The Perception of a State of Insecurity in Literature on Global Occurrences. Gehen, Ging, Gegangen vs. Die Flucht

Authors : Miodrag M VUKČEVIĆ

Pages : 77-102

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Publication Date : 2018-12-28

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The paper discusses two currently dominating global occurrences that appear to have common features. First, backed by the example of Jenny Erpenbeck’s novel Gehen, Ging, Gegangen (2015) that addresses the migration flows we witness, questions will be raised about the differences in perception of the causes for global cultural changes seeking equalization and upholding, viewed from the perspective of Western civilization, and German particularly. In the second part of the paper Gerhard Gesemann’s novel Die Flucht (1935), marking the anniversaries on the occasion of WWI, is being introduced in its function of a remembrance literature dealing with the retreat of the Serbian military in the Great War together with its expelled residents from the homeland to their asylum in Corfu. By comparing these two novels on both “refugee-ness” and state of insecurity, the paper points out different cultural forms existing because of the accumulated historical experiences, and shows how this circumstance influences the understanding of the aforementioned topics. Following this idea, the contribution underlines additional differences in defining the concept of home by describing cultural patterns and their treatment of the mediated reflected reality.
Keywords : German literature, hospitableness, refugee ness, remembrance literature, state of insecurity