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Preface
The existing breadth of literature on Germany—the nation and its identity—is vast. Scholars in various disciplines have contributed, and continue to contribute, to this field. Many have their intellectual home grounded in the disciplines of history and politics, and approach the subject with a keen eye for governmental processes, policies, and the law. My own background is in media and cultural studies, and I have tried to tackle the study of German identity from within these disciplines. Media and cultural studies remind us that we need to widen our understanding of “the political” and that popular culture is a sphere in which social struggles over power take place. They are disciplines which take the popular and its consumers seriously and show that “politics” happens not only inside governments. My decision to focus all case studies in this book on media discourse is informed by this tradition, as is my choice to compare media coverage of European integration and reforms of citizenship legislation and immigration policy with media coverage of international football tournaments and restaurant reviews. The comparison shows how concepts of national identity, which are constructed in the reporting of government processes and policy making, are sustained in the seemingly nonpolitical sphere of entertainment and consumer culture.