Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Im Schatten der Nationen: Überlegungen zum Defizit einer gesamteuropäischen Ritualität

“…As Eric Hobsbawm has shown, for the sake of creating a sense of national identity, national traditions were often invented rather than detected (Hobsbawm 1992). While in England, feelings of national pride were fuelled by heroic tales about mythical figures such as King Arthur or Robin Hood (Barczewski 2000), German authors were eager to reinvent the ancient commander Arminius as a German patriot they posthumously called "Hermann der Cherusker" (Münkler 2009). It is obvi ous that such undertakings almost always served a political agenda.…”