My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love
The author compares and analyzes selected works dealing with the problem of the Medea myth in German-language literature. In German culture, the Medea theme has enjoyed exceptional popularity since the mid 1970s., and numerous theatre and opera productions, stories and novels have been devoted to it...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | Polish |
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Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
2025
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| Online Access: | ONIX_20250307_9788381424066_144 |
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| _version_ | 1869527078260441088 |
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| author | Wilk, Anna |
| author_browse | Wilk, Anna |
| author_facet | Wilk, Anna |
| author_sort | Wilk, Anna |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | The author compares and analyzes selected works dealing with the problem of the Medea myth in German-language literature. In German culture, the Medea theme has enjoyed exceptional popularity since the mid 1970s., and numerous theatre and opera productions, stories and novels have been devoted to it. The author puts forth a thesis in which she argues that the great potential of the myth consists in its ambiguity and current relevance. Writers have placed the tragic figure of a baby killer in various contexts, portraying the heroine as a jilted lover, a foreigner deprived of her homeland, and even a victim of political or racial persecution. What is the real face of Medea? Does the real Medea even exist? Does Euripides’s portrayal refer to one mythical character? Even as a mythical figure, Medea cannot be said to be a homogeneous concept. And maybe Christa Wolf is right when she claims that the heroine has become the object of political manipulation? In the present publication, these questions remain unanswered because the reception of the myth and the attempt to adapt the mythological matter in the modern world seem much more important. Two different tendencies can be observed here: the first is an attempt to archaize the character and establish her in a mythical reality while emphasizing her divine origin; the second is contemporization, whereby the story of the babykiller is set in a given author’s own times. A third group, or rather a subgroup, might merit a mention, too: these are the works which, despite being set in ancient times, are characterized by an immediate relevance of the problems they discuss. The myth in them acts as a form of camouflage. In all cases, the myth was therefore treated as a complex of rules and models of human behaviour that would not change over time. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-153965 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | pol |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego |
| publisherStr | Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1539652025-03-07T12:31:19Z My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love Wilk, Anna Medea in literature demigoddess Medea myth German-language literature Medea The author compares and analyzes selected works dealing with the problem of the Medea myth in German-language literature. In German culture, the Medea theme has enjoyed exceptional popularity since the mid 1970s., and numerous theatre and opera productions, stories and novels have been devoted to it. The author puts forth a thesis in which she argues that the great potential of the myth consists in its ambiguity and current relevance. Writers have placed the tragic figure of a baby killer in various contexts, portraying the heroine as a jilted lover, a foreigner deprived of her homeland, and even a victim of political or racial persecution. What is the real face of Medea? Does the real Medea even exist? Does Euripides’s portrayal refer to one mythical character? Even as a mythical figure, Medea cannot be said to be a homogeneous concept. And maybe Christa Wolf is right when she claims that the heroine has become the object of political manipulation? In the present publication, these questions remain unanswered because the reception of the myth and the attempt to adapt the mythological matter in the modern world seem much more important. Two different tendencies can be observed here: the first is an attempt to archaize the character and establish her in a mythical reality while emphasizing her divine origin; the second is contemporization, whereby the story of the babykiller is set in a given author’s own times. A third group, or rather a subgroup, might merit a mention, too: these are the works which, despite being set in ancient times, are characterized by an immediate relevance of the problems they discuss. The myth in them acts as a form of camouflage. In all cases, the myth was therefore treated as a complex of rules and models of human behaviour that would not change over time. 2025-03-07T12:31:17Z 2025-03-07T12:31:17Z 2019 book ONIX_20250307_9788381424066_144 9788381424066 9788381424059 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/153965 pol Literary Interpretations image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://www.press.uni.lodz.pl/index.php/wul/catalog/book/311 Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego electronic 10.18778/8142-405-9 The author compares and analyzes selected works dealing with the problem of the Medea myth in German-language literature. In German culture, the Medea theme has enjoyed exceptional popularity since the mid 1970s., and numerous theatre and opera productions, stories and novels have been devoted to it. The author puts forth a thesis in which she argues that the great potential of the myth consists in its ambiguity and current relevance. Writers have placed the tragic figure of a baby killer in various contexts, portraying the heroine as a jilted lover, a foreigner deprived of her homeland, and even a victim of political or racial persecution. What is the real face of Medea? Does the real Medea even exist? Does Euripides’s portrayal refer to one mythical character? Even as a mythical figure, Medea cannot be said to be a homogeneous concept. And maybe Christa Wolf is right when she claims that the heroine has become the object of political manipulation? In the present publication, these questions remain unanswered because the reception of the myth and the attempt to adapt the mythological matter in the modern world seem much more important. Two different tendencies can be observed here: the first is an attempt to archaize the character and establish her in a mythical reality while emphasizing her divine origin; the second is contemporization, whereby the story of the babykiller is set in a given author’s own times. A third group, or rather a subgroup, might merit a mention, too: these are the works which, despite being set in ancient times, are characterized by an immediate relevance of the problems they discuss. The myth in them acts as a form of camouflage. In all cases, the myth was therefore treated as a complex of rules and models of human behaviour that would not change over time. 10.18778/8142-405-9 83bfe9c9-323d-4283-b087-d859fd9af314 9788381424066 9788381424059 electronic open access |
| spellingShingle | Medea in literature demigoddess Medea myth German-language literature Medea Wilk, Anna My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love |
| title | My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love |
| title_full | My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love |
| title_fullStr | My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love |
| title_full_unstemmed | My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love |
| title_short | My Crimes Are the Fruit of Love |
| title_sort | my crimes are the fruit of love |
| topic | Medea in literature demigoddess Medea myth German-language literature Medea |
| topic_facet | Medea in literature demigoddess Medea myth German-language literature Medea |
| url | ONIX_20250307_9788381424066_144 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wilkanna mycrimesarethefruitoflove |