wome:n in german - Coalition of Women in German

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WOME:N IN GERMAN
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MARCH- 1986
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The Coalition of Women in German, an allied organization of
the MLA invites students, teachers, and all other interested
in feminism and German Studies to submit relevant material
to the newsletter. Subscription and membership information
is on the last page of this issue.
Women in German Steering Committee:
Sandra Frieden, University of Houston (1983-86)
Fundraising Coordinator
Contact Person for Film
'Edith Waldstein, M.I.T.
(1983-86)
Co-Editor (with r1arianne Burckhard, University of Illinois),
Women in German Yearbook,I
Dinah Dodds, Lewis & Clark College (1984-87)
Sydna Weiss, Hamilton College (1984-87)
Syllabus Project Coordinator
Jan Emerson, Reed College (1985-88)
Conference Coordinator, 1986
Charlotte Armster, Gettysburg College (1985-88)
Fundraising
Treasurer: Jeanette Clausen, IU/PU- Fort Wayne
Tenure Review Contact Person: Harianne Burckhard, U. Illinois
~lTembership:
Helen Cafferty, Bowdoin College and
Vibeke Petersen, New York University
Textbook Review: Heidi Owr.eo ,University of Washington-Seattle
Political Action Person: Jeannine Blackwell, University of KentuckyLexington
The
Wo~en
in German Newsletter is published in March, August, and
November of each year. Send newsletter items to:
Women in German
German Department/Herter Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA. 01003
Newsletter contact person in the FRG:
Karin Obermeier
Biihlerstr. 7
6900 Heidelberg, FRG
Newsletter Coordinator: Susan Cocalis
Editorial Staff: Leslie Morris, Joan Keck Campbell, Susanne Kord,
Bettina Mc Gimsey, Barton Byg, Colette Van Kerckvoorde, Sara Lennox
WOMEN IN GERMAN
March 1986
Number 39
EDITORIALS
It's mid-March and spring-break time in Amherst. Most of the area's
college population has evacuated in search of warmer climates, homemade meals and long-overdue sleep, or the change of milieu offered
by distant cities. Some driven souls have repaired to the bowels
- or in the case of UMASS, the tower - of the libraries in their
unflagging quest for knowledge. And the newsletter collective has
resolutely occupied Leslie Morris' farmhouse - yet again - to the
horror of the neighbors and Leslie's German shepherd Rebel. Typewriters are strategically placed around the living and dining rooms,
Joan and Leslie are busy shortening, Bettina is snipping and pasting,
Colette is off at work on our computer, Susanne is in bed with the
chickenpox but is receiving up-to-the-minute bulletins on the state
of the newsletter, and Barton is on the way with another typewriter
and a much-needed ruler. The Amherst WIG collective is alive and
well. And spring might just fall in the spring break this year.
The collective has been active over the winter as well. In addition
to producing the November newsletter and the Calls for Papers in
February, we have been contacting various publishers both here and
abroad inquiring about review copies of recent publications on the
topics of women and German literature, (feminist) pedagogy, or
Women's Studies in a broader sense. Almost all of the presses we
contacted, including the MLA and German presses such as Metzler,
have acknowledged our work as an organization and have responded
favorably. We would like to expand the review section of the newsletter and are therefore looking for WIG members interested in
examining new books for us. If you are interested in a specific
title or have an area of interest, please contact us.
The new Wang computer, assigned to WIG by Dean Murray Schwartz of
the College of Arts & Sciences of the University of Massachusetts,
has certainly helped us in this and related endeavors. The members
of the collective have been learning how to use it and it has
facilitated our work enormously. In addition to this, the Department
of Germanic Languages and Literatures has recently voted to become
a supporting member of WIG and has pledged us moral, secretarial,
and material (supplies) support. (Although I must say that our
head secretary, Marcia Pauly, does seem relieved that we are not
going to occupy all of the office typewriters and desks this week!)
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We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Dean, our
Departmental Head Klaus Peter, the other members of our department, and our secretaries Marcia and Patty for their continuing
encouragement and support.
This general climate of support also contributed to the successful planning of our second regional mini-conference in February.
A surprising number of graduate students and faculty from UMASS
attended, joining forces with a nucleus of WIG members from New
Haven, the Boston area, and other New York and New England
colleges. As was the case last year, WIG members brought curious
or interested friends along, giving old and new members a chance
to engage in long and intense discussions about our lives, our
work, our professional situations, and our continuing commitment
to creating a humane academic environment in which we, as women
in German, can survive. As has been the case at other WIG gatherings, we all profited from the diversity of backgrounds,
experiences, status, and understanding of "feminism" and from
the sense of belonging together as an organization despite - or
perhaps because of - that diversity. The two mini-conferences
held thus far in Amherst - both initiated and planned by the
Wiglets - have helped WIG as an organization with its outreach
program and with the development of core groups in various parts
of the region that will continue to meet autonomously. Most of
us left the weekend feeling reassured that there are other women
"out there" who share common interests, doubts, and hopes. Many
new members or members who had never attended WIG meetings
before felt that their sense of isolation had been broken or
that certain issues had been raised for them for the first time
or that there was a. non-threatening place for them to discuss
matters pertaining to their academic lives. Veteran WIG members,
as had been the case in Portland, left feeling a sense of hope,
of faith in the ability of WIG as an organization to sustain
growth, to change with the times. We left looking forward to
working with such promising new members of our profession in
future WIG endeavors.
Finally, in response to the proliferation of terms being generated
by the WIG collective in Amherst, both Erin Clausen and I have
felt it necessary to provide any confused readers with graphic
illustrations of the new concepts. There is also another creation
by Leslie.
Susan Cocalis
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-3WIGLET EDITORIALS
Our February mini-conference provided
an opportunity for graduate students
from
allover
to
get
to
know
each \ other and to discuss
the
future
of
the Wiglets.
Although
we didn't meet formally,
issues,
problems,
and ideas were brought
up
in
small
group
discussions.
The
main
issue
that
arose
was
the
need
for
the
Wiglets
to
meet separately.
All agreed that
mini-conferences
were
great
but
that
there
simply wasn't enough
time for us to address pertinent
Wiglet
issues.
We plan to meet
later in the spring.
Leslie Morris, Joan Keck Campbell, Bettina Mc Gimsey, Susanne Kord
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I left the mini-conference with many questions about feminism and
my place in it. What is feminism in 1986? Am I really a feminist,
after all? Is it at all productive for feminists to label "bad"
behavior as "male" and "good" behavior as "female" or "feminist"?*
Can we possibly induce productive change by dividing the world into
two such camps?
One of the most refreshing aspects of WIG is its ability to discuss
and incorporate many different interpretations of feminism. It is
important for Wiglets to explore the differences between what we
call "feminism" and the "feminism" of the generation preceding
ours. Beyond this, Wiglets can still fulfill an even more vital
function, that of a greatly needed support group for graduate
students. It is so helpful to be able to meet with one's academic
peers there in a non-academic setting. I look forward to a Wiglet
meeting soon, so we can continue what was begun at our Amherst
mini-conference.
Joan Keck Campbell
* ed. note: at a post-conference dinner, this point was hotly
debated. We would like to bring this up for discussion at some
point. Any responses?
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Dear Wiglets:
I finally have a moment to collect my thoughts about the Wiglet
conference, and to share them with you. First on my mental agenda:
thanks for your hospitality! Your house and your warmth provided
a congenial atmosphere, the perfect setting. It was good to meet
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you finally, to make new contacts with colleagues and potential
friends,
and to renew smouldering friendships.
It felt
good to get back to the Valley.
I especially enjoyed getting the needed feedback on my
work in progress. I'd like to participate in more of these
informal gatherings where we talk about our work and exchange
ideas. I'd also like to campaign to get more grad students
from other universities involved. Do you have any special
information on this point? My mental meanderings continue.
Could
we have ourselves organized to meet briefly, to touch base, so
to speak, at other conferences of interest? For example, there is
a conference on modernity in Wisconsin in April. I won't be able
to attend, but I'd appreciate a Wiglet's summary of her perspective
on the entire affair. I probably will attend the conference on the
GDR in New Hampshire: perhaps we could organize common transportation,
lodgings, an informal reception for ourselves, whatever. Just some ideas.
As far as where I'd like to see WIG go, I would appreciate more
attention to issues directly affecting feminist criticism: the impact
of literary theory, current discussions of Benjamin, Szondi, Althusser,
and others. Perhaps we could try to reach grad students in Comparative
Literature whose focus is 'things German.' Again, these are just some
reflections on the events of the weekend, and some previews of the
future, I hope. I reiterate the invitation to New Haven!
Patricia
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The kind of group I hope we can work toward together as Wiglets is one
which fosters a supportive, communicative atmosphere in which we can
address issues which concern us as graduate students, particularly as
women graduate students studying German. This sounds so simple -probably we all wish for a resource and support group like this where
we can get to know each other, exchange ideas, find a particular
community ... What does this really mean, though, and how do we generate such a group? I think we have to define a "supportive" atmosphere
as one in which we are willing to share with each other and trust one
another. One which is open but not reductive. I hope we can listen
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to each others experiences, welcome diversity, and challenge each
other to think about issues, concerns, terms (in "feminism")
seriously -- not complacently, defensively, smugly, whatever ...
Clearly this entails the genuine willingness to address differences
directly, not to smooth over or ignore diverging opinions. Thus,
discussions of feminism, which is certainly a central concern of
the group, should, I feel, be aimed at a real exchange of opinions
and should perhaps help us articulate concerns and goals individually and as a group without leading people to feel they must
adopt a particular "brand" of feminism - or that the group is
"dogmatic" or tending in that direction (as seemed to be a concern
of some people in the February meeting).
I hope we can (will want to) talk about our work in the Wiglet
group, or about interests, about what we're investing so much
energy and care in. At any rate, I hope the group can provide an
alternative to some academic forums and can serve as more than an
academic/traditional forum. That is, most of us are probably trying
to resist the pressure of division and isolation generated by
institutions, trying to be a "whole person" while being an academic,
trying to work and live in a manner that expresses the kinds of
values we believe in: certain modes of individual presentation;
the kind of interaction with others we want to encourage; the
relevance our work should have for us as individuals and politically; the way feminism informs all of this. Clearly feminist
concerns are also societal concerns. Perhaps the Wiglet group can
share ideas about learning to address these concerns adequately
(and usefully?) through our work and learning to resist the
responses that "since universities are male institutions, you have
no chance in such a goal" and that "academics is not part of the
real world, anyway" - i.e. is without real social relevance.
I long for a group where such efforts and concerns would be
encouraged rather than ridiculed, where we could meet with some
small degree of hope rather than with cynicism. Obviously, to
create such a group we would have to work together openly -we can't just pull it out of a hat, can't force participation,
sincerity, concern.
Claire Baldwin - Yale University
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I was very impressed by my first exposure to WIG. It was startling
just to see so many women from the Northeast interested in German
Studies. As a graduate student in a very small department, I sometimes imagine I'm involved in a very esoteric discipline. But, it
was most inspiring to find that there is an organization committed
to discussing issues of particular significance to women in our
field. I appreciate the opportunity that exists at such conferences
for presenting work in a supportive atmosphere, and the possibility
that is presented here, and in the newsletter, for the solicitation
of papers and exchange of research information on feminist topics.
The tone of the organization is strikingly open and candid. I was
glad to perceive this since I've often found
rare qualities in professional organizations.
these
to
be
The diverse backgrounds of WIG members,
and our various
stages in the field is certainly a virtue. I am interested
in learni~from the experience of those who have survived graduate
school and proceeded to academic and professional careers. However,
I strongly support the idea of forming a subgroup for graduate students
within WIG. Obviously, we share specific concerns. Despite the various
conditions in our individual departments, I suspect there is much common ground for discussion. It may be that students from other schools
have suggestions and advice for remedying problems that have been overcome in their own departments. In any event, other students could provide an objective opinion of our personal departmental problems.
Most importantly, we are all approaching a time when we will need practical advice on making the transition from graduate study to seeking
professional positions in our field. It would be helpful if information
and advice could be shared among us. This is especially important to
students who may feel there is a dearth of such information in their
own departments.
I would hope that a regular schedule of Wiglet meetings could be
arranged. Perhaps these could focus on specific topics of interest such
as final exams, dissertation writing, etc. The most obvious time for
meeting would be at the time of general WIG conferences. However, if the
proximity and flexibility of members allowed, I would like to see
Wiglets attempt to meet more frequently.
Clare Wellnitz - Yale
Univ~rsity
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I just went through the latest WIG newsletter rather thoroughly (with
highlighter!) and it made me feel good and hopeful to be a part of such
a group of people working together hard and enthusiastically. The
October conference seems to have been quite an uplifting and productive
experience for many. I'm also glad that the newsletter is providing a
chance for Amherst women graduate students to get together and know/
learn more about each other. I'd really appreciate it if someone would
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tape the workshop proceedings for the upcoming mini-conference
in February. I could certainly use some help, ideas, hints on
"skills of the profession." I hope your plans for it are working out - sounds like a great idea!
Karin Obermeier - Heidelberg
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FEBRUARY MINI-CONFERENCE
AMHERST, MA.
The response to the mini-conference was larger than anticipated.
Over thirty people attended - twice as many as last time! Many
of these were newcomers to WIG who had just moved to New England.
The discussion on the first night was moderated by Sara Lennox
and centered on the topic: "What is feminism? What does it mean
to us? What role has it played in our lives?" Saturday was spent
with works in progress. Pat Simpson talked on writing and death
in Gunderrode's poetry, Barbara Hyams spoke on women in the New
German Cinema, and Carol Poore discussed disabilities in the
GDR. Later the discussion of feminism was resumed, specifically
as it relates to our experience as teachers of German. From there
we formed smaller discussion groups. On Sunday we had a very
productive wrap~up session. In general, the conference succeeded
in its basic goal of bringing WIG members together to talk and
exchange ideas in a relaxing atmosphere.
Joan Keck Campbell,
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Leslie Morris, Bettina Mc Gimsey
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Every letter reaches its destination (Lacan)
Karoline von Gunderrode (1780-1806) quite literally lived and
died by the letter. She established and maintained connections
with Bettina Brentano von Arnim (and her circle) in an appropriately
epistolary mode. Gunderrode's letters from her quiet seclusion
at the Damenstift become the vehicles for her poetry, her prose,
and her p~ivate mythology.
