The story has no over-arching structure, more a series of random thoughts and anecdotes loosely linked together by a time period. Social, political events and upheavals all around the world in the early 1980’s led authors to be sensitive about these issues and to contribute with their works. When Christa Wolf's Medea: Stimmen appeared in 1996, some critics accused the work of being little more than a pale repetition of the earlier Kassandra project. ... on the composition of Kassandra, Wolf’s acquaintance with Girard pos tdates the . Cassandra is most famous in Greek mythology for possessing the gift of prophecy but this unique gift came with one problem: no one ever believes her true predictions. Während Kassandra, die Seherin, auf dem Beutewagen des Agamemnon sitzt, überdenkt sie noch einmal ihr Leben. As we know, the Iliad calls her the loveliest daughter of Priam, king of Troy. According to Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo after she promised to become his consort. she deals with issues of allegiances / truth / speaking truth to power that is probably not too far from wolf's historical context and maybe that's why wolf fell for her so fast. A difficult and different book. Her encounter with Cassandra began as she begins to read Aeschylus’s ‘Oresteia’ upon waiting for her flight to Greece at Berlin Schoenefeld airport. was charmed by the idea of a novel that doesn't feel complete if it doesn't have supplementary essays bound up with it, though. Word Count: 269. please sign up Those years during which peace was the most popular topic,but when two super powers were seemingly in a competition of armament were the years of highest risk of a third world war. The brief novel is accompanied by four essays that show the author traveling to Greece to do research, then returning to East Berlin to mull over what a woman's voice should say to a male-centric civilization hell bent on destruction, regardless of whether anyone listens. Novelist, short-story writer, essayist, critic, journalist, and film dramatist Christa Wolf was a citizen of East Germany and a committed socialist, and managed to keep a critical distance from the communist regime. tbh idk if you needed all of them there. The rest, as they say.... After Troy has been sacked, we learn from Aeschylus's The Oresteia that Cassandra's taken by Agamemnon back to Argos as part of his spoils from the war. From a Women's Studies point-of-view, this novel has a multitude of well-known female 'characters' from Greek mythology and Wolf has many new takes on what are considered the core facts of these myths. “I had gone back to being myself. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for KASSANDRA By Christa Wolf at the best online prices at eBay! Yes, it's confusing for the first 30 pages or so but as the puzzle pieces start to slide together, you'll quickly see that it's definitely worth it. Kassandra. In the time since I have read the essays, though that has taken a good deal of time. When she predicts the future her friends and family treat her as nothi. Cassandra is most famous in Greek mythology for possessing the gift of prophecy but this unique gift came with one problem: no one ever believes her true predictions. there's also always a lot to be said abt cassandra as the ultimate figure for women who aren't listened to. Can there be spoilers about the matter of Troy? Wolf's story of Cassandra draws on several different veins of the Troy myth as well as references the Cold War. I'm not the biggest lover of historical fiction, especially going this far back in time, and although I admired Wolf's writing and her feminist, antiwar message here, Greek mythology isn't something that I'm likely to return to any time soon. It is told in a stream-of-consciousness style as Cassandra is held prisoner in Mycenae and she pieces together what has happened in the lead up to the fall of Troy. Less easy than Medea, I had to struggle with a dense prose and a unchronologic and sometimes eerie narrative. I'm not the biggest lover of historical fiction, especially going this far back in time, and although I admired Wolf's writing and her feminist, antiwar message here, Greek mythology isn't something that I'm likely to return to any time soon. Außerdem zeigt es die Rolle der Frau als Objekt und wie Kassandra mit dieser Rolle umgeht! This text is an imaginative repositioning of the classical tragic figure Cassandra. A priestess of Apollo, she asks the god for the gift of prophecy, which he grants, but when she refuses his advances he punishes her by ordaining that her prophecies won't be bel. Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law (MPIL) Research Paper No. Abandoning two books in one day? The travel report continues, and the trail is followed ; 3. With music streaming on Deezer you can discover more than 56 million tracks, create your own playlists, and share your favourite tracks with your friends. 1980 Neuerzählung durch Christa Wolf Christa Wolfs Cassandra (German: Kassandra) is a 1983 novel by the German author Christa Wolf. There have been delays. There is a definite feminist slant to the retelling and I liked the emphasis on the lives of those left behind and those sacrificed in the name of the great "heroes" but the book didn't altogether work for me, mainly due to the style of writing, I think. The selected item is out of stock. also had no idea the eighties felt so apocalyptic. Christa Wolf hüpft in den Zeiten umher aber das macht nichts, denn so fügt sich die Geschichte langsam zusammen und es passt auch, da Kassandra ja kurz vorm Sterben ist und sich nochmals an alles erinnert, was sie erlebt hat. When she predicts the future her friends and family treat her as nothing more than a babbling and a raving mad woman. At the same time, it’s fascinating to read the certainty with which Wolf asserts an irreconcilable double-Germany less than a decade before the collapse of The Wall. Mythos und Recht, Poetik und Politik in Christa Wolfs Kassandra-Projekt (Cold War, Gendered: Myth and Law, Poetics and Politics in Christa Wolf's Kassandra Project) (October 31, 2019). From a Women's Studies point-of-view, this novel has a multitude of well-known female 'characters' from Greek mythology and Wolf has many new takes on what are considered the core facts of these myths. She wrote in her accompanying essay, “Before Cassandra opens her mouth we have learned, In 1980, the distinguished East German writer Christa Wolf took a trip to Greece along with her husband, Gerhard. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers Kassandra by Christa Wolf, Christa Wolf, C. Wolf, 1984, Farrar, Straus, Giroux edition, in English Novelist, short-story writer, essayist, critic, journalist, and film dramatist Christa Wolf was a citizen of East Germany and a committed socialist, and managed to keep a critical distance from the communist regime. the part i really enjoyed (n was here for in the first place) was the 'novel': cassandra's monologue in her final living hours, reflecting on her life / the war in troy. During a trip to Greece with her husband in the early 1980s, Christa Wolf (1929-2011) began reading Aeschylus The Oresteia during a flight delay. Kassandra (Audio Download): Christa Wolf, Christa Wolf, Der Audio Verlag: Amazon.com.au: Audible Her best-known novels included “Der geteilte Himmel” (“Divided Heaven,” 1963), addressing the divisions of Germany, and “Kassandra” (“Cassandra,” 1983), which depicted the Trojan War. The essays attempt to give a reader an insight into the author's working process, but these fail too for much the same reason: they don't necessarily show the reader how the author developed her novella, and also have no definitive s. While I admit the book is an interesting look and study on the re-imagining of a character, as a piece of fiction it fails in many ways. I read, skimmed, and skipped ahead, so a page number is difficult to identify. As an East German citizen, she’s one of the few privileged to be able to travel outside of the DDR and the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. ‘Cassandra’ is the second Christa Wolf novel that I decided to read for Christa Wolf week which is part of this year’s German Literature Month. Can there be spoilers in a book about a Woman who could see the future but was never believed? The story has no over-arching structure, more a series of random thoughts and anecdotes loosely linked together by a time period. Her encounter with Cassandra began as she begins to read Aeschylus’s ‘Oresteia’ upon waiting for her flight to Greece at Berlin Schoenefeld airport. It is below, under the line break. Her best-known novels included “Der geteilte Himmel” (“Divided Heaven,” 1963), addressing the divisions of Germany, and “Kassandra” (“Cassandra,” 1983), which depicted the Trojan War. I've read most of the essays, which I found interesting. End of World War II (1945)-- use of… This work deals with the well known story of the Trojan War but through the first person viewpoint of Cassandra, the most famous of the Trojan royal family's many daughters, who was doomed to prophecy the fall of the city but to never be believed. Christa Wolf hat ihre eigene Kassandra erfunden, an einem unbestimmten Ort zu einer unbestimmten Zeit: eine am Ende gescheiterte Heldin, die sich gegen die Gewalt der Diktatur und die Macht der Männer auflehnt, nur ihrer eigenen Überzeugung verpflichtet. The story is incredible and moving and is a perfe. I moved to Colombia and left the book in Canada, which delayed reading the last essay by several months, and I celebrated Black History Month, which meant that I set aside all literature by anybody who wasn't black, even if only for a month. there's also always a lot t. ngl, i didn't Really finish the book bc i didn't get through all of wolf's essays. As a citizen of East Germany and a committed socialist, Christa Wolf managed to keep a critical distance from the communist regime. 