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Topic · Literature and Literary Theory

German Colonialism and Identity Studies

German Colonialism and Identity Studies is a research topic within Literature and Literary Theory. Science Explorer counts 5k research works in it since 1950. 10.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the intersections of colonialism, identity, and memory in German literature and history, with a particular focus on the impact of German colonial activities in Namibia. It delves into themes of race, gender, migration, nationalism, and postcolonialism, offering critical perspectives on the construction of identity in the context of colonial history.

  • Colonialism
  • Identity
  • German Literature
  • Postcolonialism
  • Namibia
  • Race
  • Gender
  • Cultural Memory
  • Migration
  • Nationalism
Research works
5k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
539
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+56%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Germany
53% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
German Colonialism and Identity Studies

Which countries lead German Colonialism and Identity Studies research?

By volume, Germany and the United States publish the most (732 and 205 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Germany 732 works
  2. 2 United States 205 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 91 works
  4. 4 France 78 works
  5. 5 Austria 76 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 62 works
  7. 7 Switzerland 51 works
  8. 8 Poland 35 works
  9. 9 Italy 30 works
  10. 10 South Africa 28 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Germany: 52.8%United States: 14.7%United Kingdom: 6.5%France: 5.6%6 others listed: 20.3%53%largest
Germany732 · 52.8%United States205 · 14.7%United Kingdom91 · 6.5%France78 · 5.6%6 others listed282 · 20.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead German Colonialism and Identity Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Universität Hamburg publishes the most German Colonialism and Identity Studies research, followed by Freie Universität Berlin and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universität HamburgGermany 25 works
  2. 2 Freie Universität BerlinGermany 22 works
  3. 3 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 20 works
  4. 4 University of ViennaAustria 19 works
  5. 5 Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinGermany 19 works
  6. 6 University of CologneGermany 18 works
  7. 7 Goethe University FrankfurtGermany 17 works
  8. 8 Leibniz AssociationGermany 16 works
  9. 9 Ruhr University BochumGermany 16 works
  10. 10 University of FreiburgGermany 16 works

Who are the leading researchers in German Colonialism and Identity Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on German Colonialism and Identity Studies include Norman K. Denzin, Th. Müller and Charles Robert Darwin.

  1. 1 Norman K. Denzin United States 130k citations
  2. 2 Th. Müller United States 87k citations
  3. 3 Charles Robert Darwin Indonesia 87k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in German Colonialism and Identity Studies?

The most cited paper in German Colonialism and Identity Studies is "Federal Republic of Germany" (Hartmut Esser, Hermann Korte, 1985), with 907 citations. Next come "German Orientalism in the Age of Empire: Religion, Race, and Scholarship" (338) and "Convivialities: An Orientation" (217).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Federal Republic of Germany Hartmut Esser, Hermann Korte · Cambridge University Press eBooks Book chapter 10 Oct 1985 907
2 German Orientalism in the Age of Empire: Religion, Race, and Scholarship Bradley Naranch · German History Nov 2010 338
3 Convivialities: An Orientation Amanda Wise, Greg Noble · Journal of Intercultural Studies Open access 22 Aug 2016 217
4 Without a Trace: Sexuality and the Colonial Archive Anjali Arondekar · Journal of the History of Sexuality 2005 201
5 „REVERSIBLE” DNA E. Peter Geiduschek · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open access Jul 1961 191
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is German Colonialism and Identity Studies research done?

The largest centres of German Colonialism and Identity Studies research in 2022-now are Berlin (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Hamburg (Germany) and Munich (Germany).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BerlinGermany 80 works
  2. 2 ViennaAustria 44 works
  3. 3 HamburgGermany 41 works
  4. 4 MunichGermany 37 works
  5. 5 Frankfurt am MainGermany 28 works
  6. 6 CologneGermany 26 works
  7. 7 LondonUnited Kingdom 23 works
  8. 8 ParisFrance 21 works
  9. 9 BochumGermany 18 works
  10. 10 FreiburgGermany 18 works
See German Colonialism and Identity Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study German Colonialism and Identity Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Goethe University Frankfurt score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 12.81%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Goethe University Fr…Freie Universität Be…Humboldt-Universität…Universität Hamburg
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Freie Universität BerlinGermany 84.014.4%34.7×22 +119.4%
2Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinGermany 83.413.7%35.0×19 +27.9%
3Goethe University FrankfurtGermany 81.415.1%25.3×17 +65.0%
4Universität HamburgGermany 78.69.1%22.5×25 +82.9%
5Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 78.513.5%14.9×20 +73.3%
6University of BayreuthGermany 75.816.1%48.2×12 +264.5%
7Bielefeld UniversityGermany 75.517.1%38.8×14 +102.9%
8University of ViennaAustria 71.27.8%25.1×19 +65.2%
9University of TübingenGermany 68.710.4%19.7×13 +20.0%
10University of FreiburgGermany 67.110.9%22.5×16 +119.1%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in German Colonialism and Identity Studies, country by country

Is German Colonialism and Identity Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 56% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are German Colonialism and Identity Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is German Colonialism and Identity Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0082% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%German Colonialism and Identity Studies0.0082% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of German Colonialism and Identity Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting10%20%30%German Colonialism and Identity Studies9.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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