Original scientific paper
Suspension of boundaries: transdifferentiation in Vilma Vukelić’s memoirs. A contribution to the retention of Austrian literature and culture in post-1918 Croatia
Stephanie Jug
; Sveučilište J.J. Strossmayera u Osijeku
Abstract
The memoirs of the Croatian-Austrian author Vilma Vukelić capture the identity of the city of Osijek at the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries, as well as the personal identity of the author, who is first portrayed as a child and then as a young girl, Vilma. Earlier analyses of the text were based on multicultural perspectives which provide only a superficial insight into the complex processes of identity formation as it is described in Tragovi prošlosti (the original title: Spuren der Vergangenheit). The article thus presents the culturalist concept of transdifference developed by Breinig and Lösch. The core of the concept is a process of identity formation which flows through differences while suspending the imposed binary structure, without revoking them. The method has proved to be effective and brought a new perspective on belonging and alterity in the multicultural imperial setting.
Keywords
transdifference; cultural identity; suspension; memoirs; Vilma Vukelić
Hrčak ID:
210828
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2018.
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