In this paper. I will follow the itinerary of one sonnet, "Der
Kuss im Traume." Gunderrode sent the sonnet, rife with references
to the in-spiration of the kiss, the veil of night, the necessary
sublimation of the erotic into the somatic, to Savigny on the
verge of his marriage to Gunda Brentano. For Gunderrode, the
dream-kiss is ultimately the kiss of death. The unrequited love
figured by the dream-frame (and Gunderrode's biography) is inscribed within an unanswered letter. One cannot, in this case,
speak of a Briefwechsel, implying an economy of written exchange,
until Bettina's epistolary novel Die Gunderrode appeared in 1840.
In this century, Gunderrode's work attracted the attention of
Christa Wolf, who attempts to trace a literary matrilineage,
a gesture of recuperating the past. Nothing written is lost, even
unanswered letters to the world.
In its most recent incarnations, "Der Kuss im Traume" appears in
Christa Wolf's edition of Gunderrode's works "Der Schatten eines
Traumes" (1979) and in the re-edition of the epistolary novel by
Bettina, "Die Gunderrode" (1982). Only here, I will argue, does the
letter reach its destination.
Patricia Simpson - Yale University
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"Is the Apolitical Woman at Peace? Looking at Women in the New German
Cinema"
Two mottos: one by Helma Sanders-Brahms, from her "Expose mit Vorrede"
to Deutschland, bleiche Mutter, about the guilt that comes from obeying
the law and looking for happiness in marriage and family; the other by
Denise Levertov, from her poem "Making Peace," which envisions a peace
that might first manifest itself "if we restructured the sentence our
lives are making, [ ... J allowed for long pauses."
The title of this paper asks if a woman who ignores, or tries to ignore,
the pOlitical events that shape the fate of nations can find peace and
harmony in her own personal sphere. It chooses films from the late 1970s
and the early 1980s (Deutschland, bleiche Mutter, Die Ehe der Maria
Braun, Der subjektive Faktor, Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, and
Heller Wahn) to study the portrayal of women ( and allegorically, of
Germany) from National Socialism through contemporary times in the FRG.
The relationships between women and men in each film are described. All
of the films contain a pattern of physical and/or psychological male
violence and female revenge that takes the form of murder or attempted
suicide. Deutschland, bleiche Mutter contains the only overt rape scene
in this group of films. A sequence analysis of the rape scene shows how
the film intersplices male-female violence with Germany'shistory. It
also suggests that the auteur uses Brecht's poem, "Deutschland," and
Grimm's fairy tale, "Der Rauberbrautigam," to build up a very complicated allegory for Germany, as well as a multi-valenced interpretation
of the female psyche as both "bad mother" (Brecht) and "innocent maiden"
(Grimm). Lene, the protagonist of Deutschland, bleiche Mutter, survives
Jthro~gh tenacity and denial; her silence on political issues (e.g.
removal of the Jews) is not apolitical, because silence is also a political stance. Yet for Sanders-Brahms, the "simple life," preferably
"untouched" by politics, is a universal ideal that she too wants as a
member of the next generation.
Barbara Hyams - Boston University
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Carol Poore gave a fascinating talk on disability in the GDR. She
identified different kinds of disabilities: racism, homosexuality,
physical handicaps, etc., criticizing the basic premise that
"there are no disabilites in the GDR." This line of thought is
reflected by the fact that there are proportionat~ly few statistics
pertaining to disabilities in the GDR. In order to geE-Tnforma.,tion , Carol drew upon the narratives of people whose lives had
been affected by disabilities.
L . M., J. K . C., B . Mc G.
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WIGN€WS
ELKE FREDERIKSEN won the 1986 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award
of the University of Maryland. The award is given to five members
of the faculty annually, and Elke is the first member of the
Department of Germanic & Slavic Languages & Literatures to win itl
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KAREN ACHBERGER has been TENURED(l) at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. CONGRATULATIONS, Karen!
LANA RINGS has taken a position at the University of Texas in
Arlington.
MIRIAM FRANK is still in NYC, working as an archive assistant
and as a project coordinator for the Robert F. Wagner Labor
Archives. She also has had "various teaching gigs."
JILL KOWALIK is now at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
VIKTORIA HXRTLING has adopted two children from El Salvador
and "has her hands full."
TAMARA ARCHIBALD is taking her doctoral exams in the spring and
MELISSA VOGELSANG, COLETTE VAN KERCKVOORDE, and LESLIE MORRIS
are taking theirs in the fall. JOAN KECK CAMPBELL has her MA
exams at the same time. GOOD LUCK!
LESLIE MORRIS has received a DAAD for 1986-87 and will be
spending the year in Munich doing dissertation research.
PATRICIA SIMPSON has been awarded a DAAD to work on her dissertation in West Berlin. Bettina Mc Gimsey will be spending that
year studying in Freiburg.
\VIGTOR.Y
WIG-Tl&
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MARIANNE LANDR~ GOLDSCHEIDER writes that she is teaching ESL courses
for the NYC Board of Education to Hispanic women on welfare as part
of their welfare requirements.
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ANGELIKA BAMMER has a new position at Emory University in Atlanta, GA
teaching German Studies. Her twins Bettina and Nicholas, born in the
fall, are keeping her busy but happy.
LINDA WORLEY has a teaching position at the University of Kentucky in
Lexington.
MARTHA WALLACH will be on sabbatical leave
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next year.
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MLA1985
RACISM IN POST-1945 WOMEN'S LITERATURE
Moderators: Linda De Merrit (Allegheny College) and Dagmar Lorenz
(OSU)
Barbara Maybee (Marshall University) and Lioba Multer (OSU) focused
their papers on how Sarah Kirsch and Ingeborg Bachmann approach racism
in the German culture, particularly as it is manifested in the postNazi era. As Multer pointed out, Bachmann links this aspect effectively
with her criticism of patriarchy whose hierarchical patterns contain
the core of all oppression. Leslie Adelson (OSU) uiscussed Ann Duden's
Obergang in the context of its light-and-dark symbolism and criticized
the portrayal of the violent black GI as an example of racism in a
seemingly progressive text written by a German woman. The detailed and
insightful analyses revealed the depth of the problem and raised the
following questions:
Is it intellectually honest and appropriate, as Bachmann (and
authors such as Christa Reinig) suggest to equate racism, and
particularly German anti-Semitism, with sexism and the oppression
and murder of women?
Are old models of discourse, i.e. the archetypes of darkness
and light in Duden's novel, and traditional symbols and images
appropriate to feminist discourse? What alternative is there
for feminist authors?
How can we overcome racist discourse? Kirsch's identification
with the Jewish victims - to the point of her changing her own
name? Bachmann's tracing the models of domination and oppression
back to the very beginnings of modern civilization and her attempt
to transcend verbal communication, i.e. the undoing of language
and-civilization?
ello~h h
hoJ,..
ma.ke.
your
c u r-!- ••..
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The open questions about the complex problem of women and racism
will, I hope, inspire further critical discussion. The subject matter
is certainly a sensitive area within
feminist literary studies and thus
has not received the attention it
deserves. I would like to consider
our panel a beginning of such an
ongoing discussion within WIG. The
panel left many open-ended questions
rather than results or proofs. The
many enthusiastic comments throughout the conference indicated that
all three papers were very well received.
WI6S
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W/G-TOR'IAN
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Dagmar Lorenz - OSU
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"'1m Totenspiel ungewisser Bedeutung': Antirassistische Assoziationsraume in der Lyrik von Sarah Kirsch"
Kirsch stands in the long tradition of writers whose works have
translated the holocaust experience into the language of art
through mimesis or association, such as Nelly Sachs, Paul Celan,
Gertrud Kalmar, lise Aichinger, Else Lasker-Schuler, and Ingeborg
Bachmann. Her poetic concept of the ambiguous free space provokes
a coming to terms with ones subjective memory and its relationship
to collective history. Mental associations with National Socialism,
race, eugenics,war experiences, and fascism lurk throughout her
poetic landscapes. Layers of time and space fuse, as do those of
imaginary and historical experiences. Her personal identification
with Jewish history manifests itself through the changing of her
first name to Sarah (born Ingrid Bernstein) as an anti-racist statement and as a means to solidarity with the fate of the Jewish
women in the Third Reich who had to assume the additional name
Sara (mother of the Jews) in January, 1939.
Making her debut as a poet in the early 1960s in the GDR, as a
member of the avant-garde movement called "Lyric Wave," her initial
search for poetic language coincided with the development of
socialism in the GDR with its "prescribed" anti-fascist orientation.
It is not surprising then that her early poetry treats the problem
of race in a cultural-historical context of past and present events,
as in the holocaust poems "Legende uber Lilja" and "Der Milchmann
Schauffele." In her later poetry she radicalizes her concern with
race and historic guilt and establishes "Totenspiele" of the mind
that fluctuate between memory and forgetfulness to produce "Unruhe."
She increasingly deemphasizes national, political, and temporal
boundaries as well as GDR realities; a development that has to be
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seen in conjunction with her move to the West in 1977 after the
Biermann affair and her subsequent virtual isolation. Her later
texts bring human essentials to the surface, which she examines in
her immediate environment, in the context of her rural and domestic
life. Household imagery, natural landscape scenes (carefully and
cogently drawn as her study and training in the field of biology),
and female experiences in everyday life evoke associations with
various kinds of discrimination and destruction of subjective agencies as the threatening "Other." Her poems reveal a distinct insight
into examples of European history, in which instrumental reasoning
and domination over the "Other," including nature as well as human
consciousness, paved the way for fascism. She understands fascism as
the most advanced stage of capitalism in the tradition of Critical
Theory since Marx.
As a woman poet who seeks to authenticate the female voice in poetry,
she points to her everyday life and reproduces the horrors of history
with subjective authenticity. Drawing upon the modernist tradition,
she uses montage techniques, surrealistic imagery, unorthodox linedivision and punctuation, yet maintains a communicative language. The
"death games" have the sound of dissonance in order to break down
ethnocentric thinking and any aura of harmony. Only with "zerbrochener
Stimme" can a bird sing in "zerfallenen Fundamenten" (after Auschwitz,
one might add), as she says in her poem "Spieluhr" from her latest
volume Katzenleben (1984).
Barbara Mabee - Marshall University
*
*
*
*
*
*
"Racism and Feminist Aesthetics in Anne Duden's Ubergang (1982)"
This paper explores the potentially racist abuses, if not implications
of some aspects of contemporary feminist aesthetics by analyzing the
varying functions of blackness in Anne Duden's Ubergang as they relate
to the notion of oppositional negativity in feminist theories of
women's culture. While the "negative" value of feminist writing is
bound to the positionality of the woman author with regard to the
dominant order, accepting negativity as a mere metaphor for simplistic
opposition to dominant structures of signification and subject-hood
would deny women any claim to a working notion of historical agency.
Duden's text makes us question the
boundaries between inner and outer
spaces, darkness and light, good and
evil, such that darkness emerges at
times as a source of both threat and
hope or potential liberation. However,
the racist premise inherent in her
projection of permanent blackness and
unmitigated evil onto a group of human
beings (the black GIs who effect the
literal effacement of the female pro,_e.
tagonist) precludes the simple appropri-l'\. POS~-P"'DI:O-fe"'l;ltst rev;~/~YI. of the. c""c~
ation of images of blackness by
-13-
feminist aesthetics on behalf of a female subjectivity in whose
name this text might otherwise be hailed.
Leslie Adelson - OSU
*
*
BETTINA VON ARNIM (1785-1859)
CONTEXT
*
*
IN SOCIAL, HISTORICAL AND LITERARY
Moderators: Ruth-Ellen Boetcher-Joeres (Univ. of Minnesota,
Minneapolis) and Elke Frederiksen (Univ. of Maryland, College Park)
"Spinoza's
(Grand) daughter"
Ever since Ricarda Huch's study of Romanticism, controversy has
reignei over the role of the concept "androgeny" in that movement.
Most recently, Sara Friedrichsmeyer has analyzed the works of
Novalis and the early Schlegel, demonstrating that their quest
for wholeness was inextricably linked with a longing for union
with a woman who also symbolized nature in its totality. As she
points out, however, the concept of "androgeny" did not fundamentally affect these Romantics' perception of gender roles. The
question logically arises as to the place accorded the concept of
"androgeny" in the writing of Romantic women. Naturally, the
tradition cold not be used by women authors with the same effect.
If the goal was union with the wholeness of nature as represented
by woman, women authors would have to revise the imagery if they
were not to be taken for lesbians. More importantly, perhaps,
if "male" is identified with that which is divided, rational, and
inharmonious, what is the advantage to women in seeking this
union or in seeking to develop her personality?
In my view, Bettina von Arnim successfully avoids these difficulties in the only way possible -- by transcending all definitions
according to gender. I agree with Nancy Kaiser that Bettina von
Arnim's clearest and most explicit statements on gender are to
be found in Clemens Brentanos Fruhlingskranz. Her understanding
of wholeness is quite different, indeed radically different.
Bettina explicitly rejects Clemens' attempts -- or the attempts
of the character named Clemens -- to cultivate distinct female
virtues in her. I believe it is Bettina's von Arnim's contribution
to the discussion of gender roles to have transcended the very
dualistic terms of the concept of androgeny. By rejecting Clemens'
idyllic visions of marriage, she rejects the image of heterosexual
marriage as completion. By rejecting "male" behavior for herself,
she rejects the image as adequate to describe her vision of her
own internal wholeness. Her concept of wholeness presents itself
neither in terms of marriage, nor in terms of acquiring traits
associated with the opposite gender. What she expects is nothing
less than the absence of constraint in becoming all that she
already is. In this regard, Bettina von Arnim's concept of "self"
-14-
and, indeed, her view of "freedom,"
undoubtedly owes much to the philosophy
of Friedrich Schleiermacher. Unlike
Kant, Schleiermacher rejected the idea
of our capacity to postulate a transcendental freedom. He believed that our
actions and thoughts are absolutely
determined by our character, in turn
determined in infinite complexity by our
history, thoughts, and actions. If one
extrapolates somewhat: we are incapable
of doing or thinking anything contrary
to our nature. Freedom consists in the
absence of constraint in expressing
that character. For Bettina von Arnim
it was not the division of nature, but rather its totality that manifested itself in individuals.
That the attempt to define anyone by gender is ultimately not only futile,
but self-destructive, was precisely Bettina von Arnim's point and is of
particular value in contemporary debates on gender identity. The very
argument about gender distinctions and definitions undermines the feminist goal of re/visioning the world. The feminist point should be the
absence of definition. In this sense, Bettina von Arnim was far ahead
of us as a feminist.
