Body and narrative in contemporary literatures in German

About this book

"This book examines the relationship between representations of the body and narrative strategies in the work of three contemporary women writers: Herta Muller, an ethnic German from Romania; Libuse Monikova, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia to West Germany and chose to write in German; and Kerstin Hensel, from the GDR." "In close readings of the authors' work, Lyn Marven shows how content and form are interlinked, and how these challenge the hegemonic discourses within the repressive socialist regimes of the former Eastern Bloc countries. The introduction contextualizes the writers socially, culturally, and historically, and outlines the theoretical basis of the approach which draws on psychoanalytical theory, performativity, and feminist thinking. Chapters on the individual authors offer new interpretations of their writing, focusing on the structures of trauma (in Muller's work), hysteria (in Monikova's) and the grotesque (in Hensel's). The images of the body analysed in the first half of each chapter show the effects of violence; challenge the understanding of the body as natural or authentic; and raise questions about identity and gender. The analysis in the second half of each chapter covers a range of formal features, from the fantastic, intertextuality and parody, through plot, storytelling, and irony, to collage. The book also traces developments in the work of all three authors, taking account of the historical changes in the Eastern Bloc countries since 1989." "Body and Narrative in Contemporary Literatures in German will be valuable for anyone researching contemporary German literatures, as well as those interested in feminist theory, minority literatures, and trauma."--BOOK JACKET.