Christa Wolf's Kassandra and Medea: Continuity and Change

Abstract

AbstractWhen 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. This paper argues that, while broad continuities in Wolf's concerns are obvious, the shift from monologue in Kassandra to a polyphony of voices in Medea is symptomatic of subtle, yet important shifts in her approach to myth and her understanding of history. Although Wolf's archaeological understanding of myth and the problems this raises remain unchanged, the focus has shifted from the effects myth has on the individual to the human needs which give rise to it. The more psychological exploration of myth in Medea reveals interesting shifts in Wolf's understanding of the individual's role in history. In Kassandra, just as we assume that individuals exercise sovereign control over the myths they circulate, so we have the impression that history results from human agency in accordance with the will of those in power. In Medea, Wolf seems more doubtful about the ability of individuals to control events, even those they have caused. The idea of a coherent historical development, albeit a negative one, which is central to the Kassandra project, is absent from the later work.