Wie die Helvetier Waldenburg entdeckten. Zur Rezeption von Joanna Bator in der Schweiz
How the Helvetians Discovered Waldenburg: The Reception of Joanna Bator in Switzerland

Summary/Abstract: Between 2011 and 2016, translations of three Waldenburg novels, Piaskowa Góra, Chmurdalia, and Ciemno, prawie noc, appeared successfully on the Swiss book market; the article aims to examine Joanna Bator’s reception in Switzerland during that time. In 2014, Bator was awarded the Literary Award Leuk and the Friedrich Dürrenmatt Award from the University of Bern, which along with the addition of many positive critical reviews, indicate an overall appreciation for her literary output.While the Waldenburg scenery and the vicissitudes of the expellees create a remarkable background for Bator’s gripping plots, her novels – written from a feminist point of view – break taboos. She is acknowledged as a writer who crosses socio-cultural borders, including those of sex and race. Bator has been praised for her postmodernist skill in combining hybrid genres and literary conventions. Also, she has been highly praised for her adeptness in handling vivid language along with a notable ability at switching through levels of time and space.The online media and its feedback that have been observed and analyzed in this article indicate that Bator’s Waldenburg novels have garnered both enthusiastic literary critics as well as readers. Therefore, it is very likely that in Switzerland the reception of Joanna Bator’s next novels will be equally well-received.

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