Kay Goodman - Brown University
*
*
*
*
*
*
"Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child? Bettine's 'Das Leben der Hochgrafin
Gritta von Rattenbeiunszuhaus'"
While discussions of Bettine and Gisela von Arnim's unfinished MarchenRoman, "Das Leben der Hochgrafin Gritta von Rattenbeiunszuhaus," have
generally centered on uncertainties about authorship and date of inception, recent archival research has laid these questions to rest. This
paper contributes to the understanding of these issues, and also raises
a more fundamental question about the "missing" final pages of the
120-page work. After examination of two female models, Gritta's development within the work, and a drawing by Gisela of the marriage scene,
the author suggests that a fundamental disruption of the fairy tale
hierarchy surfaces. The existence and viability of a supportive autonomous female community, represented by the convent of the "Zwolf Landstreicherinnen," contributes to the subversive impact of "Gritta" as
it breaks with the bourgeois fairy tale tradition. The author concludes
that Bettine and Gisela may actually never have written the conclusion
because they were unable or unwilling to resolve the conflict between
the personal narrative they wanted to project for themselves and the
scoial narrative implied by the Marchen genre they used.
Shawn C. Jarvis - Univ. of Minnesota
-15-
"From the Konigsbuch to the Armenbuch (and Back Again): Poverty
and its Narration in Bettine von Arnim"
Bettine von Arnim's concern with the poor was the most intense
between 1842 and 1852. This becomes clear not only through an
examination of her correspondence and Varnhagen von Ense's diary,
but it is also reflected in the published and unpublished works
written during those years. While none of von Arnim's works are
devoid of political content, including the two epistolary novels
that appear during this time -- Clemens Brentanos Fruhlingskranz
(1844) and Ilius Pamphilius und und Ambrosia (1848) --, it is
the conversational novel, the Konigsbuch, which has traditionally been most closely associated with Bettine von Arnim's statements about the poor. This has been the case primarily due to
the reportage-like supplement to the first part, which describes
in graphic detail the abhorrent living and working conditions
of the Berlin underclass.
The first part of the Konigsbuch appeared in 1843, only one
year after Bettine von Arnim had begun to examine more closely
the issue of poverty in response to a prize-question posed by
the Potsdam government about the nature of poverty and possible
solutions to it. In 1844 she continued this research and began
making plans for its compilation and analysis in what Varnhagen
calls her Armenbuch. Unfortunately, this never appeared as a
completed work, and it was not until 1962 that Werner Vordtriede
published his findings of several writings dealing with the
issue of poverty, many of which were to have been incorporated
into Bettine von Arnim's Armenbuch. Since then speculations
have been made about why von Arnim never finished this work
and why it was not published. The two primary reasons offered
are that, due to its controversial nature, Bettine von Arnim
held it back for fear of censorship and, secondly, that she
simply lacked the historical, social, and economic depth of
knowledge to deal adequately with such a complex issue.
While both of these explanations are relevant to varying degrees,
little analysis has been made of the author's narrative stance
in the Armenbuch, in comparison with von Arnim's other works,
and the difficulty this appears to have caused her. When considering the fact that she was working from documentation
gathered and essays written by others, rather than from correspondences and conversations in which she herself had been involved, as was the case in all of her previous works, it is not
surprising to find the largely unsuccessful attempt to eliminate
her-self from the text reflected in various versions of what
was probably to have been a lengthy afterword. The repeated
crossing-out of "ich" and reformulations which strive to portray
and examine more objectively a social malaise that affected
real people, and to which she had emotional (subjective) response, are evidence of the difficulty von Arnim had with the
writing of this work.
-16-
It is not surprising then to find the same issue addressed once again,
considerably later, in an entirely different context, in Gesprache
mit Damonen, the second part of the Konigsbuch, which appeared in 1852.
Here Bettine von Arnim uses the conversational format characteristic
of the entire Konigsbuch, into which she integrates herself and through
which she allows the poor to speak for themselves. A traditional
narrator does not exist, since the novel consists nearly exclusively
of direct dialogue. It is clear that von Arnim is at her best in
conversation.
In conclusion, a comparison of the three works which emphatically
address the issue of poverty brings to light the fact that narrative
stance is yet another factor in explaining why the Armenbuch remained
unfinished and why it was not published during Bettine von Arnim's
lifetime. Because it deviates dramatically in form from the Konigsbuch,
while maintaining continuity of content, the Armenbuch reflects
Bettine von Arnim's resistance against writing in traditional forms.
Reportage and conversation, both of which lack a distanced narrator,
are the two forms in which she most successfully allows herself and
her characters to speak.
Edith Waldstein - MIT
*
*
*
*
*
"Displacing the Seduction of Tragedy: Margaret Fuller's Revision of
Bettina von Arnim's 'Sublime Originality'"
The preeminent nineteenth-century American feminist Margaret Fuller
has largely been ignored by modern feminist critics. Yet her work can
help to relieve a strain in the field between empirical and theoretical
concerns. Fuller's feminism develops through her reading of certain
European writers, particularly Bettina von Arnim, whose work also
challenges the division in our critical thinking.
Fuller is initially pleased when Bettina von Arnim's epistolary novel,
Goethe's Correspondence with ~ Child becomes popular in America. Yet
Fuller fea~s that its popularity hinges on the trope of seduction at
the center of epistolary novels as they emerged from Richardson. Fuller
prefers the model of seduction at the center of von Arnim's correspondence with Caroline von Gunderode. Fuller's elevation of Gunderode
(Fuller's title in translation) reveals her gathering interest in the
production of literary texts by women and marks the first stage of her
feminist argument that women, not men, would lead the way in the development of a new critical mode. Yet Fuller's interest in the writing of
women Enot prescriptive. Her preference for Gunderode is not an allegorical rejection of the text that was developing, for example, out of
her interaction with the Goethe of America, Waldo Emerson: quite the
contrary. Through her correspondence with Emerson, Fuller came to believe
that the sex of the author was less important than the pervasive gender
of the writing produced. Emerson's sensitivity to the feminist dimension
of his interaction with Fuller enabled them to explore a range of
epistemological questions that might have been blocked if their interaction had always to negotiate the traditional traps that Fuller found
-17-
in von Arnim's account of her correspondence with Goethe. Fuller
believes that this new hermeneutic range is rendered equally
accessible in von Arnim's interaction with Gunderode.
Fuller's characterization of the seductive movement of thought
between von Arnim and Gunderode prefigures Nietzsche's characterization of the Dionysian and Apollonian. Unlike Nietzsche,
however, Fuller is not interested in the "birth of tragedy"
because she understands the tragic part each woman goes on to
play. Gunderode kills herself and her suicide is incorporated
as part of the narrative of von Arnim's correspondence with
Goethe. Fuller's resistance to the tidy complicity between
Gunderode's death and the initiation of von Arnim's "romantic"
interaction with Goethe can be said to reside behind her
preference for the earlier correspondence. If Fuller argues
for anything, it is for the displacement of the tragic vision
that Nietzsche finds anterior to all great art. Fuller seeks
a crossing or transformation of the gulf between nature and
art, signifier and signified, that does not guarantee or depend
upon tragedy, and she does this by conflating the traditional
concept of seduction with tragedy. By infusing gender into the
question of tragedy in this way, Fuller injects a deconstructive
tendency with significant cultural ramifications. Thus, in her
preference for Gunderode, Fuller addresses two problems: she
gives counsel to men struggling with an impasse in tradition
by giving women a vital place in the play of representation.
Christina Zwarg - Yale University
*
*
*
*
*
BETTINA VON ARNIM AND HER CIRCLE
"Bettina von Arnim: Resisting Definition"
Bettina von Arnim's style and strategies of writing continually
undermine the categories of social behavior and intellectual
thought of the dominant culture surrounding her. In an analysis
based on four of her published works, I indicated how Bettina
adapts and manipulates cultural codes restricting women in order
to transgress boundaries of expected female behavior. more
radically, her style and the mode of self-presentation in her
works also break with gender-determined behavior patterns and
subvert the processes of categorization underlying social and
intellectual definitions.
In Goethes Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde (1835) and in Dies
Buch gehort dem Konig (1843), Bettina assumes roles consonant
with cultural definitions of feminity in order to assert herself. in the correspondence with Goethe, she stylizes herself
as a child, as muse, and in the first volume directed at
Friedrich Wilhelm IV her views are articulated by the loquacious,
-18-
motherly Frau Rat Goethe. The latter volume contains a trenchant
criticism of the dominant political and social system, a criticism
tolerated only by one defined within that system as insignificant
(Frau Rat). In the volume Clemens Brentanos Fruhlingskranz (1844),
Bettina resists her brother's adherence to gender-determined
behavioral patterns, defining herself in opposition to models of
female behavior. And the most radical critique is found in Die
Gunderode (1840). The correspondence between the two women presents
a distinct challenge to the broader patterns of conceptualization
behind the prevailing categories of thought and behavior.
Nancy Kaiser - Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
*
*
*
*
*
THE OUTSIDER IN THE AGE OF GOETHE
"Who are the Outsiders? Who are the Insiders? Thoughts on German
Women Romantic Writers"
I began with three quotes, Virginia Woolf's statement on how it is
worse to be locked in than out, a quote from Rahel Varnhagen's
letter to Pauline Wiesel, in which she distinguished between herself
and Wiesel and the rest of the world, and Mary Daly's statement about
in the beginning was not the word, but the hearing. My essential point
is that women began to create their own groups in the late eighteenth
century that were indeed outsider groups, but that had immense power
for them at a point removed from the traditional and usual patriarchal
center. Examples of such thoughts from Bettine von Arnim, Lisette
Nees (who wrote what amounted to love letters to Gunderrode), and
an analysis of the Varnhagen-Wiesel quote. I also went into the
delineation of self-perception and reality.
Ruth-Ellen B. Joeres - Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis
*
*
*
*
Two sessions arranged by the Division on Eighteenth and Early
Nineteenth-Century German Literature focused on the nature,
role and funtion of outsiders. Clearly the most incisive and innovative treatment of the topic was Ruth-Ellen B. Joeres'
feminist paper "Who are the Outsiders? Who are the Insiders?
Thoughts on German Women Romantic Writers." Ruth-Ellen discussed
the concept of "pariah consciousness" and attempted to view it
positively as a deliberate choice on the part of Varnhagen and
others who would remain in their heterogeneity (outside the homogenous world) and find value in their difference. She pointed to
the creative strength of their alternative way of thinking and
living as a redefiniition of reality. Other papers dealt with
Kleist, Moritz, and Lenz. Heidi Thomann-Tewarson, who is working
on a biography of Rahel Varnhagen, gave a sensitive and detailed
reading of Rahel's personal development. As is so often the case
at the hectic MLA meetings, there was time for only a few
questions, while the actual discussion came later and privately.
(One interesting development: two women on the panel received
job interviews after reading their papers, and as a result, Jill
Kowalik has accepted a job at Princeton!)
Barbara Becker-Cantarino - OSU
,
19
COMM€NTARV
BAIL./WIG
PEN and the Patriarchy
_ n.
onelS
area. of e.~pe.rtise..J fhe department
t.hcd:: one. he.a.ds.
The International PEN Congress meeting in New
York may be history by now, but we should not forget
Norman Mailer's caustic comments concerning the
protests by the PEN women's caucus regarding the
conspicuous "underrepresentation of women" as panelists and decision makers. As justification of the
situation Mailer statedl "Since the formulation of
the panels is reasonably intellectual, there are not
that many women, like Susan Sontag, who are intellectuals first, poets and novelists second. lVlore men
are intellectuals first, so there was a certain natural
tendency to pick more men than women." (NY Times,Jan.l?,
1986, p.19). First, many women would be troubled and
vexed by this dichotomous split between the "intellectuals"and the "novelists" when describing women's
writings. Second, as Germanists we 'should be able
to name many women - Ingeborg Drewitz, Angelika Mechtel,
Irmtraud Morgner, Luise F. Pusch, Christa Wolf, among.
others- who have amalgamated these dichotomies. Mailer's
false assumptions should be attacked as vestiges of
our omnipresent patriarchal society.
Lorely French - Los Angeles
** * * * * * * * * **
Frauenkongress an der Heidelberger
Universit~t
Circa 300 Frauen - vorwiegend aus SUddeutschland, aber
auch aus dem Norden - kamen vom 17.-20. Februar zum
ersten Frauenkongress an der Heidelberger Universit~t
zusammen. Der Schwerpunkt der Arbeit lag in Workshops,
in denen in einer grossep Bandbrei te von Themen (Frauen
in Naturwissenschaften, Geisteswissenschaften, Geschichte,
Sozialwissenschaften ... ) die Situation von Frauen an der
Universit~t sowie im gesamtgesellschaftlichen Zusammenhang analysiert sowie Strategien gegen die Diskriminierung
von Frauen entwickelt wurden. Erg~nzend gab es Vortr~ge
zur Situation von Frauen in den Naturwissenschaften
(Rosemarie RUbsamen), zur feministischen Wissenschaftskritik (Christina ThUrmer-Rohr) und zur Geschichte
der Frauen an der Heidelberger Universit~t (Gerlinde
Horsch). Besondere Bedeutung gewinnt der Kongressdurch
das 600-j~hrige Jubil~um der Universit~t Heidelberg.
War die Universit~t Heidelberg im Jahre 1900 immerhin
die erste Uni Deutschlands, an der Frauen studieren
durften, so kommen im grossenJubelprogramm des Rektorats
-20-
weder Studentinnen noch Studenten vor. So blieb die Iniative
den Studentinnen seIber uberlassen, die den Kongress nicht nur
als Artikulationsmoglichkeit fur ihre Situation yerstehen, sondern
auch als Gegengewicht zum offiziellen Universitatsjubilaum.
Noch irnrner sind die Rahmenbedingungen fur Frauen an der Universitat denkbar schlecht: erobern sich einerseits Studentinnen
anzahlmassig einen immer grosseren Platz an der Uni, nirnrnt die
Anzahl im Bereich der Lehre und Forschung rapide abo So betragt
der Anteil der Frauen bei den Professoren weniger als funf Prozent.
Somit sind es weiterhin die Manner, die des Studentinnen Inhalte
und Formen der Forschung und Lehre vorgeben. Deshalb war es
auch das Anliegen des Kongresses, diese Zusrande nicht langer
hinzunehmen oder im stillen Karnrnerlein zu beklagen, sondern die
Sache in die Hand zu nehmen und sowohl Frauenforschung als auch
feministische Wissenschaft endlich selbst zu betreiben.
Es liess sich feststellen, dass die Rahmenbedingungen (besonders
in Suddeutschland) fur Frauen an der Hochschule irnrner noch so
schlecht sind, dass wir weitere Kongresse fur notwendig halten.
Deshalb hoffen wir, das~ Frauen an anderen Universitaten diese
Idee aufgreifen und in Form von jahrlichen Kongressen weitertragen.
