Myths of the Nation in Joseph Roth’s Die Büste Des Kaisers [The Bust Of The Emperor]
Myths of the Nation in Joseph Roth’s Die Büste Des Kaisers [The Bust Of The Emperor]

Summary/Abstract: The following study aims at analyzing the development of myths of the nation/nationalism in Joseph Roth’s short story Die Büste des Kaisers [The Bust of the Emperor]. The theoretical basis is represented by Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1996), in which he states that the nation is an ‘invented/created’ structure. Monarchy-literature, that is literature written in/during/about the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy offers us a great opportunity to analyze the becoming of nations. Royalty and monarchy, representing the political community opposing the nation, were held together by acknowledging the status of its subordinates and by being capable of taking in anyone because they were only concerned with having their dominance accepted. This antithesis shows us the dark face of the nation as well: a nation cannot remain an open community; it is not capable of accepting others without trying to assimilate them, because it came into being when fighting wars against other nations and therefore cannot imagine itself without borders. The myths of the nation and the symbols which keep them alive are also on today’s agenda: nationalism resurrects from time to time, new nations are born, or old ones restate their identities.

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