KAAD-Seminar “The Own and the Other : Cultural Expressions of Collective Identities“
Identity and the question of the cultural manifestations of collective identities were the topics of the seminar which was attended by 19 of our scholarship holders from 27 to 30 June 2023 in Augsburg.
Both are current conflicts which were discussed from the point of view of the self-image of researchers as individuals as well as members of the community. The various aspects, dimensions and levels of identity and culture were hold in conversation with Anton Losinger .
a project which they would like to realise in their home countries. The participants had already informed themselves about Augsburg before the seminar and explored the city in small groups using their prior knowledge and focussing on their project ideas. In Augsburg they collected diverse impressions in the form of photos, drawings, notes and information material. After returning to the seminar house, they illustrated their project plans and prepared poster collages. Due to similar project ideas, some intercultural and multidisciplinary group projects emerged. The ideas included, for example, a water use concept for a particularly dry region in Kenya, special kiosks for Vietnam in which not only drinks and snacks but also regional products could be sold, or Bavarian-Argentinean fusion chair designs. Particularly from the group work, complex but realistic projects developed, such as that of a school backpack adapted to each region and produced locally with materials and know-how.
Finally, the participants worked out the complexity of the identity of the Habsburg monarchy with Prof Dr Günther Kronenbitter ( University of Augsburg ) using the concrete example of texts from German literature ( Stefan Zweig ’s “The World of Security” from his memoir “The World of Yesterday” and Robert Musil ’s “Kakania” from his novel “The Man Without Qualities”). In his lecture, Günther Kronenbitter showed the complexity of the identity of the Habsburg Empire and the events, factors, groups and individuals that shaped, criticised and reinterpreted it. In the ensuing debate, analogies to the European Union and also to the Soviet Union were discussed. In this process, the question of the extent to which a common identity is possible against the backdrop of regional diversity came into focus.
At the end of the seminar, the group visited the State Textile and Industry Museum in Augsburg and learned how cultures, identities, techniques and economy come together locally, regionally and globally in one product, using the historical example of fabric production.
In the final reflection, the participants noted that a new collective identity had emerged among them as a result of the seminar, consisting of everyone having reached a common understanding of their own perception and the perception of others.