Karin Obermeier - Heidelberg
*
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I did go to the "March for Women's Lives" on March 9th in
Washington. It was great! It has been some time since "the
hill" has seen anything like it, and the bonding between
thousands of people there was a wonderful experience. It was
a little like the sixties had returned.
Tamara Archibald Univ. of Md.
*
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*
For What It's Worth Department: Has it seemed to any of you
that the German Quarterly is changing? Certainly vol. 57 (1984)
had a strong female presence. Vol. 57 contains 21 articles and
2 review essays. Of the articles, 11 were written by men and
10 by women. By contrast, in volume 58 (1985), which contains
22 articles and 3 review essays, there are only 5 articles by
women. Two of the three review essays were by women. Does this
information mean anything? Should we do a regular "journal
watch" to monitor what's going on with the GQ and other journals?
Or should we just "wait and see"?
Jeanette Clausen - IU-PU/FW
*
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WIGTIM
SUE
DI&b t..)1nt' HEA 'L~.sSI!3
OI"J.> TY,.,'I./t;, .. GJI~ CA-"'C,
$,., ..
T~"'Iofr; .sHe: -rJIt.V~"""J "H£'T'hl6J1T; oS... """uG~r} SHE
T"AD6"T, SHe
t..E'r60, S;Nt:"1'Jqc.lGo"'TJ SHE Pr;;1/t1.tHEb.
"*
21
CALLS ~OR PAP€RS
Women in German Session at the Modern Language Association
December 1986 meeting, New York City
Women in the Weimar Republic: History and Literature
We are interested in papers on works by women authors,
on historical events as reflected in literature, and on
the relationship between literary/cultural events and
politics.
Please send proposals (500 words) before
April 15, 1986
Miriam Frank
80 Bennett Avenue
New York, New York 10033
Joan Reutershan
German Department
New York University
AND/OR
19 University Place
New York, New York 10003
Manuscript drafts should be submitted to us before
August 30, 1986.
*
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Women in the Holocaust/ Women in Exile
Silence has long surrounded the women affected by National
Socialism. Some women went into exile, some endured, many were
killed. We invite papers which discuss the many voices of women,
their memoirs, diaries, autobiographies, and literary depictions.
We are especially interested in the woman's perspective.
Deadline for the two-page abstracts is April 30, 1986
Send a copy of the abstract to both;
Jan Emerson
German Department
Reed College
Portland, OR 97214
[tel: ( 503) 231 0590 h,
(503) 771 1112 ex 408 01
Charlotte Armster
German Department
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, PA 17325
[tel: ( 7 1 7 ) 33 4 27 21 h,
(717) 337 6881 0]
*
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22
WIG Conference
October 1986
We are soliciting papers for a session on Approaches and
Applications to be held at the Women In German conference in Portland,
Oregon in October 1986.
The papers may be a description and critical analysis of one or
more schools of feminist criticism, for example marxist,
structuralist, lesbian, semiotic, etc. Papers may also show practical
application of feminist literary theory to a text either written b~7 a
wanan or containing \\aIleIl figures. However, in this case the anphasis
rust be on the methodological approach. Papers may be devoted
excludingly to either theory or application or they may oontain both
elements.
1-2 page abstracts due April 15, 1986. The full paper should not
exceed a maximum of twenty minutes oral presentation and is due August
31, 1986. For further information, please oontact either of the panel
oo-ordinators.
Vibeke R. Petersen
German Dept.
New York University
Liz Corra
1716 2nd Ave., # 4A
New York, N.Y. 10028
(212) 534-7590
19 University Place
New York, N.Y. 10003
(212) 598-2428/2429
*
*
*
*
*
*
CALL
FOR
*
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PAPERS
WIG 1986 in Portland, Oregon
Opening session: The Women in Our Lives
In this session, we would like to set the tone of "creating our tradition"
and get as many accounts of women in our lives as possible. For the greatest
amount of participation, we would like a large number of short presentations
of only 5-8 minutes each. They should contain a brief biographic sketch of
the woman in your life and your 'tale' of her impact on you. She can be from
any field and in any relationship to you, e. g. a scientist, a writer, a relative, a teacher, etc. Please send a short proposal to both of us by
JUNE 1., 1986
Gisela Bahr
Dept. of German, Russian, and
E. Asian Languages
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
Tamara Archibald
Dept. of Germanic & Slavic
Languages and Literatures
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
*
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23
CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
to an anthology on the everyday experiences of women in the
U. S. This volume, for an international audience, will be one
of a series about women around the world (published by
Express Edition, West Berlin, West Germany).
wanted
essays, short fiction, oral histories, interviews, humor, poems,
artwork and photographs evoking the variety of women's
expei:iences in the United States-including career women and
full-time housewives, women in non-traditional jobs, women
in two-career marriages, single mothers on welfare, teenagers,
elderly women, women who have chosen abortion, women
who have been sterilized against their will, country women,
suburban women, Black, Latina, Native American,
Asian-American women .
l~lS October 19116
s,-a....m Inc".:
,_Marcue
BortNora E. JohnIon
~"'T_
~1MINnII)'
.......
CatNrtno~
Jan,othM Cullor
JoIIo:MIt Barrett
.... ,.SpIJIen
C'II)o~.~
~c.Itp
c.y.1rI~SpI""
Houitan A. 80br
~~
~
2,500 words or less.
~",,..~
"-7~
. __
....... ...
... .-. . . . . .............
" _ _ oI_wtII ............ "' ................
~I._
-...............
.
DoooIlMIor_ III"'" I • .
Artwork and photographs should be suitable for printing
in black and white.
Include stamped, self-addressed envelope for return
of submission.
DEADLINE: April, 1986
"
EIiaolooth .............. .......
DIoo<Ion.
... _
CriIldooII
0 . , . - ......... o.-AI.
~
• ...w-..
n.~
~.,.....-
Send to:
Barbara Armentrout, 4235V2 N. Hermitage, Apt. lA,
Chicago, IL 60613
OR
FRAUEN
UNO SCHULE ¥arlag
Berlin
Der FRAUEN + SCHULE Verlag plant fOr das NovemberHeft der Zeltac:hrlft "Frauen und Schule" elnen nteratur\vIS'len!IChaftlichen, dlJ:l"ktlachen, "nt'Nlcklung.'lpsychologlschen Schwerpunkt zu dem Themenberelch Deutsch,
Llteratur, Sprache, Sprachgebrauch:
Splache. Sprechen: Stlmme
Dleae drel Stlchworte mOgen elne Vomeilung davon entstehen laaen, was wlr als Schwerpunktthema for die November-Nummer von FRAUEN UNO SCHULE vorhaben.
Wlr wollen daIlel eowohl die entwlcklungepsychologlac:hen
all such die eprachdldaktlac:hen all auch die IIteraturwl8lenlChaftliche Perapektlve 1m Spektrum der BeltrAge
vertreten haberl. NatOrlich alnd wlr beIondera auch daran Interfl88lert, jenen Fragen 1m Zuaammenhang mit
Sprache, Sprachgebrauch und Llteratur nachzugehen, die
oft genug auf uns. zukommen: Was hat 81 auf Ilch mit der
grOBeren Sprachbegabung der MAdchen, angefangen bel m
frOheren Sprechenlernen? Was Ilgnalilleren die belleren
Lelstungen cler MAdchen 1m Fach Oeutac:h? Wle verAndert
slch der Umgang cler Umgebung und der MAdchen aelblt
mit Ihrer grOBeren eprachllchen Kompetenz?
Wo landet Ihre kommunlkatlveKo rnpetenz? •••
Wlr wollen gerne welter gehen all una die aUlgetretenen
Wege der Olskusalon blslang gefOhrt haberl. Mit mOOlichen Autorlnnen wOrden wlr uns gerM bald ac:hOn In
Verblndung setzen.
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24
Toward a theory of
interbreastuality
BOOI<S
Gabriele Kreis, Frauen im Exil:
claasen, 1984. OM 32,00.
Dichtung und Wirklichkeit.
Dusseldorf:
While the literature of German-speaking exiles and emigres during the
Hitler era had been neglected for a long time, the last fifteen years brought
us comprehensive general works as well as innumerable monographs on the topic.
However, one aspect that still did not find any special consideration was
the role women played during that time. Apart from a few casual remarks
on their heroism and perseverance in the face of catastrophies, their lives
and work remained mainly unresearched. Were the problems women faced in
exile different from those of men? If so, how?
'G. Kreis sets out to answer some of these que~tions by focusing on the
reality of women's lives during exile(as opposed to the fictional account
in men's works) and on the literature of a few women writers. Her book is
primarily a summary of the interviews which she conducted with women in their
places of exile: New York, Zurich, Los Angeles, Ascona, Cologne. Kreis
begins her book with summary of four women characters from novels by Feuchtwanger,
Bruno Frank and Klaus Mann and succinctly points to their "imaginierte Weiblichkeit" (Luxusweibchen, Yerfuhrerin~indfrau and aufopfernde Helferin).
She then blends to the real life of real women in exile. This account comprises
the biggest part of the book anm is fascinating to read.
Although the circumstanc~s the women struggled with were markedly different
from one another, a few common characteristics crystallize: despite the fact
that1many women either had professional training, were writers themselves
or came from solid middle-class backgrounds, they did not consider it below
their dignity to work as salesclerks, factory hands, hairdressers, cleaning
women, etc. They adapted more easily to their new land(s) than the men who
often could not forget their former prestige and status. Often women became'
stronger in exile and men became weaker. This consequently led to marital
conflict and sometimes the break-up of the marriage. Many women provided
all the funds for their families and thus only made it possible for their
writer-husbands to continue their work (Ernest Bornemann: "Die meisten unserer
grossen Autoren waren im Exil verreckt, wenn die Frauen sie nicht irgendwie
durchgefuttert hatten." p. 58).
The book is easy and interesting to read as if one were following a
lively recounting of memories. It also has serious flaws. The collection
of episodes, moods and short conversations jumps from one interviewee to
the next, and the reader is not always certain who is speaking. Quotes from
written works are not footnoted, sometimes not even the name of the sourGe
is mentioned. For a book with so many different characters, an index would
be a blessing. The study also limits itself to women still living and living
in the West. It ignores the rich source of autobiographies of women in exile
in the USSR (Buber-Neumann, Susanne Leonhardt, Hildegard Plivier, Ruth von
Mayenburg, et al.) whose lives were markedly different from the women interviewed. In"the third part of the book Kreis discusses literature by women,
but she only selects three authors: Irmgard Keun, Adrienne Thomas and, en
passant, Anna Seghers. Surely there were more writers in exile than just
these thr2e.
25
The whole book does not go beyond a lively impressionistic picture
of women's lives in exile. No conclusions are drawn, no summary
is provided. A thoroughly researched study of the living and
writing conditions of women in exile and a compendium of women
exile writers both remain a desideratum of Exilforschung.
Charlotte K. Smith - Seattle, WA
*
*
*
*
*
*
Margot Schroeder: Wenn die Holzpferde lachen. Roman. Bremen:
Zeichen und Spuren Frauenliteraturverlag, 1985.
Der neueste Roman von Margot Schroeder ist sowohl eine schonungslose jedoch liebevolle Darstellung vom Grosstadtleben in der BRD
wie auch ein Aufbegehren gegen eine totende Anonymitat, die den
"normalen" Grosstadtalltag pragt. Julie Schafer, Restauratorin
von Mobeln und Holzpferden in Hamburg, traumt von einer Revolution,
in der Menschen zu sich selbst, zu einander und zu ihrer Umwelt
einen naturlichen Zugang durch die Vermittlung von lachenden
Holzpferden finden. Und sie liebt Stella, eine Malerin in Dusseldorf, die ihre eigenen phantastischen Mittel zum tlberleben erfunden
hat: Durch Gesprache mit Heine und Einstein und mit Hilfe ihrer
Kristalkuge~ will sie die Isolation und die Begrenztheit von Zeit
und Raum durchbrechen. Die zwei Frauen teilen ihrer Spieltraume
miteinander und entdecken einen neuen dritten Raum in der Liebe
und im Vertrauen, in der "gemeinsamen Freiheit" - trotz (wegen!)
zeitlicher und raumlicher Trennung, innerlicher Distanz und allgemeinen Alter-Werdens.
Dieser Weg durch Phantasiespiele zu einer realen, d.h. hier nicht
unproblematischen menschlichen Kommunikation wird in den anderen
Homanfiguren ansatzweise und auf verschiedenen Ebenen widerspiegelt. Julie agiert als Bezugsperson und fuhrt eine ganze
Familie und eine Nachbarin in die Welt der Holzpferde. Es ist
qerade eine Starke dieses Romans, dass er nicht nur bei einer
Liebesgeschichte verweilt, sondern die verschiedensten Personen
in ihrer alltaglichen Is6lation und ihrem "verruckten" Aufbegehren darstellt.
Margot Schroeder schafft es durch verschiedene Erzahlformen,imaginierte und berichtete Dialog~, Briefe~ stream of conSClOUSness, Ironie, Witz und surreale Bllder - dle angenommene Normalitat unserer von Mannern gepragten, entfremdeten Gesellschaft
in Frage zu stellen und "Verrucktheit" als angemessene Reaktion
zu akzeptieren. Jedoch bleibt es nicht bei ?ies~m Blosslegen,und
Verrucktsein. Das Phantastische, bzw. die landllche Idylle wlrd
in eine Moglichkeit vom menschlichen Zusammenfinden verwandelt,
ein Zusammenfinden auf verruckte Weise! Das Nebeneinander von
Witzigem und Brutalem kann manchmal ir~itie~en, aber auch zum
Lachen, zum Weinen, zum Sich-Argern, vlellelcht sogar zum
gemeinsamen "Verrucktsein" bringen. Und die Holzpferde lachen
immer noch.
Karin Obermeier - Heidelberg
26
Eva Walter: Schrieb oft, von MMgde Arbeit mUde: LebenszusammenhMnge deutscher
Schriftstellerinnen urn 1800 - Schritte zur bUrgerlichen Weiblichkeit. Mit
einer Bibliographie zur Sozialgeschichte von Frauen 1800-1914 von Ute Daniel.
Ed. Annette Kuhn. Geschichtsdidaktik: Studien, Materialien; vol. 30.
DUsseldorf: Schwann, 1985. 278 pp. DM 34.
With this study the series shifts its emphasis from "Frauen in der Geschichte"
to socio-historical explorations of the concrete living conditions of women
writers at certain points in history. Eva Walter focuses on the time around
1800, when a highly visible group of women stepped out of traditional female
norms. Defining the entire range of their domestic and literary labors as
"female productivity," she lists their contributions to the financial, emotional, and physical well-being of their families. This larger than literary
focus recovers a mosaic of conflicting demands upon female writers and, in
addition, it documents the particulars of political and societal change at a
time when women of the educated middle class spearheaded their own values in
Germany.
