Rival patterns of time, narration and identity

The quest for one's identity has become one of the most characteristic concerns of modern man. In what follows, several ‘rhythms of identity’ will be measured by referring to the much recited historical and mythical Biblical past – still influentally reaching into our own time. A threefold orientation in time can thereby be identified in an idealtypical way, each of them corresponding to a respective view of identity. Operating differences, narrated stories, existential decisions – these options seem to build the frame of our self-orientation in a highly disoriented world