Publications by Year: 2012

2012
The escape backwards as an escape forwards. Moments of demythification in Christa Wolfs Cassandra and Medea
The escape backwards as an escape forwards. Moments of demythification in Christa Wolfs Cassandra and Medea. In: Myth and Subversion in Contemporary Novel. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing; 2012. pp. 187-198.Abstract
The aim of this study is to discuss demythification and the subversion of myth inChrista Wolf’s Cassandra Project (1983) and Medea. Stimmen (1996). Wolfconsiders literature as an archaeological project, as a quest for the truth and the“blind spots” in personal and social history. On this quest she turns her attention toGreek mythology. A myth is not a context, but a frame. It is a supertemporal,multidimensional phenomenon, which allows a writer to move into free spaces.Thus, Wolf’s versions revise the myth in some fundamental points. Her mainconcern is to shed light on the manipulation of truth and the discrimination of thestranger. The author does not write, however, against the myth per se. On the onehand she points out the close connection between myth and politics and on theother hand she tries to explore the potential of myths in order to understand thepresent situation better and to look for livable alternatives or yet untried patterns.The reminiscence on the origins of the alienation offers a matrix for theexplanation of today’s conditions and at the same time permits a glimpse into thefuture: “the escape backwards as an escape forwards”.