EN
The paper is devoted to the Austrian writer Peter Handke, who is well-known for causing controversy. The topic of the paper are differences between the genders and the exchange of roles between women and men in the modern society. The upward trend in the emancipation of women and their pursuit of liberation from the domination of men as well as the degradation of the role of the man are shown in a distorting mirror on the example of the characters in the stories "Die linkshändige Frau" [The left-handed woman] and "Die Stunde der wahren Empfindung" [A Moment of True Feeling]. These characters strive for self-fulfilment and individualization at all costs with no respect for the needs of other family members. Therefore their morality and ethics are dubious and the motives of their actions are ultimately – as it turns out – egoism, infantility and emotional hollowness, which consequently leads to a break-up of their families.