Hubert Roland

German and Austrian exile literature in Belgium 1933-1945 : topography and perspectives

This essay is devoted to a survey of German and Austrian exile literature in Belgium from 1933 to 1945, a field that has been unexplored so far. Belgium happens to be quite a difficult case study, because of the provisional and transitory character of exile for writers attracted largely by the neighboring countries of France and the Netherlands. However, it is possible to organize a significant volume of materials outlining a topography of exile following, on the one hand, the geographical principle of settlement (Brussels, Antwerp, Ostende), and on the other hand, the principle of political networks (communist, “humanist”). Particular attention will be paid to the Austrian presence following the Anschluss in 1938, including not only Jean Amery but also the forgotten roman a clef of Hertha Ligeti, Die Sterne verloschen nicht (1959). At another level the Belgian case, and especially Amery and Ligetis works, will help contribute to a reflection on shifting identities and boundaries in literature of the exile in contrast to travel literature.

Poetologische Transformationen ? Die beiden Fassungen von Ilse Aichingers Roman. Die größere Hoffnung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Magischen Realismus

This article consists in comparing meticulously both versions of Ilse Aichingers first novel Die groBere Hoffnung, which were respectively published in 1948 and 1960. Indeed it is only recently that attention has been paid to the considerable differences existing between these two versions. Research considering this work in its historical context had until now based on the reworked text of 1960. Secondly we consider reassessing the novel from the point of view of Magical Realism, which refers according to us to both a poetic feature of numerous texts of German literature of that time (Ernst Junger, Hermann Kasack) and a concept intensely disputed in the Post-War years, notably by Hans-Werner Richter and Georg Saiko.