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Affective Spaces: Trajectories of Migration in Scandinavian and German Transnational Narratives (2011-2017) Anja Tröger Submitted for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in Scandinavian Studies University of Edinburgh 2019 Declaration I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text by reference or acknowledgment, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Parts of the work presented in Chapter Six will be published in: Anna Meera Gaonkar, Astrid Øst Hansen, Hans Christian Post and Moritz Schramm (eds.). Postmigration: Art, Culture and Politics in Contemporary Europe. Transcript, forthcoming in spring 2020. Edinburgh, 2 December 2019 Anja Tröger Abstract This thesis comparatively examines literary representations of lived migrant and postmigrant experiences in different contemporaneous contexts and from a multiplicity of perspectives. Published between 2011 and 2017 and selected from the literatures of Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden, the twelve literary texts analysed in this thesis centre not only on characters who themselves migrate, but also on their descendants, and on characters who encounter those they perceive or marginalise as ‘other’. Following the different steps of the migratory journey from departure and travel to an uncertain arrival and the problematic notions of belonging and integration, this thesis employs the theoretical angle of affect studies to investigate the ways in which policies and practices of exclusion, processes of othering, and the disparate distribution of precarity affect the characters’ lives, bodies and self- understanding. The detailed analysis of those affects which are produced in precarious life situations, in embodied encounters and through exclusionary politics grants insights into contextual configurations, as it throws into sharp relief the social and political power relations underpinning the protagonists’ conflicts and struggles. The comparative examination of these political structures is further supported by the multiplicity of texts and perspectives. With a symmetrical division of three texts each from the literatures of Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden, this thesis is firmly rooted in Scandinavian literary studies; however, the inclusion of texts from German literature allows for an exploration and problematisation of particularly Scandinavian themes, such as Scandinavian Guilt and Scandinavian exceptionalism, from a transnational perspective. Reading Scandinavian and German texts in close contact with each other brings the texts’ politics into sharp focus: by contrasting these different politics, this thesis contends that literary texts may constitute a counter-discourse to those discourses that often sustain marginalisation and othering, insofar as these texts reimagine the lives and voices of those who are usually invisible and inaudible: refugees and asylum seekers. Lay Summary This thesis compares twelve novels which were published between 2011 and 2017, and which are carefully chosen from the literatures of Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden, with three novels from each country’s literature. The thematic common ground between these twelve novels is that they all describe characters who migrate to one of these four countries, or characters who meet individuals whom they think of as strangers or migrants. The three main aims of this thesis are: firstly, to examine how the novels describe the different steps of the migratory journey and how these steps influence the lives and bodies of the novels’ characters; secondly, to explore which emotions emerge during those migratory journeys, and which effect they have on the characters; and thirdly, to investigate the power relations that make the characters’ lives difficult. Therefore, this thesis follows the journeys of the migrating characters in a chronological way and examines the different steps from departure and travel to an uncertain arrival and the problematic notions of belonging and integration. To analyse how the emotional and physical impact of the migratory journey on the characters’ lives and bodies can be related to either social or political inequalities, this thesis employs insights from affect theory as a critical framework. Put simply, affect can be understood as the power to affect the world and be affected by it in turn. In this sense, theories of affect can help to describe the ways in which we think through and feel, act in and react to, this world and the encounters we have with others. Paying close attention to those emotions and affects which are produced in encounters where the power balance between individuals is unequal, and in situations when the characters’ lives are endangered, or when they are excluded from the societies they migrated to or live in, helps to shed light on the Scandinavian and German societies themselves: the characters’ emotional and affective reactions can tell us in which ways the characters’ struggles and conflicts are not merely individual problems, but are rather linked to political and social processes of exclusion, or unequal power relations. The aim to examine the ways in which the texts depict political and social structures is further aided by the sheer number of texts and perspectives. With three texts each from the literatures of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, this thesis is firmly rooted in Scandinavian literary studies; however, the inclusion of three novels from German literature allows me to discuss particularly Scandinavian themes, such as the claim that the Scandinavian countries are the happiest countries in the world, and to point out what might be problematic with such claims. When novels from German literature are not only appreciated in their own right, but also contrasted with Scandinavian novels, I shall be able to challenge these Scandinavian themes from a viewpoint that transcends the borders between Scandinavia and Germany. Moreover, reading Scandinavian and German texts in close contact with each other brings the novels’ political attitudes into clearer focus. By contrasting these different politics, I argue that these twelve novels can be seen as a counter-movement to those public debates which reinforce the marginalisation of immigrants, and which make them feel that they do not belong. These novels can be viewed as resisting these debates insofar as they tell the stories of those who are usually not seen or heard: refugees and asylum seekers. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................... xi Note on Translations .................................................................................................. xii Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Critical Underpinnings ......................................................................... 15 1.1 Transnational Literature ............................................................................... 16 1.2 Borders, Boundaries and Liminal Zones ...................................................... 19 1.3 Affect and the Body ..................................................................................... 23 1.4 Affective Responsibility ............................................................................... 29 Chapter 2: Departure, or The Affective Concatenation of Violence in Akos Doma’s Der Weg der Wünsche and Johannes Anyuru’s En storm kom från paradiset ........................................... 33 2.1 Violence that Makes and Unmakes Childhood, or The Unspeakability of Trauma ...................................................................... 35 2.2 Affective Narrative Voices and Emotional Aesthetics ................................ 40 2.3 The Nowhere: Violence Revisited ............................................................... 45 2.4 Aftershocks: The Effects of Violence .......................................................... 53 2.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 3: Arrival in Liminality: Seeking Asylum in Abbas Khider’s Ohrfeige and Alen Mešković’s Enmandstelt .......................... 63 3.1 Narrative Voices and Ironic Distance .......................................................... 68 3.2 Arrival in Liminality .................................................................................... 71 3.3 The Demands of the Trauma Economy .......................................................