Genderambivalenz und -dichotomie in Stifters Brigitta, Zwei Schwestern und Der Nachsommer

The present article analyses three works by Adalbert Stifter, viz. ‚Brigitta‘, ‚Zwei Schwestern‘ and ‚Der Nachsommer‘, from the deconstructivist perspective of gender-oriented narratology. In order to reveal the encoding of gender in the work of a writer who is usually regarded as representing socially conservative Biedermeier values, the hypothesis is pursued that Stifter's work also contains the seeds of an alternative, progressively oriented encoding of gender roles. The results suggest that both tendencies are present in all three works, ‚Brigitta‘ being the most progressive in this respect, ‚Der Nachsommer‘ the most conservative, and ‚Zwei Schwestern‘ holding the middle. While the predominance of social conservatism and gender idealisation in Stifter’s main work, ‚Der Nachsommer‘, is undeniable, the overall ambivalence of the three works towards the traditional gender dichotomy and its associated value system places them on the very cusp of modernity.