Few authors in the second half of the nineteenth century wrote in such a decisive way on the subject of women as Theodor Fontane, who produced literary studies on women’s lives, determined both by others and by the women themselves. Of Fontane’s seventeen novels, thirteen focus on female characters. In his texts, Fontane questions the concept of a hierarchy of genders and the ambivalence between the intended femininity of women and the “imaginierte Weiblichkeit” (imagined femininity) of men (Silvia Bovenschen). In doing so, he contributes significantly to the gender discourse of the late nineteenth century, creating new images of women that often differed from common literary images, including the femme fatale, femme fragile or the water-nymph. This divergence is especially evident in Fontane’s construction of his female protagonists Melanie Van der Straaten and Mathilde Möhring. This thesis examines the similarities between Fontane’s conceptions of the self-determined life of women in his lesser-known novels L’Adultera (1882) and Mathilde Möhring (1906). It poses the question: How can the protagonist Melanie in the first work of the Berlin Women Novels be seen as a precursor to the protagonist Mathilde in the last book of the series? The works of Silvia Bovenschen, Inge Stephan, Sigrid Weigel and Ute Frevert point to the discrepancies between the realities of life of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women and the ways in which they were portrayed by contemporary male authors. I apply their insights on identity, literary and historio-cultural representations of femininity in my analysis of the images of women contained in the two texts. After giving an overview of the status of research concerning Fontane and femininity (Chapter 2) and the approach of Bovenschen, Stephan, Weigel and Frevert (Chapter 3), I discuss the narrative presentation of femaleness and examine how Fontane’s conception of the women in both works is represented (Chapter 4 and 5). Here, I analyze the characters in light of two identity-attributions: other-directedness and self-determination. In Chapter 4, I examine the depiction of other-directedness in both novels. The emphasis of my analysis here lies on the male characters and their perceptions of the two female protagonists. Chapter 5 examines the notion of self-determination in both novels. It is concerned primarily with the female protagonists and their images of themselves. This chapter also delves into the narrators’ views of this self-perception. I conclude that despite the obvious differences between these two female characters, there are similarities between them, and that Mathilde can be seen as a modern successor of Melanie.

In this thesis I argue that Thomas Glavinic’s novel Die Arbeit der Nacht (Night Work) investigates existential themes of the human condition in a post-modern world. My analysis demonstrates that the novel can be understood – at least in part – as a radical implementation of Jean Baudrillard’s ideas of simulation and hyperreality. My analysis reveals the message of the novel regarding our relationship to media and technology in contemporary society. Glavinic’s novel demonstrates that digital media and new technologies are indeed integral to post-modern human beings, but it also maintains that they cannot substitute for interpersonal contact. Textual references to contemporary Western society are numerous and intended to give the readers the opportunity not only to identify with, but also to reflect on their own situations. The central character Jonas is representative of an average Western individual who maintains a need to be part of a social network. I argue that he can be read as a post-modern protagonist. Considering these findings, I conclude that the novel warns of the dangers of a world saturated by media where we underestimate the importance of close personal human contact and, as a consequence, are in danger of losing our sense of humanity. In my first chapter, I introduce the novel and Baudrillard’s key ideas of hyperreality: the disappearance of human existence as we know it, the prevalence of video culture, and a reliance on technology that ultimately function as prostheses. In the second chapter, I analyze the relationship of media to individuals based on Baudrillard’s thesis that in hyperreality, digital technology becomes part of the human body. I argue that Glavinic’s protagonist can no longer be considered a self-determined, essential human being, but rather is defined by media and technology. The continued encroachment of hyperreality on Jonas’s life results in his cars, cell-phone, and self-created antagonist, the so-called “sleeper,” functioning, in Baudrillard’s terminology, as “prostheses.” The third chapter is concerned with the media’s construction of reality based on four examples: Video cameras, digital and Polaroid cameras, television screens and mirrors. The first three examples impart a sense of hyperreality into our lives. In Baudrillard’s theories the mirror is designated as obsolete; however, in this analysis I show that even in a post-modern world it remains an important motif. In my fourth chapter, I examine Jonas’s attempts to construct a linear time structure despite the intermittent appearances of non-linear ones. Following Baudrillard’s classification of the three different orders of the simulacrum as being imitation, serial production and simulation, I conclude that Jonas is situated in the simulacrum of simulation, which constitutes hyperreality. Despite the obvious applicability of Baudrillard’s ideas to Glavinic’s novel, I ultimately conclude, that it does not follow all of Baudrillard’s arguments. I propose instead that the novel allows for a much more optimistic view of a high-tech world than is immediately apparent.

