MASETIH · Migrant Authors from Southeastern Europe and the Transfer of Intangible Heritage

Migrant Authors from Southeastern Europe and the Transfer of Intangible Heritage (MASETIH) examines how intangible heritage (i.e. heritage that is mobile, dynamic and performative rather than material) is represented and transferred in contemporary writings and text-based performances by migrant authors from Southeastern Europe living in Austria and Germany. Challenging discourses which pit a European humanist heritage against the heritage of migrants and minorities, this project examines the role of literature in negotiating (trans)national identity and cultural heritage for migrant authors after 1980. The main objective of the project is to investigate the transmission and preservation of intangible heritage forms (such as language and dialect, religious rites or arts and crafts) through the tangible medium of the literary text, and the role they play in the life experience of migrants. As a comparative and interdisciplinary project, it foregrounds hitherto neglected aspects of cultural transfer, gender and affect/emotion. To that end, I propose to examine linguistic, religious and political heritage as three crucial heritage categories on which migrant writers draw to challenge narratives of homogeneity and assimilation prevalent in Europe since the 19th century. The project analyses the ways in which migrant heritage is shaped by the complex and dynamic exchange with 1) the respective host country (Austria or Germany), 2) other migrant groups residing in the host country, as well as with 3) networks in the country of origin. Applying feminist theories from cultural studies, literary studies and cultural geography to an intercultural reading of migrant literature, MASETIH seeks to facilitate a deeper understanding of national identity formation, collective memory, gender and transnational cultural exchange in the 20th and 21st century.