Postmemory and Oral History in Josef Winkler's Die Verschleppung and Die Ukrainerin : Njetotschka Iljaschenko erzählt ihre Geschichte

Abstract

abstract: Josef Winkler's fourth novel, Die Verschleppung. Njetotschka Iljaschenko erzählt ihre ukrainische Kindheit (The deportation: Njetotschka Iljaschenko narrates her Ukrainian childhood, 1983) contributes to the Austrian discourse of trauma narratives, the experience of alterity, and the representation of politically disenfranchised persons and groups, adding the aspect of forced labor, human rights violations with the emphasis on Ukraine, oral history, and postmemory. This article examines the intersection of ethics and language in Winkler's mediation of Iljaschenko's autobiography in Die Verschleppung and the 2022 reprint Die Ukrainerin. Njetotschka Iljaschenko erzählt ihre Geschichte (The Ukrainian. Njetotschka Iljaschenko narrates her story) and explores the challenges facing literary mediation while maintaining fidelity to the historicity of oral history and postmemory.