Suchergebnisse

This essay wants to introduce readers to one of Austria's most astute women writers of the immediate postwar period. Marlen Haushofer, in contrast to her contemporary Ingeborg Bachmann, has not (yet) gained international renown despite her literary craftsmanship. Looking at those works of her that most poignantly thematize the postwar reaction to the years of National Socialism and deal with the issues of guilt and responsibility, I focus on Haushofer's gendered perspective on the roles of victim, perpetrator, and bystander as played out in the seemingly apolitical microcosm of the family. The essay consists of an introductory discussion of the relevant political-historical context, a brief commentary on two thematically related short stories, and an analysis of the novella Wir töten Stella. In her scathing portrait of femininity in the patriarchal order of the fifties, Haushofer condemns women as accomplices in the perpetuation of corrupt structures and strategies of domination. She points to women's subordination and conspiracy of silence about evil-doing as powerful factors in the perpetuation of destruction. The metaphorical representation of Austrians' collective effort to forget their participation in Nazi crimes may be regarded as a gendered writing strategy allowing Haushofer to appear harmless and thus acceptable to her contemporaries.

There are very few narratives about "Gypsies" that would not qualify as "stories of textual persecution" (Claudia Breger). The Austrian writer Marie-Thérèse Kerschbaumer, however, has demonstrated discursive resistance to the prejudice against "Gypsies" in an iterative process of representing the experience of this ethnic minority. Through a comparative analysis of Kerschbaumer's three different approaches to the topic—the central chapter "Die Zigeunerin" ("The Gypsy") from Der weibliche Name des Widerstands ( Woman's Face of Resistance ), the radio play of the same title, and the television film—this essay explores the connections between the author's aesthetic creed, her ideological concerns, her thematic choices, and the medium-specific voice addressing the intended audience. (MRK)

Since the appearance of her first novel Die Züchtigung (1985), Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch has established herself as an important and insightful writer. Intended as an introduction to her work, comprising four novels so far, the essay discusses Mitgutsch's central themes of female "Entfremdung," "Ichlosigkeit," and "Sprachverlust," and analyzes her use of poetic language and narrative perspective. The essay complements the interview with Mitgutsch, in which she comments on her work and its reception, expresses her views on being a writer in Austria, addresses the questions of female vision and feminist aesthetics, and explains her artistic intentions and goals. (M.-R.K.)

Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch wurde am 2. Oktober 1948 in Linz (Oberösterreich) geboren, wo sie auch aufwuchs. Von 1967 bis 1974 studierte sie an der Universität Salzburg Anglistik und Germanistik. Nach ihrer Promotion war sie vier Jahre lang als Assistentin am Institut für Amerikanistik an der Universität Innsbruck tätig. Zahlreiche Auslandsaufenthalte—u.a. in Israel, Korea, Indonesien—folgten. Von 1980 bis 1985 unterrichtete sie deutsche Sprache und Literatur an verschiedenen Universitäten und Colleges der Ostküste der USA. Seit 1985 lebt sie mit ihrem Sohn wieder in Linz. Ihre schriftstellerische Tätigkeit wurde 1985 mit dem Brüder-Grimm-Preis der Stadt Hanau und 1986 mit dem Literaturpreis des Claassen Verlags, der Claassen-Rose, und dem Landeskulturpreis Oberösterreichs ausgezeichnet. Dieser Dialog mit Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch wurde im Sommer 1989 in Linz, Oberösterreich begonnen und im Winter 1991 fortgeführt. (M.-R.K.)