Sasha Marianna Salzmanns Außer sich queer gelesen

Abstract

This article provides a queer reading of Sasha Marianna Salzmann’s novel Außer sich (2017). Telling the story of the transition of the main character Ali, the novel meets the readers’ expectations of a queer novel. While queerness is definitely a central theme of this novel, Salzmann refutes the label “queer novel” as limiting – in particular in light of other important themes of this novel, such family history, remembering, the meaning of history and time, or political implications. In this article I will argue that a queer reading (cf. Katja Kauer) allows for the interrelation of these different themes. Queer readings are subversive due to their focus on the performance of the characters in relation to their social environments and in differentiation to heteronormative ideas and expectations. Ali’s transition, for example, can be interpreted as an analogy for being in transit and, as such, as an experience pertaining also to other communities, e.g. as a shared experience of members of a post-migrant society (cf. Naika Foroutan). A queer reading also offers the possibility to analyze the intertextuality of Salzmann’s Außer sich, such as the references to the essay No Name in the Street by James Baldwin. At the same time the social relation of the subject as discussed in Judith Butler’s Beside Oneself allows deeper theocratical analysis of Salzmann’s novel.