Foto-Text and Speaking. Trauma and Transformation

A quarter of a century after its end, the war in former Yugoslavia continues to haunt those who experienced it directly or indirectly, as well as the subsequent generation. This is evident in post- Yugoslavian literature, where narratives of trauma still refer to it today. How does the Yugoslav War continue to affect literature? How do narratives of trauma change over the course of time? What traces do war experiences leave in the visual perceptions of those who are affected? How does trauma shape language? Ingeborg Jandl-Konrad explores these questions through a close reading of more than one hundred literary and essayistic texts. To this end, the scholar of literature and culture develops two theoretical levels that can reveal subjective perspectives on war and trauma: As photo-text, Jandl-Konrad refers to discourses that arise through representation, reference or description of photographs in literary works. As speaking, she defines forms of linguistic expression that convey or metapoetically reflect the emotional content of what is said as well as the suggestive qualities of the representation. In this study, the Slavicist focuses on visual and textual strategies that either reinforce narratives of trauma or contribute to processing them. She is particularly interested in moments of transformation that become apparent in the diachronic view of author-specific poetics. The relevance of these insights is evident not least in the light of current war events in Europe, the far-reaching and long-term consequences of which they anticipate. At the same time, the categories photo-text and speaking are conceived in a universal way. They can be used to analyze other socio-political discourses, too. In this respect, this study occasionally also refers to negotiations of power, gender, and identity, which are relevant in selected examples.