bagley (1993) - somebody's daughter - the portrayal of daughter-parent relationships by contemporary...

8/19/2019 Bagley (1993) - Somebody's Daughter - The Portrayal of Daughter-Parent Relationships by Contemporary Women…

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION Frauenliteratur and autobiography 1-47

CHAPTER ONE Death of a father: start of a story 48-132

CHAPTER TWO My mother lives on in me 133-208

CHAPTER THREE Twice born: the adopted daughter 209-283

CHAPTER FOUR Death of a daughter: end of a story 284-338

CHAPTER FIVE Narrative strategies 339-372

CONCLUSION Nobody s daughter?373-390

BIBLIOGRAPHY 391-419


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i

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this thesis s to examine he complexities f daughterhood s portrayed by

nine contemporary omen writers: from former West Germany Gabriele Wohmann,

Elisabeth Plessen), rom former East Germany Hedda Zinner, Helga M. Novak), from

Switzerland Margrit Schriber) and from Austria (Brigitte Schwaiger, Jutta Schutting,

Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch, Christine Haidegger). Ten prose-works which span a period of

approximately en years, rom the mid-1970s o the mid-1980s, are analysed ccording o

theme and character.

In the ntroduction we trace he historical development f women s writing in German,

focusing on the most significant emale authors rom the Romantic period through o the

rise of the New Women s Movement n the ate sixties. We then consider a definition of

Trauenliteratur and he extent o which autobiography as become typical eature of such

women9s writing. In the ensuing four chapters we highlight in psychological and

sociological erms he mourning process daughter ndergoes fter her father s death; he

identification process between daughter and mother; the daughter s reaction to being

adopted; and the daughter s decision o commit suicide. We see to what extent the

environment n which each of these daughters s brought up as well as past events n

German history shape he daughter s attitude owards her parents. Since we are studying

the way in which these elationships re portrayed, we also need o take nto account he

narrative strategies mployed by these modem women writers.

In the light of our analysis of content and form we are able to examine he possible

intentions behind such personal ortraits: he act of writing as a form of self-discovery nd

self-therapy s well as the sharing of female experience. We conclude by suggesting he

direction women s writing from German-speaking countries may be taking.


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iii

DEDIC TION

To my parents and sister

With love


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INTRODUCTION: FRAUENLITERATUR AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The intention of this introduction s to examine he term Trauenliteratur and to pinpoint

the part that autobiography as played and continues o play in prose works written by

women from German-spealdng ountries. In order to be able to recognise and understand

the way in which Trauenliteratur and autobiography ave merged and overlapped, t is

necessary o look briefly at the historical development f women s writing in German by

charting its growth during the past two centuries. We shall then be in a position to consider

the problems which nowadays urround a clear-cut definition of each of these iterary terms

and o acknowledge he extent o which contemporary omen s writing in German as been

influenced and shaped y the features o which these erms refer. Without doubt t is a

phenomenon hich, as we shall see, ypifies recent developments n German iterary trends

and s, therefore, of great nterest o writers and critics alike.

Women who write works of literary rank are not a peculiarity of contemporary ife. If

we look back at the history of women writers, a process of gradual iberation has been

evident. In the nineteenth entury, for example, he literary careers of two great authors

ran parallel. Ironically, both women hid their identities by adopting male pseudonyms. n

England, Mary Ann Evans 1819-1880) ecame George Eliot and wrote fiction which dealt

with the social and moral problems of her time, her purpose eing primarily didactic. The

popularity of works such as Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner made her one of the greatist

novelists n world literature. In France, Baroness udevant 1804-1876) sed he pen name

of George Sand o further her career, and so became one of France s iterary successes.

It is somewhat urprising o note that even oday, n spite of the Women s Movement and


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feminism, some young writers do contemplate using a male pen name because "writing

novels s still not considered respectable astime or women".

Nevertheless, he ntellectual, rather han he political or social, emancipation f women

could already be noted n the Romantic period of German iterature. The wives of the

Schlegel brothers were artistically inclined: Friedrich Schlegel's wife, Dorothea Veit,

published her first novel Florentin in 1801. Brentano's sister, Bettina von Arnim, also

wrote a number of works during the 1840s and was a radical camPaigner or human rights.

Many other women such as Annette von Droste-HOIshoff, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach,

Fanny Lewald, Ida Hahn-Hahn were searching or independence y making a career of

writing, publishing works without the help of their husbands nd making heir names as

exponents f literature, rather than writing for and about women. In cultural circles all

thesewomen

began o havesome

nfluence, butconcern

or theirsocial and political

status

was still a long way off. Only towards he end of the nineteenth entury did a new phase

in the history of women writers indicate a more radical women's literature, when the

emancipation f women became a central theme of the Naturalist movement n German

literature. The pioneers of women's iterature associated ith this movement were prose

writers and social critics such as Clara Viebig (1860-1952), whose iterary success ay in

her realistic presentation f everyday workers and their poverty; and Gabriele Reuter

(1859-1941), who belonged o the proletarian Women's Movement. In 1905 an Austrian

woman writer, Bertha von Suttner 1843-1914), was he first woman o receive he Nobel

Peace Prize for her novel Die Waffen nieder (1889), n which she portrayed he fate of

a woman who lived through he Prussian wars of 1864-1871.

For the ast century or so German-speaking women writers, amongst thers Else Lasker-

Scholer, Ricarda Huch, Gertrud von Le Fort, Isolde Kurz, have played heir roles n the


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many literary trends and schools of thought, but the significance and relevance of women's

literature has only come o light with the social and political emancipation f women during

the ast few decades. This s hardly surprising when we consider hat German women were

first permitted o study at university evel at the turn of the century: 1901 n Baden, 1903

in Bavaria, 1908 n Prussia. Equality in education, especially higher education, only began

to develop n the 1920s, after the women's right to vote was introduced n Germany n

1918.

With the onset of National Socialism n the 1930s all efforts aimed at obtaining equality

between he sexes ame o an abrupt but only temporary end, when women's associations,

apart from those belonging to the National Socialists, were banned and women were once

more confined o the roles of dutiful daughters, wives and mothers. This disruption o the

progresshe Women's Movement had

made was shortlived,and only in force as long as

the National Socialists were n power, so that after the Second World War equality was

once again a bone of contention. By 1949 he matter had been partly resolved on paper n

the form of the Basic Law with the statement hat MAnner und Frauen sind

gleichberechtigt Art. 3, Abs. 3 GG). A notable change n attitude towards women's

literature was also taking place at the same ime, as women realised hat the country's

industrial and social estoration ould not, and would not, succeed without their aid. This

aspect f increasing ndependence n the field of economics ormed an mportant part of the

process of women's emancipation.

During the Third Reich many established riters, ncluding women, had gone nto exile.

One such woman writer, who was Jewish and belonged o the Communist Party, was Anna

Seghers 1900-1983). After being arrested nd questioned, heemigrated o France n 1933

and o Mexico n 1941, where she completed ne of her most well-known novels Das slebte


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Kreuz (1942), in which she not only presented ascism realistically, in the shape of a

concentration amp, but was also highly critical of it. In 1947 she returned o Germany

and settled n East Berlin, where she continued o write about ife as an exile and the

uncertainty of one s identity. Her writing served as active opposition to National Socialism.

Luise Rinser (born 1911) was similarly banned rom writing during the period of Nazi

rule but she chose not to go into exile. Instead, her refusal o join the NSDAP resulted n

her imprisonment in 1944. During her captivity she kept a diary, Gefangnistagebuch,

which was published in 1946. This was Rinser s first attempt at writing an

autobiographical ext which revealed ife in a women s prison. In her later work during the

1960s nd 1970s he has shown a preference or the diary-form, which culminated with the

publication of her autobiography, en Wolf umarmen, n 1981. This development rom

diary to autobiographical ovel already anticipated he emergence f autobiographical orks

in the 1970s nd 1980s nd brings us closer o the complex elationship f women s writing

to autobiography, which will be examined hortly.

