De ríos y ferrocarriles: Construcción y deconstrucción de la identidad europea en Magris y Sebald

Abstract

There are many elements that can be used as symbols for a collective identity: natural elements –the river or the sea– and human made elements a bridge, the train or urban movements. In this article we pretend to establish a relation between the transnational identity constructed in Claudio Magris’ novel going out from the Danube River and the one established in W. G. Sebald’s Austerlitz using the train network. In both cases there is an element that crosses the borders establishing identities based not in a national perspective but on a European level. Obviously, relevant differences are given, in Magris the river can be seen as a traditional paradigm for the construction of a cross-border identity whereas in Sebald the trains also create cross-border relations but they are not helpful for establishing an identity but for seeing it as a problem, as a crisis that also has European roots. Maybe the river can be compared to a maternal essence that creates links, whereas the train is connected to the missing figure of the father and it is not clear if it also will contribute to find him again. Can this example be generalised for a contrast that is a consequence from the transition from nature to technique, from natural spaces to links caused by technologies?