Women, the Novel, and the German Nation 1771-1871: Domestic Fiction in the Fatherland

Description

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.

"Masterfully navigating German history with the canon of German literature, Kontje discusses uncharted waters, discussing authors who deserve higher ranking in a too-male German literature. Well written, competently researched, excellent footnotes, the book belongs in all libraries supporting German literature studies." Choice "Kontje's work, with its up-to-date bibliography and useful index, constitutes an excellent introductory study to these works...Kontje treads new paths in emphasizing both the connection between domesticity and nationality in fiction and the differences (rather than similarities) among contemporary women's writings..." The German Quarerly "an encompassing account of women writers during the 19th century..." Germanic Notes and Reviews