Challenging Normativity in the Writing of Elisabeth Reichart, Charlotte Roche and Elfriede Jelinek

This study examines how the literary works of Elisabeth Reichart, Charlotte Roche and Elfriede Jelinek challenge normativity both in their engagement with gender and sexuality and with aesthetic choices. The comparative analysis of texts published over a twenty-year period provides insights into the socio-political and cultural dynamics at the time of publication. It reveals the continuing relevance of feminist authorial voices to the present day, challenging the stable, normative understanding of feminism and feminist writing itself, and showing how literature can function as a form of intervention that provides a reflective space for readers to question norms in their own lives and to take the initiative to change these norms.

Cornelia Wech studied German and English Literature at the University of Vienna. She completed her doctorate in European Languages and Cultures at the University of Lancaster. She has spent the past three years teaching German Language and Literature in countries as diverse as Vietnam and Panama. 

Bithell Series of Dissertations, 48
ISBN 978-0-85457-271-7; 228 pp.; 30 June 2020