If we return briefly to our historical overview of Trauenliteratur , we see hat women s

literary output emerged ery gradually during the twenty years after the end of the Second

World War. Two women writers who were able to achieve critical acclaim were Ilse

Aichinger (born. 1921) and ngeborg Bachmann 1926-1973), whose iterary careers egan

to flourish with the establishment f the Gruppe 47 . This was not an organisation s

such, but a series of annual meetings at which authors ead from their new works. The

majority of those nvited to read were male writers, hence he fact that Aichinger and

Bachmann oth received he Gruppe 47 prize in 1952 and 1953 respectively, was an

indication of their determination o succeed, s well as much-needed ecognition of being

on an equal footing with their male colleagues. In fact, at one such meeting n 1967 a


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sense of threat was evident in Günter Grass' comment: Diese Frauen fangen an, uns an

3die Wand zu schreiben . The women o whom he was eferring were Barbara Frischmuth,

Helga M. Novak and Renate Rasp. All three had read rom their works and were on the

brink of making heir mark on the iterary scene. n the same ear, 1967, he 'Gruppe 47'

disbanded.

A year ater the student movement dvocated n specific erms eform of the university

system and in general terms equality and fairer opportunities for all. Within the German

Socialist Student Organisation SDS) emale students began o create women's committees',

in which they addressed omen's ssues, n particular he discrepancy etween he public,

emancipatory hetoric of their male colleagues nd heir chauvinistic ehaviour n personal

relationships with women. At the same ime women's voices were not being heard at the

student allies and demonstrations, and whenever hey did manage o express heir opinions

publicly, they were not taken seriously. On the public platform these emale students

continued o be only the girlfriends or wives of SDS members nd were not looked upon

as ndependent hinkers or activists.

In the wake of such blatent discrimination seven women activists of the SDS founded

the Aktionsrat zur Befreiung der Frau' in January 1968 n West Berlin, in order to expose

the disparity between he anti-authoritarian, Marxist rhetoric of their male colleagues nd

their authoritarian ehaviour owards women on a personal evel. At the second onference

of the SDS n Hanover he 'Aktionsrat' demanded:

The abolition of the bourgeois separation f private and social

life: the task s to understand he oppression n the private

sphere not as anything private but as politically and


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economically etermined. The task s to effect a qualitative

change n the private sphere nd o understand his change s

political practice. This act of cultural revolution s part of the

class struggle.

By the time of the third conference n Frankfurt in September 1968 the continuing

hypocrisy of the male delegates of the SDS resulted in the representative of the

'Aktionsrat', Helke Sander, first accusing them of being authoritarian and patriarchal and

second pelting the male dignitaries with tomatoes. Sander's action marked the onset of a

new era in the Women's Movement and heralded he birth of feminism amongst he

post-war German eft.

Initially, however, there were divisions in this New Women's Movement. Some

women9s groups, such as the West Berlin Socialist Women's League, which arose rom the

'Aktionsrat', continued o base heir convictions on the texts of Marx and Engels. Other

women9s roups urned o American eminists and writers, such as Kate Millett and Juliet

Mitchell, and ormed self-experience roups'. Noteworthy s also he fact that Simone de

Beauvoir's 7he Second Sex (1949) appeared or the first time in paperback n German n

1968. The 'Aktionskreis Frau' in Nuremberg nd he 'Aktion Emanzipation .V. ' in Ulm

concerned hemselves ith equality n the workplace: their membership onsisted ot of

students ut of working women. Two decades fter the Basic Law had promised equality,

discrimination was still rife.

The origins of the New Women's Movement can, thus, be traced back to the 1968

student movement ut of whose political context an autonomous Women's Movement egan

to stir in German-speaking ountries. In contrast o the Women's Movement at the turn of


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the century, which could be divided nto the demands f women rom the bourgeoisie nd

the proletariat, his new movement ecame within three years a coherent political entity,

when t campaigned o reform the aw on abortion and remove Paragraph 18 (in Austria

Paragraph 144). All the women s groups merged o form Aktion 218, after the publication

in Stem, Nr. 24,1971 of Alice Schwarzer s article Ich habe abgetrieben , in which 375

women, some of them well-known and prominent, admitted publicly to having had an

abortion. The issue proved to be the unifying factor for the disparate strands of the

Women s Movement. Furthermore, these women had in common the desire for self-

realisation, the search or one s identity and the wish to free oneself from the constraints

of patriarchy, or, as Marlis Gerhardt pointed out in 1977, patriarchy

bedeutet ja nicht einfach Männerherrschaft, sondern

Herrschaft der Väter, die Ordnung und Gesetz symbolisch

repräsentieren nd weiblichen und männlichen Kindern ihre

spätere gesellschaftliche olle entweder als Erbe oder als

Tauschobjekt und Gebärerin zuweisen.

The propagandistic ature of documentary iterature and reportage, which became

predominant uring the ate sixties and early seventies n German writings as a result of the

writer s wish to renounce bourgeois iterature, was reflected n the titles given to works

written by women, who were aware of the anti-authoritarian movement s oncept f cultural

revolution: Erika Runge s Frauen. Versuche ur Emanzipation 1969); Frauen gegen den

§218.18 Protokolle, aufgezeichnet on Alice Schwarzer 1971); Liebe Kollegin. -Texte ur

Emanzipation der Frau in der Bundesrepublik 1973); Alice Schwarzer s Der kleine


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Unterschied nd seine großen Folgen. Frauen aber sich. Beginn einer Befreiung 1975).

Such was the predominance f reportage, protocol iterature and proclamations bout he

death of literature rom the student movement hat n its review of the Frankfurt Book Fair

in 1971 Die Welt posed he ominous question: Droht das Ende der Literatur? I This state

of affairs was even referred to as a literary-theoretical Nullpunkt . 7 However, just three

years ater the Book Fair was celebrating he so-called Herbst des autobiographischen

Romans .

According to Sigrid Weigel, 1975 was the Nullpunkt for women's literature. This

conclusion s based on her charting of documentary iterature by women up to the

mid-1970s, ollowed by a chronological development f women's cultural sphere after

1975, n particular he founding of women's publishing companies nd eminist magazines.

Certainly, t cannot be denied hat women's iterature did begin to flourish in the second

half of the 1970s, yet to say that 1975 was a Nullpunkt for women's iterature seems

dubious. Weigel herself goes on to illustrate he move rom politics to literature, rom the

public to the personal, via Karin Struck's Klassenfiebe, ublished n 1973. Admittedly,

1975, which also happened o be 'International Women's Year, did see a surge n the

productionof women's iterature

as well as anincreased esire

onthe

part ofthe female

public to read women's works. Verena Stefan's Hautungen was a bestseller; Elfriede

Jelinek's Die Liebhabetinnen met with criticism on account of its satirical tone; Margot

Schr6der's book Ich stehe meine Frau was altered during its conception n order to meet

the demands of her feminist publishers. ' Thus, initially, success or women writers

depended n depicting eminist ssues which corresponded o women's experiences.

The term 'Frauenliteratur' could, therefore, be looked upon as having acquired a new

impetus with the founding of the New Women's Movement. Indeed, ts impact on the


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literary scene as only come o the fore during the ast two decades. The reasons or this

increased opularity are manifold and need o be examined n detail. For the moment, t

suffices to say that we should not ignore the marketing potential of such a concept.

Feminist publishers, be they in Britain, for instance Virago', or in Germany, publishing

houses such as 'Frauenoffensive, 'Frauenbuchverlag' or 'Verlag Frauenpolitik', to name

but a few, have been able o establish hemselves s a result of a sellers' market. In fact,

feminism itself has become a marketing tool which has made women's writings

commercially more attractive. Along with the book publications came the feminist

magazines Courage and Mamas Pfirsiche, malcing heir first appearances n 1976. Not only

have the the new publishing houses been able to prosper from this literary trend, but the

established ompanies ave also hrived with publishers uch as Rowohlt' starting he series

'die neue Frau' in 1977 and'creating he general concept of 'Frauenbflcher' n 1983. The

publishers at 'Suhrkamp' recognised he value of their many women writers, past and

present, with the publication of an almanac n 1980 entitled M Jahrhundert der Frau. In

1991 he 'Fischer Taschenbuch erlag' published ts new series Trauen lesen', consisting

of numerous women writers of the twentieth century from various countries. These

male-dominated ublishing houses are continually n search f new women writers because

Trauenliteratur' has become such big business.

But what do we actually mean when we refer to 'Frauenliteratur'? There is no

hesitation over the translation: women's iterature'. Virginia Woolf had no doubts n her

mind when she wrote about Women Novelists' and 'Women and Fiction'. In America

Ellen Moer's study entitled Literary Women 1974) has become a classic of women's

literary criticism along with Elaine Showalter's A Literature of their Own (1978) and

Patricia Meyer Spacks' 7he Female magination 1976). All three books eature analyses


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of works by English, American and French women writers but there are no German women

writers. Indeed, German equivalents are nowhere to be found and, what is more

remarkable, s the fact that n German iterary circles critics, and even he women writers

themselves, ave no clear-cut definition of the erm Frauenliteratur and continue o debate

its origin and implications.

