11 Kerstin Henselâs Dialogue with Marieluise FleiÃer in Atzenköfls Töchter
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This chapter analyses Kerstin Henselâs play Atzenköfls Töchter, written and performed for the centenary of Marieluise FleiÃerâs birth in 2001. At the centre of the play is the unequal power relationship between a teacher, Fräulein Atzenköfl, and her pupil, Berta Schmidt. Hensel appropriates and updates themes from FleiÃer, particularly her critique of male privilege and authoritarian tendencies. I argue that FleiÃerâs literary portrait of Buster Keaton (published 1930) is key to understanding Henselâs form of distanced, deadpan comedy. The chapter proposes the word âKeatonesqueâ as a shorthand for the deadpan humour and avoidance of sentiment in the comedies of Hensel and FleiÃer. An additional interpretive lens is provided by the so-called âTheatre of the Absurdâ (which itself drew on the works of Keaton and Charlie Chaplin). In Atzenköfls Töchter, Henselâs debunking of her authoritarian characters shows a certain affinity with the âabsurdâ satires of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, and Henselâs play accords with Dürrenmattâs dictum that the worst possible twist (âdie schlimmstmögliche Wendungâ) must occur, or at least be imagined. In order to survive, Berta must liberate herself from her teacherâs malign influence.