On the Myth-Reception in Kassandra

Christa Wolf inherited the ideas about crisis of legitimacy and the legitimating function of mythology of the early romanticists. By taking this as the starting point of his literary creation, Wolf detected the potential of renovation in this retrospect. In a skillful way, Wolf applied the conception about "New Mythology" to the depiction of the self-consciousness and the individual formation of Kassandra. From the perspective of Kassandra, Wolf rewrote the history of the Trojan War, with the aim to criticize the weaknesses of the Gelman nation. At the same time, by criticizing the unchanging aesthetic habits as well as the consequent wearing out of the expressiveness of the poetic language, Wolf actively advocates a new aesthetic form which is structurally open, polysemous and innovative. By adopting these new techniques, Wolf's writing can be regarded as a perfect example of the new writing approach called "Subjective Authenticity".