Mechanisms of Detachment in "Die Lebensbeschreibung der Erzbetrügerin und Landstörzerin Courasche" and "Das kunstseidene Mädchen"

Abstract

This article proposes a shared analysis of the novels Die Lebensbeschreibung der Erzbetrügerin und Landstörzerin Courasche and Das kunstseidene Mädchen based on the protagonists’ distanced position or detachment. Despite the differences in the context, Coraje and Doris must face a hostile reality. Be it during the Thirty Years’ War or during the last years of the Weimar Republic, in both cases the context becomes a bar to the protagonists’ attempts to climb up the social ladder. Under these circumstances, both characters are going to distance themselves from the surrounding events through their actions and language, hiding behind countless roles. This fact, at the same time, prompts reflections about the performative nature of human identity.