DISASTER SCENARIOS IN KATHRIN RÖGGLA'S DIE ALARMBEREITEN

Abstract

The paper delves into how Kathrin Röggla, an Austrian author, approaches the problem of tackling the topic of catastrophe in her book die alarmbereiten published in 2010. Röggla, nowadays considered one of the most socially committed and engage authors in Germany’s contemporary literature domain, deals relentlessly with such issues as crisis, catastrophe, alarmism and fear in modern-day society. The media occupies one of the most pivotal roles in this process. What all three chapters of the book have in common is that each of them deals with a different problem: potential natural disasters that do not occur, death due to fire or panic fear caused by climate change, and the great economic crisis. All these topics, as well as a number of others, which are discussed in other chapters, are anticipated by the prophetic words from the beginning of the first chapter. From the aspect of the way of narration in the analyzed chapters, consistent writing in lower case is noticeable, the use of conjunctives, narrative self, but narrative self which never narrates in its own name, i.e., it is never directly announced, but his words are transposed through someone else's perspective, or through the perspective of a friend or through the perspective of a student. Also, a different media aspect was applied in all three chapters: in the first they were sessions, in the second a telephone conversation, and in the third a seminar / class. What all the figures have in common is that they are not typical figures, they do not have any personal identity, but are actually voices that indicate certain problems in society. A small number of voices appear, usually two, so the author simulates a speech situation, which is actually absent because that speech situation is reduced to a monologue of one of the voices. The texts are also characterized by the disappearance of figures, which is noticeable in all three texts. Together with all the analyzed chapters, a tragic end was realized or hinted at, in the second explicitly a fatal outcome. In all three scenarios, the figures are both / or observers and / or victims, as the author pointed out in her poetic texts. In this way, it points to the image of the society in which we live.