published_or_final_version / abstract / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / toc / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Mothers, in female literature, have often been represented through the eyes of their daughters; only recently have they begun to speak for themselves. The object of this thesis is to analyse the portrayal of mothers and daughters in several modern short stories written by women from 1961 onwards, in order to understand the principal elements of an often difficult and ambivalent relationship. In the texts written from "daughterly" perspectives, mothers represent regression and lack of autonomy; therefore, daughters tend to dissociate themselves from their mothers in an attempt to avoid the cycle of repetition typical of this relationship. In these texts, daughters speak for and about their mothers and hence do not allow them to articulate their own subjectivity. However, as daughters reach adulthood, they are able to accept their mothers and a new dialogue emerges. In the texts written from "motherly" perspectives, mothers speak about the responsibility and the guilt which the "institution" of motherhood confers upon them. Although they acknowledge their powerlessness in patriarchal society, these mothers nonetheless hope for better lives for their daughters. By speaking for themselves, they attempt to find an alternative to the traditional role of the mother. / The collection of short stories that follows, Demain tu comprendras, presents mothers and daughters at various stages in their lives and in their relationships. They are written from both "motherly" and "daughterly" perspectives.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-239). Print copy also available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [264]-275).

This dissertation examines mother-daughter relationships in six novels written by German speaking women authors in the decade after the "Year of the Woman." Three novels depict positive mother-daughter relations: Ausflug mit der Mutter (1976), by Gabriele Wohmann, Gestern war Heute (1979), by Ingeborg Drewitz, Die dreizehnte Fee (1983), by Katja Behrens. Three others portray a negative mother-daughter relationship: Die Eisheiligen (1979), by Helga Novak, Die Zuchtigung (1985), by Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch, and Die Klavierspielerin (1983), by Elfriede Jelinek. Common to all novels is a strong autobiographical tendency and the central importance of the mother in the development of the daughter's self-identity. / The complexity and problems of mother-daughter relationships are analyzed as an outcome of female socialization within a patriarchal society. Chapter I deals with historical, economic and psychological oppression of women. The resulting internalization of the role of inferiority and dependency leads to the subsequent repression of their own daughters. Chapter II discusses new contributions in the fields of psychology and sociology to the understanding of female identity formation through relationships. Chapter III provides a two-pronged analysis of each novel by describing the individual mother-daughter relationship in comparison with the outcomes of Chapters I and II, and by addressing the narrator's process of putting the experience into a unique literary form and thus contributing to women's literature. / Themes that are unique in each novel are: the emotional stress of the adult daughter trying to redefine her relationship with her widowed mother (Ausflug mit der Mutter), the dichotomy of woman in her nurturing role as mother and in her quest for self-realization (Gestern war Heute), the difficulty of breaking the repetitive cycle of the female role of dependency (Die dreizehnte Fee). All of the following novels assess the damaged self-identity of the daughter caused by a destructive mother. While the daughters survive due to fierce resistance (Die Eisheiligen) or escape into the world of art (Die Zuchtigung) there is no hope for the daughter in Die Klavierspielerin due to her identification with the oppressor.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1981. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 356-361).