Abstracts
Sixth Annual Conference on Austrian Literature and Culture
"Visions and Visionaries in Literature and Film of Modern Austria"
October 2001

Carlotta von Maltzan, University of Witwatersrand, S.A.
"Civilization and its Discontents: Mythologizing Africa"

European writers have always been fascinated by Africa, the "dark continent." Traveling into Africa means to venture into the "Heart of Darkness." This myth is underwritten by a number of polarities in which the psychoanalytical dichotomy of the conscious/ unconscious is juxtaposed with the cultural notions of the rational but icy North and the instinctual and hence irrational warmth of the South. Though climatically Africa may be a continent of sunshine and light it is far removed from western notions of enlightenment. Rather Africa represents a mythical and mystical territory that fascinates because of its promises and dangers and its infinite challenges in terms of an expedition into the unknown.

My presentation will analyze how Africa becomes a foil for Austrian authors such as Elias Canetti, Ingeborg Bachmann and Herbert Zand to seek alternate realities only to find that the quest for the "other" becomes an exploration of the (white) "self."

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