University of Bath PHD Helga Konigsdorf's evolving identities: an Eastern German author's responses to an era of personal and political upheaval (1978-1998) Alberghini, Diana Award date: 2000 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 08. Oct. 2021 Helga Konigsdorfs Evolving Identities: an Eastern German Author’s Responses to an Era of Personal and Political Upheaval (1978-1998) Submitted by Diana Alberghini for the degree of PhD of the University of Bath 2000 Copyright Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with its author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the prior consent of the author. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 UNJVEFiS Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Dennis Tate and Prof. Ian Wallace, for having believed in me and assisted me in the production of this thesis. I am also very grateful to my family and my partner who, although they are far away, always supported and encouraged me. Finally, my thanks to the DAAD for having giving me the opportunity to study in Berlin for a year. 2 Abstract Adopting a new approach to providing a comprehensive picture of an Eastern German author's development through the years before, during and after the ‘peaceful Revolution’, this thesis views the life and work of Helga Konigsdorf as a complex of complementary identities: as a woman, a scientist, an intellectual, a citizen and a creative writer. The evolution of each of these identities is examined separately in the five parallel chapters of the thesis. In each chapter the relative significance of Konigsdorf s GDR experience, her provisional responses to the events of 1989-90, and her more considered post­ unification stances are investigated. Identity is viewed in the modernist sense not as a fixed set of inherent personal characteristics but as an understanding of the self subject to change through the combined effects of personal reassessment and interaction with the rest of society. Accordingly, it is possible to outline a differentiated picture of the development of each identity over this complex era of transition. Chapter One analyses Konigsdorf s growing self-awareness as a woman in relation to issues of gender, the exploration of which was facilitated by the transformation of the public sphere in 1989-90 and the subsequent lifting of the taboo on subjects such as lesbianism. The interest in contributing to the well­ being of mankind through a critical analysis of society's structures and mechanisms displayed by Konigsdorf in these writings is very similar to the one which characterises her identity as a scientist, as presented in Chapter Two. Even if following the openness brought about by the ‘peaceful Revolution’ she increasingly preferred non-fictional genres to deal with scientific issues, her critical evaluation of scientific progress has remained constant throughout her literary career. More radical is the development of Konigsdorf s intellectual profile analysed in Chapter Three, as it involves the 3 revision of her political ideals and the adjustment to a transformed cultural scene. Loss is the central concept of Chapter Four dealing with Konigsdorf s identity as a citizen, as she found herself having to re-define the meaning of homeland Heimat( ) and re-create a sense of belonging for herself. The identity crisis which overtook her after the collapse of the GDR is reflected in her first post-unification novels. Although after 1990 she wrote fewer short stories than before, she continued to ascribe to literature the same communicative functions as it had during the GDR years, even if her tone became more resigned. The process leading to the re-definition of her literary identity is discussed in Chapter 5. Overall, the thesis shows that, for a number of reasons, the evolution of KOnigsdorfs identities follows a complex pattern: Konigsdorf had to completely reconstruct her identity as a citizen, she underwent a difficult re­ negotiation process to adapt her identities as an intellectual and a creative writer to the cultural landscape of unified Germany, while the events of 1989- 90 gave her the opportunity to expand her identities as a woman writer and as a scientist. 