It is probable hat some ambivalence rises as a result of a difference n perception f

the terms women s literature and Trauenliteratur . Generally, both terms refer to

literature by women and in recent years have become predominant in the literary market

on account of their association with feminist culture. In Germany, however, the term

Trauenliteratur has been tarnished with a somewhat negative aspect, namely

Trivialliteratur , since the majority of women s novels which appeared n the late

nineteenth entury were often serialised nd sold cheaply. The reasons or their popularity

were hus questionable, nd, moreover, such iterature has never been egarded s meriting

significant iterary status:

Im deutschen prachraum at der Terminus Trauenliteratur

mit einer umgangssprachlichen edeutungseinschränkung u

kämpfen - man versteht hier unter Frauenliteratur häufig

epigonale, systemstablisierende nterhaltungsliteratur ür

Frauen; unter diesem Gesichtspunkt indet sie sich schon seit

längerem als ein Gebiet der Trivialliteraturforschung. Diese

Art von Literatur spielt im deutschen Sprachraum eit der

Jahrhundertwende Stichwort Courths-Mahler) ine wichtige

Rolle, in der Gegenwart indet man diese Art von Literatur


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primär auf dem Gebiet des llustrierten- und des Heftromans,

aber auch bei den programmierten Bestsellem (Danella,

Parretti). 11

From the outset contemporary German women writers have had to battle against this

inherited negative oncept, not to mention he fact that

especially n women's media, a critique of women's literature

is largely tabu. Women's fear of criticizing one another

ultimately allows them to leave criticism to the men, where

it is not uncommon or 'Literaturlcritik' to degenerate nto a

festival of slaughter.

It is no wonder, herefore, hat when aced with such a vulnerable position he German

woman writer of today s forced to defend her work, even o the extent of denying any

links, however enuous, with Trauenliteratur'. Some writers, namely West Germany's

Gabriele Wohmann and Austria's Jutta Schutting, would prefer to dismiss the term

Trauenliteratur' completely, ather han have heir works associated ith a term which for

them conjures up feminism and all its socio-political trappings. Austria's Brigitte

Schwaiger, oo, points out that at the time of writing her first novel Wie kommt das Sak

ins Meer (1977) she was unaware of the term 'Frauenliteratur' and the New Women's

Movement. Moreover, she did not want anything o do with words ending n '-ist'.

Other writers, such as the Swiss writer Gertrud Leutenegger, re quick to point out the

non-existence f 'Mdnnerliteratur'. And this is the starting-point or the complexity


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surrounding Frauenliteratur' because eference s never made to men writers or men

novelists. For this reason t is not surprising o discover hat Trauenliteratur' can be easily

dismissed r ridiculed, even by the very women writers whose works are published and

sold under his term:

Intimidated by the ill-repute of women's literature and

dependent upon the feuilleton - but also shaken by the market

success f confessional iterature and ts enthusiastic eception

by many women readers - women authors increasingly

distance themselves rom women's literature, instead of

openly criticizing regressive endencies nd using productive

literary strategies o create esistance nd counter-offensive.

Furthermore, as Sigrid Weigel suggests, women authors fear identification with and

relegation o the social periphery hat comes with special status . It seems hat whilst this

argument may ring true of some women writers, this particular critic is playing her part in

perpetuating he myth that women are in some way weaker han men when it comes o

expressing heir point of view in writing. It is quite possible hat some women writers

would enjoy the exclusivity and attention, as long as this did not imply conformity. The

East German author Irmtraud Morgner, for example, regards the parallel expression

'Mdnnerliteratur' as absurd:

Was ich ablehne, das ist lediglich der Ausdruck Trauen-

literatur , weil der parallele Ausdruck Männerliteratur mit


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Recht als absurd empfunden wird. Es gibt eine Literatur von

Frauen geschrieben und es gibt eine Literatur von Männern

geschrieben. Die von Männern geschrieben st ungeheuer

vielfältig, man könnte sie auf keinen Fall unter irgendeinen

Nenner bringen.

We must recognise, though, that Morgner was brought up in a socialist country where, in

Marxist theory, men and women are equal, so that she cannot even begin to accept the

notion of a Trauenliteratur'. She avoids, or perhaps even solves, the problem by

advocating a 'Menschenliteratur', which either has the viewpoint of a woman or of a man.

In any event, her explanation highlights that there is a difference between the two.

The suggestion s that women, compared o men, write about different things and have

a language nd style of their own. And yet the following questions ontinue o be posed:

Is there such a thing as a woman writer ? Is women's

writing qualitatively different rom men's? Are the style and

subject matter of women's iterature radically different from

those of male writers, and can we generalize bout women's

language nd style? These are vexed questions, otly debated

by linguists, psychoanalysts, ritics and writers themselves.

Works on 'female aesthetics, such as Silvia Bovenschen's rticle 'Gibt es eine weibliche

Asthetik? of 1976, have emerged o engender nd foster such a literary trend. Women

critics are able to present heir opinions on the basis of a feminist perspective, although


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there s a tendency n Germany or feminist research o be content-based, ather than a

distinct analysis of aesthetic heory, which is indicative of a weaknes n the development

of German eminism .20 Nevertheless, he whole issue of the existence of a women's

literature has become a critic's nightmare:

Enthält der Begriff Trauenliteratur» den Hinweis auf

Autorschaft, Adressatenkreis, Darstellungsgegenstand, der

geht er darüber hinaus und deutet eine spezifische Weise des

Wahmehmens nd der Ausdrucksformen n7 Wenn von

Itschreibenden rauen die Rede st, steckt darin nicht der

Versuch, den ästhetischen Fragestellungen zunächst

auszuweichen?

A most basic nterpretation of Trauenliteratur', one which is seen as applicable o the

women9s writing analysed n this study, is that it is a literature by women which is

explicitly about and speaks o women's ives and maginations. As will become evident,

contemporary women's writing focuses on female experience to the extent that

'Frauenliteratur' evokes olidarity amongst sisterhood f writers and eaders. This brings

us to the relationship between women's iterature and feminist writings.

The fact that contemporary German women's iterature coincided with the development

of the New Women's Movement n the 1970s should not come as a surpise, but what is

surprising s that the Women's Movement did not pay any attention o these women's

works. This may be partly due to the fact that many of these iterary works were not

sufficiently concerned about politics and emancipation o be of any significance o


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feminism. It is intersting to note that response o the publication n 1971 of Ingeborg

Bachmann's ovel Malina was unremarkable, et today the same book has almost a cult

following amongst eminists. Such was and is the dependency f women writers upon

women eaders. Another actor was he poor reception of the novel by critics at the time,

who failed or did not want to appreciate Bachmann's sensitivity in her portrayal of the

female dentity within the iterary world, as well as her radical style of writing, the use of

T and total subjectivity. The work itself underlines reasons for the dearth of German

women9s iterature during the early 1970s, n particular the woman writer's unsuccessful

struggle to articulate herself in a world of male-dominated raditions and culture.

It is at this stage hat we are confronted by the dilemma of distinguishing etween he

literature of a feminist and hat of a female writer. Of course, he feminist and he female

writer could be one and the same. It is safe to say, however, that although here is a

marked difference between he sociological writings of feminists and the artistic work of

women writers, they are not beyond separability. The one can quite easily efer to, or even

influence, he other. Rita FelsId argues hat there are notable overlaps between he two:

Although not all women-centered exts are feminist, however,

it is certainly rue that most eminist iterary texts have until

now been centered around a female protagonist, a

consequence f the key status of subjectivity o second-wave

feminism, n which the notion of female experience, whatever

its theoretical imitations, has been a guiding one. It is

precisely because resent-day eminism has emphasized hose

realms of experience which are traditionally considered o lie


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outside he political (that s, public) domain, hat he novel,

as a medium historically suited o exploring he complexities

of personal relations, has been so prominent in the

development of feminist culture. 23

According o Manfred Jurgensen, we are able to differentiate between eminist iterature

and literature which is influenced by feminist ideas:

