Anyone who talks about nerds today has to say exactly who they are actually referring to.
Are we talking about oddballs who hoard calculators, comics, action figures and dice for role-playing nights?
Do you mean computer enthusiasts such as gamers or hackers?
Or has everyone been a nerd who deals more or less intensively with one thing?
After all, we are surrounded by – some self-proclaimed – sports and food nerds, fashion and hiking nerds, yoga and music nerds.
The figure is slowly but surely losing its profile and can hardly surprise anyone anymore.
Kai Spanke
Editor in the Feuilleton.
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What makes a nerd is also related to historical circumstances.
The cultural scientist Annekathrin Kohout has written an essay about the nerd and traces its development in the book podcast - from the 1950s, when he was still a rather faceted nerd, to today, when his contours are blurred.
She also reveals what the nerd has to do with anti-intellectual resentments and why he can now be considered quite outdated.
Annekathrin Kohout's “Nerds” was published by CH Beck Verlag, has 272 pages and costs 16.95 euros.
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