Multikulti, Walzer und Schokolade. Bilder und kulturelle Stereotype über Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz in DaF-Lehrwerken in Bulgarien
Multiculturalism, waltzes, and chocolate. Images and cultural stereotypes about Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in German as a Foreign Language (GFL) textbooks in Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: The term stereotype is generally understood as a simplifying, generalizing, and clichéd concept of a particular thing, person, population group, nation, etc. Stereotypes are to be considered and analyzed as part of the cultural knowledge of societies and their discourses—discourses that are also reflected, for example, in German as a Foreign Language (GFL) textbooks. This article focuses on the stereotypes and, furthermore, on the general portrayal of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in GFL textbooks (published in Germany) used in schools in Bulgaria. The following questions are central to this analysis: How are Germany and (in contrast) Austria (and, to some extent, Switzerland) portrayed in the analyzed textbooks? Which (simplifying) stereotypes can be identified as part of image and identity constructions? To what extent are Austria and Switzerland addressed in the works in question, and which important aspects relating to all three countries are not mentioned?

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