Presence and Absence in Language. Reflections on the Work of Maja Haderlap and the (Linguistic) Landscape of Carinthia

Abstract

The articles examines the notion of border through the meandering riverbed of memory explored by Maja Haderlap, a writer born into a family belonging to the Slovenian-speaking community of Carinthia. Her texts dissect the features of Alpine landscapes, giving voice to a community often omitted from the European cultural narrative. In particular, her novel Engel des Vergessens embodies the identitary pólemos, the struggle between the Slovenian language and the German idiom imposed by political and cultural borders. The work functions as a kind of amnion for the author, investigating the ridge of human existence, trace by trace. Through the interstices of German-Slovenian and German-Slavic fractures, the analysis aims to shed light on Haderlap’s literary practice and on the (linguistic) landscape of Carinthia.