Ausgehend von den literatur- und diskursgeschichtlichen Schwellenräumen um 1800 und 1900 untersucht Natalia Igl den historisch-semantischen Wandel des komplementären Geschlechtermodells und dessen Krise. Anders als die bisherige Forschung legt sie dabei den Fokus auf den Naturalismus als Initialphase der literarischen Diskursivierung der »modernen« Geschlechterproblematik. Einen Kern der Textanalysen bilden die wenig erforschten naturalistischen und naturalismusnahen Dramen von Elsa Bernstein (1866-1949). Insgesamt zeigt die Untersuchung, dass dem Naturalismus sowohl mit Blick auf die Geschlechterkrise um 1900 wie auch auf den umfassenderen Diskurs der literarischen Anthropologie eine deutlich relevantere Stellung einzuräumen ist, als das bislang getan wurde. The study analyses the development and change of gender semantics during the 'long 19th century', based on the premiss of the constitutive role of literature as a medium where socio-historical concepts are formed and reflected upon. In contrast to previous research, the focus thereby lies not on literature of the Fin de Siècle but on the German Naturalism: As Natalia Igl shows by detailed analysis, the era of Naturalism can be regarded as an initial phase where the perceived crisis of traditional 'complementary' gender roles is being addressed in literary as well as in poetological discourse in a significant way. A core piece of the analysed texts consists of dramas of the non-canonical author Elsa Bernstein (1866-1949). Due to the close linkage of naturalist aesthetics and the issue of conflicting gender roles that characterises Bernsteins texts, their interpretation thus provides a 'burning glass' which helps to shed light on the significance of changing gender semantics regarding the discourse of Naturalism as a whole. All in all, the study emphasises the relevance of the naturalist era as a liminal but not marginal epoch of literary modernims which plays a crucial role with respect to 19th century literary anthropology.

Autorentext
Dr. Natalia Igl lehrt und forscht seit 2010 als Wissenschaftliche Assistentin am Lehrstuhl Neuere deutsche Literaturwissenschaft der Universität Bayreuth und ist Lehrbeauftragte im Fachbereich Germanistische Linguistik an der LMU München.

Klappentext

The study analyses the development and change of gender semantics during the 'long 19th century', based on the premiss of the constitutive role of literature as a medium where socio-historical concepts are formed and reflected upon. In contrast to previous research, the focus thereby lies not on literature of the Fin de Siècle but on the German Naturalism: As Natalia Igl shows by detailed analysis, the era of Naturalism can be regarded as an initial phase where the perceived crisis of traditional 'complementary' gender roles is being addressed in literary as well as in poetological discourse in a significant way. A core piece of the analysed texts consists of dramas of the non-canonical author Elsa Bernstein (1866-1949). Due to the close linkage of naturalist aesthetics and the issue of conflicting gender roles that characterises Bernsteins texts, their interpretation thus provides a 'burning glass' which helps to shed light on the significance of changing gender semantics regarding the discourse of Naturalism as a whole. All in all, the study emphasises the relevance of the naturalist era as a liminal but not marginal epoch of literary modernims which plays a crucial role with respect to 19th century literary anthropology.