Galician Literature and the `Spatial Turn´

This project is a study of the literature of Galicia which has become a model case of diversity in Europe. Over the centuries this region played the role of a bridge between the East and the West. In light of its historical background, the notion of Galicia has been perceived differently depending upon the perspective of the interpretation. In recent decades, Austrian Galicia has become the focus of academic interest. From 1772 to 1918 this region was a political and administrative entity within the Danube Monarchy. Historical sites, in essence memorials, of the Galician space and its entire cultural heritage still remain today and serve as reminders of historical Galicia. This cultural heritage took a new direction. In a time characterized by new perspectives on space created through globalization, the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the consequential eastward extension of Central Europe, historical Galicia is not only a prototypical example relevant for present-day Europe; in the study of culturally hybrid spaces, the Galician heritage - as a model of synchronous lifeworlds - also offers new perspectives for the future. One of the most significant remnants of Galicia`s spiritual heritage is the literature that was written in, from, and about Galicia. It best represents this cultural space. Most of the existing publications about the literature of Galicia examine the texts, written in German or Polish, from the perspective of historical and comparative literature. Today, where transdisciplinarity and transculturality play a particularly important role in the humanities, the examination of literary texts increasingly has become a topic of discourse in the field of cultural studies as well. In this sense, Galicia lends itself as an experimental ground for new approaches. Accordingly, the objective of this research project assumes a similar point of view: the comparative history of literature in Galicia should be subjected to new approaches emerging in the fields of cultural and literary studies. The specific subject of study is the literature of Austrian Galicia, including its subsequent influence on cultures developing later in this area. The main emphasis of this research project is on comparative literature which will be supported by spatial hermeneutics. The approaches employed in this project lean toward the current research "turns" which have initiated an expansion of research methods. Borrowing new methods of analysis enables us to describe and discuss widely known phenomena of literature using new terminology. Particularly relevant are the approaches of the spatial turn and cognitive mapping which, in part, constitute the turn. Of the diverse interpretations of space possible, two contrary approaches are preferred: the methods of the phenomenological theory of space and the semiotics of space. Interdisciplinary approaches here encompass the fields of German, Slavonic and cultural studies. Given the diversity of literature which refers to Galicia, texts that are most relevant for our research are those in which space and spatiality are not only treated as an object of recognition, but also as those which broaden perspectives on spatialization in multiple ways. Central in the selection of texts is their thematic potential which renders spatial focusing possible. In doing so, the incongruent cultural worlds of Galicia are brought into a constellation of simultaneity through narrative topography. The following spatial models of Galicia will be proposed and analyzed: I. A spatial model of Galicia from the perspective of travelling II. A spatial model of Galicia - cultural hybridity III. A spatial model of Galicia - the juxtaposition of humans, society and nature IV. A spatial model of Galicia in a social context V. A spatial model of Galicia in political crises VI. Galicia - narrated recollection and creative appropriation The timeline for the proposed project is two years. The research will take place at the Institute for Slavonic Studies at the University of Vienna; the co-applicant is the Deputy Head of the Institute of Slavonic Studies at the University of Vienna, Prof. Dr. Alois Woldan. The Institute for Slavonic Studies is a participating department in the joint doctoral program "Austrian Galicia and Its Multicultural Heritage". The innovative content of the proposed project help the host research site develop new academic potential.