness of the Germans. Reinbek near Hamburg 1996, p. 43.
  6. ↑ a b c Dieter Nohlen (Ed.): Lexicon of Political Science. Theories, methods, terms . 3rd, updated and extended Ed., Munich 2005, pp. 774 f., ISBN 3-406-54117-8 . Google Books
  7. ^ Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 10, ISBN 3-8260-3242-X .
  8. ↑ a b Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 15.
  9. ↑ Thomas Schmotz: Review of the book by “Simcha Flapan: The Birth of Israel. Munich 2005 ". In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 271.
  10. ^ Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 14.
  11. ↑ a b Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 17 f.
  12. ^ Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 19.
  13. ^ Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 21.
  14. ↑ a b Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 24 f.
  15. ^ Yves Bizeul: Political Myths, Ideologies and Utopias . In: Peter Tepe (Ed.): Myth. Interdisciplinary forum for myth research . Vol. 2: Political Myths. Würzburg 2006, p. 28.
  16. ^ A b Yves Bizeul: Structure and function of patchwork-like political myths in ultra-modern societies. In: Stephanie Wodianka, Dietmar Rieger (ed.): Mythosupdate. Transmission and generation potentials of an old form of memory. Berlin / New York 2006, p. 91, ISBN 3-11-018990-9 .
  17. ^ Andreas Dörner: Political Myth and Symbolic Politics. The Hermann myth - On the origin of the national consciousness of the Germans. Reinbek near Hamburg 1996, p. 43 f.
  18. ↑ Reinhard Brandt : Myth and Mythology. In: Reinhard Brandt, Steffen Schmidt (Hrsg.): Mythos und Mythologie. Berlin 2004, p. 18, ISBN 3-05-003775-X .
  19. ↑ Oliver Schulz: José Clemente Orozco. Depiction of the Mexican Revolution in Muralism. In: Raina Zimmering (Ed.): The Revolutionary Myth in Mexico. Würzburg 2005, ISBN 3-8260-3009-5 .
  20. ↑ Dietmar Rieger: History and history myth. Some thoughts on the example of the Maid of Orléans. In: Stephanie Wodianka, Dietmar Rieger (ed.): Mythosupdate. Transmission and generation potentials of an old form of memory. Berlin / New York 2006, p. 19.
  21. ↑ Tim Lörcke: Political Religion and Enlightened Myth. National Socialism and Hermann Broch's and Thomas Mann's counter-program. In: Hans Jörg Schmidt, Petra Tallafuss: Totalitarianism and literature. German literature in the 20th century. Literary public in the field of tension of totalitarian opinion formation. Göttingen 2007, ISBN 3-525-36909-3 , p. 121 ff.
  22. ↑ Herfried Münkler, The Germans and their Myths , Rowohlt, Berlin 2009, p. 14 fuö.
  23. ↑ Peter Tepe: Myth & Literature. Self-disclosure. In: Archive for Concepts History 44, Edition 25-26, Hamburg 2002, p. 258. (Source: Peter Tepe: Mythos & Literatur. Würzburg 2001, ISBN 3-8260-2136-3 .)
  24. ^ Andreas Dörner: Political Myth and Symbolic Politics. The Hermann myth - On the origin of the national consciousness of the Germans. Reinbek near Hamburg 1996, p. 44.
  25. ^ Günter Oesterle: Remembrance, memory, knowledge. Studies on cultural studies memory research. Göttingen 2005, p. 212 ff., ISBN 3-525-35585-8 . [1]
  26. ^ Peter Müller: The state thought of Cassirer. Würzburg 2003, p. 9, ISBN 3-8260-2438-9 .
  27. ↑ Quoted in: Peter Müller: Der Staatsgedanke Cassirers. Würzburg 2003, p. 169. (Source: Ernst Cassirer: Vom Mythos des Staates. Zürich 1949, p. 374.)
  28. ^ Peter Müller: The state thought of Cassirer. Würzburg 2003, p. 169 f.
  29. ^ Enno Rudolph: Ernst Cassirer in context. Cultural philosophy between metaphysics and historicism. Tübingen 2003, p. 10 ff., ISBN 3-16-147893-2 .
  30. ^ Herfried Münkler: Antifascism as a founding myth of the GDR. In: Reinhard Brandt, Steffen Schmidt (Hrsg.): Mythos und Mythologie. Berlin 2004, p. 221 f.
  31. ^ Herfried Münkler: Antifascism as a founding myth of the GDR. In: Reinhard Brandt, Steffen Schmidt (Hrsg.): Mythos und Mythologie. Berlin 2004, p. 223 f.
  32. ↑ In the following paragraph we refrain from marking every mythically distorted representation with quotation marks or "allegedly".