Walter's. sources are the personal letters of eleven successful writers, born
between 1760 and 1770: Caroline and Charlotte von Lengefeld, Caroline SchlegelSchelling, Friederike Brun, Therese Forster-Huber, Caroline von Humboldt,
Charlotte von Kalb, Sophie Mereau, Johanna Schopehauer, Agnes von Stolberg, and
Dorothea Schlegel. Basing this particular selection on similar age and social
class, successful authorship, and prolific correspondence~ Walter excludes
many other authors.
Readers should therefore keep in mind that this group
does not include the highly influential women of the literary salons, nor those
female intellectuals who had no literary income, or other contemporary writers
who were born earlier or later.
Walter concentrates on a small group of rebellious and highly educated women,
most of whom turned against their parents' traditional values. Many escaped
their pre-arranged marriages, looking for love and personal fulfillment rather
than economic security and a well-defined social status. They became the soulmates and best friends of their husbands and established new, closer bonds with
their children. Their focus on a beloved man often also incited strife between
women friends. In order to keep a youthful image, a good deal of their energy
went into planning for the newest fashions and into a cult of femininity and
naturalness.
As writers, translators, critics, and collaborators with their husbands' work,
these women saw their own intellectual activities not in terms of a profession,
but as a necessary job activity which often provided a crucial part of the
family income. Their time to work was fragmented by domestic tasks, such as
overseeing servants, organizing the marketing and other purchases, and implementing the new trend towards cleanliness of household effects and living
quarters. The development in home economy was to buy, rather than produce most
household goods. Instead of spinning, weaving, and preserving food, bourgeois
women now became managers and organizers within the household.
Their focus on emotional intimacy also brought about a division between social
and private spaces within a family's living quarters. Female writers shared
their rooms with the children while their husbands worked in their own studies
27
and welcomed visitors in separate reception areas. They saw themselves foremost as wives, mothers, and household managers, and their time to write was
often restricted to evening hours. As mothers, their major concern was the
proper education of their children: they directed sons towards secure careers
in the public realm, while helping daughters prepare for domestic tasks. In
stressing female fulfillment within the home and family, mothers unknowingly
helped to deprive their daughters of the same intellectual independence which
had made possible their own steps towards personal self-determination. Not
foreseeing these consequences, they understood themselves to be on the avantgarde of a progressive bourgeois movement which attempted to realize personal
freedom in opposition to the traditional expectations of a highly structured
class-society.
Based on historical journals, medical sources, portraits, cookbooks, architectural plans, etc., Walter's study also reconstructs specific background
materials. It provides actual layouts of kitchens, floorplans of apartments,
various prescriptions for proper sexual behavior, and describes medical
advances in gynaecology. It documents changing attitudes toward pregnancy,
childbirth, and education, traces major trends in women's fashions, provides
typical recipes and meal plans, and reports on the writers' various political
attitudes towards the French Revolution and their patriotic interests. - This
wealth of information from very diverse sources makes the study especially
valuable.
Due to her emphasis on female productivity, Walter does not further pursue
some interesting nuances in the professional connections between the women
and their often famous husbands, male companions, or literary promoters.
We know that Schiller, the Schlegels, Schelling, Forster, Humboldt, Jean Paul,
Brentano, and Schleiermacher had diverse opinions about female intellectual
activity. How did those attitudes reflect on their collaboration with their
own wives, lovers, and friends, and, maybe more important, how did their
personal advice motivate or stultify the literary production of these women
who understood their writing as secondary to other female duties? Women's
often deeply ambivalent attitude towards their own literary activities
suggests a range of cultural and personal alienation.
Instead of emphasizing individual differentiation, Walter is primarily
interested in formulating several possible junctures in the periodization of
a future female social history, for example, the major steps in home economy,
from home production to modern consumerism; trends in gynaecology; or the
changing attitudes towards children. While much of the logic for a separate
female socio-economic structure appears to be still in a nascent stage, the
major contribution of this study is to document in detail that female productivity is not to be understood in cliches of the "eternal feminine" -as an ever renewable, unchanging natural resource. Women's labor in all of
its different manifestations is part of the ever evolving concepts of culture,
and not inherently female in nature. -The generous bibliography, compiled by
Ute Daniel, will be a valuable resource for readers interested in particular
writers, as it also provides detailed references for future studies in women's
social history.
.
Ute Brandes - Amherst College
I
"O~
'-
/'
** ** ** ** **
I
\tV I GrWAM
~HT-.A"VE") c.oNII"~-Ir;NT HONt:: FO~ W/6.S, WIG-LETS,
GEIHII6-S AAIJ) HDNlJR"b G-lJE57S. PRHIOOSLy INO'/HRb,
Me.,AI& I ~/oJb llIOMPS"W:j:SLA.tJob .j--CUR.Aj;Nn.y IN P0A.TLAIJ[),
28
The Road Retaken. Women Reenter the Academy. Edited by Irenen Thompson and
Audrey Roberts •. New York: The Modern Language Association, 1985.
I liked this book. It's a collection of 25 personal narratives by women whose
academic careers were interrrupted for five years OL longer. Reading them reminded me of a lot of my friends. I thought of the stories many of you (Wiggies)
could write about similar experiences: interruptions; impossible schedules and
marginalization as overworked, underpaid adjucts or temporaries; .exc1usion by
antinepotism rules; commuting; marriages falling apart under the strain, and much
more. And, even though I entered college at age 18, never married and never
really left academe, I also recognized parts of myself in these women's accounts
of their struggles to modify or adapt to a career pattern defined by and for
men -- more specifically, men with supportive, stay-at-home wives. As you may
be thinking, the book tells us many things we already know, and this is useful,
for we often need to be told things that we already know in order to become
aware of their wider implications. Still, some of us will find these stories
too familiar: the collection's focus on heterosexual, white women's experiences
is a weakness. Only two contributions (one of them anonymous) deal with color •.
and none mentions lesbianism. The editors state that "a number of individual
lesbians and lesbian groups [were invite4} to contribute articles, but they
preferred not to be included, for a variety of reasons." (p. 3). I thing it
would nave been better to tell us what some of the reasons were, at least, instead of simply presenting us with yet another book that omits essential perspectives.
Given its 1imitations,The Road Retaken neverth1ess makes a worthwhile contribution to the subject of women reentering academe. For one thing, it spans
almost five decades, from the 1930's to the early 1980's. The stories of the
women who completed their degrees in the 30's, 40's, and 50's, before the
existence of supportive women's networks or an energizing women's movement,
provide historical context and bring out elements of continuity and change.
Within this context, there are stories of "definitive" reentry (in the book's
first section"Reentry: And Success"); of more precarious and tentative reentries,
often via women's studies (section two,"Through the Back Door"); of intermittent
or perpetual reentry, as temporaries hired the day before the semester begins
(section three, "On the Edge"); and decisions to re-exit and use one's talents
elsewhere, in administration or union organizing (section four, "Reentry: And
Retreat"). In this way, the notion of reentry itself is prob1ematized and redefined, expanded by the diversity of the women's experiences and motivations,
different degrees of tolerance of stress and contradiction in their daily lives
and so on. The voices are proud, earnest, angry, bitter, ironic, honest.
The editors hope the book will "bolster and encourage women to assert themselves,
to combat mere lip-service recognition of their rights, and to effect some
positive strategies for productive academic employment." (p. 6). I hope so too.
I would recommend that readers who are seeking more concentrated analysis,
especially of the problems of temporaries and part-timers, and some specific
suggestions for strategies, turn to Jeannine Blackwell's recent article,
"Turf Management, or Why Is the Great Tradition Fading?" in Monatshefte 77, No.3
(1985), 271-285.
Jeanette Clausen
Indiana University-Purdue
University at Fort Wayne
29
NEUERSCHE/.NUNG
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NEUERSCHEINUNG I
R€C€NT PUBLICATIONS
Frauenarchive und Frauenbib~iotheken.
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Karin Schatzberg
Am Pulwrhof 43
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Dieses Heft kostet DM 6 .-- '_md ist zu beziehen uber:
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56 72 11-209 unter Angabe der Adresse.
Jean WoodaIFIlrstenwaId, Marla: Schrlftatellerlnnen
KOnstlerlnnen und gelehrte Frauen des deutachen
Barock, Stuttgart 1984
Hilzinger. Sonja
ccAls ganzer Mensch zu leben ••. »
Emanzipatorische Tendenzen in der neueren Frauen-Literatur
der DDR
FranHun. M .. Bern. New York. 1985. 262 S.
Europiiische Hoch!IChulschrirten: Reihc I. Deutsche Sprache und Literatur. Rd. 867
ISBN 3-8204-8337-3
~.b. sFr. 57.-
Beverley Bryan, Stella I)adzle and Suzanne Scafe: Heart
of the Rac'!l. Vir'l'1o, London 1985 (h 4.50) .•. the story these
women tell explains the main reason why black women have
not wholly identified with white feminism.
Rieger, Bernhard
Geschlechterrollen und Familienstrukturen in den Erzihlungen
Heinrich von Kleists
Frankfurt:M .. Bern. New York. 1985. VI. J70 S
Europaischc Hochschulschriftcn: Rcihc I. Deut~hc Sprachc und Lilcralur. Bd. 839
ISBN 3-8204-8233-4
br. sFr. 71.-
Dagmar Bamow, Ole versuchte Realltat oder von
der MOglichkeit, glOCklichere Welten zu denken. Utoplscher Diskurs von Thomas Morus
ziJr feministischen Science Fiction. Meltlngen:
Corian 1985, 266
Martl_ Hellinger (Hg.), Sprachwllndel Und femlFrauenatudlen - Frauenforschung an der Freien Universitat
Berlin 1982-1984. Zusammengestellt und bearbeitet von
nistische Sprachpolitlk. InternatlQflII, Perspektiven. Opladen: Westdeutacher Verlag
Dipl.-Bibllothekarin Heide Heiniach. Zentraleinrichtung zur FOr1985, 410 S.
.
derung von Frauenstudien und Frauenforschung. KoniginM. DIaZ. Diocaretz/ I.M. Zavala (edL), Women,
Luise-Str. 34, 1000 Berlin 33 Extra 9, Marz 1985
feminist Identity and lOCiety In the 1980's.
Amsterdam: J. Benjamlns 1985, 160 pp.
Frauen im Theater (FiT): Dokumentation 1984 (Arbeitspapiere
Marll_ Janz, Marmorbllder. Welbllchkelt und Tod
und Kritiken; Programm zur Tagung der Dramaturgischen
bel Clemens Brentano und Hugo von HofmannsGesellschaft 1984; Statistik zur Reprasentanz von Frauen in
thai. Etwa 232 Selten, 48 OM, Athenaum,
allen Sparten des institutlonalisierten Theaters .. Hg: Drama.
Februar 1986·
turgische Gesellschaft e.V. KantstraBe 125, 1000 Berlin 12,
.J.B.MetzierVeriag
Stuttgart. den 26.9.1985
Heute erBche1nt in unserem Verlaq die
Frauen L1teratur Gesch1chte
Schre1bende Frauen vom Mittelalter
bis zur Gegenwart
Hrsg.von Hiltrud GnUg u.Renate M~hrmann
XIV + 562 Se1ten. Ln nM 38.--
ftIth-ElI. . B. JoareI / Annette KIllIn, Frauen In der
Geachlchte VI: Frauenbllder und FrauenwlrkIIchkelten ... OOSleldorf 1985
Sonja HllzJngw. Chrllta Wolf. ErtChelnt voraUillchtIIch 1m April bel Metzler, Stuttgart
EIII8beth GOIamenn (Hg.), Archlv fOr phllOllOphleund theologlegeachlchtllcha FrauenforlChung
Ole auf 10 Bande angelegte Schrlftenrelhe
dokumentlert pro Band etwa 10 Schrlften aUi
der "Querelle del Femmes", elnem I8lt der
Renaissance In allen europalechen Landem
Intenslv gefOhrten Streit um die Intellektuelle
und moralleche EbenbOrtlgkelt des welbllchen
Ge8chlechta. Band I: 0.. Wohlgel.tvte F~
zimmer. Band 2: Eva Gottee Meiat.erwertut.
September 1985. ludlclum verlag, POItfach 701067
0-8000 MOnChen 70
'
Mit diesem Such w1rd erstmals die Gesch1chte dar Frauanllteratur
ihrer Eigenstlndigkeit und Beisplelhaftigke1t naeh verzeichnet.
Die zahlrelchen, aua dem In- und Ausland atammenden Autorinnen
und Autoren diese8 Buches haben sieh dabe! von siner Devise Rahel
Varnhagene lelten laasen: -Geh an Orte, wo neue Gegenstlnde, worte,
Men.chen dich berUhren, die Blut haben, Nerven und Gedanken auffriachen. Wir Frauen haben diee doppelt nOtig.Dleae. Motto verdeutlicht zweierlel: Bei der DarBtellung der Geschichte der Frauenliteratur kann ea sieh keineefalla urn eine
linear verlaufende Chronolog1e der Werke Bchrelbender Frauen
handeln, well die kulturgeech1chtl1che S1tuation der Frau 1n&geCarolyn C. Lougee, Le Paradles del Femmes. Women,
samt eine kontinuier11ehe Partlz1pation am l1terarlachen Leben
Salon and IOClal Stratification In 17th Century.
nieht zulle8. Zum zweiten waren be.ondere ge •• lllchaft11che Bedinqungen oder umfelder - dle ·Orte·, von denen Rahel V.rnhag.n
Princeton, N.Y. University Pr881 1976
spr1cht - notwendig, um Frauenllteratur Uberhaupt IU ermOgllehen.
