AAL_35 Alumni AudioLab with Vahidin Preljevic

Vahidin Preljevic focuses in his research on the literature of Viennese modernism and on the role of literature and documents related to the assassination attempt in Sarajevo. This attack led to the First World War. He himself fled the war in Bosnia to Germany in the 1990s. He finished school here and started his German studies at the University of Halle/Saale. But he never intended to stay in Germany, so he quickly returned after the war. Vahidin Preljevic is Germanist, cultural theorist, essayist, literary translator and holder of the chair for German-language literature and cultural studies at the University of Sarajevo.

He was also a scholarship holder in the Franz Werfel scholarship program, which enables researchers from abroad to conduct research on topics of Austrian literature in Austria. Once someone has been a “Werfelianer”, he or she will remain in a follow-up programme for many years. From this a network of former Werfel scholarship holders has developed over the years. Even decades later, they meet regularly, organize conferences and exchange their experience.

In this podcast, Vahidin Preljevic talks about his experiences in Germany and the role of literature and culture in the eventful history of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He also talks about his forthcoming anthology about Peter Handke's Yugoslavian texts, which are received very critically in several countries, including several former Yugoslav states