Yale University
wallerberger@ifk.ac.at
Waiting in Exile: Spaces of Hope, Waiting, and Inertia in German Literature
This project casts light on the “horizons of exile” in the German literary and philosophical traditions. “Waiting in Exile” traverses three centuries, engaging with revolutionaries of the nineteenth century, the so-called “classical” exile period during National Socialism, and more contemporary takes on the topic. What are the specific differences between waiting, hoping, and resisting in exile? How have spaces of exile changed conceptionally and intellectually over time?
Thomas Wallerberger is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of German at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In Vienna, he studied philosophy and social work, published articles about exile and migration as a freelance journalist and research assistant for the Theodor-Kramer-Gesellschaft, and worked as an educator with unaccompanied refugee minors. From 2009 to 2011 he served as Vice President of the Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH); since then, he has been a program coordinator for the Viennese NGO and debate club “Republikanischer Club.” He teaches at Rutgers and FH Campus Wien and is currently working on a research project about Austrian social workers in exile (https://fuersorge-geschichte.at/).
„Die Philosophin Ágnes Heller (1929–2019)“, in: Zwischenwelt Nr. 3–4, Jg. 36, Wien 2019, S. 12–15; (Hg.), Grenzüberschreitungen. Didaktische Materialien zum Literatur-Exil, Wien 2016; „Vom Recht, das Richtige zu tun. Über Schlepperei“, in: Die Presse, 4.11.2014; (Hg.), Exil. Literatur und Gedächtnis. Ein Lesebuch, Wien 2012.
In Albert Drachs Exilroman „Das große Protokoll gegen Zwetschkenbaum“ lesen wir von den Ordnungsversuchen der Sprache und des Rechts gegenüber dem Fremden und Flüchtigen. Das Protokoll wird dabei zu einer Art Netz, in dem sich der leibliche Zwetschkenbaum verfangen soll.