Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MASETIH (Migrant Authors from Southeastern Europe and the Transfer of Intangible Heritage)
Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31
Migrant Authors from Southeastern Europe and the Transfer of Intangible Heritage (MASETIH) investigated the ways in which forms of intangible heritage (heritage forms that are mobile, dynamic and performative) are represented, transferred and performed in contemporary writings and text-based performances by migrant authors from Southeastern Europe living in Germany and Austria. The main objective of the comparative and interdisciplinary project was to identify the strategies of heritage representation, transfer and performance used by migrant authors to assert a sense of (trans)national identity through literary texts. The thesis of the project was that literature assumed a crucial, hitherto overlooked role in negotiating (trans)national identity and cultural heritage for migrant authors after 1980, and specifically those with roots in Southeastern Europe. This project examined three categories of intangible heritage (linguistic, religious and political heritage) on which migrant writing draws to challenge homogenous and exclusivist notions of group identity prevalent in Europe.
MASETIH intended to fill several research gaps such the lack of systematic and comparative studies on migrant heritage, a lack of studies on the role of literature and art in heritage transfer, and the missing cross-fertilisation between studies on contemporary migrant literature, European heritage, multilingualism, gender relations amongst migrant groups and religious pluralism.
MASETIH provided a systematic and comparative study on the transfer of migrant heritage by developing a theoretical model for identifying literary strategies (WP1), and defining a set of questions relating to the three categories of migrant heritage (linguistic, political and religious), (WP1). The methodology and set of questions were then applied to a corpus of texts written by migrant authors in German and BKS between 1960 and 2023.
MASETIH intended to fill several research gaps such the lack of systematic and comparative studies on migrant heritage, a lack of studies on the role of literature and art in heritage transfer, and the missing cross-fertilisation between studies on contemporary migrant literature, European heritage, multilingualism, gender relations amongst migrant groups and religious pluralism.
MASETIH provided a systematic and comparative study on the transfer of migrant heritage by developing a theoretical model for identifying literary strategies (WP1), and defining a set of questions relating to the three categories of migrant heritage (linguistic, political and religious), (WP1). The methodology and set of questions were then applied to a corpus of texts written by migrant authors in German and BKS between 1960 and 2023.
By investigating three heritage categories, a set of parameters for analysing migrant heritage in literature was developed. Through the use of multilingualism and intertextuality, including references to folk tales and proverbs, music and pop culture, migrant authors were demonstrating various strategies to negotiate and perform their (trans)national migrant identities in the German-language context. All three categories revealed significant gender implications
Linguistic heritage: By utilising an innovative interdisciplinary and multilingual approach (drawing on sources in German, Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian (BKS), and English), which included not only literary texts but also translations, roundtable discussions, interviews and critical reception in both heritage and host countries, the project demonstrated the crucial role that language (both written and oral) played in the shaping of migrant identity. This included identifying and interpreting the role of linguistic pluralism and linguistic hybridity (such as through foreign language use in German texts, references to literary and journalistic sources in BKS, code-switching between German, BKS and English etc.) in literary texts, which provided an important component of (trans)national identity. The project found that linguistic hybridity and code-switching was particularly constitutive of migrant heritage in Austrian migrant writing, while migrant literature from Germany depicted only occasional linguistic overlaps and mixing. The project also identified circulation patterns of migrant writing in both the host and heritage countries and examined to which extent they were influenced by the description of certain heritage practices.
Religious heritage: The project showed the unique role that interfaith dialogue and the multi-confessional and syncretistic religious history on the territory of the former Yugoslavia (in which Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Christian influences overlap) plays for the shaping of migrant heritage in literary texts. Religious practices, holidays and beliefs were prominently placed in German-language migrant writing, often to challenge religious dogma and intolerance, and to challenge Western narratives of endemic inter-religious hatred in Southeastern Europe. Migrant authors were found to refer to 20th century Jewish writings from both the German-language sphere and the former Yugoslavia to reflect on contemporary issues of injustice, exclusion and discrimination, as well to claim (post-)Yugoslav Muslim writers as part of their multicultural heritage in order to counter Western European narratives of Islamophobia.
