‘Shaming instead of others (Fremdschämen) [...] is something disgusting.’ Some remarks on shame, external shame and shamelessness in selected works by Elfriede Jelinek
Agnieszka Jezierska-Wiśniewska
Uniwersytet Warszawski (Poland)
Abstract
This article analyses shame and guilt in selected works by Elfriede Jelinek. In her essay Schamlos: die Zeit Jelinek analyses the phenomenon of Fremdschämen: shame instead of those who should feel shame, responsibility and guilt. Jelinek herself feels this way for women, war profiteers, who are not ashamed of their scandalous behaviour: among others, Nazi wife and close friend of Hitler, Henriette von Schirach. The analysis proves that literature can be a useful tool for normative shaming.
Keywords:
Elfriede Jelinek, normative shaming, Henriette von Schirach, war profiteersReferences
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Agnieszka Jezierska-WiśniewskaUniwersytet Warszawski Poland
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