The diploma thesis discusses the linguistic question, the relation between the Slovene and German languages, in three modern novels from the Austrian Carinthia region: Maja Haderlap's Angel pozabe, Florjan Lipuš's Poizvedovanje za imenom and Peter Handke's Še vedno vihar. The novels take place a few years before, during and after the Second World War. They discuss assimilation, Germanization, violence against Slovenians, and Slovene language repression in the Austrian Carinthia region. This has started with the expansion of the idea of a Greater Germany and did not end after the Second World War, but has continued in the years that followed. As the authors themselves have been searching for the answers to the linguistic question, the thesis discusses the authors' biographies and their own perspectives on the linguistic problem. The linguistic question in the novels is addressed through style, the language chosen and also through the plot. On the stylistic level the authors emphasize language in different ways. Maja Haderlap and Peter Handke wrote their novels in German, but they included numerous words in Slovene. Florjan Lipuš wrote his novel in Slovene, but he emphasized the role of the Slovene language with his poetic style. As for the plot, there are some similarities between the themes they discuss. All of the novels discuss love and hatred for language, the repression of language, the problem of abandoning language and the problem of choosing language. Language also acts as a family destroyer and a means of betrayal, and the authors also highlight the indecisiveness of Slovenians in maintaining their language.
|
