Us and the others: Narratives of flight, identity, and integration

Political scientist Vedran Džihić and author Manuela Tomić both fled the war in Bosnia in the 1990s. They have written about their experiences in their books. They approach the subject from two sides: Tomić and Džihić describe lyrically and analytically what it means to be a refugee in Austria.

May 1992, Griffen: Manuela Tomić crosses the Slovenian-Austrian border with her family and seeks refuge from the war in Bosnia with her uncle, who works as a guest worker in Carinthia. Tomić was four years old at the time and couldn't quite grasp what had happened. It is only at school and when she meets others that she realizes that her story is not an ordinary one.

January 1993, Traiskirchen near Vienna: Vedran Džihić arrives here as a 17-year-old fleeing the Bosnian war. He feels safe in Austria, but also experiences indifference and discrimination. Parallel to his remarkable rise in education, populism and nationalism are spreading in Europe. Refugees and migrants are increasingly being stylized as a threat.

July 2016, Vienna: Manuela Tomić has completed her journalism degree and works as a freelancer. She meets Vedran Džihić when she interviews him about Salafists in Bosnia for orf.at. They quickly realized they had a lot in common. Now both have summarized their stories in two books:

In Ankommen [Arriving ] (Kremayr & Scheriau, 2024), Džihić writes from the perspective of a political scientist about what it is like to arrive in a foreign country. He observes how society deals with the 'others' and describes what it takes for everyone to feel at home.

In Zehnfingermärchen [Ten-finger fairy tale ] (Wieser Verlag, 2024), Tomić tells the story of her family in 99 lyrical prose miniatures. She also focuses on communist Yugoslavia, the absurdity of being a foreigner and the language games in one language and the other.

Vedran Džihić was born in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1976. He completed his doctorate in political science at the University of Vienna in 2009. Today he is a senior researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip) and teaches at the University of Vienna. Džihić is the initiator of numerous political and civil society initiatives in Austria and Southeast Europe. He is one of the most sought-after Balkan experts in the German-speaking world, comments on them in international and national media and regularly publishes essays.

Andreas Jungwirth, born 1967 in Linz/Danube, lives in Vienna. Author of radio plays and novels, radio play director, presenter for Ö1 public events (radio play gala, radiophone workshop). Currently in the ARD audio library: Todesangst [Fear of Death], a 10-part radio play podcast series, most recently published: Alle meine Namen [All my Names], edition atelier, 2024.

Manuela Tomić was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1988. Her prose volume Zehnfingermärchen [Ten-finger fairy tale] was published by Wieser Verlag in April 2024. It contains columns that appeared in the Furche. Her bilingual feature-length radio play Blasse Stunden/Blijedi sati [Pale Hours], directed by Andreas Jungwirth (ORF), was awarded Best Original Radio Play 2023 by the jury at the Ö1 Radio Play Gala.

Vedran Džihić, Ankommen
112 pages, hardback, Vienna: Kremayr & Scheriau 2024
https://www.kremayr-scheriau.at/bucher-e-books/titel/ankommen/

Manuela Tomić, Zehnfingermärchen
106 pages, hardback, Klagenfurt: Wieser Verlag 2024
https://www.wieser-verlag.com/buecher/zehnfingermaerchen/