Nünning: Imagination, Perspektivität und Internationalisierung. Aufgaben, Herausforderungen und Konzepte für die Zukunftsfähigkeit der Kulturwissenschaften

Abstract: Focussing on three key concepts highlighted in the title, the essay pursues three main aims: First, it attempts to demonstrate that any conceptual breakthrough and institutional innovation in an interdisciplinary field like the study of culture requires imagination first. Secondly, this essay offers modest reflections on why it would be desirable to acknowledge both the perspectivity and positionality from which we conduct research in the humanities, and the fact that European ways of doing research are anything but ›normal‹ or universal, but rather highly culture-specific and shaped by the factors that the acronym WEIRD stands for, i.e. »Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic« (Henrich 2020, p. 21). Thirdly, the essay argues that in the face of aggressive assaults on science and truth, and the humanities and fields like cultural studies in particular, it is more necessary than ever before to foster the internationalisation of Kulturwissenschaften. The essay also provides some concrete proposals for enriching and transforming the forms of publication in the study of culture through a spirit of experimentation and imagination.