Kultur entmannen

Narratologie der Gewalt bei Johan Galtung und Christa Reinig

Abstract

For an increasing number of female German authors in the 1970s, the question of how to narrate under the conditions of structural violence seems to be central, in particular that of addressing gendered violence. As one striking example, Christa Reinig’s experimental novel Entmannung from 1976 attempts to deal with the contradictions of very different perceptions of violence in everyday life. In doing so, the text adopts a multidimensional understanding of violence. As I will argue, Reinig’s so-called novel is discoursively linked – and intentionally so – to Johan Galtung’s concepts of violence, first introduced in 1969 and further developed in 1990. Through its narrative techniques, Entmannung seeks to render structural violence tangible, allowing it to be traced back to its cultural dimen­sions. Only by acknowledging its multiple dimensions, the novel suggests, can gendered violence be challenged.