(Im)Mobilities in a postmigrant age

Narratives of forced migration in Jenny Erpenbeck’s Go, Went, Gone and Elfriede Jelinek’s Charges (The Supplicants)

Bibliographic Data

ID13002650
AuthorsSabine Zimmermann (0000-0002-5020-1447, University of British Columbia, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume10
Issue2
Pages315-329
Publication date2019-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCrossings Journal of Migration and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2040-4344 • E-ISSN: 2040-4352
PublisherIntellect (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/cjmc_00009_1
OpenAlexW3004400188
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

Postmigrant conditions do not translate into easy access for migrants who arrive outside of the parameters of orderly migration. While European nations acknowledge the principle of asylum, massive efforts are made to prevent refugees from reaching the territory of the state where they could receive its protection. Even as their physical proximity to Europe increases, their legal proximity typically decreases. The novel Gehen, ging, gegangen ( Go, Went, Gone ) by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck depicts the experiences of non-privileged migrants whose tales of exile and displacement indicate that most of them will not be recognized as refugees. The play Die Schutzbefohlenen ( Charges [The Supplicants] ) by Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek contrasts the treatment of asylum seekers with real-life cases of two ‘VIP foreigners’ who were granted naturalization by the Austrian government. Both texts convey a blunt message: The narratives of those who do (and those who do not) arrive in Europe’s ‘postmigrant societies’ without legal status confirm that the gap between privileged and non-privileged migration is almost impossible to bridge

Art · Forced migration · German · Immigration · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Naturalization · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Sociology · State (computer science · Gender Studies · German Colonialism and Identity Studies · German legal, social, and political studies · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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