The use of the term crisis became an omnipresent topos and vivid description of society during the twentieth century. This applied particularly to how Europe was portrayed and how it described itself, in that such descriptions were, and are, shaped by diverse and historically changing semantics of crisis. These correspond, on one hand, with the oft-repeated observation that the semantic register applied to narrations of Europe and its modern history is one of crisis. Such observations are also reflected in non-western depictions of Europe and ‘the West’, which frequently express the weakening, delegitimisation or even the end of European or Western (cultural) hegemony in the world. Yet on the other hand, recourse to Europe during the twentieth century, and certainly in the context of the two world wars, is connected with a civilising and political project whose aim is to transcend national borders and nationalism within Europe and to subsequently serve as a potential model within an emerging new world order. But the processes of institutionally integrating Europe have been characterised by narratives of crisis since the outset. Europe is therefore an extremely ambivalent reference point that has been discursively and variously articulated in direct connection with figures of thought related to ‘crisis’, and with crisis diagnoses and scenarios, and has thus repeatedly been semantically transformed.
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Aims
Against this backdrop, this project uses German and French textbooks for history and politics to explore the extent to which discussions, depictions and visualisations of the subject of Europe in the twentieth century have emanated from polyvalent and omnipresent semantic interpretations of ‘crisis’ in a range of discourses. The project also examines what constitutes a European subject position within the framework of the nation-state or as a projection beyond it, as well as in discourses relating to respective ‘non-European’ counterparts.
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Methodology
The project employs a discourse analytical perspective to examine the discursive constellations, figures of thought and semantic topoi, in which Europe and corresponding subject positions are represented, articulated, imagined and designed in response to crises. Firstly, the topics are identified in which Europe is addressed in the context of crises and then differentiated between according to their specific crisis reference. In a second step the different semantic topoi of ‘crisis’ associated with representations of Europe are ascertained, assessed and weighted. Thirdly, the forms of agency and (potential) options for decisions and negotiation demonstrated or implied in these representations are examined. Finally, a deeper analysis is undertaken of the narrative of historic change in which Europe is associated with ‘crisis’ or the surmounting or absence of such.
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Results
Publications
- Krise und Kritik. Entstehung und Wandel der Europabildung in Schulbüchern seit den 1950er-Jahren, in: Eva Matthes/Christine Ott/Sylvia Schütze/Dieter Wrobel (eds.): Kontinuität und Wandel von Wissensbeständen in Bildungsmedien, Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt 2024, S. 193–202.
- Otto, Marcus, M. Telus. (2023). Constructions of European Identity, Crisis Stereotypes and the Discursive Embedding of the Subject in Textbooks Assignments. In: Exploring Interconnectedness: Constructions of Europe and National Identities in Educational Media. Edited by K. Gorbahn, E. Hallsteinsdóttir, J. Kilian et al. Palgrave Studies in Educational Media.
- Otto, Marcus, Steffen Sammler, Riem Spielhaus. 2020. “Krisen“ als Seismografen gesellschaftlichen Wandels und Gegenstand schulischer Bildungsmedien. In: Handbuch Krisenforschung, edited by F. Bösch, N Deitelhoff and S Kroll, Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag, p. 93–108.
Lectures
- Krise und Kritik – Entstehung und Wandel der Europabildung in Schulbüchern seit den 1950er-Jahren, 07.10.22 at the annual conference of the International Society for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media e.V. (IGSBi) "Kontinuität und Wandel von Wissensbeständen in Bildungsmedienden" at the University of Würzburg.
- Europabildung im Zeichen von „Krisen“ – Europa als historisch-politisches Argument und die Anrufung europäischer Subjekte, 28.11.19 at the 'Europabildung' conference, part of the sprache-macht-gesellschaft series at the University of Vienna.
