The Image of the «stranger» in Oral Narratives About Germany

Abstract

The article examines the image of a «German» as a «stranger / other», which is one of the most expressive ethical and aesthetic dominants not only in historical memory, but also in modern narratives. Its emergence was based on intercultural and socio-political processes, led to the creation of ethnostereotypes in folklore; the image of the "German" can be clearly traced among these. This element of folklore tended to gain greater prominence during the period of political and social upheaval, for example during the First and Second World Wars, or waves of political and economic emigration. The research methodology involved the application of narrative interviews, i.e., recording information on digital media, and then deciphering (transcribing) it preservinge the lexical, grammatical and syntactic features of the narrator's speech, This made it possible to record and use a hundred biographical stories of respondents whose lives in one way or another related to the subject of Germany. The recorded data shows that the folklore impression of the sociostereotypical image of the «German» is infused with distinct dominant features, which are usually interpreted in a positive way nowadays. Analysis indicates that very often the phrase «typical German» becomes clear to the interlocutors and does not require additional interpretation, as the respondents resort to stereotyping the image. The paper also examines the construction of the so-called «mental maps» when a group or an individual, uses certain semantic meanings and connotations, to characterizes the surrounding territory, by imbuing it with their understanding of its social and cultural features. National images are observed to have a dual nature: they are mainly constructed not only topdown, but also bottom-up, based on the beliefs, superstitions, and needs of the common people. While the «stranger» has negative connotations in folklore, the studied narratives highlight «we vs. they» clash, that emphasizes the selfawareness of one's own national identity.