Eine Frau, die bewußt als Frau über sich selbst schreibt

(womit sie zugleich, geschlechtsbezogen, in geteiltes

Schicksal zeichnet), schafft Frauenliteratur. Eine Frau, die

sich als Ergebnis ines Bewußtseinsprozesses ntschieden at,

kämpferisch ür die Sache der Frau zu wirken, leistet beim

Schreiben inenBeitrag zur feministischen iteratur. Es gibt,

wie gesagt, überschneidungen: grundlegend leibt edoch das

agitatorisch ausgerichtete Anliegen aller feministischen

Literatur. 4

Moreover, women writers are not automatically eminist writers of literary rank. There

are those emale writers who consciously write as feminists and wish to be thus understood

(Verena Stefan, or example). On the other hand, there are those women writers who,

as wehave said, disassociate hemselves rom 'Frauenliteratur'

andeminist

aesthetics.We

must not be misled, however, nto thinking that we can categorise he one group nto a

modem phenomenon nd describe t as politically-orientated; nd place he other group n


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a higher literary realm and suggest hat it has no social or political message. Whilst

feminism n West Germany ecame rominent n the ate 1960s, ts roots were o be found

elsewhere, specially n America and France, n the nfluential works of Germaine Greer,

Alice Schwarzer, Kate Millett, Simone de Beauvoir, Luce Irigaray and H&ne CiXOUS.9

There is no doubt that the New Women's Movement in West Germany has over the years

gained strength in social and political areas. Yet the relationship of women writers to

ideologically-orientated eminism remains problematic. Their interests may correspond, but

many women writers are reluctant to commit themselves o the radical aims of feminist

politics. It is more often the case hat they share similar intentions, but they use a different

approach modelled on works by writers such as Virginia Woolf, Anals Nin, Erica Jong and

Doris Lessing. 11

Certainly, modem works subsumed under the term 'Frauenliteratur' would never have

come about f it were not for feminism. Such erminology s bound o the socio-political

emancipation f women. A change n the political status of women paved he way for

literary independence ased on a new self-appreciation. At the same ime literary criticism

underwent ignificant changes:

The ways in which we now raise questions of gender and

sexuality, reading and writing, subjectivity and enunciation,

voice and performance re unthinkable without the mpact of

feminism, even though many of these activities may take

place on the margin or even outside he movement roper. 30


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18

Just as feminism s a modem-day henomenon, rauenliteratur s a new rend n German

literature. What is new about t is not the fact that German women have suddenly,

during the last ten years or so, put pen to paper n an artistic form. On the contrary, as

has been shown, women have been producing iterary works for at least he ast 150 years.

The innovation of Trauenliteratur is a direct result of the number of women writers who

have looded he book market and the number of women writers whose works have been

rediscovered . The fact is that they, more than ever, are representing o a greater extent

contemporary iterature in German. The quality and quantity of their works is such that

these women writers have become worthy of a literary study based on their own merits.

It is there hat the newness of Trauenliteratur ies, for only recently have he works of

writers such as Brigitte Schwaiger, Barbara Frischmuth, and Gertrud Leutenegger chieved

critical appraisal. A new generation f women s discovering hat the mass consumption

of their works s liberating both the woman and he writer, for modem works of literature

have undoubtedly ecome onsumer oods. At the same ime we should not underrate he

contribution of women s iterature owards giving clearer nsight nto the roles of women

and men n society.

As the number ofliterary

works by women has rapidlyincreased,

so toohave

the

themes and styles of writing. It was already noted when we looked at the origins of the

New Women s Movement and ts influence on women s writing that the female activists of

1968 were intent upon politicising private matters, n order to remove any discrepancy

between he anti-authoritarianism f their male-colleagues n public and their chauvinism

in private .31 The self-experience roups, women9s entres and newspapers, ll contributed

to women s efforts to speak about and make public their individual experiences, nd, n so

doing, recognise he extent o which their personal oncerns were n fact common o many


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19

women. The slogan das Private ist politisch became one of the most fundamental

principles of modem feminism, whereby the political was no longer restricted to

male-dominated arty politics, government nd class struggle. Whatever happened n the

domestic sphere was not just a private matter, but a topic for collective discussion.

Similarly, writing about oneself became a popular mode of publicising what at first

appeared o be personal houghts, worries, nterests, but to which other women did relate.

A turning towards the personal sphere n writing also indicated a reaction against the

documentary iterature of the early 1970s. Furthermore, writers of both sexes esponded

in a similar way with introverted perspectives. Das Private ist politisch could, therefore,

be deemed ppropriate or bridging two literary styles and at the same ime imbuing the

personal sphere with political relevance:

Indem n dem Satz das Private st politisch der Familie, der

Erziehung, der Liebe und Sexualität inepolitische Bedeutung

zugewiesen ird, ist damit zugleich auch die Rede über diese

Themen aufgewertet?

An exploration of one's life could not be considered a private matter because once

committed o paper and published, t became public property. Moreover, readers were able

to identify with many of the author's emotions and turmoils in such a way that what

appeared o be a personal account acquired representative significance, hence its

'politicisation'. It was not always clear, therefore, whether he writer was ntending his/her

personal ife to pertain o politics in a wider context, or whether he process f publication

and the role of the reader politicised' private ssues. Sigrid Weigel suggests wo further


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20

considerations hen nterpreting his slogan with reference o women writers. First, that

it verbalises he refusal of many women o tolerate he existing divisions any longer .

This rings true of women writers, such as Brigitte Schwaiger, whose autobiographical

accounts are often highly critical of the subservient ole women play, in particular n

marriage. If we take this concern a step further, we can see the link with the Women's

Movement and feminist works which depict personal elations and sexual politics rather

than socio-political questions - the traditional domain of male writers. Second, Weigel

points to the fact that such a slogan is misleading if it promises a political solution to

personal suffering . The likelihood of a female author writing with this in mind seems

far from credible or, as we shall see ater, any attempt o solve problems of Personal ain

and anguish ies in the act of writing itself and ts possible herapeutic ffect and not in the

reception of the published work. As Weigel herself comments:

There can, thank goodness, be no political - that is,

organised, ormal - solution to the reallY personal, or that

would mean he suspension f individual self-determination.6

The politicisation of the personal ealm, although primarily a concern of female writers,

could also be related to the German literary trend of the 1970s, namely the phenomenon

of 'Neue SubjektivitAt', whereby male writers, too, were revealing their innermost selves,

overcoming personal conflicts and baring their souls to the reading publiC. 37 At the first

meeting of writing women, organised by the publishing company Frauenoffensive' in 1976

in Munich, the participants called for 'radical subjectivity' in their writing to illustrate the

ways in which the female identity was undergoing a process of change. 9 This move


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21

towardsan expression f personalexperience, ndividualityand authenticitygave auto-

biographya new easeof life, since t appeared o be thepredominant hoiceof writersfor

making he privatepublic. It shouldnot be overlooked,however, hat autobiography as

just one of a number of selected orms during this new trend. Lyric poetry as well as

belletristicpublications underwenta boom. Whatever the literary form, all had n common:

Spontaneität, anti-institutionelle bzw. alternative

Lebensformen, Ungezwungenheit, Natürlichkeit, eine neue

Konkretheit von Beobachtung und Ausdruck, die Wendung

zum Phantastischen nd Irrationalen, zu Gefühlen und

psychischen Vorgängen - all diese Merkmale sind

Äußerungsformender Neuen Sensibilität?

Throughouthe 1970s he author salmostobsessive reoccupation ith himself/herself

dominated he German book market. Amongstothers: Peter Handke s Wunschloses

Unglack(1972), Max Frisch s Montauk (1975), Wolfgang Koeppen s Jugend (1976),

ChristaWolfs Kindheitsmuster1976)andEliasCanettis Diegerettete unge 1977). For

both men and womenwriters autobiography rovidedthe medium or discoveringone s

identity, especially n terms of psychology,whereby the author attempted o interpret

himselfas well as thosearoundhim. This was an apparent hift from the classicalorigins

of autobiography,where he author, requentlysomeone nownto the public,had reached

a stage n his life whenhe felt it was timeto capturehis memories n paper and reflecton

his past. A general, all-embracing definition of autobiography might, thus, be:


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22

Lebensbeschreibung ines Menschen durch ihn selbst , which at the same time

presupposes nowledge and/or ecognition of the dentity of the person depicting his HWO

Any such clear-cut definition causes problems for an interpretation of the auto-

biographical writings flooding the German book market during the seventies because or the

most part the identity of the narrator/protagonist, who usually speaks n the first person,

occasionally n the third person, s elusive. According to Philippe Lejeune, here s a

distinct, unequivocal dividing-line between autobiography and fiction, which is made known

to the reader, either through a title or introduction or through the identity of names. If

none of these criteria are met by the author, then even if there are certain parallels, the

text, so Lejeune believes, cannot be regarded as an autobiographical ork. If this were

applied o the prose writings of 'Neue Subjektivitdt', many would no onger be termed auto-X-K

biographical. Yet literary critics of this period constantly efer to the authenticity of these

narratives, which suggests hat another aspect has o be considered n defining these modem

9autobiographies', nd that is one of reception. Many of these writers, in particular he

women, as we shall see, are encouraging he reader's dentification with his or her life, be

it similar or different, because f the subjective and revelatory nature of what they are

writing. For women writers it has also been mportant that their works are read as

representative n such a way that female readers are able to identify and empathise. For

this reason ome ritics view writings such as Verena Stefan's Hilutungen 1975) and Kann

Struck's Kindheits Ende (1982) primarily as acts of confession . 2This interpretation will

be deemed appropriate or a number of the works selected or analysis here and will,

therefore, be considered more ully at a later stage. For now it should be recognised hat,

in order to make heir works as representative nd exemplary as possible, here has been


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23

a tendency on the part of women writers to deliberately omit proper names, whilst

remaining rue to their emotions as well as to socio-historical acts.

