Raumzeitliche Kartierungspraktiken: Karten und Mapping im theoretischen Diskurs und in den Texten von David Albahari

Abstract

"In literary texts which address the disintegration of Yugoslavia, (alternative) narratives of history are very important. Moreover, in David Albahari's Snezni covek/ Snow Man (1995) and Mamac/ Bait (1996) the map as medium has a strong presence. In Mamac the protagonist spreads out a map of Europe to explain his country's history. In Snezni covek the protagonist believes that he lives in the house of a cartographer. An historical atlas dominates the talks between the protagonist and a professor of political science. The article connects the literary approaches to the map as medium in the texts of Albahari with theoretical discourses on cartography and practices of mapping (Sybille Krämer, Denis Cosgrove, Franco Farinelli, Frank Lestringant, Michel de Certeau). The map as medium is connected with the practice of mapping (in) time and space. This is important because the disintegration of Yugoslavia is central in both texts: The process of disintegration demonstrates disorientation in relation to time and space. The map freezes a certain spatial and temporal configuration - and represents a position from which the past, present and future can be defined, but also whether and how borders have shifted." (author's abstract)