Traumadarstellung und deren Implikationen in Ingeborg Bachmanns 'Todesarten'-Projekt (Austria, German text)

My dissertation shows that in her “Todesarten”- Projekt—mainly in the novel Malina—Ingeborg Bachmann connects the major traumatic experience of the Holocaust with that of incest; and that the secondary literature on the “Todesarten ”-Projekt has avoided any thorough-going analysis of this connection. That scholars have avoided this set of issues arises from the fact that they touch on traumatic experiences that have been consistently silenced by deep-rooted taboos, both in real life and in literary analysis.; With the help of recent research on Post-traumatic Stress Disorders —both for Holocaust and incest survivors—I demonstrate first how the two traumas are made visible in the text through bodily symptoms as well as through imagery symbolizing the evil. Secondly, the dissertation shows how the two traumas—one public, one private—are linked; and considers what Bachmann is able to express with these traumatic experiences and dynamics with regard to female identity and history.; Methodologically these issues are approached using traditional Freudian and recent psychoanalytic theories, paying special attention to the literature Bachmann herself had in her library. However, I also introduce notions of corporeality into my analysis in order to show how Bachmann recognizes the female body as a means of communication and violation.; Ingeborg Bachmann's “Todesarten”- Projekt presents us with a remarkably insightful framework within which we can reconsider the individual as well as historical effects of these taboo-laden traumas.