Between Exclusion and Belonging – Vienna as a Third Space in the Works of Ana Bilić and Alma Hadžibeganović

Abstract

Due to geopolitical and social changes, migration, urban diversity, and questions of belonging have gained increasing importance in German-language theatre. This article examines the plays Im Prater by Ana Bilić and Das Stück by Alma Hadžibeganović from a postcolonial perspective. The analysis is based on Homi Bhabha’s concept of the Third Space, which serves as a framework for examining urban spaces as sites of cultural negotiation. Both authors choose Vienna as the setting of their plays. The city emerges as a space of cultural encounter and social tension, as well as a site where migrant identities are formed. The focus lies on migrant characters who are pushed to the margins of society. They actively appropriate the spaces assigned to them. Language, the body, and everyday practices become means of visibility and self-assertion. These practices open up a Third Space in which boundaries between centre and periphery, as well as between self and other, are called into question. Vienna becomes legible as a space of resistance, transformation, and cultural renegotiation. A comparative analysis of the two plays that focuses on the significance of urban space for migrant subject positions has so far been lacking. This article closes this research gap and expands perspectives on migration in contemporary German-language drama.