1. Kassandra, an album by Christa Wolf on Spotify We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. The belief that Troy won't fall helps to dupe the Trojans into bringing the famous gift horse inside the city's walls. It is told in a stream-of-consciousness style as Cassandra is held prisoner in Mycenae. Fascinated she pursued Fascinated she pursued Cassandra, the daughter of the Trojan King Priam and his wife Hecuba, a priestess who had to sacrifice her virginity and who could foresee the future but whose foretelling nobody would believe. She finds herself spending time in the forest in a kind of utopian/feminist/egalitarian community where people have created a space between all of the killing and dying. male propaganda, but Christa Wolf intends her rea ders to r ecognise, through the . Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. the part i really enjoyed (n was here for in the first place) was the 'novel': cassandra's monologue in her final living hours, reflecting on her life / the war in troy. Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays by Christa Wolf, translated by Jan Van Heurck, presents the fall of Troy and its aftermath through the first-person point of view of Cassandra, a daughter of Priam and Hecuba, the king and queen of Troy. But the parts in the narrative in which Cassandra is speaking were a nice break because oftentimes she just rants and raves; the various “oi” and “oimoi” noises she makes are a welcome respite from the complex grammatical structures of Aeschylus’s sentences. It has since been translated into a number of languages. This was a wonderful and multi-layered retelling of the Trojan War through the eyes of Cassandra, the seer cursed to have no one believe her prophecies. Mit dem antiken Stoff ist die DDR-Gegenwart der Autorin Christa Wolf verflochten: Ob es um den Aufbau eines Spitzelsystems, um das Wettrüsten oder um Kriegspropaganda geht, stets schimmert der Ost-West-Konflikt durch. Get this from a library! ngl, i didn't Really finish the book bc i didn't get through all of wolf's essays. Phenomenally speaks on themes of privilege, complicity, and the police state that resonate very strongly today, in addition to giving a unique and female twist to the mythology. I'm less impressed with the narrative, which is nowhere near as good as Medea. In 1980 East German author Christa Wolf took a trip to Greece accompanied by her husband, Gerhard. In Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, Cassandra says that she agreed to have sex with the God Apollo in exchange for the gift of prophecy, but when she went back on her promise and refused the Sun God’s advances, Apollo made sure that her prophecies would never be believed. In 1980, the distinguished East German writer Christa Wolf took a trip to Greece along with her husband, Gerhard. The essays attempt to give a reader an insight into the author's working process, but these fail too for much the same reason: they don't necessarily show the reader how the author developed her novella, and also have no definitive structure in the writing. Be the first to ask a question about Cassandra. Kerine Wint is a software engineering graduate with more love for books than for computers. it's pretty apocalyptic right now too but no one is so grave about it. It is an interesting look at politics and creation. My oh my. Although Wolf's archaeological understanding of myth and the problems this raises remain unchanged, the focus has shifted from the … Because we're so well-acquainted with those characters and their relationships to the gods, their motivations and the lessons learned from the destruction of Troy, for me the novel was the least interesting part of the book. What she gives us as answer is this book made up of a historical novel and 4 essays about the character and her aspects as woman and myth. So I'm leaving this unfinished. Responsibility: by Christa Wolf ; translated from the German by Jan van Heurck. Start by marking “Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays” as Want to Read: Error rating book. This was a lesson plan I developed for Christa Wolf's novella Cassandra, which I was tasked with teaching during a graduate course on Greek Tragedy and its Legacy. Christa Wolf’s novel about the aftermath of the Trojan War begins with the titular protagonist awaiting her execution.