Fiktionen des Männlichen: Männlichkeitsforschung in der Literaturwissenschaft by Stefan Krammer (review)

Although critical masculinity studies is still predominantly within the purview of the social sciences, questions of masculinity and maleness have by now spread to other disciplines in the sciences and humanities, including literary studies. Stefan Krammer's book Fiktionen des Männlichen is a welcome addition to the growing corpus of literary masculinity research in the German-speaking academic world for two reasons: First, Krammer focuses primarily on Austrian literature (oft en in contrast to a corresponding German text), and second, he presents a unique focus on the gendered construction and knowledge creation of the state, as well as the relationship between state and gender, especially with respect to the organization of a (binary) gender order. This dual focus provides the book, which is based on previously published articles, with the necessary coherence. The selection of literary texts is broad, ranging from the century to today, albeit with distinct emphases on the interwar years and the late twentieth century.

Theoretically and methodologically, Krammer positions himself firmly in the poststructuralist camp. His deconstructionist reading tactics are informed by a wide range of theoretical approaches including Butlerian gender and performativity theory, Crenshawian intersectionality theory, Lacanian psychology, and Foucauldian discourse analysis, although he also acknowledges the influence of sociological concepts, such as hegemonic masculinity (Connell), habitus (Bourdieu), and masquerade (Bethien and Stephan). While this may seem like an overstuffed grab bag of trendy identity theories, Krammer skillfully deploys the various concepts and approaches to examine a number of key discursive formations around masculinity and to present insightful readings of a wide range of prose texts, dramas, and even one film.

The book is divided into six chapters, each of which focuses on one thematic unit or Themenbereich. Following the introduction, which outlines the structure of the book, chapter 2 provides an excellent overview over the genesis of masculinity studies from its beginnings as a reaction to role theory in the 1970s, via the sociologically based attempts to broaden the theorization of masculinity to the concept of multiple masculinities (Brod, Kimmel, Connell, Bourdieu, Meuser) and their persisting reliance on a binary gender order. This is followed by an overview over potential points of engagement for literary masculinity studies, ranging from the author and male hegemony in the literary field to the act of reading and a gender-sensitive reader-reception theory, and last but not least, gender-oriented analyses of the literary text, its structures, themes, and inscriptions of the gender dyad. Krammer also provides an up-to-date (if brief) summary of the burgeoning field of literary masculinity studies in the German-language context. His argument that theoretical positions derived from postcolonial and queer studies not only are light-years ahead of current masculinity research but also imply the obsolescence of gender categories and therefore the discipline itself (29), cannot convince, as the political project that critical masculinity studies are beholden to remains an urgent one—and is far from complete. Yet overall, this chapter offers one of best introductions to the scope and range of literary masculinity studies that I have read to date.

The remainder of the book is divided into four chapters, each of which covers a different thematic area followed by exemplary close readings of individual texts in separate sub-chapters. Each of these chapters and many subchapters are prefaced with a theoretical discussion that highlights the particular approach to the theme, making this a theory-heavy but rewarding undertaking. Chapter 3 focuses broadly on male rule and chapter 4 on vestimentary performances of masculinity (think: men in uniform); chapter 5 revisits the well-worn theme of masculinity in crisis (albeit with a constructionist slant), and chapter 6. discusses new masculinities beyond traditional genealogical conventions. While the chapter titles imply a tight focus on literary productions of masculinities in various contexts, some of the readings foreground structural features of the texts (genre conventions, rhetoric, list of characters) or institutional structures (school, military, family, religion), where masculinity plays a subordinate role to an overarching concern...