BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND GERMANY, HEIMAT AND ZUHAUSE: GERMAN-SPEAKING REFUGEES AND THE POLITICS OF MEMORY IN AUSTRIA A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German By Joshua Alexander Seale, M.A. Washington, D.C. August 14, 2020 Copyright 2020 by Joshua Alexander Seale All Rights Reserved ii BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND GERMANY, HEIMAT AND ZUHAUSE: GERMAN-SPEAKING REFUGEES AND THE POLITICS OF MEMORY IN AUSTRIA Joshua Alexander Seale, M.A. Dissertation Advisor: Friederike Ursula Eigler, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the memory of postwar German-speaking refugees in Austria through an analysis of diverse media, cultural practices, and their reception. Part I of the dissertation examines postwar memorials and their reception in newspapers, as well as the role of pilgrimage, religious ritual, and public responses of defacement. Part II focuses on post-Waldheim literature and its reception, specifically examining the literary genres of novels and travelogues describing German-speaking refugees’ trips to their former homes. In examining these memorials and literature as well as their reception, I show how static and marginalized the memory of German- speaking refugees has remained throughout the history of the Second Republic, even after the fragmentation of Austrian memory in the wake of the Waldheim affair. While Chapter 1 posits four reasons for this marginalization, the continuance of this marginalization into the present can be summed up by drawing on Oliver Marchart’s concept of historical-political memory and by pointing to the politicization and tabooization of the memory as a far-right discourse. Identifying a gap between the vast cultural memory of German-speaking refugees on the one hand, and the dearth of scholarship dealing with the subject on the other, I argue that it is time for these memories to be taken seriously and not be dismissed as uncritical or otherwise problematic representations of the past. At the same time, however, they cannot be accepted as-is without placing them in the proper historical context. Consequently, an analysis of narrative strategies and the role of memory in making the past present is timely and important. iii I would like to thank the entire Georgetown University German Department but especially Friederike Eigler, without whose tireless guidance, kindness, and support this dissertation would never have been possible. Thank you for believing in me. To my friends that I have neglected during this process: thank you for your patience. But especially to my wife, Stefcia: thank you for your care, love, and patience. This dissertation is also indebted to the Austrian Studies Association for their support and feedback at the very collegial 2018 and 2019 conferences. I am particularly grateful for the feedback of Michael Boehringer from the University of Waterloo, Günter Bischof from the University of New Orleans, and Christian Karner from the University of Lincoln. Of course, my archival research and visiting of far-flung memorials across rural Austria would never have been possible without the support of the OeAD’s Ernst Mach grant and my advisor at the University of Vienna, Stefan Krammer. Finally, to the Haus der Heimat in Wien for allowing me to access their archive and to Constantin Göttfert and Ilse Tielsch for kindly inviting me into their homes to discuss their work, many heartfelt thanks. Josh Seale iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE: NOTE ON LANGUAGE USE ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 2 I. “Flight and Expulsion”: A National Memory? ......................................................... 4 II. Uncovering Memorial Traces of “Flight and Expulsion” in Austria ......................... 6 III. Locating Peripheral, Counter-Hegemonic Memory ................................................. 9 IV. “Flight and Expulsion”: A Political Memory? ....................................................... 13 V. The Dynamics of Memory ................................................................................... 20 VI. Memories of “Dismissal: “Flight and Expulsion” as an Existential Threat to Austrian Sovereignty ............................................................................................ 26 VII. Dissertation Outline .............................................................................................. 41 PART I: BETWEEN THE PALIMPSESTS AND HETEROTOPIAS OF MEMORY: GERMAN-SPEAKING REFUGEES IN MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS IN AUSTRIA INTRODUCTION TO PART I ................................................................................................. 43 I. Theoretical Background: Definitions and Methodology ........................................ 45 II. Data Set: Typology of Memorials and “Blank Spots” ............................................ 50 CHAPTER 2: RELIGION AND NATION-BUILDING IN POSTWAR AUSTRIA: GERMAN- SPEAKING REFUGEE MONUMENTS AS PALIMPSEST..................................................... 55 I. The Maria Taferl Pilgrimage Church and Lower Austrian Regional Memorial Site ....................................................................................................................... 57 II. The Carinthian Regional Memorial Site at the Kreuzberglkirche in Klagenfurt ..... 70 CHAPTER 3: SEEING BEYOND THE BORDER: HEIMAT, PILGRIMAGE, AND GERMAN- SPEAKING REFUGEE MONUMENTS AS HETEROTOPIAS IN (POST-) COLD WAR AUSTRIA ................................................................................................................................. 80 I. Between Transnational Outreach and Domestic Politicization: German-Speaking Refugee Heterotopias in Post-Cold War Austria .................................................. 104 II. Defacement and German-Speaking Refugee Heterotopias ................................... 110 PART II: THE MEMORY OF GERMAN-SPEAKING REFUGEES AND EXPELLEES IN AUSTRIAN LITERATURE AFTER WALDHEIM INTRODUCTION TO PART II .............................................................................................. 124 I. Austrian Memory Culture Since the Waldheim Affair: Fragmentation and Politicization of the Past...................................................................................... 125 II. The Treatment of “Flight and Expulsion” in Postwar Austrian Literature ............ 129 III. Outline to Part II ................................................................................................. 135 v CHAPTER 4: REMEMBERING “FLIGHT AND EXPULSION” IN CONTEMPORARY AUSTRIAN LITERATURE: NARRATING VICTIMHOOOD, RESPONSIBILITY, AND BELONGING ......................................................................................................................... 138 I. Hanna Sukare: Staubzunge .................................................................................. 138 II. Gabriele Vasak: Den Dritten das Brot ................................................................. 143 III. Ulrike Schmitzer: Die gestohlene Erinnerung ..................................................... 149 IV. Constantin Göttfert: Steiners Geschichte ............................................................. 158 V. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 169 CHAPTER 5: THE PRESENCE OF THE PAST: THE “REFUGEE/EXPELLEE GAZE” IN TRAVELOGUES BY ILSE TIELSCH AND KARL-MARKUS GAUß .................................. 173 I. Defining Literary Return Narratives or Wiederbegegnungsliteratur .................... 176 II. Presence: Nostalgia’s Forgotten Visual Dimension Between Space and Time ..... 178 III. The “Refugee/Expellee Gaze”: Experiencing the Past and Looking Past the Present ................................................................................................................ 180 IV. Ilse Tielsch’s Zerstörung der Bilder (1991) and the “Refugee/Expellee Gaze” .... 185 V. The Second Generation: Karl-Markus Gauß ........................................................ 196 VI. Karl-Markus Gauß’ Approach to “Flight and Expulsion” .................................... 201 VII. Looking Past Familial Past: Karl-Markus Gauß and the Postmemorial Gaze ....... 207 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 213 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 218 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Landesgedächtnisstätte Kreuzberglkirche (Gate), Klagenfurt, Austria ........................ 6 Figure 2. Landesgedächtnisstätte Kreuzberglkirche, Klagenfurt, Austria ................................... 7 Figure 3. Flyer advertising German-speaking refugee exhibit showcasing their cultural contributions ............................................................................................................ 38 Figure 4. Report on German-speaking refugee exhibit showcasing their cultural contributions ............................................................................................................ 40 Figure 5. Map of postwar “expellee” pilgrimage sites, as per Georg Schroubek’s 1968 study .......................................................................................................................