LANGUAGE AS A TOOL OF ASSIMILATION AND SELF-DENIAL IN THE WORK TOXISCHE POMMES “BEAUTIFUL FOREIGN CHILD”

Authors

  • Paulína Šedíková Čuhová Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Arts, Slovakia

Keywords:

postmigrant literature, language, performative identity, social inequality, emigration, contemporary Austrian literature

Abstract

This paper critically examines the linguistic dimensions in the work of contemporary Austrian author Toxische Pommes, focusing on her debut novel Beautiful Foreign Child (2024). The objective of this study is to explore how language operates as a mechanism of assimilation and self-denial within the context of the narrator’s family emigration and her individual experience. Moreover, this paper aims to underscore the persistent centrality of language as a thematic concern in post-migrant literature, where it is frequently conceptualized not only as a communicative tool but also as a fundamental condition for social recognition and active societal participation.

References

BLOME, Eva. 2020. Rückkehr zur Herkunft. Autosoziobiografien erzählen von der Klassengesellschaft. In Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte. 2020, vol. 94, no. 4, pp. 541–571. ISSN 0012-0936. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41245-020-00118-y

DULLE, Philip. 2024. Was ist ein schönes Ausländerkind, Toxische Pommes? Available online: https://www.profil.at/kultur/toxische-pommes-interview-ein-schoenes-auslaenderkind/402818644

FOROUTAN, Naika. 2013. Postmigrantische Gesellschaft: Ein Versprechen der pluralen Demokratie. In Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ). 2013, no. 3–4, pp. 24–30. ISSN 2194-3621.

GEISER, Myriam. 2015. Der Ort transkultureller Literatur in Deutschland und in Frankreich. Deutsch-türkische und franko-maghrebinische Literatur der Postmigration. Würzburg : Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 978-3-8260-4783-1.

SATHYE, Mrunmayee. 2023. Autosoziobiographie als transkulturelle Form. Available online: https://literaturwissenschaft-berlin.de/autosoziobiographie-als-transkulturelle-form/

SHARIFI, Azadeh. 2011. Postmigrantisches Theater: Eine neue Agenda für die deutschen Bühnen. In Schneider, Wolfgang (ed.). Theater und Migration: Herausforderungen für Kulturpolitik und Theaterpraxis. Bielefeld : transcript Verlag, 2011, pp. 35–46. ISBN: 978-3-8394-1844-4.

SCHMIDT, Jara. 2025. Postmigrantische Literatur zeigt sich oft widerständig. Available online: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/was-ist-postmigrantische-literatur-100.html

ŠEDÍKOVÁ ČUHOVÁ, Paulína. 2021. Literatúra a migrácia. Ružomberok : Verbum, 2021. ISBN 978-8-0561-0911-3.

TERKESSIDIS, Mark. 2010. Interkultur. Berlin : Suhrkamp Verlag, 2010. ISBN 978-3-518-12589-2.

TOXISCHE, Pommes. 2024. Ein schönes Ausländerkind. Wien: Zsolnay Verlag, 2024. ISBN 978-3552073968.

YILDIZ, Erol. 2010. Die Öffnung der Orte zur Welt und postmigrantische Lebensentwürfe. In SWS-Rundschau. 2010, vol. 50, pp. 318–339. ISSN 1013-1469.

Downloads

Published

24-09-2025

How to Cite

Šedíková Čuhová, P. (2025). LANGUAGE AS A TOOL OF ASSIMILATION AND SELF-DENIAL IN THE WORK TOXISCHE POMMES “BEAUTIFUL FOREIGN CHILD”. Apps - Academic Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages, 3(2), 15–20. Retrieved from https://ojs.tuzvo.sk/index.php/apps/article/view/166

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2025): Apps - Academic Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages - Special Issue

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Paulína Šedíková Čuhová

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.