Bäumler A. (2011): "Engadine as literary landscape. Literary geographically researches on the relation between text and space." (Master thesis, Univerity of Basel, 2011)

Abstract: As one of the highest populated valleys in Europe, the Engadine marks a productive literary field. Clearly separated from urban areas and the flat country, but still sharply contrasting the mountainious regions, the valley lies somewhere inbetween these two opposite spaces.

The aim of this literary geographically study is to discover distinctive textual functions of this landscape as a whole, and of certain scenic elements, such as lakes, rivers, stone deserts and mountain peaks. Mapping four 'Engadine-texts' from very different authors (Ulrich Becher, Cla Biert, Hans Boesch & Tim Krohn), I study how alpine landscape can function as trigger points and projection spaces (Figure 1 at the top), how narrated space is anchored in the geospatial level and how it is established diachronically (Figure 2). To that aim I use different scales of maps (Figure 2 compared to Figure 3), a variety of cartographical methods and divers ways of visualisation. Besides these topographical analyses I adress the semantic function of landscape, asking how it is constructed and, more importantly, to what textual value.

Figure 2: Diachronically appearance of literary spaces of Cla Bierts

Figure 3: Total plot of Hans Boeschs

Download of thesis in German [11.8 MB]