Art Facing the Problem of Otherness, with Reference to the Interwar Literature of Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942)

Abstract

The work of Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942) is an interesting illustration of the power of representing the struggles of the inner world in literature. In her work, the whole problem of otherness is evident, which is largely resolved through literary activity, in a woman who assumed in herself a marginal otherness due to her gender, her sexual identity, and for having been admitted for psychiatric treatment on more than one occasion during her life. But, beyond the individual aspect, her novels also provide a valuable account of the feelings of the interwar generation, an intellectual and artistic group that experienced the taste of modernity during the brief period between World War I and Hitler’s uprising. The author took part in this exodus and, in this case, literature was an important means of collective endurance. Delving into both aspects, we witness a reflection, perhaps old, but full of associations with our present society.

Keywords

• Annemarie Schwarzenbach
• Otherness
• Literature
• Liquid modernity
• 1920s
• Nazism