Citation

Willeke AB. Ger. Life Lett. 2002; 55(1): 100-116.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1468-0483.00217

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since the 1970s, empowered by the women’s movement, daughters sexually abused by fathers have told their stories in memoirs, case histories, and fiction. In this article I apply the results of current research on incest to analyse incest narratives by German and Austrian women authors: Ingeborg Bachmann’s Malina, Alissa Walser’s ‘Geschenkt’, and Elisabeth Reichart’s ‘La Valse’. Each of these texts depicts daughter-narrators who are coping with after-effects of sexual abuse, in particular, split identity and gender ambivalence. In Malina and ‘Geschenkt’, the I-narrators try to resolve the split by opting for a masculinised ego ideal, a façade self that protects the vulnerable female self from painful memories. On the other hand, ‘La Valse’ is based on an inclusive, not a dualistic, model of identity. The daughter begins her tentative journey toward autonomy when she acknowledges her ambivalent attachment to her father and reintegrates memories and emotions. By shaping and giving meaning to the experience of sexual trauma, incest narratives reveal competing – dualistic and inclusive – notions of the self.