The Violent Turn: West German Women as Victims of Neoliberalism

Abstract

The precarious situation of women under neoliberalism is foregrounded in two novels by former West Germans, published a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall: Regenroman (1999) by Karen Duve and Die Schattenboxerin (1999) by Inka Parei. These novels set stories of sexual violence against the backdrop of the period's political upheaval and economic change. Drawing on feminist approaches, this article argues that neoliberalism depends on a reification of gender norms, according to which women are called upon to optimize themselves for social success, while male “entrepreneurs” prioritize self‐interest and compete for power. The resulting power dynamics affect women disproportionately and negatively, placing the onus for self‐defense on the victims of violence rather than encouraging the interrogation of this system of oppression. Yet the protagonists in both novels reject neoliberal expectations of women, and Die Schattenboxerin proposes creating an alternative support network to protect those in precarious positions.