Maskerade in Theorie und literarischer Gestaltung. Geschlecht und Körper, Begehren und Liebe in Werken von Antje Rávic Strubel, Katharina Hacker und Angela Krauß

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to apply and advance the concept of gender masquerading, which has its origins in psychoanalysis and gender studies, to the field of literary studies. There, the concept of masquerading has mainly been discussed in the context of literary works in which gender masquerade was paralleled by cross-dressing. This approach needs to be differentiated methodologically as the concept of gender masquerading allows for a close psychological analysis of the literary characters in terms of femininity and masculinity, hetero- and homosexuality, desire and love, even and in particular in the absence of any visible disguise that masks gender or makes it seem confusingly ambiguous. The concept of gender masquerading was first developed by the psychoanalysts Joan Riviere and Jaques Lacan, and later critically re-assessed by philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler, and includes multifaceted questions relating to the authenticity, the mechanisms and effects of gender performance, as well as to the relational structures between lovers or those who desire. Gender masquerading focuses on the discussion of femininity, which, in different theoretical contexts, is construed as pretence, as a psychic coping strategy, as stabilization of patriarchal structures, or as denial of a female desire which needs to be unmasked. In order to bring to the fore and highlight this specific character of gender masquerading in literary studies, the present study analyses three novels by contemporary female authors that do not include an overtly visible disguise or a readily identifiable change of gender roles: Antje Rávic Strubel's "Kältere Schichten der Luft" (2007), Katharina Hacker's "Die Habenichtse" (2006) und Angela Krauß' "Wie weiter" (2006). In-depth analyses of the narrative contents and linguistic representations of the novels provide the basis for a literary approach that unfolds the psychological depth of the respective characters and unveils numerous differences, contradictions and disruptions. These describe a complex interplay of various aspects: on the one hand the power of gender roles, the obligation of gender masquerading, the diverse insecurities, fears and possible repressions, on the other hand moments of conscious selfformation and self-transformation, as well as free, playful, sensual masquerading. In conclusion, it becomes clear that the concept of gender masquerading is a complex and versatile theoretical tool, which can prove to productively connect diverse questions of gender and body, sexuality, desire and love.