De vermoorde onschuld. Relatieproblemen en seksualiteit in het werk van Hylkje Goinga

Abstract

The short stories of the Frisian author Hylkje Goinga can be divided into stories about marital problems and stories that hint at a sexual drama, probably incest, that took place in the life of a young girl. Both story types are analyzed in detail. The stories about marital problems have a striking narrative pattern. In most cases the narrator is the same person as the wife of the couple that has problems (I-story). However, structurally the two must be distinguished: the narrator's aims and objectives do not coincide with those of the wife. The
wife tries to set her marriage right, whereas the narrator does everything to show the failure of the marriage. She does so by showing especially the husband's vanity and egocentricity.
Hylkje Goinga's stories about marital problems are stories told with a double tongue. This symbolizes the discord which women nowadays often seem to experience in their relation to husbands. The stories in which a sexual drama is re-enacted do not show such clear narrative patterns. Here the narrator/protagonist is subject to confusion. Many details and gaps in the stories can be explained if concealed and suppressed sexual experiences or phantasies are presupposed.