‘Elective affinities’: interdiscursive dynamics between football, the economy and nationalism in Germany

Abstract

After WWII, nationalism in Germany was frowned upon as a phenomenon of the extreme right. For the critical voices at the end of the sixties and in the seventies, national identity meant more than ever to constantly ask oneself what it meant to be German. However, almost thirty years after reunification, nationalist tendencies have quickly reached the midst of society. The article argues that nationalism did not manifest itself in political or cultural discourses due to post-war taboos, but rather in surrogate ones, especially in football and the economy. Perceived as ‘neutral fields’ in contrast to politics, they paved the way to the ‘normalisation’ of national feelings and the gradual re-definition of the German post-war identity – an identity largely based on a narrative of competition, success, and ‘German virtues’.