Erzahlstrategien und die Frage der Mutterschaft in Die Mittagsfrau von Julia Franck. Eine kritische Analyse des Romans

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Die Mittagsfrau, (Lady Midday) awarded the Deutscher Buchpreis in 2007, is a novelwritten at a time when the topic of motherhood was very much a focus of debate inGermany. This novel not only explores and questions the demands and expectationsplaced on the woman as mother in society, but by destabilizing traditionally heldviews on motherhood, also contributes positively to the debate by creating anawareness of women's experiences and their place in contemporary society. It probesthe values, expectations and assumptions that society places on motherhood, inparticular maternal instinct, motherly love and the role of the mother in a child's life.The story is (auto-) biographically inspired by an incident in the author Julia Franck'sown family history, where her father was abandoned at the end of the Second WorldWar, on a train station bench by his mother, who promised to return but did not.Unlike Franck's father's side of the family, who condemned the Grandmother'saction, the author takes great care not to judge her protagonist Helene, who havingunwillingly become a mother, rejects this role by ultimately abandoning her child.Through the thoughtful use of narrative strategies, Julia Franck encourages the readerto decide whether this action that defies explanation may be condoned or condemned.The title of the book is based on a Sorbian legend which promotes the use of speech,maintaining that silence and unarticulated and supressed feelings merely increasetrauma. The theme of silence permeates the story and is seen as a destructive force inthe protagonist's life and decision-making. The family story is grounded in thehistory of Germany during the early twentieth century, where particular yet indirectreference is made to the Weimar republic, the persecution of Jews during the Naziera, as well as, to the two World Wars.The centre of novel's enquiry is the protagonist's life story, which is set as a storywithin the story (Binnenerzählung). The framing narrative (Rahmenerzählung), aPrologue and Epilogue, gives voice to Peter, the abandoned son. This allows for ashift in perspective, which enables a more balanced and in-depth approach to the enquiry, thus adding additional dimension to how motherhood is portrayed in thenovel.The aim of this dissertation is to show that the author not only uses her family story assource and material for her book but also uses it to provide the structure for her story,which in turn influences how the question of motherhood and mothering isapproached in the novel. This study examines in detail the narrative strategies thatJulia Franck uses to investigate what could have instigated her protagonist's decisionto abandon her child. Attention is given to the narrative perspectives used, theconstellation of figures, the configuration of space and the linkage of the private(family) and the public (history). Through a close analysis of text, this study proposesthat an alternative interpretation of the novel, to that put forward to date by therelevant secondary literature, is possible.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University