Women, the novel, and the German nation 1771-1871 : domestic fiction in the fatherland / Todd Kontje.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kontje, Todd Curtis, 1954- author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in German.

Cambridge studies in German

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

German fiction--18th century--History and criticism.

German fiction.

German fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

Domestic fiction, German--History and criticism.

Domestic fiction, German.

German fiction--Women authors--History and criticism.

Feminism and literature--Germany.

Feminism and literature.

Women and literature--Germany.

Women and literature.

Women novelists, German.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 242 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Women, the Novel, & the German Nation 1771-1871

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this 1998 book, Todd Kontje surveys novels by German women over the one-hundred-year period that stretches from the beginnings of a German national literature to the founding of its nation-state. Introducing readers to the lives and works of fourteen women writers of the period, he shows the historical and thematic coherence of a body of fiction by women that has been obscured by traditional literary histories. He explores ways in which novels about traditionally feminine domestic concerns also comment on patriarchal politics in the German fatherland. Finally, he argues that we must view the history of the German novel in the context of both the history of sexuality and the rise of German nationalism, and that novels by German women, often marginalized or trivialized, played a central role in shaping attitudes toward class, gender and the nation.

Contents:

1. Introduction: women, the novel, and the German nation

2. The emergence of German domestic fiction. Introduction. Richardson: Clarissa's sacrifice. Rousseau: Julie's compromise. Sophie von LaRoche: Sophie's survival

3. German women respond to the French Revolution. Introduction. Caroline von Wolzogen: for a kinder, gentler patriarchy. Friederike Helene Unger: Julchen Grunthal's father fixation. Therese Huber: patriarchy vs. patriotism in Die Familie Seldorf. Sophie Mereau: experimental fictions

4. Liberation's aftermath: the early Restoration. Introduction. Caroline de la Motte Fouque: Romantic nationalism confronts modernity. Henriette Frolich [Jerta]: a cosmopolitan in Kentucky. Karoline von Woltmann: cosmopolitan conspirators at home. Johanna Schopenhauer: Gabriele's renunciation. Annette von Droste-Hulshoff: Ledwina's lethargy

5. Feminists in the Vormarz. Introduction. Ida Hahn-Hahn: the curse of the idle rich. Fanny Lewald: republican, feminist, Jew.

Louise Aston: "Amazons," aristocrats, and other revolutionaries

6. Eugenie Marlitt: the art of liberal compromise.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-237) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-58562-4

0-511-00569-5