Images and Features of the Mediterranean in the work of Paula von Preradović

Abstract

Paula von Preradović, the author of the Austrian national anthem,became known early on as the poet of the Istrian and Dalmatiancoastal landscapes and as mediator between cultures - with her firstvolumes of poetry Südlicher Sommer (1929) and DalmatinischeSonnette (1933). In a unique way, her oeuvre shows the wide rangeand complexity of the way in which the sea is inscribed into literatureand which functions are attributable to it; among other things, thesea becomes an object of yearning and homesickness, an inspirationfor writing, a remedy, a symbol of forlorness, but also of the basis ofcontemporary historical statements.