Das verborgene sichtbar machen: (Selbst) Darstellung von ethnischen Minderheiten in der osterreichischen Literatur der neunziger Jahre (German text, Milo Dor, Ceija Stojka, Barbara Frischmuth, Vladimir Vertlib).

摘要

Ethnic minorities are an invisible segment in Austrian society yet are perceived as a problem. To date, there are not many literary texts that represent them. In addition, Austrian literary criticism virtually ignores the few texts that deal with this significant part of Austrian society. In this dissertation, I analyze five texts by four authors that all deal in various ways with ethnic minorities in Austria. In my analysis and interpretation I explore issues of otherness and identity, culture and ethics, oppression and the role of the state. To approach them I draw on theories from various disciplines—social sciences, psychology, philosophy—and literary and cultural studies (post-colonial theory, transactional reading theory). All of these recognize ‘difference’, but go beyond this postmodern concept and emphasize human commonalities such as agency, rationality, and creativity as well as a shared history, thus opening up the possibility of creating spaces where different groups meet and interact with each other on a horizontal level. All these approaches, in conjunction with the selected texts, express a utopian vision. Thus in order to change or even question unequal relations (e.g. majority versus minority) one has to set idealistic goals. This is used as a basis for my discussion in order to recognize the Other's difference AND sameness. Milo Dor's (*1923) narrative Wien, Juli 1999 (1997) and Ceija Stojka's (*1933) two autobiographies, Wir leben im Verborgenen (1988) and Reisende auf dieser Welt (1992), connect National Socialism to social and political undercurrents in present day Austria that exclude minorities. Both Serbian born Dor, a former communist activist and Stojkaj, a Romni (gypsy), are survivors of Third Reich fascism. The younger authors, Barbara Frischmuth (*1941) with her novel Die Schrift des Freundes (1998) and Vladimir Vertlib (*1966) with his novel Zwischenstationen (1999), depict the lot of immigrants, respectively Turkish Alevites and Russian Jews. The representation of ethnic minorities exposes invisible social realities and the intertwining of past and present, thus making it more tangible to the reader, and promoting acceptance and understanding.