Dabei lat qanz konkret an Stifte, KlOster oder Beg1nenhlu •• r g8dacht, an rollende Theaterwagen, an Hate, Salons oder Fr.u8nz~er­
Gabriele RaudIzuI, Ole Zelchenlprache der
bibllotheken, aber auch an qei8tige Versammlungaorte wi. die pietiaKleldung. Untersuchungen zur Symbollk
tischen BrUdergeMeinden oder die salnt.lmon1at18chen Gesell.chaften,
des Gewanclea In der deutsc:hen Eplk des
ln denen Frauen Selbatbestat1qung, £rmunterung und Ermutlgung erfuhren. Ebenao s1nd aber auch Ze1twenden gemeint, 1n denen .athetiMlttelalters, Hildeshelm (Olms) VIII/278, OM 58.ache Hormen 1n Frage geetellt oder durchbrochen wurden, Hierarchien
herkOmmllcher Gattungspoet1ken enttrohnt und slch Leerrlume und Au.Rodlger
Schnell, Causa amorls. Llebeskonzeptlon und
wege er~ffneten, 1n denen Frauen sleh literarlach elnrichten und
Llebesdarstellung In der mlttelalterllchen Llterabehaupten konnten. Die Geach1chte dar Frauenl1teratur umfa8t demnach
alle erdenkllehen Gattungen. vom Brief Uber dae Tagebuch, daa Gedicht
tur, Bern / ·MOnchen (Franke), 583 S. OM 210
da. Drama, den Roman, den Itrlmlnalroman, daB Sachbuch, die Autoblographie biB hin zum Film, dar he ute zum bevorzuqten Mediu. der
Elisabeth Schwarz-Mehrens. Zum Funktlonleren und
Frauenbewegung geworden iat. Ole Gelchlcht. der Frau.nl1teratur umzur Funktlon der Compallio 1m "Flle6enden
faat abar .benBO B.lb.tverltlndllch d1. w•••ntllcb.n Anlltze, die
.ich 1n den europ&l.ehen Llteraturen, der amar1kanlechen, der late1nLicht der Gotthelt'Mechthllda von Magdeburg,
amerikanl.chen und der echwarza!r1kaniachen Literatur biet.n.
GOpplngen (KOmmerle) 231 S. OM 42
30
Ingeborg Heeke. Ole apatmlttelalterlic;he
deutache SlbyllinenwelllUgung. UnterIUchung und Edition, GOpplngen (Kommerle),
VII/340., OM 58
______ ____-
THI! SECOND INTUH"T1OHAL I'!MINIST !lOOK FAIR
OSLO, NOR."Y -II. 'D lUIC , _
PltmJMJNAIlY PROCIlAMMI! A5 PI!R I'I!BIlUAil Y 16
I'I!MINIST !lOOK PAIR 4t I'I!MINJST !lOOK Pl!.5nY AL
Margret BrOgmann. Amazonen der Llteratur.
Studlen zur deutschaprachlgen Frauenliteratur
der 70er Jahre. Amsterdam Rodopl, 1986
OPI!HING IIOUII.S OF THI! PAIR
SATURDAY ZIJUN!! lOam _ 6pm
SUND"Y ZZ JUNE lOam _ 6pm
MONDAY ZlJUNE lOam - ~
TUESDAY Z' JUNE lOam - 6pm
WEDNESDA Y 2' JUNE lOam - 6pm
(THURSDAY 26lUNE. TRADE DAY - FAIR CLOSED)
OIryaJula KambeS,· Ole Werkatatt als Utople.
Lu Martens IIterarlsche Arbelt und FormIIthetlk MIlt 1900. 280 S. ca. 78 OM,
Niemeyer, T(I)lngen, Studlen und Texte zur
Sozlalgnc:hlchte der Llteratur, Bd 19
MAIN !!YENTS - !VENINCS
Inge Stephan I Carl Pletzcker, Frauenaprache Frauenllteratur? FOr und Wider elner paychoanalylle IIterarlscher Werke. Bd 9 der
SUNDAY Z2JUN!! - BLACK AND THIRD WORl.D WOMEN WRITERS' EVENING
MONDAY D JUN!! - NORDIC !!YENING AND MIDSUMMER NIGHT PARTY
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TUESOAY:M JUNE - SCII!NCI! I'ICtJoN AND FANTA5Y EVENING
'l'l!DNl!SDA Y D lUNI! - G1.OIlAL I!VENING
ntuRSOAY 26 JUN!! - WJUT1N(; A5 A DANCIlItOUS PROFESSION
Akten des VII. Kongresees der Internatlonalen Verelnlgung fOr germanls~he
~{lrach- und Llteraturwlssenschaft, Niemeyer,
TOblngen, 1988
. _ ........ In_
Role Riecke-Nlklewlllcl, Ole Metaphorlk des
SchOnen. Elne krltlsche LektOre der Abhandlung "Ober die Isthetische Erziehung
des Menschen In eloer Relhe von Brlefen "
YOn Friedrich Schiller, Niemeyer, TOblngen
1988
Wolfgang BCI'Ime (Hg.). Ole LIebe 1011 auferstehen.
Ole Frau 1m Spiegel romantlschen Oenkena,
Karlsruhe (Evangellsche Akademle Baden)
103 S. Om 5,80
Grlelhelmer Kultuneretn (Hg.), Elisabeth Langgasaer 1899-1950, Grleahelm (Kulturvereln) ,
31 S. Om 4,80
\JID€O
Literatur bel:
Blldwechael. Video Fllme fOr Frauen
Kultur- und Medlenzentrum fOr Frauen
Rostockerstr. 25
2QOO Hamburg 1
040 24 63 84
ingeborg drewitz - kurz vor 1984
dieses feature ist ein versuch, ein umfassendes und dennoch pers6nliches portrit der schriftstellerin ingeborg
drewiU zu erstellen. die drewitz als kritikerin der nachkriegsgesellschaft und des heutigen kulturbetriebs wird
interviewt zusammen mit pastor heinrich albertz. erinnerungen an die kindheit. an eltem, an faschismus sind hauptstutzen der auseinanderseUung mit ihr selbst. gespriche
mit ehemenn und tOchtern sollen das portrit der schriftstellerin erginzen durch das der mutter und hausfrau. etwas zu
kurz gerit, wenn auch immer wieder angedeutet, die be·
deutung del schreibenl.
christiane holldacl
claudia h6llger
19S1 45 min. fart
1-\-£f1. ~~5J1ND -WIGCOth.ry
-
-.-.---- .
.
bettina von arnim
a~s bettin~ von arnims fruhlingskranz: _Ieb in mir".
I~lie aus dlesem stiick von ihr sind hier III dieser theslerver.
sian zu sehen und zu horen.
karin hereher'
ddr 1982 65 ml
christa wolf
kassandra-vorlesungen II und IV
leider habe~ wir von den vier poetik-vorlesungen der christa wolf zu Ihrem kassendra - buch: "voraussetzungen einer
erziihlung" nur teilll und IV.
leil II: fortgesetzter reisebericht uber die verfolgung einer
spur
teillV: ein brief iiber die ,!indeuti~keit und mehrdeutigkeit,
bestlmmthelt und unbestlmmthelt. iiber sehr alte zustlnde
und neue seh - raster, iiber objektivitlt.
die steppenwolfin von rom
portrst luisa rinser
dieses portrit wurde ebensfalis anliBlich ihres 70steR geburtstages yom schweizerischen femsehen ausgestrahlt.
das team verfolgt sie wihrend fiinf tagen, zeigt sie am ort
ihrer kindheit, im katholischen oberbayern, zeigt sie in ihrer
wahlheimat in italien, einem _mutterland", wie sie es nennt,
statt dem _vaterland- deutschland.
wieder erfilhrt man die Itationen ihres lebens: kindhei:
am chiemsee stark religi6s beeinfluBt, wilhrend der nazizeit
berufs- und schreibverbot, als politisch unzuverlilssige
kommt sie ins gefingnis, ihr gefingniltagebuch entsteht ...
die verbindungvon politisch-menschlichem enga~ement
und schriftstellerischer tiltigkeit bestimmt bis heute Ihre ar·
beit.
1982 80 min. farbe
60 min. f.rbe
charlotte wolff
frauenstudien
ein gespriich mit charlotte wolff. sie liest aus ihrem buch
.8ugenblicke verandern uns mehr als die zeit" vor und er·
zlihlt aus ihrem leben.
anke wolf·ural
·1982 45 min larbe
irmgard keun im gesprach
luise rinser
ein portrst der achriftstellerin luise rinser, das anlaBlich
ihres 70sten geburtstags ge.sendet wurde. luiS': rinser
spricht iiber ihr leben, ihre schnftstel~e~tsche arbe~t, Ihr !?Ohlisches engagement. ihrevom k!'thohzlsmusg!!pragte kind·
heit. dabei kommen sowohl thre blographle _.den wolf
umarmen", wie ihr "gefingnistagebuch- oder Ihr erstes
..... r\[ .. die oliisernen ringe" zur sprache.
". HOPE to have the lollowinC author, land many o,he,..U .. participants and
Visitor, at The Sec_ international Femlnilt aootc Fair.
,RUTH REESE (USA/Norwayr
ISABEL ALLENDE (Chile)
iNA"AL EL SADAA"I (ECyptl
JEAN M. AUEL (USA)
MANNY SHIRA TZI (Iran/UK)
LIV MARGARETH ALVER (Norway)
HANNE MARIE SVENDSEN (Denmark)
ADALET AGOLU (Turkey)
MAR T A TlKKANEN (Finland)
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR (France)
ALICE "ALKER (USA)
GERO BRANTENBERG (Norway)
CHRIST A "OLF (DDR)
NICOLE BROSSARD (Canada)
BARBARA WILSON (USA)
TORIL BREKKE (Norway)
BETSY" ARLAND (Canada)
SUZANNE BR0(;GER (Denmark)
HER6J0RG WASSMO (Norway)
MAR YSE CONDE (GUlldelope/France) RU ZHIJIAN (People's Republic 01 China)
MARIE CARDINAL (France)
BENTE CLOD (Denmark)
KERSTIN EKMAN (Sweden)
BETTY FRIEDAN (USA)
ELINI FOURTOUNI (Greece)
RAUNI M. LUKKARI ($ami/Norway)
VALERIE. MINER (USA)
MARIKO MITSUI (Japan)
SARA MAITLAND (UK)
KARIN MOE (Norway)
DAPHNE MARLATT (Canada)
SUNITI NAMJOSHI (India/Canada)
PLORA NWAPA (NIser1&)
PEARLIE MC NEILL (Allltral1&)
LAURETTA NGCOIlO (South Africa/UK)
TIE NING (People', Republic 01 China)
GRACE OGOT (KMlya)
I
ELENA PONIA TOWSKA (M ••lco)
GERMAINE GREER (Auatralla/UK)
URSULA K.LE GUIN (USA)
MAlA GANINA (USSR)
KERRI HULME (New Zealand)
GILLIAN HANSCOM BE (Australia/UK)
MONA HELMY (ECyptl
ELISABET HERMODSSON (Sweden)
SVAVA lAKOBSDOTTIR (Iceland)
LAlLA JAMMAL (Palestine/USA)
ELLEN KUZWAYO (South Africa)
DORIS LESSING (UK)
DING LING (Peoplel • Republic 01 China)
T ANNITH LEE (USA)
ASTRID LINDGREN (Sweden)
.51'IOC,IIoI.,Sr I~ I 'f -Ik
CECILIE L0VEID (Norway)
FEHMIDA RIAZ (Pakistan)
~e""H NOI/.~.
.rude elsen I
Wlntr
anke wagner I kaf
1982 60 moo lal
die schriftstellerin irmgard keun war in den '30er jahren sehr
bekannt, wurde von den nazis verfolgt und muBte emigrieren ... wiederentdeckt", d.h. wieder verlegt wurde sie gegen
ende der 70er jahre.
den beiden interviewern, die lie nach den stationen ihres
lebens fragen, antwortet sie auf beeindruckend knappe und
offene art und weise .
christ. ma.rklr I horst Inte,
1981 45 mIn. larbe
31
R€5€ARCH- PROJ€CTS
Annegret Schmidjell (Salzburg)
Carmen Unterholzer (Innsbruck)
Quartier auf Probe. Tendenzen feministischer Literaturpraxis aus der neuen Frauenbewegung. Mit Textbeispielen von Jutta Heinrich und Margot SchrOder.
Das Frauenbild in der neuen Kinderliteratur
Gegenstand meiner Dissertation ist eine Auswahl von
KinderbOchern, die seit 1975 mit elnem deutschen,
osterrelchischen oder schweizeraschen Kinderilteraturpreis ausgezeichnet wurden.
Ausgangsfrage dieser Arbeit ist, ob und welche BerOhrungspunkte zwischen der Frauenbewegung und emanzipatorischer, literarischer Prokuktivitat von Frauen bestehen.
Meine Vorgehensweise kann i m weitesten Sinne als eine
ideologiekritisch - literatursoziologlsche bezelchnet werden.
Ideologiekritisch insofern, als es zu untersuchen gilt, inwieweit die Produktion von Frauenbildern ideologischen
Mustern unterworfen ist, inwieweit sie der Ideologie
entkomrnen konnte oder gar Ideologien aufdecken konnte,
somit also patriarchalische trukturen aufdecken konnte,
somit also patriarchalische Strukturen aufzeigt und Leitbildfunktion Obernimmt.
Ohne eindeutig-lineare Kausalitaten abzuleiten, stellt
der Beg.riff 'Subjektlvitat', - eine vordringlich lebensgeschlchtllch-authentlsche Erfahrung, die sich als Autobiographisches in der Literatur artikuliert - , eine wichtige Gemeinsamkeit dar. Weibliche GegenOffentlichkeit
(Verlage, publizistische und literarische Schriften) versteht
sich als Ausdruck feministischer Kulturpraxis. Politischkulturelle Tendenzen und Bewegungen sowie literarische
Entwicklungen der 70er Jahre - die Neue Subjektivitat bilden den notwendigen Hintergrund und stell en Verbindungslinien her.
Exemplarisch untersuchte Texte von Autorinnen aus der
Frauenbewegung verweigern die Festlegung eines positlven weiblichen Ortes: Heinrichs Protagonistin ("Das
Geschlecht der Gedanken") zerstOrt im imaginierten geschichtlichen 'Niemandsland' gewalttatige Muster, die Macht auf
der einen, Unterwerfung auf der anderen Seite stets neu
reproduzieren. SchrOders Ich-Erzahlerin ("Der Schlachter
empfiehlt noch immer Herz") zeigt neue MOglichkeiten der
Selbstbestimmung im konkreten und kollektiven Handeln der
Frauenbewegung. Wahrend sie als Antithese einen 'femininen Sozialismus' anstrebt und die Notwendigkeit der Teilhabe von Mannerr) an den BefreiungsentwOrfen sieht gibt
Heinrich ("Mit meinem MOrder Zeit bin ich allein") ~tarker
der Differenz radikalen Ausdruck.
Ihre .A.ngste um atom are und Okologische Katastrophen
scheinen symptomatisch fOr ein ZeitgefOhl der beginnenden 80er Jahre zu sein, in denen wiederum eine starkere
Verbindung der Irauenspezifischen mit gesellschaftlichen
Anliegen stattfinoet.
