New Blog: Between Departure and Arrival: Reframing the Austrian Migrant Experience in Theodora Bauer’s Chikago

2015 marked the culmination of the so-called “European immigration crisis,” which was, at that time, the largest increase of displaced persons seeking asylum in Europe since the end of World War II. (1) Located between two major refugee routes, Austria received around 90,000 asylum requests that year which was the third highest number of applications per capita. The continuing impact of these events have brought renewed focus on migration and with it an opportunity not only to highlight displaced people but also to engage with Austria’s longer and often untold history of migration. Historian Dirk Rupnow has spoken of “historical amnesia” and noted that although Austria has long been a country of immigration, the history of migration and the experiences of migrants have not been integrated into the hegemonic version of Austrian history. (2) Austrian writers have sought to position themselves against this narrative with literary accounts that tell some of these missing stories and offer new perspectives on Austria’s migration history.