We live in times of great chants. Occasionally the end of history as well as humanity were proclaimed. And since, in any case, all signs are pointing downwards, they have repeatedly proclaimed the post-heroic epoch. For to counter the complexity and disorientation of late modernity, one can scarcely more seriously recount princess saviors or wild west sheriffs - such as the assumption, which is based on a purely patriarchal model by the way . It refers to the masculine lone fighter who shines through strength and assertiveness. Yes, you can hear less of him since #Metoo at the latest.
However, this does not mean the inevitable farewell to heroism itself. Instead, it is renewed in contemporary prose: Increasingly, sovereign female figures determine the destinies of existence. Think about novels by Julia von Lucadou or Elena Ferrante.
But femininity is not a criterion for heroic example in books. Rather, their particular design proves to be crucial and, as Sanne Jellings' new novel "A Danish Winter" reveals about a historical female figure, can offer an alternative to the myth of the male, often belligerent world leader.
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Sanne Jellings
A Danish winter
Publishing company:
Kindler publishing house
Pages:
160
Price:
EUR 18,00
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We are in 1929 when Karen Blixen, known for her Hollywood movie "Beyond Africa", visits her family near Copenhagen. Hard months lie behind the later writer: With great courage she once built a coffee farm in Africa and proved herself as an entrepreneur and early development worker. Now debts and crop failures threaten to destroy their lifework.
She gains new optimism through the encounter with the young Minna, a maid in her parents' home, who herself has reached a turning point in her life. Since she has to look after her mother, she can not study. Her head is full of yearning for a better existence. It seems as if two searchers have found each other: for Karen, Minna means the end of loneliness, for Minna there may be a chance for a better future in Africa.
Women who are role models
Two women who fight for their autonomy and become friends despite their different backgrounds - this is what Jellings' moral portrait tells. To be sure, the text sometimes gets caught up in too honey-sweet or phrasing-like phrases when sentences such as "dreams are creative, you can change things" fall. However, just the emotionally primed language proves to be a high good of this novel.
DPA
Karen Blixen as a young girl
Because through them, as well as the changing inner perspectives of the protagonists, female heroism reveals its fragile side. In contrast to the masculine manifestation, man shows himself here, really, together with his weaknesses and hopes. Egomania and Posertum are beyond Jellings' protagonists. Her desire to combine self-fulfillment with family responsibility is sincere.
What sets them apart from the stereotype of the masculine fighter is the reliance on cooperation. Mutual help is the counter-program to the Lone Ranger: "It is time for us women to be good to each other," says Karen, who is convinced, "that the future demanded women who were no longer just the adornment of a home, but I had lived myself. "
This nimbly as powerfully written example novel of feminine self-empowerment appears at the right time - it can certainly be read as a historical commentary on the young heroin fans of our time. For example, figures such as Greta Thunberg and Carola Rackete have from the beginning relied on the integrative power of broad support and dialogue. Like them, who demand a humane and sustainable society, Karen and Minna are also pursuing a higher goal in "A Danish Winter".
The protagonists know that their actions ultimately have model character for all women and prove that post-heroism is perhaps history again and only the beginning of a literature in the name of female heroism.