Schöpfungsmythen Zwischen Lokalität Und Globalität: Eine Interkulturelle Untersuchung Westafrikanischer Und Germanischer Kosmogonien
Abstract
Creation myths or cosmogonies are logical explanatory models for the origin of the world and
can be found in almost all cultures. They emerge as cultural texts and, on closer inspection,
show impressive similarities. Myths of creation develop or change over time due to cultural
influences. Therefore, it becomes challenging to differentiate Locality and Globality,
respectively understood as cultural specificities and transcultural aspects in these mythical
stories. This leads to the assumption that cosmogonies claim to be universal. They do not only
showcase cultural specificities, but also express clearly a common human behavior, especially
the common tendency of a given group to transfer a reduced perception of the universe to the
whole global world. This results in a tension between the local and the global. The present work
compares West African creation myths of the Dogon and the Yoruba with Nordic Germanic
creation myths. Leo Kreutzer’s »Doppelblickend« Method will have the merit of bringing
together two seemingly different cultural texts, looking at each other. Cultural specificities such
as symbols and metaphors in the two myth categories are examined and checked to see how
they resemble each other in a more detailed critical analysis. The present work should primarily
make a literary contribution to intercultural myth research. In addition, this work aims in a
larger space to promote intercultural understanding between societies that are today strongly
characterized by their heterogeneity and confronted with issues of identity and alterity.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Subject
Germanischer KosmogonienRights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Arts [606]
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