Angel of Oblivion. Literature and memory politics in Austria

Abstract

Why is memory politics such a contested field? Why is it so hard to change narratives, overcome enemy images, and draw “objective” pictures of the past? In what way can works of art break the ice and promote “dangerous memories” (Bekerman/Zembylas 2012, 22)? How can works of art, and especially literature, use their aesthetic potential to help achieve attitude changes?

In this paper, I examine these questions through the lens of literary criticism. I focus on Maja Haderlap’s novel Angel of Oblivion in order to illustrate several typical features of (not just) Austria’s memory politics after World War II: on the one hand, Austria’s claim as Hitler’s first victim; the depreciation of the (Slovenian) anti-fascist partisans; the relativization of Nazi crimes by pointing at the (real or fictional) crimes of Yugoslav communists, and as a consequence the denial of the minority rights of Carinthian (and Styrian) Slovenians. And on the other hand, the struggle for a democratic and honest memory culture – not only within Austria’s borders but beyond, in the entire “Alps-Adriatic” region. Haderlap’s book is itself a wonderful example of the success of this ongoing endeavour.

Keywords:

• memory politics
• Austria
• Carinthia
• Slovene minority in Austria
• Slovene partisans World War II
• Maja Haderlap
• novel “Angel of Oblivion”
• politics in literary fiction

Notes

1 So far, the documentation of six out of nine federal states is complete.

2 While home to 6% of Austria’s overall population, Carinthia had 15.4% of all NSDAP members (Valentin 2005).

3 For an overview of Austria’s post-war memory politics, see Uhl 2017.

4 For Carolyn Forché, the act of witnessing is also an act of resistance against enforced oblivion, which translates into an act of political resistance. (Forché 1993).

5 See for instance the vehement disputes that accompanied the broadcasting of the TV movie Dorf an der Grenze (The border village) in the 1980s – a movie that recalled the history of Carinthian Slovenians in the twentieth century (Müller 2004).

6 See, for instance: http://www.zeit.de/2011/30/L-Haderlap; https://www.belletristik-couch.de/maja-haderlap-engel-des-vergessens.html.

7 More precisely, this approach is not new, but was rarely used in the context of the “Carinthian conflict”.

8 http://loibl-memorial.uni-klu.ac.at/initiative.html.

9 http://www.erinnern-gailtal.at/.

10 http://www.erinnern-villach.at/.