In the classical sense of autobiography women writers are not reflecting on a long,

public career of significance. nstead, aged between hirty and orty, they are writing about

themselves n order to come to terms with their lives, their losses and love. The impression

should not be given, however, that all modem German literature by women is

autobiographical. But autobiography oes offer these writers the possibility of discovering

their identity and, above all, of communicating with themselves: It is as if the written

text has acquired he function of guaranteeing he author's dentity: 'I write, therefore

I am'. Sylvia Schwab stresses hat it is the actual search or, or path towards, one's

identity which typifies these new autobiographies, he fact that during this process of

discovery he author develops a new self-awareness:

Der Schriftsteller wird frei, weil er nicht als Objektp ondem

als Sub ekt agiert, weil er Ort, Zeit und Handlung auch n

autobiographischen Schriften selbständig bestimmt, auswählt

und reflektiert,statt von

ihnen dirigiertzu werden.

4

Whilst we shall see hat a number of the women writers, particularly in the works

concerned with bereavement, o undergo a process of self-discovery, he prospect of

achieving reedom hrough heir autobiographical riting seems oubtful. It is more ikely

a case of Schreiben ls Rettungsaktion .45 They may be able o convince hemselves hat

they are fully in control but, more often than not, emotions un high and amily ties prove

so strong hat one might question o what extent heir choice of material s influenced by


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24

wishful thinking and high expectations. However honest he writer thinks she s, years of

learning and experience re bound o have coloured her perspective n life:

Die behauptete Realitätsnähe des Dargestellten wird damit

jedoch zur Fiktion, denn Ereignisse wie das Scheitern einer

Beziehung der eine ungewollte Schwangerschaft erliem in

der Retrospektive ihre ursprüngliche Bedrohlichkeit und

können dann, durch die Erinnerung neutralisiert, zu wichtigen

Erfahrungen werden, die die eigene Persönlichkeits-

46entwicklung geprägt haben.

in addition, the creative magination will prove difficult to curb, since hese writers are,

17after all, aiming to have their works published. Thus, the label of autobiography

appears o become ess appropriate nd ess purposeful. Furthermore, he reader can be

confronted with a variety of subtitles which suggest hat a work might be autobiographical:

memoirs , autobiographical novel , 9reminiscences , self-portrait , journal . There are

also many imes when a work of fiction contains arallels o the writer s life. This is, then,

justified by saying hat the writer s choice of material s based on his/her own experiences.

Gabriele Wohmann explains he merging of reality and imagination n her works in the

following way:

Allerdings gibt es wohl kaum einen Schriftsteller, der alle

Erfahrungen seiner Protagonisten atsächlich selbst gemacht

hat. Auch sitze ich nicht in einem Sozialbüro und sammle


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25

dort meine Erfahrungen. Die Realität in meinen Büchern

erschaffe ich mit Hilfe meiner Phantasie, durch mein

Einfühlungsvermögen n die Menschen nd mein nteresse n

ihnen, durch meine Neugier auf sie und durch meinen nstinkt

für die Kniffligkeiten zwischen den Menschen. Schließlich

kommt noch meine Selbstbeobachtung azu. ( ... ) Alles, was

man über den Menschen zu schreiben vermag, kann man in

48sich selbst inden.

Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch does not consider her novel Die Zilchtigung, analysed n Chapter

Three, to be autobiographical, ince his would mply that every detail could be proved as

fact. Nevertheless, he admits, ike many authors, hat she borrows' from her experiences

because his makes he story more plausible:

Die Mutter beispielsweise esteht aus Frauen von denen mir

erzählt wurde, aus Frauen, die ich selber kenne, aus der

eigenenMutter

und aus mir selbst.Daher

würdeich

esablehnen, en Roman als autobiographisch u bezeichnen, a

ich Mißverständnisse verhindern will. Selbstverständlich abe

auch ch als Kind hin und wieder Schläge bekommen, aber

ich kann mich daran nicht mehr erinnern. Alle diese Szenen

habe ch erfunden. Es wäre aber andererseits uch falsch,

wenn ich behaupten würde, der Roman trüge keine

autobiographischen Oge.


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26

A wish to combine both fact and fiction is evident n Karin Struck's Kindhelts Ende,

subtitled Journal einer Krise", which for the most part documents he break-up of Struck's

marriage and her painful development f self-understanding uring the years 1977-1981.

The crisis refers o the dangers woman may ace n all areas f society and he difficulties

incurred by the woman writer who is also a wife and mother. Thus, this work does achieve

representative ignificance, ven hough t is an ntensely ersonal ocumentary f Struck's

own experiences. The author integrates many dreams nto her work, which are critical of

society in that they illustrate the possible extent to which the artistic imagination of a

woman may be repressed, ince t can only find expression n dreams:

Nur in den Träumen probiere ch Handlungsmöglichkeiten.

In den Träumen spiegeln sich meine Fehler. Die Träume

warnen mich. Die Träume schreien: Handle , handle doch

endlich , wann handelst u?

It is noticeable hat dreams and fantasies do feature fairly frequently n contemporary

women9s iterature in German, for example, in Barbara Frischmuth's novels Die

Mystifikationen er Sophie Silber (1976), Amy oder Die Metamorphose 1978) and Kai und

die Liebe zu den Modellen (1979). The three works form a trilogy, in which Frischmuth

combines airy-tale and reality to relate he story of a fairy who has become a real person

-a writer and a mother. Interestingly, he itle of Struck's autobiographical ork Kindhelts

Ende is taken from the lyrics of a Pink Floyd song which highlights a certain inter-

dependence f fact and iction: "childhood's end: your fantasies merging harsh ealities".

Throughout he book Struck s conscious f the fact that what she s writing falls between


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27

the categories f documentary and fiction: Dokumentarisches iktionalisiert sich, so wie

sich die Fiktion dokumentiert . 1 In her journal she openly comments upon the writing

process, he choice between autobiography nd iction. She s prepared o scrutinise erself

and even change o meet he requirements f modem autobiography, ut an underlying one

of doubt s evident:

Autobiographisches Schreiben, sagt man behelfsweise. Sich

selber zum Objekt seiner Kunst machen: sich selbst

bearbeiten, a verarbeiten u etwas anderem.

Struck s quite definite, however, about her reluctance o write fiction only, preferring o

remain rue to herself and ace he challenge f discovering er identity, not wanting o be

as objective as a male writer:

Ich denke an das Wort Fiktion und sehe sofort eine Milch-

glasscheibe or mir, hinter der ein Kind liegt, das man nicht

berühren, nicht besuchen darf. Fiktion ist Entfernung,

Distanz, Abstand.

The association f the child with the iterary product n terms of creation s a familiar one.

The parallel here, hough, s that the child (the work of fiction) is separated rom its mother

(the author). In other words fiction would not be a true part of the writer, since

imagination would have played ts role in the creation of the work-. Manfred Jurgensen

similarly comments bout Struck:


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28

Sie will es nicht erlauben, daß sich zwischen hr und ihrem

Werk ein Abstand auftut. Die eigene Schöpfung oll wie das

Kind Bestandteil hrer Selbst bleiben. Es kann auch bei

seiner eigenständigen xistenz nichts Subjektiveres eben. 4

Evidently, n her ournal, Struck has every ntention of undergoing er own rebirth, hence

theikelihood

of an end oher

childhood emains emote: childhoods both her

past andfuture.

