SOURCE: Kosta, Barbara. “Inscribing Erika: Mother-Daughter Bond/age in Elfriede Jelinek's Die Klavierspielerin.” Monatshefte 86, no. 2 (1994): 218-34.

In the following essay, Kosta analyzes the mother-daughter relationship in Die Klavierspielerin.

Before they were mothers Leto and Niobe had been the most devoted of friends.

—Sappho

While the Oedipal battles that have informed much of Western literature continue to rage on, the figure of the mother, traditionally less visible, slowly begins to take her place among the dramas of identity. Only recently has the mother become a prominent presence in contemporary literature as well as in many psychological and critical studies. This figure's increasing appearance in contemporary texts stems largely from the women's movement and its focus on the private sphere and women's lives. In literature, the mother takes on a central role once daughters begin to map and assess their lives. For many women authors, dealing with the mother usually...