Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22210/ur.2025.069.2/04
America – Berlin – Amsterdam: Spatial Dimensions in Dubravka Ugrešić’s Works
Lara Pušenjak
orcid.org/0009-0008-8436-3912
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
Considering the theoretical premises within the field of literary geography, which takes space
as its central concept, engages with the ways in which space is represented in literary texts,
and strives to respond to the pre-articulated crisis of representation on which its theoretical
model rests, this paper undertakes a comparative analysis of American Fictionary, The Museum
of Unconditional Surrender, and The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugrešić. The discussion
starts with a problematization of the theoretical framework of literary geography and its
claim to interdisciplinarity. By observing the textual mechanisms through which the spaces
of America, Berlin, and Amsterdam are constructed, in relation to the space of Yugoslavia as
the referential hub for all three texts, and by examining the specific framing of each individual
space through discursive techniques, the paper also demonstrates that reading Dubravka
Ugrešić’s texts requires attention from the perspective of the function of the text rather than
from the perspective of its meaning.
Keywords
Dubravka Ugrešić, literary geography, America, Berlin, Amsterdam, Yugoslavia
Hrčak ID:
341929
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2025.
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