This desire on the part of women writers to express private issues, such as the break-up

of their marriage nd he consequences, s an aspect which permeates nd characterises heir

autobiographical riting and s all the more mportant because hey are successful n doing

this. As previously mentioned, raditionally a reader of autobiography ould be expecting

a review of the writer's life, usually based on some claim to notoriety. For these young

women writing their d6but works this is not the case, as Sigrid Weigel explains:

Wenn Frauen zu schreiben beginnen, steht hnen oft kein

anderer Stoff zur Verfügung als der der eigenen Lebens-

geschichte. Deshalb st die autobiographische chreibweise

bei Erstöffentlichungen esonders äufig. Stärkere Fiktion-

alisierung und Literarisierung ist nicht selten an die

Professionalität er Verfasserin gebunden.

Autobiography s, thus, chosen y many inexperienced', new female writers, which does

contradict the traditional autobiographies y male writers with long-standing iterary


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29

reputations. Young women, unknown at the time of writing, write about heir everyday

lives n anticipation f overcoming omepersonal onflict or crisis, or coming o terms with

the situation n which they find themselves. The motivation or writing is also o be found

in the desire o search or one s dentity and n the sense f solidarity amongst women, who

experience similar wishes, fears and suffering.

As already suggested, here are autobiographical orks by both men and women writers,

which can be categorised under the term Neue SubjektivitAt . Men writershave

alsobeen

attempting o write from a subjective erspective o that occasionally he subject-matter f

male and female writers do coincide. This is especially evident from the quantity of

IVAterbficher written by sons and daughters n the seventies and eighties and has,

therefore, warranted a separate chapter to analyse some of these works. Whilst

approximately he same number of men and women have chosen o write personal ccounts

about heir relationships with their fathers, comparisons an be drawn between he extent

to which the writer is subjective; what it is that actually interests him/her about the

relationship; what the purpose s of writing such a work. Generally speaking, n the case

of men writers, historical events play an important part as well as the acquisition of as

many acts as possible so that, although he son may be searching or his identity and may

be revealing hidden ruths, the writer still includes a certain amount of objectivity n is

work which emerges s aloofness, s f he is uninvolved:

Ich sehe Dein Alter, ich sehe Deine Krankheit, ich sehe

Deine Verzweifelung, und finde das nteressant. ch notiere

alles, was Du sagst und tust. und in meiner Erinnerung,

unterstütze mein Erinnerungsvermögen urch Tonband und


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31

self-awareness. Writing with ease about ssues which concern hem and with which they

are familiar has given these women writers greater confidence. They have achieved

recognition ndividually and as a group, privately and publicly. For men writers this path

to self-discovery as been neither a comfortable xperience or an easy choice. They are

more ikely to stray off this path and ind their footing n facts rather han openly admit to

feelings. The application of subjectivity has been one of trial and error; a new venture or

the male writer which has not provided the same success, maybe on account of its

innovative stance which the reader has not been prepared o accept rom an established

writer of fiction. On the other hand, Serke s remark is questionable when we consider

individual writers and individual works. it will become evident during this analysis of

novels by women writers that only a few women will, in fact, succeed n discovering heir

true nner selves; he majority will have he courage o probe, o open up wounds and start

a painful process of recollection, but the end result will not appear n writing, the

implication being that the process s ongoing. Furthermore, not one of the works of the

women writers selected or analysis here ends on a positive note. The reader s left to

surmise about he writer s future progress. For this reason he supposed uccess f each

femalewriter

incoping with

herpersonal

ifeproves difficult to establish, unless she

chooses o write sequels Brigitte Schwaiger and Helga M. Novak, for instance).

Like Serke, Renate M6hrmann highlights he different meanings modern autobiographies

have or men and women writers:

Die plötzliche Herauskehrung es weiblichen ch hat nicht

denselben tellenwert wie die Ich-Zentriertheit n den Werken

der Männer, denn niemals n der Literaturgeschichte aren


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weiblichesund männliches ch wertadäquat. ... ) Hat man

hinsichtlich der Gestaltungdes männlichen ch von einem

Rück-Zuggesprochen, o ließe sich bei der Literarisierung

des weiblichen Ich im wortwörtlichenSinn von einem

Vor-Zug reden. Denn hier ist keine nostalgische

Reprivatisierungam Werk, sondern - im Gegenteil- ein

Öffentlichmachenvonjahrhundertealten Beschädigungen, ine

Zurücknahmeder zur GewohnheitgewordenenVerstummung.

() Die Geschichte der neuen Frauenbewegung ist die

Geschichte er weiblichench-Findung.

It willbe shown n the followingchapters hat for manyof thesewomenwritersthe act of

writingfor the first timeis aldnto a formof self-therapywith the functionof rescuing he

woman rom her passive, ubordinate ole, eitheras a wife or daughter,as wellas helping

her to deal with emotionalcrises. It couldbe said, therefore, hat the subject-matter f

these modemautobiographiess determined y the genderof the writer. Moreover,we

have o take nto accountnot only what interestsand concerns he writer, but also what

purpose heseautobiographicalextsserveandwhatexpectationsheyare ntended o fulfil.

Evenwithinthe abundance f autobiographical orks by women t is possible o identify

prevalent, epresentativehemes. Examplesof childhoodwouldincludeamongstothers:

AngelikaMechtel sWirsind arm, wir sindreich(1977),MariaWimmer sDieKindheitauf

dem Lande (1978),Karin Reschke sMemoireneines Kindes(1980)and MonicaStreit s

Joschl.EineKindheitnachdemKrieg (1984). Womenwritersalso ook at theirrolewithin

history and the effect of historicaleventsupon generations f women n their families:


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33

Ingeborg Drewitz' Gestern war heute. Hundert Jahre Gegenwart 1978), Marie-Th6rese

Kerschbaumer's chwestem 1982). Of more mmediate istorical elevance re he events

of the 1930s and ife under he Hitler regime: Helga M. Novak's two-part autobiography

Die Eisheiligen (1979) and Vogel ederlos (1982), Katja Behrens' Die dreizehnte Fee

(1983). Marital relationships, particularly separations, also come to the fore with works

such as Brigitte Schwaiger's Wie kommt das Salz ins Meer (1977), Hannelies Taschau's

LanjIftiede (1978), Karin Petersen's Das fette Mr (1978). The works selected or this

study are likewise indicative of themes about which women, above all, have something o

say, namely elationships etween arents and children.

Up until now we have viewed these ecent personal writings by women as having a

positive message, hat s, as being representative n terms of reception and herapeutic or

the writer herself. We should not overlook the fact, though, that this upsurge n self-

expression y women has not always been seen n a favourable ight. The desire, even he

need, for women to examine heir selves on paper has been met with accusations f

indulgence n self-pity and self-justification. These writings are supposedly oo personal

to be regarded as 'literary' and contain too much pathos. The sheer quantity of

'confessional' works by women during this period of development n women's iterature n

German does encourage he application of negative eneralisations, uch as self-indulgence

and achrymosity, o all contemporary omen's iterature rom German-speaking ountries:

An der selbsttherapeutischen bsicht ist meist nicht zu

zweifeln. Selbstmitleidung, Selbstrechtfertigung, ein

narzißtisches nd (oder) exhibitionistisches edürfnis können

sich n den Schreibprozeß mischen.


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34

The obsessive ature of a number of new women writers in German o focus on the

negative spects f their ives can, hus, ead o charges f narcissistic elf-consumption . 0

Whilst the act of writing is intended o provide a cathartic experience, he final product

the published work - is a constant reminder of past turmoils. Will this woman writer,

therefore, ever be able to break free from pain and suffering and make a fresh start? The

implication s that she will learn and gain insight into her own being as she reflects. In

Kindheits Ende Karin Struck sees he relevance of pain as part of the writing process n the

following way:

Du mußt eiden, damit du schreiben annstl Sagt man dem

Schriftsteller, und keine noch so fundierte Kreativitäts-

forschung kann das Vorurteil aufheben und die Einsicht

allgemein verbreiten, daß der Schriftsteller schreibt, obwohl

er leidet. Manchmal wissen das die Schriftsteller elbst nicht,

weil sie nicht wissen, daß sie nicht schreiben, weil sie eiden,

sondern eiden, weil sie schreiben. Denn was heißt schreiben

anderes als: wahrnehmen, eobachten, enken, ühlen, und

dies mit allen Sinnen, und geht das alles, ohne zu leiden,

ohne Schmerzen? s st kein Denken möglich ohne Schmerz.

