Geschichte einer böhmischen Magd gelesen von einer Afroamerikanerin. Lilian Faschingers Roman Wiener Passion

In her polyphonic novel »Wiener Passion « (1999), Lilian Faschinger offers a sociological por trait of a young maid from Marienbad in Bohemia trying to make a living in Vienna at the end of the 19 th century. This story turns into a grotesque biography, following the motifs of a pulp magazine. Faschinger’s highly satirical, critical reading of the past is combined with a transatlantic love-story at the turn of the millennium, showing the longue durée of prejudice, marginalization and racism from the Habsburg Empire up until today’s world. The two levels of narration are combined into an intercultural family history that debunks the kind of xenophobia that originates within a shared genealogical descent. Different locations in Vienna feature as a common ground; and the book depicts a shared heritage in music and other cultural traditions.