Paper short abstract:

The paper drafts a narratologic concept of how to study narrative ressources within the political sphere. Therefore, it draws on classical approaches of narratology in the narrow sense - and tries to open new methodological perspectives.

Paper long abstract:

As the term "discourse" some years ago, currently the term "narrative" is omnipresent, in both academia and the broader media. The term occurs particular frequently regarding the political sphere: Politicians told narratives pointing into the future, parties were depending on historical narratives and, a national narrative drove the people in general. Narratives seem to determine nearly every political action, wish and fear. Even if this development may delight the researcher of narratives, it actually runs the risk the term could lose its sharpness. My paper tries to give some methodological ideas how to use the term "narrative" as a sharp tool for the understanding of political processes. Therefore, I try to show how classical theoretical approaches of narratology (e. g. Propp, Lotman, Todorov) and concepts of the cultural studies (e. g. "cultural memory", "cultural intimacy", "cultural inter-discursivity") are useful for the understanding of political narratives-an understanding beginning with the question, what is a "narrative" at all? Regarding to the mentioned authors and concepts, I give a draft towards methodology of political narratology. In that, the empirical applicability is the most important guideline. Hence, I exemplify my assumptions by referring to empirical data from the recent German populist movement, i. e. from the context of the "Alternative für Deutschland" and "Pegida".