In Women Writers and National Identity, Stephanie Bird offers a detailed analysis of the twin themes of female identity and national identity in the works of three major twentieth-century German-language women writers. Bird argues for the importance of an understanding of ambiguity, tension and contradiction in the fictional narratives of Ingeborg Bachmann, Anne Duden and Emine Özdamar. She aims to demonstrate how ambiguity is itself central to the development of an understanding of identity and that literary texts are uniquely able to point to the ethical importance of ambiguity through their stylistic complexity. Bird gives close readings of the three writers and draws on feminist theory and psychoanalysis to elucidate the complex nature of individual identity. This book will be of interest to literary and women's studies scholars as well as Germanists.
Stephanie Bird is Lecturer in German at University College London. She is the author of Recounting Historical Women (1998) and of articles in journals, including MLR, Austrian Studies and FMLS.
Introduction; Part I. Ingeborg Machmann: the Todesarten Prose: 1. Franza and the righteous servant; 2. On sharks and shame; 3. Malina: experience and feminism; Part II. Anne duden: The Suffering Body: 4. The short stories: thoughts on the body and ethics; 5. Desire and complicity in Das Judasschaf; Part III. Emine Özdamar: Performance and Metaphor: 6. Tradition out of context; 7. Metaphor's creative spark; Conclusion: das war es; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
"Well written, well argued, and well researched, this book offers excellent analysis of selected novels and stories by three very different authors... This book serves a necessary function in suggesting fruitful directions for feminist scholarship." Choice
Mary Fulbrook, Bastiaan Willems, Stephanie Bird, Stefanie Rauch, UK) Fulbrook, Professor Mary (University College London, UK) Willems, Dr Bastiaan (Lancaster University, UK) Bird, Dr Stephanie (University College London, UK) Rauch, Stefanie (University College London