Elfriede Jelinek's Fairy Tale Rewritings in Die Prinzessinnendramen I–II ( Schneewittchen ) and ( Dornröschen ): A Feminist "Parasitic" Approach

Abstract: Research on Elfriede Jelinek has not yet fully explored the relationship between the embedded social messages in the traditional fairy tale genre and Jelinek's rewriting of classic fairy tale characters. This article fills that gap by examining intersectional correlations of gender, race, national identity, and sexual orientation in Jelinek's work. Jelinek's strategy of "eating" and "drilling" into canonized pretexts such as the Grimms' fairy tales and her use of intertextual strategies create an aesthetic intervention in postwar nationalism and white, Christian heteronormativity in Austria and Germany. By readjusting and realigning feminine and masculine roles and by pointing out systemic racism in her Princess Plays ( Death and the Maiden I–III ) she demonstrates new ways to imagine gender as fluid, not binary, and introduces ideas about ethnicity and heteronormativity that are linked to the creation of national narratives and national memories.