Europe’s Invisible Ghettos: Transnational Existence and Neoliberal Capitalism in Julya Rabinowich’s Die Erdfresserin

Abstract

Julya Rabinowich was born in St. Petersburg in 1977 and was, according to her website, “entwurzelt & umgetopft” to Vienna in 1993. In Vienna, she eventually studied interpretation and art. For several years, she worked as a simultaneous interpreter for psychotherapy sessions with refugees, which has greatly contributed to her writing of Die Erdfresserin, her latest novel published in 2012. Die Erdfressering is Rabinowich’s third novel, preceded by Spaltkopf (2008), the semi-autobiographical tale of a young Russian girl and her family immigrating to Vienna, and Herznovelle (2011), the story of a heart-sick patient becoming enamoured with her heartsurgeon. She also has written numerous plays and writes a weekly column for Der Standard.