'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
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Hence, Sanders-Brahms suggests that Lene‟s objective explanation <strong>of</strong> the rape to her<br />
Anna helps both mother and daughter keep the trauma <strong>of</strong> the sexual assault in check so<br />
that they may focus on surviving their long journey home.<br />
The third and arguably the most significant way that Lene supports her daughter<br />
is by teaching her to speak, by empowering her through language to give form to her<br />
gendered experiences. In an interview, Sanders-Brahms revealed that she feels that the<br />
“greatest cultural deed in mankind –for the very survival <strong>of</strong> mankind […] – is that<br />
women teach their children to speak” (Buitenhuis et al. 71). The director claims that if<br />
women did not pass the knowledge <strong>of</strong> how to speak from generation to generation, it<br />
would be very difficult for human beings to become human (Buitenhuis et al. 71). As<br />
will be discussed in Chapter 5, the first image <strong>of</strong> Lene in Deutschland, bleiche Mutter, is<br />
accompanied by a voice-over commentary which emphasizes the importance <strong>of</strong> women‟s<br />
speech: “Meine Mutter. Ich habe schweigen gelernt, sagtest du. Von dir habe ich<br />
sprechen gelernt. Muttersprache” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 112). 87 On a<br />
concrete level, Lene is Anna‟s first language teacher, teaching the child her “mother<br />
tongue.” However, on a symbolic level, the mother teaches the daughter the importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> narration, that women can improve their position in patriarchal societies only when<br />
they speak openly <strong>of</strong> their gendered experiences. The “Räuberbräutigam” fairy tale that<br />
Lene recites to Anna tells <strong>of</strong> a female heroine who manages to stop further acts <strong>of</strong><br />
violence against women by telling publicly <strong>of</strong> what she has seen. The miller‟s daughter<br />
is able to gain control <strong>of</strong> the slaughter she has witnessed by telling <strong>of</strong> it in a public forum.<br />
Through her careful control <strong>of</strong> the story and her presentation <strong>of</strong> evidence in the form <strong>of</strong><br />
87 “My mother. I learned to be silent, you said. From you I learned to speak. Mother tongue” (Sanders-<br />
Brahms, Film-Erzählung 112).<br />
115