What's in a National Stereotype? An Introduction to Imagology at the Threshold of the 21st Century

Abstract

Image studies, or imagology, was traditionally subsumed under the uncritical notion of ‘national character’, which was itself replaced by the constructivist term ‘national stereotype’. Since its origins in comparative literature, the field has moved beyond the narrow disciplinary confines of the humanities, with their predominantly qualitative methodology, and become truly interdisciplinary. This happened in two steps. First, by bringing history into the picture, thereby adding a strong diachronical approach and additional elements of theory. Secondly, by attracting the interest of social scientists – in the main psychologists, sociologists, and social anthropologists – and, in the process, adding further theoretical frameworks and quantitative methodologies typically absent from the humanities. This has resulted in a whole array of insights and models. Specialists aside, however, mainstream scholars are still largely unaware of the field's essential notions, insights, models, disciplinary composition and claims to relevance. This article, therefore, provides a brief survey of the state of imagology on the threshold of the 21st century.

Keywords:

• studies
• imagology