4 Contents Abbreviations 10 0. Introduction 0.1 The Historical and Literary Background of Helga Konigsdorfs Works 11 0.2 Aim of the Thesis 20 0.3 The Approach and Terminology Adopted 24 0.4 Brief Outline of the Chapters 31 1. Helga Konigsdorfs Identity as a Woman 1.1 Introduction 37 1.2 Personal Experience as the Touchstone 42 1.3 Meine ungehdrigen Traume: the Search for Identity and the Power of Dreams 1.3.1 The Search for Identity 47 1.3.2 The Introduction of Dreams 53 1.4 Der Lauf der Dinge: Konigsdorfs Mothers and Daughters 56 1.5 Lichtverhaltnisse: the Feeling of Resignation 62 1.6 Respektloser Umgang: Critical Reflections on the Issue of Emancipation 68 1.7 The Treatment of Women’s Issues in the Post-Unification Novels 76 1.8 The Exploration of Alternative Lifestyles: the Theme of Homosexuality 82 5 1.8.1 Hints at Lesbianism: The Example of GDR Women Writers 85 1.8.2. The Lesbian Strand inGleich neben Afrika 87 1.9 Conclusion 95 2. Helga Konigsdorfs Identity as a Scientist 2.1 Introduction 99 2.2 The First Phase: Konigsdorfs Evolution from Full-Time Scientist to Full-Time Writer (from 1978 to 1990) 2.2.1 Meine ungehorigen Traume andDer Lauf der Dinge: Writing as a ‘Befreiung vom streng Rationalen’ 102 2.2.2 Lichtverhaltnisse: between Pessimism and Commitment 109 2.2.3 Raising Awareness about the Role of Science and the Scientist inRespektloser Umgang andUngelegener Befund 2.2.3.1 KSnigsdorf s Re-definition of the Relationship between Man and Science 114 2.2.3.2 The Importance of Resistance and Responsibility for the Scientist 117 2.2.3.3 Strategies Employed by Konigsdorf to Raise Awareness 124 2.3 The Second Phase: the Role of Konigsdorf s Scientific Background after She Becomes a Full-Time W riter (from 1990 to 1998) 129 2.3.1 Konigsdorf s Non-Fictional Writings on Science 132 2.3.1.1 Konigsdorfs Suggestions for a Better Society as Expressed in Uber die unverziigliche Rettung der Welt 133 2.3.1.1. lKOnigsdorf s Definition of a Real Scientist 135 2.3.1.1.2The Obstacles to the Development of Scientific Research 137 2.3.1.2 Continuities and Differences between Konigsdorfs Pre-1989 Works and Uber die unverziigliche Rettung derWelt 140 2.3.2 Mathematics in Konigsdorfs Post-Unification Novels 143 2.4 Conclusion 147 3. Helga Konigsdorfs Identity as an Intellectual 3.1 Introduction 151 3.2 Prior to 1989: the Harmonious Co-existence of 6 Konigsdorfs Intellectual and Political Identities 3.2.1 Konigsdorf s Experience of the Relationship between ‘Intellect’ (Geist) and ‘Power’(Macht) 159 3.2.2 Dignity as a Pillar of Society 163 3.2.2.1 The Concept of Dignity in Konigsdorfs Pre-1989 Fiction 164 3.2.2.2 Konigsdorfs Concept of Dignity in Her Non-fictional Writings of 1989-90 167 3.3 The Years 1989-90: Konigsdorfs Re-assessment of Her Identity as an Intellectual 175 3.3.1 1989 oder Ein Moment Schdnheit : between Hope and Commitment 176 3.3.2 The Revolution as a Period of Re-appraisal 178 3.3.3 An Example of Documentary Literature 183 3.3.4 The Evolution of the Relationship between Konigsdorfs Political and Intellectual Identities in 1989-90 184 3.3.4.1 Konigsdorfs Subjective Voice within Her Political Identity 185 3.3.4.2 The End of the Co-existence of Konigsdorf s Political and Intellectual Identities 188 3.4 After Unification: Konigsdorf as an Independent but Still Morally Concerned Intellectual 3.4.1 Konigsdorf s Views on Unification 192 3.4.1.1 Konigsdorfs Analysis of the Impact of Unification on the Dignity of the Eastern German Citizens 194 3.4.2 Ober die unverziigliche Rettung der Welt: Personal Essays and Literature as a Means of Criticising Modem CivilisationZivilisationskritik) ( 197 3.4.3 Documentary Literature in the Post-Unification Period 201 3.5 Conclusion 203 4.