The purpose of this thesis is to examine from a feminist perspective two novels of the Austrian writer, Marlen Haushofer (1920, Frauenstein-1970, Steyr): Die Tapetentur (1957) and Die Mansarde (1969). / Both work were written in a "pre-feminist" period in the history of German women writers. However, with the aid of contemporary feminist approaches, they can be rediscovered and deciphered for the modern reader. / In the first chapter I will introduce the theories to be applied, the biography of her author and the reception of the work, focusing on areas relevant to the topic of the thesis. The recurring themes of spatial isolation and speechlessness will then be analysed in terms of form and content. Through the observation of physical spaces and their psychological implications, and through the investigation of a new form of verbal expression and freedom, a process of writing continuity ("Fortschreibung") emerges from Haushofer's world. / In the related characters of two women figures, Annette in Die Tapetentur and the unnamed heroine in Die Mansarde, Marlen Haushofer establishes a line of development in her work. At the end of her literary career, she succeeds in delivering to the reader her encoded version of the liberation of women from their fettered, hopeless existence.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.68075 |
Date | January 1993 |
Creators | Boyer, Sophie |
Contributors | Goldsmith-Reber, Trudis (advisor) |
Publisher | McGill University |
Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
Language | German |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Format | application/pdf |
Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of German.) |
Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
Relation | alephsysno: 001394601, proquestno: AAIMM94322, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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