Aries, one of 12 marble depictions of the zodiac signs on the floor of the Basilica Santa Maria degli angeli in Rome. I once had the unpleasant experience of being told that the machine, after it had rejected my card, could not be wrong, and so by implication I was wrong and my card was (just possibly) false, so I could not use it. While it eventually got sorted out, I was angry to be told I was (possibly) trying to use a false ID card, and then had to spend time and money getting a replacement. It was, of course it was, the machine that was at fault, but there was no apology from the company.
But this was a short and minor problem of identity compared to what actually happened to many thousands of people in Slovenia after it became independent. They were erased from the computers and were left without citizenship, no valid passports, bank cards, ID cards, nothing. I’ve written a review of Miha Mazzini’s latest novel, Erased which deals with this problem. It is both terrifying and very funny, and out now from Fly on the Wall press.
Zala gives birth in hospital. All goes well, the baby boy is healthy, but there are papers to fill out, and the staff become evasive yet reassuring: “don’t worry we’ll sort it.” But it isn’t sorted. When she speaks to the Director of the Maternity Clinic, the latter says she cannot find her “in the computer”. She claims that Zala is a foreigner because she was born in Serbia, even though her family moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia, when she was a few months old. Her mother is Slovenian, her father, Serbian, and Zala had not realised she would have to apply for citizenship. Without it, she has no ID card, no passport, and is not eligible for free medical care or maternity leave.
And so, her trial begins. You can read the rest of the review on the European Literature website
|
Comments