Mit dem Zusammenhang will die Welt sich nicht

beschaftigen. 1

Suffering, then, according o Struck, s not the reason or writing, instead t is the actual

writing which causes he author suffering. In the case of the woman writer it would be


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35

possible o support both sides of the argument, as Johanna W6rdemann oints out: Das

Wiedererkennen, as Anerkennen es eigenen mitgeteilten Leidens m Leiden anderer

ist sowohl Selbstaffirmation ls auch Ausweg' . The loss of a parent or a child can be

seen o be the catalyst or writing, whilst the act of coherently xpressing eelings on paper

proves equally painful, yet cathartic. The writer, perhaps subconsciously, calls on the

reader's empathy and sympathy. Although the subject-matter ould be considered

depressing, even morbid, the reader might in fact feel better about his/her own situation,

having read about someone lse's misfortunes.

It should at this point be reiterated that these women writers are appealing to other

ordinary women o acknowledge hat their problems are common, as well as to share and

understand heir position. This notion of malcing ne's writing as representative s possible

is, however, on shaky ground, when we note hat most of these writers stem rom middle-

class backgrounds nd have had a university education. t is perhaps lready a sign of their

emancipation hat hey are n the privileged position of being able o analyse hemselves n

paper. It is also more than ikely that such works will only be read by someone rom a

similar background ecause therwise empathy would be unlikely. And, in contrast o a

writer of fiction, these women writers are not providing a make-believe world where

dreams ome rue and nto which the reader can escape. Nevertheless, t is worth noting

that Schwaiger's irst autobiographical ovel Me kommt das Salz ns Meer (1977) has been

the most successful ost-1945 d6but novel by a German-spealdng uthor since GOnter

Grass' Die Blechtrommel 1959). Clearly many emale readers ave been able o identify

with Schwaiger's ortrayal of the breakdown of her middle-class marriage, he failure of

a love affair, an abortion and thoughts of suicide, which appear as central issues n

Trauenliteratur'. In an nterview n 1984 Schwaiger erself makes he following point with


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37

Nowadays, Trauenliteratur' offers a varied scope f themes nd echniques hich underline

the superfluousness f a simple definition. We have to do away with the concept of

literature by women, about women and or women, and concentrate n the fact that his is

a literature written by women who are writing from a female perspective ounded on social

conditions and areas of reality, which are naturally different from those of men. Hence,

this s not a literature ighting for the rights of women, but one which portrays he everyday

existence of women in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As we have seen n this survey

of Trauenliteratur' and autobiography, women's self-definition clearly has strong ties with

her social status, as the literary critic Elaine Showalter aptly summarises or us:

Women writers should not be studied as a distinct group on

the assumption hat they write alike, or even display stylistic

resemblances, istinctively eminine. But women do have a

special iterary history susceptible o analysis, which ncludes

such complex considerations s he economics f their relation

to literary marketplace; he effects of social and political

changes in women's status upon individuals, and the

implications of stereotypes of the woman writer and

restrictions of her artistic autonomy.


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NOTES TO INTRODUCTION

I Sally Emerson considers sing a male pen name o deflect criticisms hat women's

writing displays a louche disregard or housekeeping . Tersonal View', Sunday

77mes, 19 June 1988.

2 Details from Manfred Jurgensen, Deutsche Frauenautoren der Gegenwart (Bern:

Francke, 1983), p. 12.

3 Lottemi Doorman, ed. , Keiner schiebt uns weg (Weinheim and Basel: Beltz, 1979),

p. 243.

4 Rob Bums and Wilfried van der, Will, Protest and Democracy n West Germany

(London: Macmillan Press, 1988), p. 137.

5 Marlis Gerhardt, Wohin geht Nora? Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Frau',

Kursbuch, 47 (Berlin: Rotbuch, März, 1977), pp. 77-89, p. 86.

6 H. D. Schäfer, Droht das Ende der Literatur? Die Welt, 13 October 1971.

7 Peter Uwe Hohendahl, Tolitisierung der Kunsttheorie: ur ästhetischen iskussion

nach 1965', in Deutsche Literatur in der Bundesrepublik eli 1965, ed. by P. M.

Liltzeler and E. Schwarz K6nigstein/Ts.: thendum, 1980), pp. 282-299 p. 290).


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8 Sylvia Schwab, Autobiographik und Lebenserfahrung: Versuch einer 7ýpologie

deutschsprachigerautobiographischer chriften wischen 965 und 1975 Würzburg:

K6nigshausen nd Neumann, 1981), p.9.

9 Weigel refers to the year only in the footnotes. Sigrid Weigel, 'Woman Begins

Relating to Herself : Contemporary German Women's Literature (Part One)', New

German Critique, 31 (1984), 53-94 (p. 59).

10 For further details see Weigel, p. 65.

11 'Frauenoffensive' was the first women's press founded n Munich in 1976 by a

group of women who had been publishing a series of feminist works since 1974 or

the 'Trikont Verlag. In the same year (1976) the 'Verlag Frauenpolitik' was

founded n Monster, ollowed by Trauenbuchverlag ntje Kunstmann' n Munich,

'Frauenselbstverlag' n Berlin and Amazonenverlag' lso n Berlin.

12 Sigrid Schmid-Bortenschlager, Beiträge österreichischer Schriftstellerinnen zur

Literatur seit 1945', Modema Sprdk, 2 (1981), 149-162 p. 149). During the period

1905-1948 Hedwig Courths-Mahler produced over 207 novels of which over 40

million copies have been sold world-wide n various anguages. She wrote her first

novel Scheinehe t the age of seventeen nd was known to have written up to

fourteen books, each over three hundred pages ong, in one year, that year being

1920. She is just one example of a woman writer whose works are today

categorised nder he term 'Trivialliteratur'.


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20 See or example Silvia Bovenschen, ie imaginlerte Weiblichkeit Frankfurt a.M.:

Suhrkamp, 1979); nge Stephan nd Sigrid Weigel, Die verborgene rau (Berlin:

Argument, 1985).

21 Magdelene Heuser, Trauen-Literatur-Sprache', Diskussion Deutsch, 12 (1981),

383-405 p.393).

22 Malina (1971) was the first novel in Bachmann's rilogy, entitled Todesarten. Only

fragments remain of the two sequels, Der Fall Franza and Requiem ar Fanny

Goldman. Malina was, in fact, her only novel to be published whilst Bachmann

was ive.

23 Rita Felsld, Beyond Feminist Aesthetics London: Hutchinson Radius, 1989), p. 14.

24 Manfred Jurgensen, Was st Frauenliteratur? , p. 19.

25 Manfred Jurgensen, eutsche rauenautoren er Gegenwart Bern: Francke, 1983),

p. 311.

26 Verena Stefan's Hautungen 1975) s frequently cited as a symbol or the break-

through of women's literature (Weigel, p. 61). Stefan herself was an active

member of the Women's Movement and intentionally wrotein

such a way that

readers could identify with her experiences nd at the same ime she would speak


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27

28

29

on behalf of women. By the mid-80s over 250,000 copies of her first book had

been sold.

In her book about he narrative trategies f twentieth-century omen writers Rachel

Blau Du Plessis remarks that while hardly all of the writers would describe

themselves s feminists, and some, ndeed, esist hat erm, one may assert hat any

female cultural practice that makes he 'meaning production process' itself 'the site

of struggle' may be considered feminist . Wifting Beyond the Ending

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985), p. 34.

Significant eminist works include Germaine Greer's Yhe Female Eunuch (1970),

Simone de Beauvoir's 7he Second Sex (trans. and ed. by H. M. Parshley, 1953).

Kate Millett's Sexual Politics (1977), Luce Ifigaray's Et Pune ne bouge pas sans

Pautre (1979), H616ne ixous' 'The Laugh of the Medusa' (trans. by Keith Cohen

and Paula Cohen, Signs, 1,1976).

Rosalind Cowardseparates o-called

eministnovels

nto fourcategories: novels

which make heir allegiance o the women's movement ery apparent; ovels which

have as heir central heme he aspirations f feminism; novels which are written by

female authors who have heorised bout eminism n other works; and novels which

illustrate women's oppression ut do not deal with feminism as such.

Rosalind Coward, 'This Novel Changes ives : Are Women's Novels Feminist

Novels? A Response o Rebecca O'Rourke's Article ,Summer Reading ', Feminist

Review, 5 (1980)t 53-64 (p.58).


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39 Schwab,p.10.