Few authors in the second half of the nineteenth century wrote in such a decisive way on the subject of women as Theodor Fontane, who produced literary studies on women’s lives, determined both by others and by the women themselves. Of Fontane’s seventeen novels, thirteen focus on female characters. In his texts, Fontane questions the concept of a hierarchy of genders and the ambivalence between the intended femininity of women and the “imaginierte Weiblichkeit” (imagined femininity) of men (Silvia Bovenschen). In doing so, he contributes significantly to the gender discourse of the late nineteenth century, creating new images of women that often differed from common literary images, including the femme fatale, femme fragile or the water-nymph. This divergence is especially evident in Fontane’s construction of his female protagonists Melanie Van der Straaten and Mathilde Möhring. This thesis examines the similarities between Fontane’s conceptions of the self-determined life of women in his lesser-known novels L’Adultera (1882) and Mathilde Möhring (1906). It poses the question: How can the protagonist Melanie in the first work of the Berlin Women Novels be seen as a precursor to the protagonist Mathilde in the last book of the series? The works of Silvia Bovenschen, Inge Stephan, Sigrid Weigel and Ute Frevert point to the discrepancies between the realities of life of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women and the ways in which they were portrayed by contemporary male authors. I apply their insights on identity, literary and historio-cultural representations of femininity in my analysis of the images of women contained in the two texts. After giving an overview of the status of research concerning Fontane and femininity (Chapter 2) and the approach of Bovenschen, Stephan, Weigel and Frevert (Chapter 3), I discuss the narrative presentation of femaleness and examine how Fontane’s conception of the women in both works is represented (Chapter 4 and 5). Here, I analyze the characters in light of two identity-attributions: other-directedness and self-determination. In Chapter 4, I examine the depiction of other-directedness in both novels. The emphasis of my analysis here lies on the male characters and their perceptions of the two female protagonists. Chapter 5 examines the notion of self-determination in both novels. It is concerned primarily with the female protagonists and their images of themselves. This chapter also delves into the narrators’ views of this self-perception. I conclude that despite the obvious differences between these two female characters, there are similarities between them, and that Mathilde can be seen as a modern successor of Melanie.

In this thesis I argue that Thomas Glavinic’s novel Die Arbeit der Nacht (Night Work) investigates existential themes of the human condition in a post-modern world. My analysis demonstrates that the novel can be understood – at least in part – as a radical implementation of Jean Baudrillard’s ideas of simulation and hyperreality. My analysis reveals the message of the novel regarding our relationship to media and technology in contemporary society. Glavinic’s novel demonstrates that digital media and new technologies are indeed integral to post-modern human beings, but it also maintains that they cannot substitute for interpersonal contact. Textual references to contemporary Western society are numerous and intended to give the readers the opportunity not only to identify with, but also to reflect on their own situations. The central character Jonas is representative of an average Western individual who maintains a need to be part of a social network. I argue that he can be read as a post-modern protagonist. Considering these findings, I conclude that the novel warns of the dangers of a world saturated by media where we underestimate the importance of close personal human contact and, as a consequence, are in danger of losing our sense of humanity. In my first chapter, I introduce the novel and Baudrillard’s key ideas of hyperreality: the disappearance of human existence as we know it, the prevalence of video culture, and a reliance on technology that ultimately function as prostheses. In the second chapter, I analyze the relationship of media to individuals based on Baudrillard’s thesis that in hyperreality, digital technology becomes part of the human body. I argue that Glavinic’s protagonist can no longer be considered a self-determined, essential human being, but rather is defined by media and technology. The continued encroachment of hyperreality on Jonas’s life results in his cars, cell-phone, and self-created antagonist, the so-called “sleeper,” functioning, in Baudrillard’s terminology, as “prostheses.” The third chapter is concerned with the media’s construction of reality based on four examples: Video cameras, digital and Polaroid cameras, television screens and mirrors. The first three examples impart a sense of hyperreality into our lives. In Baudrillard’s theories the mirror is designated as obsolete; however, in this analysis I show that even in a post-modern world it remains an important motif. In my fourth chapter, I examine Jonas’s attempts to construct a linear time structure despite the intermittent appearances of non-linear ones. Following Baudrillard’s classification of the three different orders of the simulacrum as being imitation, serial production and simulation, I conclude that Jonas is situated in the simulacrum of simulation, which constitutes hyperreality. Despite the obvious applicability of Baudrillard’s ideas to Glavinic’s novel, I ultimately conclude, that it does not follow all of Baudrillard’s arguments. I propose instead that the novel allows for a much more optimistic view of a high-tech world than is immediately apparent.

