Abstract
Drawing on theories of nationalism and memory studies, this paper undertakes an analysis of Robert Menasse’s Die Hauptstadt, which grapples with the complex relationship between Europe’s memory, and future, personal identity and national priority. The novel depicts a multitude of characters with different nationalities, life experiences and personal pursuits as well as political standpoints as they face the twenty-first century, which brings both opportunities and threats to the European Union. Auschwitz is described in this novel as a place of collective memory for the historical lesson of extreme nationalism. Unfortunately, this place, together with the Union’s mission and the collective European memory, mainly of the Holocaust, has been so de-politicised and over-institutionalised that it can no longer arouse empathy when individuals’ ambition and nationalist interests override that of the Union. The internal Commission conflicts between member states criticised in this novel remind its readers about the urgent necessity of upholding the common interest of Europe and building a more united Europe that will not forget the detrimental consequences of nationalism.
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Notes
For the full article: http://www.zeit.de/2017/37/robert-menasse-die-hauptstadt-roman
For the full text of this interview: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/buchpreistraeger-robert-menasse-europa-braucht-ein-netzwerk-der-regionen/20449408.html
On 8 April 1965, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg signed the Fusionsvertrag in Brussels, which took effect in July 1967. Thus, when this novel is published in 2017, 50 years have passed.
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Jiang, X. Nationalism and Memory in Europe: An Analysis of Robert Menasse’s Die Hauptstadt. Neophilologus 106, 445–459 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-021-09714-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-021-09714-5