Willow X. Hernishin | 2026 I.S. Symposium

Name: Willow X. Hernishin
Title: Un-Dressing the Myth: Analyzing Elfriede Jelinek’s Radical Reframing of Jackie Kennedy in Jackie (2004)
Majors: German Studies; Communication Studies
Advisors: Denise Bostdorff; Beth Muellner

My Independent Study focuses on the American icon that was Jackie Kennedy. Although prominently known in the public eye for being elegant, perfectly composed, and married to one of the recognizable U.S Presidents, she left behind almost no autobiographical material. Posthumously this resulted in her story being told almost entirely by others. What ultimately excited me about this project was the chance to dive deeper into the “First Lady” mask and her impeccable style to see the imperfections hidden underneath. My interest was sparked during a sophomore German course with a visiting professor, Dr. Maryann Piel, where we read excerpts from Austrian playwright, Elfriede Jelinek’s, 2004 play, Jackie. That brief encounter with Jelinek’s aggressive and charged writing made me want to uncover the “real” Jackie that history books usually sanitize. To do this, I effectively used a dual-approach methodology that combined both Erving Goffman’s idea of “frontstage” versus “backstage” behavior stemming from his performative self-theory with Sonja Foss’s feminist strategies for disrupting master narratives. By looking at the play through these two lenses, I discovered that Jelinek portrays and reinterprets Jackie as a figure who survived the trauma of her public life by hollowing out her authentic self and becoming synonymous with her iconic pink Chanel suit. This project was a huge personal challenge as I learned more about American history and German literature and the unique intersection of the two, I never knew existed. Looking ahead, I’m interested in seeing if this same “deconstructive” framework could be applied to other modern icons see how women in different cultures perform their identities to survive the public eye.