Die Geschichte der Marranen, ein Paradigma jüdischer Identität in Österreich nach der Shoah? Robert Menasses Die Vertreibung aus der Hölle

Abstract

This essay discusses Die Vertreibung aus der Hölle (2002) by the Austrian writer Robert Menasse in terms of the author's playful self-presentation as a Jew. It locates the text's genre between self-narration and historical novel and places it in the context of Menasse's œuvre on the one hand and that of other Jewish writings in late 20^th century Austria on the other. Menasse's novel tells the stories of a fictional first person narrator in close connection with that of the historical Manasse ben Israel, a so-called »Marrano«. I argue that the striking similarities between these two biographies are due to the fact that they are both modelled on the author's own life-story. Through this mix of biographical/historical fact and fiction which is further played out in the identity of names, Menasse asserts his own Jewish identity.