The Shared Construction of Texts

Abstract

This paper discusses methodological questions raised in the context of a multigenerational study on the historical consciousness of the national socialist past in Germany. It focuses on an often underestimated aspect, namely that communication—especially if it is about National Socialism—implies, that its contents and "results" are jointly produced by its protagonists in the course of interaction. Accordingly, the intersubjective creation of the data is considered to be a crucial issue in qualitative analyses. The Hermeneutic Dialogue Analysis is introduced as a method to identify and examine these negotiation processes. In addition, content analytic methods are presented and preliminary results of the research project "Traditions of Historical Consciousness" are reported. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0002112