Literary Freedom and Social Constraints in the Works of Swiss Writer Gertrud Leutenegger

Erscheinungsjahr 1995
ISBN: 978-90-5183-763-6
Verlag: Brill | Rodopi

Buch, Englisch, Band 115, 169 Seiten, Format (B × H): 15 mm x 22 mm

Reihe: Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur

This work analyzes texts by contemporary Swiss writer Gertrud Leutenegger in regard to the interrelationship of literary freedom and social constraints by applying different discursive variants of literary discourse analysis. How do the enigmatic texts written in an idiosyncratic and unique style, filled with myths and codes of dream and life sequences relate to the Swiss environment? Are they just free associations and combinations constituting an esoteric utopia? Is Gertrud Leutenegger "ortslos" as Martin Roda Becher defines postmodern writers?
Critical approaches of several schools of literary criticism; feminism, male gender studies, psychoanalysis, mythology, theory of style, linguistics, and sociolinguistics contrast the functional textual differentiations. A wide interdisciplinary need in literary projects is thus disclosed. Therefore, this volume is of interest for scholars of all branches of social and literary sciences.
Unprecedented are the models of masculinity and the images of men derived from a first person singular narrative by a Swiss woman writer. She works through the ontological process of subjectivity reflected in the image of a patriarch governor and an Italian immigrant.
The chapter on "Swissness in the Text" is of crucial importance concerning the categorization of German Literature and questions about minor literature.
This socio-critical analysis shows that there is a transcendence between the writing subject-(author) and literature. Yet, the body can be retrieved from literature since "das Herz muß im Körper belassen werden, als Sitz der Erkenntnis," as Gertrud Leutenegger says. All her texts are body writings; her words originate in the female body experiencing constraints in Switzerland.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zinggeler, Margrit Verena

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction. 1. Wie wird man zum Dichter: The need for Biography and Literary Subjectivity. Biographical Writing. Twentieth Century Literary History of the Author and Thoughts of Writing. About the Origin of Language and Writing. What is an Author? Literary Subjectivity and (Auto)Biography. Retrieving the Body from Literature. 2. Swiss Écriture Feminine and Feminism. Gender Dilemma with Language. Swiss Women Writers. What is Frauenliteratur? Women's Role in Switzerland. Swiss Literary Culture Revised. 3. Concepts of Style. A Comparative Test. The Style of Gertrud Leutenegger's Écriture.Semiotics of Meaning and Metaphoric Meaning. Sociolinguistics of Style. Is there a Style of a Nation? 4. Fabrizio and the Governor: The New and the Old Man. Women depicting Men. Theweleit's Men. Images of men in Switzerland and Contemporary Swiss Literature. The Death of the Governor Patriarch. The Image of Fabrizio as Post-Phallic Man. 5. The Revelation of the Literary Unconscious: Fantasy, Imagination, and Dreams. Literature and the Psychoanalytic Process. Language and the Unconscious. Fantasy and Imagination. Religious Conflicts and Love. Assimilation with Myths. Dreams. Swissness in the Text. Sociolinguistic Aspects of Swiss Literature. Linguistic Analysis in Texts by Gertrud Leutenegger. Code-Switching in Texts by Gertrud Leutenegger. Swiss Settings in Gertrud Leutenegger's Narratives. Geographical Settings. Social Swiss Settings. Conclusion. Afterword. Bibliography.