Political heritage: The texts examined in the project demonstrated to which extent the heritage of totalitarian political violence in Southeastern Europe (in particular the heritage of fascism and communism) elucidated differences in European memory culture between eastern and western parts of the continent. Most authors examined adopted a critical approach to the collective memory and commemoration of the Second World War and fascism which arose in West Germany since the late 1960s and in Austria since the 1990s.
The project produced a number of different academic outputs: The publication and submission of several academic articles, papers given at international conferences, academic and arts-based research workshops organised at different institutions, the organisation of an international conference, and the first draft of a monograph. The dissemination of the project activities and results to the wider public was assured through a website, a podcast interview, a co-curated exhibition and workshops that were open to the public.
The project introduced a more holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of migrant heritage in literature, and helped expand the discourse around migrant writing and migrant heritage to include more diversified and egalitarian views on migration and heritage, both within academia and the wider public.
Linguistic heritage: By utilising an innovative interdisciplinary and multilingual approach (drawing on sources in German, Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian (BKS), and English), which included not only literary texts but also translations, roundtable discussions, interviews and critical reception in both heritage and host countries, the project demonstrated the crucial role that language (both written and oral) played in the shaping of migrant identity. This included identifying and interpreting the role of linguistic pluralism and linguistic hybridity (such as through foreign language use in German texts, references to literary and journalistic sources in BKS, code-switching between German, BKS and English etc.) in literary texts, which provided an important component of (trans)national identity. The project found that linguistic hybridity and code-switching was particularly constitutive of migrant heritage in Austrian migrant writing, while migrant literature from Germany depicted only occasional linguistic overlaps and mixing. The project also identified circulation patterns of migrant writing in both the host and heritage countries and examined to which extent they were influenced by the description of certain heritage practices.
Religious heritage: The project showed the unique role that interfaith dialogue and the multi-confessional and syncretistic religious history on the territory of the former Yugoslavia (in which Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Christian influences overlap) plays for the shaping of migrant heritage in literary texts. Religious practices, holidays and beliefs were prominently placed in German-language migrant writing, often to challenge religious dogma and intolerance, and to challenge Western narratives of endemic inter-religious hatred in Southeastern Europe. Migrant authors were found to refer to 20th century Jewish writings from both the German-language sphere and the former Yugoslavia to reflect on contemporary issues of injustice, exclusion and discrimination, as well to claim (post-)Yugoslav Muslim writers as part of their multicultural heritage in order to counter Western European narratives of Islamophobia.
Political heritage: The texts examined in the project demonstrated to which extent the heritage of totalitarian political violence in Southeastern Europe (in particular the heritage of fascism and communism) elucidated differences in European memory culture between eastern and western parts of the continent. Most authors examined adopted a critical approach to the collective memory and commemoration of the Second World War and fascism which arose in West Germany since the late 1960s and in Austria since the 1990s.
The project produced a number of different academic outputs: The publication and submission of several academic articles, papers given at international conferences, academic and arts-based research workshops organised at different institutions, the organisation of an international conference, and the first draft of a monograph. The dissemination of the project activities and results to the wider public was assured through a website, a podcast interview, a co-curated exhibition and workshops that were open to the public.
The project introduced a more holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of migrant heritage in literature, and helped expand the discourse around migrant writing and migrant heritage to include more diversified and egalitarian views on migration and heritage, both within academia and the wider public.
The findings from MASETIH provide a better understanding of European identity formation in an increasingly mobile, transnational and diverse age. They show to which extent populist juxtapositions of eastern and western cultures, presumably backward migrants and progressive so-called natives are paradigmatically subverted and deconstructed in migrant literature from Southeastern Europe. MASETIH also demonstrated the ability of literature to capture and reflect complex societal processes, which cannot be fully understood through the social science approach alone. The findings can thus offer valuable insights for intercultural dialogue, heritage management and the implementation of policies around migration.
Results from the project are already shaping the discussion around migration museums, since the principal investigator was invited to serve as a consultant to the planned Migration Museum Vienna.
Results from the project are already shaping the discussion around migration museums, since the principal investigator was invited to serve as a consultant to the planned Migration Museum Vienna.