Academic superstition in the research of German and Serbian national myths with consideration of spanish and portuguese national myths

Abstract

Under "national myth" we understand a poem relating to a fatal historical event which influenced the development and the destiny of a nation. Such a national myth influences the destiny of a nation and impregnates its consciousness suggesting that the nation is a community with a common destiny. Not all nations have a national myth. There is no national myth in England, Italy or Croatia; poets like Dante or Chaucer are great poets and patriarchs of their respective national literatures but not creators of national myths. The French "Chanson de Roland" has some elements of a national myth because it treats France as the champion of Christendom, but the battle described there is not of historical or military importance. The national myths of Germany and Serbia are linked to putative events of the late Middle Ages. In the 19th century they grew into myths of Romantic historicism, linked to nonexistent events. The Spanish and Portuguese national myths are linked to real conquests and discoveries, and they have influenced the consciousness of their nation.