The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Trauma in Ulli Lust's Wie ich versuchte, ein guter Mensch zu sein.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
  • Author(s): Sterling, Brett E.
  • Source:
    Journal of Austrian Studies. Summer2022, Vol. 55 Issue 2, p1-36. 36p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
    • Abstract:
      Ulli Lust, one of the best-known German-language comics artists working today, has established herself as an important feminist voice in the field. This article analyzes Lust's autobiographical comic Wie ich versuchte, ein guter Mensch zu sein (2017) as a work shaped by the presence of a white racial imaginary. In depicting an interracial relationship between her autobiographical avatar and the Black Nigerian migrant worker Kimata, Lust draws on a history of anti- Black stereotypes in both the visual and narrative construction of the comic. While this comic has been lauded as an unapologetic feminist statement on the validity of female sexual desire, its representations of Blackness and whiteness call the progressive potential of the comic into question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]