Spiegelgeschichte

Spiegelgeschichte (English: Mirror Story or Story in a mirror) is a short story by the Austrian author Ilse Aichinger written in 1949 and published in four parts in an Austrian newspaper. At the third meeting of the Group 47 in 1953 she recived (as the first woman) their price of the group for the best text.^[1] It is well known in Austria because it is part of the educational set books.^[2]

The story is unique in that it is written backwards, beginning with the end of the biography of the unnamed woman, and ending with her early childhood. It is written in the second-person narrative.^[3]

Literature

• Aichinger, Ilse: "Story in a mirror", in: The bound man, and other stories, transl. by Eric Mosbacker, London: Secker & Warburg, 1955. (worldcat-link)
• Aichinger, Ilse: "Spiegelgeschichte", in: Der Gefesselte, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1953. (worldcat-link)

References

1. See Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Ilse Aichinger (Austrian author)
2. See Resler, W. Michael: "A Structural Approach to Aichinger's 'Spiegelgeschichte'", in: Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 30-37 (jstor-link)
3. See Stanley, Patricia Haas: "Ilse Aichinger's Absurd 'I'", in: German Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Oct., 1979), pp. 331-350 (jstor-link).