The Austrian Imaginary of Wilderness: Landscape, History and Identity In
The Austrian Imaginary of Wilderness: Landscape, History and Identity in Contemporary Austrian Literature Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jennifer Magro Algarotti, M.A. Graduate Program in Germanic Languages and Literatures. The Ohio State University 2012 Committee: Gregor Hens, Advisor Bernd Fischer Bernhard Malkmus Copyright by Jennifer Magro Algarotti 2012 Abstract Contemporary Austrian authors, such as Christoph Ransmayr, Elfriede Jelinek, Raoul Schrott, and Robert Menasse, have incorporated wilderness as a physical place, as a space for transformative experiences, and as a figurative device into their work to provide insight into the process of nation building in Austria. At the same time, it provides a vehicle to explore the inability of the Austrian nation to come to terms with the past and face the challenges of a postmodern life. Many Austrian writers have reinvented, revised, and reaffirmed current conceptions of wilderness in order to critique varying aspects of social, cultural, and political life in Austria. I explore the way in which literary texts shape and are shaped by cultural understandings of wilderness. My dissertation will not only shed light on the importance of these texts in endorsing, perpetuating, and shaping cultural understandings of wilderness, but it also will analyze their role in critiquing and dismantling the predominant commonplace notions of it. While some of the works deal directly with the physical wilderness within Austrian borders, others employ it as an imagined entity that affects all aspects of Austrian life. ii Dedication To my family, without whose support this would not have been possible.
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