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- Title
Keine Graustufen Die Rezeption erotischer Literatur von Frauen am Beispiel von Fifty Shades of Grey.
- Authors
Schuchter, Veronika
- Abstract
The present article examines the reception of the bestselling trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James in the German-speaking feuilleton. It analyzes why these texts, classified as trivial, have occupied literary criticism so strongly. It becomes apparent that the criticism often targeted the female readers and led to a proxy conflict revolving around the apparent submissive desires of emancipated women. The text also delves into erotic literature by women in general and the mechanisms of its evaluation. It deals with the reception of erotic literature by women in the feuilleton. It is noted that such texts receive little attention in scholarly discourse. The most well-known German-speaking author in this field, Sophie Andresky, sells her books in the millions but is hardly discussed in the traditional feuilleton. The question is raised as to why novels like "Fifty Shades of Grey" receive so much attention in the feuilleton, despite often being panned from a literary standpoint. The reviews and reports on "Fifty Shades of Grey" often emphasize the literary weaknesses of the book and mock the author and her female readers. It is criticized that the commercial success of a trivial soft porn is instrumentalized to explore female desire. The reception of the books is strongly influenced by the gender of the actors. It is discussed whether the success of the series indicates that career women actually want to be dominated, while others claim that the books are read by mothers to escape everyday life. The article discusses the success of the book series "Fifty Shades of Grey" and the reactions to it. The author E. L. James is from Great Britain, but the novels are set in Seattle and based on US discourses. The success of the series began in the US and then spread to Europe. The question is raised as to whether the wave of outrage from critics and the conclusions drawn about the female readership have promoted its success in the German-speaking market. The criticism that the books are soft porn for bored suburban housewives has little to do with European reality. It is also pointed out that the criticism often targets feminism and women's desires. The author Gerda E. Moser does not consider the trilogy an erotic text, but sees the uncanny in the celebration of gender asymmetry on an economic and familial level. The criticism often targets the female readers and assumes they have bad taste and fantasies of submission.
- Subjects
EROTIC literature; 50 Shades of Grey (Book : James); LITERARY criticism; MONOGRAPHIC series; JAMES, E. L., 1963-; SERIAL publication of books; HOUSEWIVES; DESIRE
- Publication
IDE: Informationen zur Deutschdaktik, 2022, Vol 46, Issue 4, p102
- ISSN
0721-9954
- Publication type
Article