Description
Book SynopsisExplores both constants and changes in representations of warlike and violent women in German culture over the past six centuries. Warlike women are a recurring phenomenon in German literature and culture since 1500. Amazons, terrorists, warrior women -- this volume of essays by leading scholars from the UK and Germany analyzes ideas and portrayals of these figures in the visual arts, society, media, and scholarship, always against the backdrop of Germany's development as a culture and as a nation. The contributors look for patterns in the historical portrayal of warlike women, askingthe questions: What cultural signals are sent when women are shown occupying men's spaces by dressing as warriors or in men's clothing? What can legitimize the woman who bears arms? From what is the erotic potential of images linking women and violence derived? Have recent feminist thought and political developments changed representations of warlike women? Contributors: Bettina Brandt, Sarah Colvin, Mererid Puw Davies, Peter Davies, ChristineEifler, Ute Frevert, Kathrin Hoffmann-Curtius, Ritchie Robertson, Daria Santini, Ruth Seifert, Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly. Sarah Colvin is Eudo C. Mason Chair of German at the University of Edinburgh. Helen Watanabe-O'Kellyis Professor of German at Oxford University and Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College, Oxford.
Trade ReviewThe case studies range from general issues to very specific ones, providing good coverage of militant women in many roles from early times onwards. . . . [P]rovide[s] revealing insights into specific individuals, including key figures such as Grimmelshausen's Courasche, Schiller's Joan of Arc, and Kleist's Penthesilea. * MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW *
This collection appeals to a surprisingly broad range of audiences. Specialists will find theoretical and analytical inspiration for their own works. * GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW *
Of particular interest are the essays dealing with how the female image has been used to represent the German nation. * BOOK NEWS *
Table of ContentsIntroduction - Sarah Colvin and Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly The German Reception of the Amazon Myths from Hederich to Bachofen - Daria Santini Wearing the Trousers: The Woman Warrior as Cross-dresser in German Literature - Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly Women Warriors, Feminism, and National Socialism: The Reception of J. J. Bachofen's View of Amazons among German and Austrian Right-Wing Women Writers - Peter Davies Women Warriors and the Origin of the State: Zacharias Werner's Wanda and Heinrich von Kleist's Penthesilea - Ritchie Robertson Germania in Armor: The Female Representation of an Endangered German Nation - Bettina Brandt Terror in Germany 1918-19: Visual Commentaries on Rosa Luxemburg's Assassination - Kathrin Hoffmann-Curtius German Conceptions of War, Masculinity, and Femininity in the Long Nineteenth Century - Ute Frevert Soldiers and Mothers in the German Bundeswehr: Constructions of Gender and Service under Arms - Ruth Seifert Gender and the Military in East Germany: Defense Policies and the Woman Question in the GDR - Christine Eifler West German Representations of Women and Resistance in Vietnam, 1966-73 - Mererid Puw Davies Witch, Amazon, or Joan of Arc? Ulrike Meinhof's Defenders, or How to Legitimize a Violent Woman - Sarah Colvin
