This volume focuses on twelve women writers from the Middle Ages to the present day who have made a major contribution to German literature. It includes portraits of Mechthild von Magdeburg, the medieval nun who ushered in the tradition of mystical writing in German; Sophie von La Roche, whose masterly novels and other writings had a far-reaching impact on the culture of the late Enlightenment; Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, one of the greatest nineteenth-century poets; and Christa Wolf, author and prominent public intellectual who produced many key works of East German literature. The essays place the writers in the context of their period, and examine how their position as women affected what they wrote and the reception of their texts. The volume is based on a series of lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge by members of the Department of German and guest speakers. All the contributors are experts in the fields they address. This volume focuses on twelve women writers from the Middle Ages to the present day who have made a major contribution to German literature. It includes portraits of Mechthild von Magdeburg, the medieval nun who ushered in the tradition of mystical writing in German; Sophie von La Roche, whose masterly novels and other writings had a far-reaching impact on the culture of the late Enlightenment; Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, one of the greatest nineteenth-century poets; and Christa Wolf, author and prominent public intellectual who produced many key works of East German literature. The essays place the writers in the context of their period, and examine how their position as women affected what they wrote and the reception of their texts.
The volume is based on a series of lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge by members of the Department of German and guest speakers. All the contributors are experts in the fields they address. HILARY BROWN
Introduction
7
BETTINA BILDHAUER
Mechthild von Magdeburg
11
ANNA CARRDUS
Margaretha Susanna von Kuntsch
25
KEVIN HILLIARD
Sophie von La Roche
43
URSULA HUDSON-WIEDENMANN
Bettine von Arnim
59
ROGER PAULIN
Annette von Droste-Hulshoff
77
CHARLOTTE WOODFORD
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
91
DAVID MIDGLEY
Lou Andreas-Salom TD>
107
ANDREW WEBBER
Else Lasker-Sch ler
123
ANDREA CAPOVILLA
Irmgard Keun
139
STEPHANIE BIRD
Ingeborg Bachmann
155
ANITA BUNYAN
Christa Wolf
173
BEN MORGAN
Elfriede Jelinek
193
Notes on Contributors
211