Shattered Frames, Re-Imagined Pasts: Objects Of Memory In The Works Of Maja Haderlap, Melinda Nadj Abonji, and Marica Bodrožić

Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Zuerner, Chrisann
- Graduate Program:
- German
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 23, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Benedicte Monicat, Outside Unit & Field Member
Bettina Brandt, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Samuel Frederick, Major Field Member
Carrie Jackson, Program Head/Chair
Sabine Doran, Co-Chair & Major Field Member - Keywords:
- Maja Haderlap
Marica Bodrožić
Melinda Nadj Abonji
objects
photography
memory
cultural memory
minority memory - Abstract:
- This dissertation examines the intersection of history and memory in the works of Maja Haderlap, Melinda Nadj Abonji, and Marica Bodrožić – three, female, contemporary, German-language authors with minority and multilingual backgrounds from eastern and central Europe. The authors write within different German-speaking countries – from Austria, to Switzerland, to Germany. Their works discuss violent histories and pasts of both the countries from where they now reside, as well as those where they formerly lived. Foregrounded in the novels is a tension between remembering and forgetting related to violent events, spanning across individual, family, community, and national levels. Material objects are highlighted in the selected works as vehicles that can disrupt past memories, underlining gaps and voids in family and cultural narratives, as well as national pasts. These objects are the focus of this dissertation. The categories of these objects is broad. It encompasses material objects such as photographs and household items, elements from nature such as trees, plants, or birds, architectural sites, as well as more abstract objects such as words and language. The narrators and other fictional characters in the discussed works struggle with what to do with these objects, and by extension, memories. The objects are not always visible to the characters in the novels, and are concealed in various spaces. Additionally, many of the objects are dislocated from their original homes when the narrators and/or their family members relocated. This dissertation explores these objects’ roles in mediating memory for future generations and questions whether, ultimately, the presence and ongoing conservation of these material objects is significant for the remembrance of events and individuals.