Annegret Schmidjell, Hauptstra13e 4, D-8132 Tutzing
************
E. \/a Domoradzki (Innsbr~k)
Zum Weiblichkeitsentwurf der FrOhromantiker (vorlaufiger
Arbel tsti tel)
Interessant fUr die Untersuchung wird sich auch jener
Teil erweisen, in dem aas Fraue"bild in den KinderbOctoern mit der Wirklichkeit von Frauen in Bezlehung gesetzt wlrd.
c/o Universitat Innsbruck, Institut fUr Germanistik,
A-6020 Innsbruck, Innrain 52
----- * *
-1<
*********
-l'r
*
Ich betrachte das Madchenbuch als Instrument der Sozialisat Ion der welblichen Jugendlichen zum jeweils gesellschaftlich
:rwunschten "Madchen". Das Frauen- und Madchenbild des deut"~hf!n Faschlsmus ist von elfler kleinbOrgerlichen, reaktioniiren,
b Olo<]lstlschen Ideologle bestlmmt, vom Rassismus des National~Zlallsmus und von den sich andernden Erfordernissen der
Irtschaft. Erstaunlich ist, daB den MMchen, im AnschluB an
T radltlonen der Jed' e e
..
"
ug n .) w gung, eane
elgenstandlge
Jugendzeit
~~~eb:lllgt wlrd. In meiner Arbeit bescMftige ich mich mit
t~ polltlk, Frauenpolitlk, Erziehungs- und Jugendpoiltik
und
,t~lle elne Ve b d
'
,
h"
h
r. an. una zu d en natlonalsOZlalistischen
Madc enbuchern . er, die Ich nech ihren Inhalten und ihrer
J\.usdruckswelse untersuche. Daran mOchte ich eini e
Uberlegungen zur Wirkung anschlieBen.
9
c/o Wallinger, Universitat Innsbruck, Institut fOr Germanistik. A-6020 Innsbruck, Innrain 52
Hauptansatzpunkt ist eine psychologische Fragestellung, orientiert am psychoanalytischen Denkmodell und basierend auf
dem Verstandnis von trauenbildern als Projektionen mannI icher Sehnsuchte und WOnsche. Untersucht werden auch die
Versuche theoretischer Fundierung des frOhromantischen
Weibllchkeitsentwurfs. Das Muster einer Delegation unbefriedig·
ter mannlicher BedOrfnisse an das Weibliche zeichnet sich dabei abo
Eva Domoradzki, MulierstraBe 9, A-6020 Innsbruck
*
Dissertation iiber das MQdchenbuch im Faschismus
Beginn der Arbeit zu diesem Thema im Herbst 83, geplanter
AbschluB der Dissertation fOr Sommer 87.
Schwerpunkt: das FrOhwerk Friedrich Schlegels unter besonderer BerOcksichtigung seiner Schriften Ober Weiblichkeit
(" Uber die weiblichen Charaktere in den griechischen Dichtern",
"Uber die Diotima", "Ober die Philosophie. An Dorothea") und
seanes Romans "Lucinde". Noch geplant ist eine ahnliche Ausf!lnandersetzung mit dem Werk von Novalis.
Zweiter wesentlicher Ansatzpunkt ist der sozialgeschichtliche.
Untersucht wird dabei die Rolle des frOhromantischen Weiblichkeitsentwurfs bei der Etablierung der bOrgerlichen Kleinfamilie und des burgerlichen Frauenbildes.
{~
Margret Kompatscher (Innsbruck)
IRMTRAUD
MORGNER
Leben und Abenteuer der Troubadora Beatrlz
Ich/'itze an meiner Examensarbeit Ober Irmtraud Mor~r"
und wOrde mlch sehr Ober Informationen und Arbeltskontakte freuen.
Birgit KOhne, Mathildenstr. 15, 3000 Hannover 91, Tel.:
0511-44 04 79
SOP HIE
V.
L A
ROC H E
Ich Interessiere rfllch sehr fOr Publikationen die auf fe''';I~
nistisch-materiallstischer Basis schreibende Frauen Frauen~
bilder, Frauen und Gesellschaft analysieren. Ich warde mlch
freuen, wenn Frauen slch mit mir in Verbindung setzen
oder Hinwelse auf Material und Titel Qeben kOnnen.
KatJa Schiementz, Oberllnden 20, 7800 Frelburg, Tel.:
0761 - 247 19
,",UIII
32
.- n..M.Ul:,."'IrVLII
I~OU
If'
u".. u
rl:.MINI~ I I.;)\,.,nc
UTOPIEN
Ausetnandersetzung mit dem Buch
'Gyn-Okoloqie' von Mary Daly
Die Tagung wird mit groBer Wahrschetnlichkett imJuni
1986 in Bielefeld stattfinden. Tagungsort bletbt wetterhin Haus Neuland, die Teilnehmerinnen-Zahl wird auf
ca. 100 - 150 erweitert.
AN NOUNCE:ME:NTS
Es besteht AUSSICht, daB Mary Daly seiber zu der
Tagung kommt. Das Program m der Tagung kann sich
mOglicherweise noch lelcht verandern, blsher gilt aber
der im INFO Nr. 3 (lnterdisziplinare Forschungsgruppe
Frauenforschung Bielefeld, Postfach 8640, 4800 Bielefeld
I, Tel.: 0521-106-52 689) abgedruckte Programm-Entwurf.
A ten-day seminar will take place in West Berlin entitled
"Political Anomaly, Urban Bohemia, or Metropolis of the
Future". This Cultural Exchange Program is sponsored by
Washington University's German Department, University College,
the Summer School & the International Affairs Program, and
the City of West. Berlin. The first program will run from
August 3-14 and is for students and teacheB of German, or
German speakers (from Aug.14-25 there is a program for nonGerman speakers). The fee is $450.00 plus air-fare. For
more informati~n call 889-5106 or 727-4716.
** *** ** ************ ** * ***************
ARBEITSKREIS -FRAUEN IN Dr;:~ WEIMARER REPUBLlK"
Universiut Karlsruhe
Vo/e-w - class
'.VIG-
*** ****** * *
Icn mbcnte meille Magtstra-Arbelt tiber Else LaskerSchOlers dramatisches Werk schrelben und suche dazu
Material. Dabei will ich besonders die sozialgeschichtliche Situation der (noeh dazu Dramen) sehreibenden
Frau von Anfang bis M itte des 20. Jahrhunderts berueksichtigen. AuBerdem i:>in ie'l seilr an In formationen
Selbst in die dunkelste (Wissenschafts)provinz in punkto
Frauenforschung dringt ab und zu ein Lichtstrahl: am
Karlsruher Fachliereich V (Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaft
mit Orchideendasein) hat sich vor einiger Zeit eine Gruppe
von Frauen zusammengetan. urn ihrem flauen GefOhl angesichts soviel langweiliger und mannlich zentrierter Wissenschaft - vor allem im Fach Geschichte - Luft zu machen.
In einem autonom arbeitenden Arbeitskreis beschaftigen
wir uns mit der Situation von Frauen in der Zwischenkriegszeit. ein Thema, das uns, neben spezifisch gelagerter Interessen, besonders geeignet schien, unsere ersten zaghaften
Gehversuche in feministisch orientierter Wissenschaft zu
wagen.
tine'! unserer Schwerpunkte bildet etwa der Themenkreis
"Frauen und Sexualitat". Wir versuchen den trOgen Unibetrieb aufzulockern, indem wir durch andere Medien das
erarbeitete Material anschaulich machen (Einsatz von
zeitgenOssischem Fi I m/Zeitschriftenschau).
Ob unser VorstoB in der kommenden Zeit von
der nachwachsenden Studentinnen/engeneration aufgegriffen
wird und inwieweit wir vom "etablierten" Betrieb Unterstutzung
finden, bleibt noch abzuwarten. Zum letzteren ist allerdings
bereits heute absehbar, daB es ohne Auseinandersetzungen um
Inhalte und Methoden feministischer Forschung nicht abgehen wird. Deshalb sind wir dringend an Kontakten mit
Frauen in ahnlicher Lage (gerade an den baden-wOrttemberg.
Universitaten) -interessiert; neben Informationsaustausch stellen
wir uns auch gemeinsame Aktivitaten vor,
Kontakt:
AK "Frauen in der W.R."
allgemein zum Thema "Frau und Theater 1900-1930"
Ulrike Baureithel
interessiert. Gibt es Frauen, die auch an diesen Themen
Tel: 0721-696353
arbeiten? leh Hind as toll, wenn Ihr Euch bel
m,r mel-
den wurdet:
Renate Schmitz. KOnigstr. 3. 5100 Aachen. Tel 0241-36784
** ** **
** ** ** **
WIGGLE
_ v.i. (not to be c.o,.,fusea. wiJ/,
n. wi~le/;!) ~ Q. form of loeo-motior) not used by WI6S fo
'3 e f:. a heCLa..
33
Heide Owren has agreed to coordinate the Textbook review
If you have any material, please submit it to:
committee.
Heidi Ownm
23404 26th Ave.
S. Kent. WA 98032
*
*
*
Clearing-House for Tenure Peviews
Some WIG members often qet questions for feminist r,erManists who
could act as experts/evaluators for tenure reviews.
In order to
broaden this pool, we would like to designate a contact person who
would have information about people in various fields and who could
suggest WI~ members as tenure evaluators.
I have volunteered to act as such a contact person; thus, I need the
Followinq information from WI~ members:
complete CV's
specific field(s) in which they can review
any limitation in reviewing (eg. only 1 per year, etc.)
Marianne Burkhard
German Dept.
(217) 333-8777 (office)
University of Illinois
367-2674 (home)
Urbana, II 61801
********************************** ***
III
INTERNATIONAlES
ARCH IV
FOR DIE
FRAUENBEWEGUNG
AMSTERDAM
Das IAV Iinternationale Archiv fOr die Frauenbewegung wurde
1935 von einigen tatkrattigen Frauen errichtet, die es fOr
wichtig hielten, daB Informationen Ober Frauen und die Frauenbewegung registriert und gesammelt wOrden. Die seitdem zustande gekommene Sammlung ist einzigartig in Themen von
sehr unterschledl icher Art, wie z.B.: FrauenmiBhandlung,
Frauen und Psychologie, frauenarbeit, Alltagsleben usw., aus
vlelen Landern. Die altesten BOcher sind aus dem sechzehnten
Jahrhundert. Die Bibl iothek umfaBt 25.000 Bande, Sie ist
unentoehrl ich fUr Forschungen Ober die Geschlchte und die
heutige Situation von Frauen.
Oas IAV ist elne offentl iche Bibl iothek. Man kann zwei BOcher
auf einmal ausleihen, vorausgesetzt, daB sie nicht von vor 1950
Sind. Zel tschri ften und al te BOcher I iegen zur Einsicht ebenso avs
wle das umfangreiche Bildmaterial. Wenn man informiert
werden mochte uber die Neuanschaffungen der Bibliothek,
kann man die vierteljahrl iche "Overzicht van nieuwe Aanwinsten in de bibliotheek" abonnieren. Wenn man auBerhalb
Amsterdams oder 1m Ausland wissen mochte, ob ein bestimmtes Buch in der Bibliothek vorhanden ist, so kann man das erfahren durch Einslcht in den Catalogue of the lebrary of the
International Archives for the Women's Movement (Boston
1980).
IAV
Postbus 19504
1000 GM Amsterdam
Nederland
Telefon: 020-244268
Postgiro: 84983 t.n.v. penn. IAV Amsterdam
MUTTERSPRACHE SOll FOR ALlE GEL TEN
Tagung Ober "Sexismus und Sprache R
beklagt Benachteiligung delr Frauenl
Erste Erfolge sicl1tb(U
Berlin, November 1985
Bericht: Frankfurter Rundschau
BERLIN, 20. November (AP). Frauen
werden im alltilglichen Gebrauch der
"Muttersprache" und dem .. henscllenden" Gespriichsverhalten bach _
vor
benachteiligt. Darauf haben die Teilnebmerinnen eines Gesprilches der lotema~
tionalen Frauen-Allianz zum Thema
"Sexism us und Sprache" am Wochenanfans in Berlin hingewiesen. Gleic.b.uitig
forderten sie verstirkte Anstrengungen
fUr eine Gleicbberechtlgung der frail im
sprachlicben Bereicb. Von groller Bedeu·
tung sei hierbei. bei Berufsbezeichnungen den miinnli<:be TlteL wie etwa den
..Ptofessor", nicht linger al5 ..neutralen
Oberbe,rur zu verwenden. sonde", die
weibliche Form "Professorin" als selbn·
verstandlicb anzuaeben.
At. ~ ErfciIr..~ .w. ..kmi·
ni.usc~n Linguistlk" seild&ngerem-.f<
bobenen Forderung wertete die K<nut&I>SpracbwiaMn.ochaftlerin Scnla Tn>mel-Plotz, dall die BUDdesliinder Hesaen.
Hambur. und Bremen mit einer entsp~
cbenden Bere!nigullil Ihror Amtupracbe
belonnen bAtten. Ou gleich. miisae nun
bel der GeslaitunS von Scbulbiichero unci
bei der Ausschreibung von SteU.n_
boten durchse ..tzt _rden. .EI kommt
darauf an, die Frauen aueh in der Sprache siehtbar werden zu lassen·, .agte
Frau Triimel·Plotz.
Auf der Berliner Tagung der 1nle"","
tionalen Frauen-Allian%., einer den Verelnten Nationen (UN) angeocblosaeDen
VeroinilUng mit ....ltweit liber 70 Mit·
glJedsorlanlaationen, berich""Ie die Ke ...
stanzer Spracbforacherin iiber Delle!!'
Untersuchungen zum Kemmunilultlo.,.
ve.halteD VOD Mlnnero und Frauen. Bel
der Analy ... von Diskuuionen 1m Fe ........
ben ...1 feslfl_Ut worden. dalI die Zuschauer den mlnnlichen Sprecl>ern. unabhiingi, vom Gesagten. eiDe hobere
Kompetenz zupstanden als Frauen.
Allerdillils verfiigten Frauen, SO Scnla
Triimel·Plotz, ilber .konversatloneUe Fiblgk.lten·, die in bntimmlen Berufen
bachst wertvol1 Min kOnnten. Frauen .,en im Gesprlicb mehr auf Kooperauon
und Unterstiitzung orienl1ert. wa.h.rend es
Minnem darauf anltomme, die SltuatlOD
ze.
zu kontroWeren. Allerdma:! wurden c:Uese
VorzUae einer weiblichen KommuniuUon bi.her a.llpmein nieM wahr,enom-!DeB unci ..in unse-rer Ge,wu.chatt wecier
hoeh _rtel nach belohn!".
