"Rückhaltlose Subjektivität": Subjektwerdung, Gesellschafts- und Geschlechtsbewußtsein bei Christa Wolf

The essay seeks to orient Wolf's contribution to the problem of subjectivity and gender within the philosophical and theoretical tradition. Two models of subjectivity, both emerging out of German Idealist thought, are discussed as theoretical framework for this text: Schelling's idea of an absolute subject versus Hegel's concept of synthetically constructed individuals. The essay intends to show that Wolf avoids the pitfalls of traditional thinking about subjectivity by having Kassandra undergo a learning process that leads her from an essentialist model of the female subject to an acceptance of a dialogic form of individuality incorporating the presence of other voices. Instead of shedding other (patriarchal) inscriptions to reveal an authentic self, she finally accepts the challenge of working towards a socially relevant form of subjectivity constituted by intersubjective processes.