Selbst(de)Konstruktionen in der deutschsprachigen jüdischen Literatur aus der Ex-UdSSR

The article examines the construction of cultural identities in German-speaking Jewish authors from post-Soviet countries. The implosion of the Soviet system is a crucial event for the emergence of today’s world, which is characterized by the globalization of cultures and lifestyles. The resulting migrations further led to literary deconstructions of identity on several levels. Here, particular attention is paid to the levels of cultural belonging, mother tongue, and gender. In doing so, the texts of Lena Gorelik, Olga Grjasnowa, and Sasha Marianna Salzmann, among others, highlight the possibilities of a porous, dynamic, and contradictory identity shaped by the experience of migration and not belonging to a national culture: Their transcultural, multilingual, and non-binary main characters can be seen as archetypes of a non-classifiable literary subject.