40 IngridAichinger,Troblemeder Autobiographie lsSprachkunstwerk',Österreich

in Geschichte ndLiteratur, 14 (1970),418-434 p.427).

41 Philippe Lejeune, 'The AutobiographicalContract', in French Literary Theory

Toddy: A Reader, ed. by Tzvetan Todorov (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1982), p.202.

42 See Rita Felski's chapter On Confession, BeyondFeministAesthetics, London:

HutchinsonRadius, 1989), pp.86-121.

43 Felski,p.112.

44 Schwab,p.248.

45 Albertvon Schimding, Schreiben lsRettungsaktion. abrieleWohmanns usflugmit der Mutter', Süddeutsche eitung, 11 November1976.

46 Karin Richter-Schröder, rauenliteraturund weibliche dentität (Frankfurta.M.:

Hain, 1986),p. 155.

47 SallyEmersonmakes he nterestingpointthat a novelistoftenwriteshis firstbook

better than his subsequent nes because e does not believe that his first will be


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published. He can therefore write freely of his emotions, his friends, his lovers.

He does not believe hat anyone he knows will be studying his work .

Sally Emerson, Personal View', Sunday 77mes, 9 June 1988.

48 Adelbert Reif, 'Ohne Todesangst würde ich keine Romane schreiben. Gespräch mit

Gabriele Wohmann', Die Welt, 6 July 1992.

49 Birgit Leonhardt, 'Interview mit Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch', Buchreport, Nr. 23,5

June 1985.

50 Karin Struck, Kindheits Ende (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1982), p. 188.

51 Manfred Jurgensen, as Ende der Sucht? Zu Karin Strucks Uournal einer Krise

Kindheits Ende', in Frauenliteratur, ed. by M. Jurgensen München: dtv, 1985),

pp. 171-186 p. 173).

52 Struck, Kindheits Ende, p. 444.

53 Struck, Kindhelts Ende, p. 497.

54 Jurgensen, . 185.

55 Weigel, Die Stimme der Medusa, p. 154.


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56 Peter Henisch, Die kleine Figur meines Vaters (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1980),

p.76.

57 Jürgen Serke, Frauen Schreiben Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer, 1982), p. 10.

58 Renate Möhrmann, Feministische rends n der deutschen egenwartsliteratur , n

Deutsche Gegenwartsliteratur, ed. by Manfred Durzak (Stuttgart: Reclam. 1981),

pp. 337-358 pp. 340-342).

59 Paul Konrad Kurz, Zwischen Widerstand nd Wohlstand Frankfurt a. M.: Knecht,

1986), p. 16.

60 Sandra Frieden, Autobiography: Sey nto Fonn (Bern: P. Lang, 1983), p. 107.

61 Struck, Kindheits Ende, p. 14.

62 JohannaWördemann, Schreiben

um zu überleben oderSchreiben

alsArbeit.

Notizen zum Treffen schreibender rauen n München, Mai 1976 , Alternative, 5

(1976), 115-118, p. 116).

63 Details from Christa Gürtler, Schreiben Frauen anders? Stuttgart: Akademischer

verlag Hans-Dieter Heinz, 1985), p. 74.

64 Eva Koch-Klenske, . 156.


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65 Susan . Cocalis and Kay Goodman, d., Beyond he Eternal Feminine Stuttgart:

Akademischer erlag Hans-Dieter Heinz, 1982), pp. 35-36.

66 Josephine Donovan, ed., Feminist Literary Criticism Lexington: University Press

of Kentucky, 1975), p. 13.


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CHAPTER ONE: DEATH OF A FATHER: START OF A STORY

A comparison f Elisabeth Plessen s Mitteflung an den Adel (1976), Brigitte Schwaiger s

Lange Abwesenheit 1980) and Jutta Schutting s Der Vater (1980) llustrates he ways n

which three daughters write about their fathers death and try to come to terms with the loss

of this parent. These hree books have been selected or a number of reasons: irst, they

present he daughter-father elationship, about which little has been written, either in

primary or secondaryiterature;

second, all threehave in

common thefact

that thefather

has recently died prior to the opening of the narrative. Clearly the immediacy of death

does have a significant nfluence on the thoughts of these daughters nd, as will be shown,

the loss of the father plays a crucial part in each daughter s search or her own identity.

The three works and their authors are also representative f the literature being

published n Germany nd Austria oday by writers, who are analysing hemselves nd heir

relationships with their families n order to understand who they are. In contrast o the

IVergangenheitsbewdltigung nd he collective esponsibility f the German eople depicted

in the works of GOnter Grass, Heinrich B611 nd Siegfried Lenz, amongst others, these

younger writers turn to the personal sphere, exploring intimate relationships as well as

highlighting he generation ap between arents nd children. Plessen s emale protagonist,

on hearing of her father s sudden death, ravels home or the funeral, which she ends up

not attending. The story is of her four-day ourney by car from Munich to Schleswig-

Holstein, during which the daughter reflects on her relationship with her father: the

conflict between conservative, uthoritarian andowner rom the aristocracy nd a radical,

politically-motivated student, who participates n the student demonstrations f 1968.

Conflicts of opinions between daughter and father is also evident n Schwaiger s work,

where he daughter, n trying to come o terms with her father s death, ecalls her father s


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antisemitism nd her affair with a Jew, Peter Birer, who is old enough o be her father.

Whilst both Plessen s and Schwaiger s works do suggest that the politics of a

German/Austrian ast nfluence he attitude and behaviour of daughter nd ather, here s

no such political impetus in Schutting s Der Vater. Once again the narrative opens with

the daughter having ust heard of her father s death and describes her reaction to this news

and her ensuing efforts over the next three days o organise he funeral service, which she

attends with the rest of the family. Naturally, she, too, considers he extent to which her

father influenced her upbringing and meditates on their relationship. As in the two other

works featured here, lovelhatred of the authoritarian father is presented n graphic terms

by the writer.

In this chapter we shall explore he relationship etween ather and daughter y looking

at the development f the father s authority within the German home since 1945 and the

psychoanalytical heory surrounding he daughter-father elationship. We will look briefly

at the international iterary scene o recent works by Elaine Feinstein, Sylvia Fraser and

Germaine Greer to recognise hat the daughter-father elationship s not just a trend in

modem literature from German-spealcing countries, but is of global interest and

significance. We shall also reflect on the possible similarities hat these ather-portrayals

by daughters rom German-speaking ountries have with those written by sons, such as the

Abrechnung with the Nazi past. We will then be in a position o consider he extent o

which psychoanalytical nd historical traits are evident n the relationships ortrayed by

Plessen, Schwaiger nd Schutting. In order to be able to understand he possible effect of

a father s death on his daughter, he role of the father should be considered irst, before

analysing hese iterary texts.


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The word father conjures p several nalogies, uchas God, the Father , fatherland ,

Idngdom and patriarchy . Indeed, the head of the family (pater familias) can trace his

roots back to the chief of the clan, to representing is wife and children in public, to

commanding ver them but also o carrying he responsibility or them. He had he right

as well as the duty to educate his children. His control was total, as indicated by the fact

that his family name became he name of his own family. Up until as ate as 1977 and he

implementation of the new marriage laws this had still been the case n West Germany.

In Christianity (including Judaism and Islam) God has always been a father-figure. Any

attempt, therefore, to do away with patriarchy might suggest a renunciation of religion in

particular and security n general. Yet, as a result of women s demands or equality, he

state of patriarchy s in the process f gradually disintegrating. The role of the father s

likewise changing nd a new ather mage s emerging. As mothers o out to work and he

size of the family shrinks, he father no longer rules the clan.

The period after World War Two and up until the 1970s heralded he end of a German

father s supremacy n the home. He had been defeated n war and had o carry the blame.

Within the family he initially attempted o assert his authority in order to compensate or

his sense f public humiliation:

Gerade weil die Werte und Ideale, für die sie gekämpft

hatten, zerstört waren, suchten ie heimgekehrten äter um

so verzweifelter Haft und Lebenssinn n ihren Familien zu

finden; als Erzieher wenigstens ie Autorität zu behaupten,

die sie als Staatsbürger uf lange Zeit verloren hatten.


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The father believed that he could redeem himself by continuing to bring up his children

according o strict Prussian standards. He was certainly not prepared o tolerate any

questions r criticism rom his children. With the rebuilding of West Germany is thoughts

turned o work, to creating prosperity and achieving uccess. As Jessica enjamin

bagley (1993) - somebody's daughter - the portrayal of daughter-parent relationships by contemporary...

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