Interferenzen und Überschreitungen von Literatur und Welterbediskurs am Beispiel von Judith Schalanskys Verzeichnis einiger Verluste (2018)

Abstract

The present article looks at how the contemporary discourses concerning cultural and natural heritage are literarily reworked in Judith Schalansky’s book An Inventory of Losses (Verzeichnis einiger Verluste, 2018). Schalansky’s hybrid book which consists of twelve micro-narratives around natural and art objects that have been destroyed or lost over the course of time partakes in the cultural discourse on preservation, memory and intergenerational dialogue, contributing its own views on the practices of valuation of old artefacts and knowledge. The present paper focuses on the common aspects – first of all the intertwining of nature and culture – and the key differences – such as the critique on the essentialist concept of sustainability – between Schalansky’s book and the preservation discourse as it is articulated in collective texts such as the World Heritage Convention.