34
Women Working
for Change:
There will be an official WIG session
at the AATG conference in Berlin. The
title is "Female Avant-Garde Writers
East and West". One paper is still
sought. Contact Nancy Lukens, Dept.
of German & Russian, University of
New Hampshire, College of Liberal
Arts, Murkland Hall, Durham, NH OJ824
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
MarilynSchuster and Susan Van Dyne of Smith
College recently published the fifth edition
of "Selected Bibliography for Integrating
Research on Women's Experience in the Liberal
Arts Curriculum." The bibliography lists
literature from such academic disciplines as
Anthropology, Art, Biology, Classics, Economics
'
Go'vernment, History, Literature (English,
American and Foreign), Music, Philosophy,
Ysychology and Education, Religion, Science,
Sociology, Theater and the Third World. Copies
of the bibliography can be obtained from either
Schuster or Van Dyne at Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063.
*"**********
Health, Cultures
& Societies
The 1986 National Women's Studies
Association Convention, "Women
Working for Change: Health, Cultures and
Societies," will be hosted by the Office of
Women's Studies at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We invite
you to join us for four days of dynamic
and thought-provoking workshops, panel
discussions, plenaries, and cultural events,
June 11-15, 1986. The convention will
address both conceptual and practical
issues regarding the health and status of
women in societies and cultures
throughout the world. Our major goals are
to share ideas, research, and newly
emerging knowledge; to equip participants
with effective models and strategies for
positive change; and to develop coalitions
which will continue after the conference.
Program Highlights
The heart of the conference will consist of
approximately 200 workshops, panels. and
presentations selected from the many
hundreds submitted in response to our Call
for Proposals by women and men from
across the country and overseas. A set of
three special symposia-' 'Women's
Health in the Year 2000: Getting There
from Here," "Creating New Metaphors to
Live By: Women Changing Cultures," and
"Deconstructing and Reconstructing
Power: Women Designing Societies"will directly address the thematic areas of
health care, cultural change, and societal
structures.
***************************************************************************
THE WICHITA STATE UNIVfiRSITY CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN LITERATURE
CONTINENTAL, FRANCOPHONE AND LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS
APRIL 10-12, 1986
TOPICS include: FRENCH: George Sand, Marie d'Agoult, Sophie Chauveau, Marguerite
Duras, Catherine Bernard, Julia Kristeva, Louise Michel, Marie Cardinal, Christine
de Pisan, Madeleine de Scud~y, Colette, Mme de Lafayette, Marceline DesbordesValmore, Mme de Staelj FRANCOPHONE: Trinh Thuc Oanh, Marguerite Triaire, Simone
Schwarz-Bart, Assia Djroar, Haitian Women Writers, Vietnamese Women Writers,
Writers 1n Val d'Aostej GERMAN: Helene Kottanner, Clara Viebeg, Paula ModersohnBecker, Irmtraud Morgner, Ingeborg Bachmann, GDR Writersj LATIN-AMERICAN and
SPANISH: Gabriela Mistral, Marjorie Agosm, Delmira Agustini, Rosario Murillo,
Elena Poniatowska, Rosario Castellanos, Ana Lydia Vega, Isabel Allende, Ine
Palau, Teresa de Cartagena, Dolores Medio, Emilia Pardo Baz~. POETRY READINGS by
Lisa Kahn, Luz Marla Umpierre, Marjorie Agosln, Adelaida LCpezj RECITAL of flute
music by Betty Hensley and music by female troubadours performed by Pat Humphries.
35
The International Saga Society
Those interested in Old Norse culture are invited to join the International Saga
Society. Dues are $20 for three years ($10 for students) and can be paid in the
currency of your choice by check (personal or cashier's) to the International
Saga Society (before 12-31-85:. Det Arnamagnaeanske ~nstitut, Nj alsgade 76, DK2300, Copenhagen S, Denmark; after 1-1-86: Stofnun Arna Magndssonar Reykjavik
Iceland). The ISS sponsors the International Saga Conferences and p~blishes a '
newsletter containing information on relevant conferences and work in progress.
Carol J. Clover
***********************************
jeannine Blactyell and SUS&Ilne Zantop are in the process of preparinllA
uthoiolY. in Eaalish. of Germ.an womeA writers of the 18th &Ad early 19th
century. entitled: -Blue. . .alial: Ge..... W•••• A.dl.n r....
Pietisa Ie . . . . .ticisa·.
**************************************
Nozi, Available from
University Press of America
Women in German Yearbook 1: -Feminist Studies and German Culture
---.---------.-..- - edited by Marianne Bu~khard mJEdithWaidstei~----------Focusing on the quality and functions of women's
roles in German culture, this collection addresses a
broad spectrum of issues relevant to a better understanding of German life and letters. The juxtaposition of
analyses of literature, film, pedogogical, and sociopolitical text provides valuable insights into the formation, conservation, and transmission of cultural values.
___~~ibiting the work of Germanist~_~hos~!hesize
Women's Studies and German Studies, the volume
demonstrates the ways in which feminist approaches
can enrich the understanding of German culture. The
broad range of topics addressed makes this book appealing not only to literature scholars, but to anyone
with a keen interest in things German.
--------------------------------------------------------Please return to:
University Press of America
. _ 4720 Boston Way
Lanham, MD 20706 _.
AUTHOR
ISBf'il t,
4600-50oth
4601-3 Paper
Burkhard.IWaldstein
Burkhard IWaldstein
TITLE
QUANTITY
Women in German Yearbook
$22.50
$10.75
Women in German Yearbook
Pas tage and Handling ($1.25 for the first book 5otfor each additional book.}
Maryland residents add 5% sales tax.
PRICE
TOTAL
NAME
ADD~
__
' __________________________________________________
-~---~-~~~~========~======~~==================~~
ALL ORDERS FROM INDIVIDUALS
MUST BE PREPAID BY CHECK OR MONEY ORDER..
-
36
New Members for Women's
Commission
The MLA Commission on the Status of Women in the
Profession invites members who wish to serve on the
commission to send letters of application to the MLA
Commission on the Status of Women, 10 Astor Pl., New
York, NY 10003, by 20 March. Applications, no longer than
three pages, should include brief resumes of scholarly and
feminist activities. For further information on commission
activities and responsibilities, write to Dolores Palomo or
Eve K~sofsky Sedgwick. New appointments to the commisSlon wlll be made by the Executive Council in May 1986.
************************************
The Frauen in der-Literaturwissenschaft
Conference will take place May 16-19 in
Hamburg. For registration information
contact: Annagret Pelz, Fra4en in der
Literaturwissenschaft, Tagung, Literaturwissenschaftliches Seminar, UniversitHt Hamburg, Von-Melle Park 6, D-2000
Hall,lburg 13.
**************************************
The NEMLA Women's Caucus is resuming publication
of its newsletter, NIMBLEWHIM. If you have any
news of WIG activities, calls for papers, or
conference announcements, please send them to:
Elissa Greenwald, editor NIMBLEWHIM
312 So. 3rd Ave.
Highland Park, NJ 08904
1986 IDV MEETING IN BERN
The Internationale Deutschlehrerverband
(IDV) will hold its 1986 Annual Meeting
August 4-8, 1986 at Bern, Switzerland.
This schedule dovetails with the 1986
AATG Annual Meeting in Berlin and
provides an opportunity for AATG members to attend both meetings. Brochures
containing a tentative program have been
•received at the AATG Administrative Office
and are available upon request. Make plans
early to take advantage of this rare
opportunity.
ORAL PROFICIENCY TESTING
WORKSHOPS
ACTFL announces intensive, four day
.tester training workshops to prepare
participants to administer and rate oral
proficiency interviews. The workshops are
followed by three to four month training
periods. Workshop participants who
complete the training will be certified as
oral ,roficiency testers. Workshops are
open to secondary, post-secondary and adult
educators. Tuition: $495. Dates and
locations for German language workshops:
May 14-17, 1985 - Ohio State University,
Columbus; August, 1986 - Defense
Language Institute, Monterey, California.
For more information contact:
ACTFL
579 Broadway
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-
c.;::.?. .
Cu\:£
o
~~
p!O;Y\
37
The Northeast Wiglets are planning a spring picnic in Hartford (half-way
point between New Haven and Amherst? Any other suggestions welcome) on
April 19. Follow-up to February's mini-conference and a chance to talk.
For more information call UMass German Dept. 413-545-2350 and ask for a
wiglet.
******************** *** ***********
"SCHREIBEN IN DER FREMDE"
oder
"SCHREIBEN 1M AUSLAND"
oder
"FREMD IN DER SPRACHE"
BOSE: W/GT
Gesucht Werden: Erzahlunqen, Essays, Ski zzen, kurze Reportagen von Autorinnen, die in einer fremden Spraehe sehrelben
(mLissen).
A
LJrLF
IN
c. L.. err /I I /oJ (T /f
Wir rn6ehten das Thema fur eine der naehsten "Sehreiben.
Frauenliteratur Forum"-Nummern etwas anders angehen, als
es die bisher ersehienenen Anthologien zur Auslander(-innen)Problematik gemacht haben, die vorwleqend das Auslanderdaseln selbst pr,:;illemotISleren.
"AS 1.
'I
/f
S).j(;(;PS
A I..SC I(lJowIJ
MAL..e-CIIAUV/N,s-r
vJ/e~!!
Ihre t:roberungszuge und Anelgnungen mittels Spraehe
sollen siehtbar werden. Und umgekehrt: das Fremde
wirkt, formiert und deformied., stellt Altes und Mitgebraehtes in Frage, die 'neue' Sprache, ein unvertrautes
Medium, friBt sieh unter die Haut, und wirkt und wirkt,
und ••• Gilt vielleieht tatsaehlieh die Gleiehung: Auslanderin=
heimatlos=~rau (von beiden Seiten lesbar), und: INO bleibt
die Radikalitat bei der daraus folgenden AneignungshandDie Vergewaltigung der Marquise von 0 •••
lung?
*** *************
Trotzdem: unsere Vorgaben sollen nicht einengen: Gedaeht
ist unsere Aussehreibung nieht nur fOr die Auslanderinnen,
die "Fremden in der Bundesrepublik", sondern fOr aile
Frauen, die einmal 'auslandisch' waren oder sind.
leh sue he elne Mbgliehkeit zur Ver6ffentliehung einer gekurzten Fassung rneiner Magisterarbeit Ober Kleists "Marquise
von 0 ... ".
Texte oder Vorankiindigungen bis zum 31. Januar 1986
an:
Zeichen und Spuren, Frauenliteraturverlag,
Villa Ichon, Goetheplatz 4, D-2800 Bremen
Evelyne Heyde mann, Sas8 Lienau
Wer weiB eine Mbgliehkeit oder kann mlr weiterhelfen?
Helga Dickow, Eschholzstr. 41, 7800 Freiburg
***** *********** ** * * * * * * * ** * ** * ****
Seit gut einem halben Jahr arbeite ich als freiberufliche Schriftstellerin,
und allmahlichkann ich damit beginnen, erste "Produkte" meiner Arbeit an
Verlage in Deu"tschland zu schicken. Leider kenne ich mich in dem "business"
noch gar nicht aus and habe keine Vorstellung davon, wie so ein Vorlegen
von Texten formvollendet stattzufinden hat. Vielleicht konnt Ihr mir bei
einigen meiner Fragen weiterhelfen: Wie sollte ein Manuskript abgefasst
sein, Was fuer eine Art Begleitbrief muss dazu geliefert werden? Personliche Vorstellung? Beschreibung beruflicher Laufbahn? Oder gar erst mal ein
Anfragen, ob Interesse an meinen Texten besteht, und wenn ja, sie erst dann
einschicken? Mit wieviel Wartezeit muss ich rechnen, ehe ein Verlag definitive
Antwort gibt, und was ist bei etwaigen Vertragen zu beachten? Vor allem:
Wo kann ich Adressen deutscher Verlage und Zeitschriften herausfinden? Gibt
es da ein Verzeichnis? fur jegliche Information zu meinen Fragen ware ich
sehr dankbar. Habt ganz herzlichen Dank im Voraus.
Martina Fischer-Gehrmann, 10 Elm St., Exeter, NH 03833
Sidonie Cassirer and Sydna (Bunny) Weiss are planning an updated version
of their 1983 edition of German and Women's Studies: New Directions in
Literary and Interdisciplinary Course Approaches. They are now soliciting
syllabi of language, civilization and literature courses or components
of courses in German and Women's Studies programs which focus on women and
women writers in the German-speaking countries. If you have anything to
submit, please send a clear, smudgeless, black typewritten copy or letterquality print-out which can be transferred directly onto a photographic
plate for printing. Please submit entries by the end of April, 1986. If
you need additional time, contact Sidonie Cassirer at Mount Holyoke College,
South Hadley, MA 01075, tel. 413-538-2342 or 413-534-5310. Please send all
materials for submission to Sydna Stern Weiss, Hamilton College, Clinton,
NY 13323
*********************
The University of KentucKY is holding a conference on "East Germany:
People, Problems,Progress" April 22-24. Gertraud Gutzmann and Pat
Herminghouse will be giving talks.
*********************
The Stone Center of Wellesley College
announces that copies of their "Works
iri Progress" are available for $4.00
each. Make checks payable to:
The Stone Center
Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA 02181
Foreign orders: add $2.00 per paper
if air mail is desired.
***** *******************************
In March members of NOW are planning two large marches - The
National March for Women's Lives--East Coast/West Coast - to --defend the rights and lives of women threatened by efforts to
outlaw abortion and birth control. One march is on March 9 in
Washington, D. C. The other 'is in Los Angeles on March 16. The
marches target the anti-abortion initiatives which will be on the
ballot in both the 1986 primary and general elections in California and the Oregon anti-abortion referendum.
The March 9 march
also precedes the Congressional Lobby Day that NOW is sponsoring
on March 10 for the Civil Rights Restoration Act, which currently
is being blocked in the House by a punitive anti-abortion amendment.
For further information contact your local NOW office.
West Coast March Headquarters: 1242 S. La Cienega, Los Angeles,
CA 90035 (213) 652-5576.
39
SUBSCRIPTIONS/MEMBERSHIP
This is Newsletter _ 39
Read your label and
renew when numbers match.
Weisefrau, Uta 38
Feminist University
Utopia, USA
Renew ~, today, before you forget--sending out reminders is time-consuming
and expensive, not to mention boring.
A new dues structure was approved at the October 1983 WiG conference.
By
increasing the rates for those earning higher salaries, we hope to be able to
finance more projects, while still keeping rates low for students, the unemployed, and the underemployed.
Please fill out the section below, detach and return with your payment in
U.S. dollars (check or money order made out to Women in German). Subscribers
outside North America:
Please increase the amount in your category by onethird to help defray the cost of postage. Send membership form and payment
to: WOMEN IN GERMAN, Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages, Indiana U.-Purdue U.,
Fort Wayne, IN 46805.
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