Teaching the interpretation of German literary texts to undergraduate pedagogy students majoring in English and German via mythologem cluster analysis (based on Wolfgang Borchert’s story “Schischyphusch oder der Kellner meines Onkels”)

The research aims to summarize and present the experience of teaching German literary text interpretation to undergraduate students in Teacher Education program (specializing in English and German), utilizing clustering as a method for analyzing mythologems. The article briefly outlines the history and current state of mythology studies in education. The author notes that while the study of myth is conducted at all educational levels, the issue remains largely under-researched in the context of higher education. The study describes clustering as a didactic method for mythologem analysis during text interpretation. This process involves five main stages and allows students to engage more deeply with “secondary texts” (texts that rely on myths, their plots, and imagery). The pedagogical approach is demonstrated through the analysis of Wolfgang Borchert’s short story “Schischyphusch oder der Kellner meines Onkels” (“Schischyphusch, or My Uncle’s Waiter”). Methodological comments and recommendations are provided for each stage of the analysis. This method proved to be an effective tool, helping linguistics students uncover hidden mythological layers of a text, provide reasoned justifications for their interpretations through a system of mythologems, and link individual reading experiences with universal cultural codes. The novelty of the research lies in the proposed methodology of using mythologem clustering as a component of literary text interpretation training for linguistics students. As a result, the application of cluster analysis to W. Borchert’s story is demonstrated, and its didactic effectiveness is confirmed.