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.