In the 1980s Rainer Werner Fassbinders Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod (1976) and Thomas Bernhard’s Heldenplatz (1988) caused two of the biggest theatre scandals in the history of German-language literature, leading to extensive debates in the media. A comparative examination of the “Fassbinder-Kontroversen” (1976, 1984, 1985) and the “Causa Heldenplatz” (1988) reveals many crucial similarities. Both scandals must be understood within their historical and political context. Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod was highly criticized as an anti-Semitic play, while Heldenplatz was said to slander crassly the Austrian people. Bernhard was also attacked for using Jews in a way which could reinforce latent anti-Semitic sentiments. This thesis questions such premises for their reductive readings of these texts. Bernhard’s Heldenplatz can certainly be perceived as a play that was made to be scandal-provoking. Sigmund Freud’s and William G. Niederland’s theories on trauma, however, can lead to a deeper understanding of the text beyond the obvious level of provocation. Most commentary on the play criticizes it for portraying Jews as psychically diseased. My claim, by contrast, is that their neuroticism or traumatization should not be interpreted as limiting the political validity of their comments, but rather as an essential aspect of their protest against Austria’s repression of its involvement in Nazi crimes. Like Heldenplatz, Fassbinder’s Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod can be seen as a text that refutes the denial that there is no anti-Semitism in post-war German-speaking societies. The difference is that Fassbinder deals with the traumatization of his characters counter-intuitively, namely, by introducing the ironic, distancing effects of camp. In her essay „Notes on ‚Camp‘“, Susan Sontag claims that camp “sees everything in quotation marks”. An analysis of Fassbinder’s play reveals it to be a montage of citations and stereotypes. He thereby deconstructs and denounces stereotypes about Jews.

In the 1980s Rainer Werner Fassbinders Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod (1976) and Thomas Bernhard’s Heldenplatz (1988) caused two of the biggest theatre scandals in the history of German-language literature, leading to extensive debates in the media. A comparative examination of the “Fassbinder-Kontroversen” (1976, 1984, 1985) and the “Causa Heldenplatz” (1988) reveals many crucial similarities. Both scandals must be understood within their historical and political context. Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod was highly criticized as an anti-Semitic play, while Heldenplatz was said to slander crassly the Austrian people. Bernhard was also attacked for using Jews in a way which could reinforce latent anti-Semitic sentiments. This thesis questions such premises for their reductive readings of these texts. Bernhard’s Heldenplatz can certainly be perceived as a play that was made to be scandal-provoking. Sigmund Freud’s and William G. Niederland’s theories on trauma, however, can lead to a deeper understanding of the text beyond the obvious level of provocation. Most commentary on the play criticizes it for portraying Jews as psychically diseased. My claim, by contrast, is that their neuroticism or traumatization should not be interpreted as limiting the political validity of their comments, but rather as an essential aspect of their protest against Austria’s repression of its involvement in Nazi crimes. Like Heldenplatz, Fassbinder’s Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod can be seen as a text that refutes the denial that there is no anti-Semitism in post-war German-speaking societies. The difference is that Fassbinder deals with the traumatization of his characters counter-intuitively, namely, by introducing the ironic, distancing effects of camp. In her essay „Notes on ‚Camp‘“, Susan Sontag claims that camp “sees everything in quotation marks”. An analysis of Fassbinder’s play reveals it to be a montage of citations and stereotypes. He thereby deconstructs and denounces stereotypes about Jews.