”In the Footsteps of My Foreign, Adventurous Mother” : Narration and Motherhood in Yvonne Hirdman's Den röda grevinnan: en europeisk historia

This thesis examines Yvonne Hirdman’s Den röda grevinnan: en europeisk historia as an example of literary nonfiction and life writing, with a particular focus on motherhood, mothering, and female kinship. Drawing on feminist narratology, the study analyzes how the narrative gives form to female experiences through a polyphonic and matrifocal structure. It shows how the maternal line functions both as a narrative framework and as a space for the transmission of memory, identity, and trauma—deeply shaped by the historical and ideological contexts in which the women live. The female voices reflect the norms, political ideologies, and societal expectations of their respective eras and are connected through intergenerational experiences of motherhood and vulnerability. By combining the documentary with the literary, Hirdman exposes the complex relationships between mother and daughter and how these are shaped by contemporary gender norms and power structures. The thesis contributes to the field of literary nonfiction and motherhood studies by highlighting how women’s voices can be articulated in biographical storytelling and thereby challenge patriarchal narrative traditions.