"Gender Censorship": On Literary Production in German Romanticism

The discourse on writing and sexual difference in German Romanticism functions as a discourse of censorship. A philosophical justification for excluding women from the "author function" (Foucault) and for subjecting their writing to male control was elaborated by Fichte in The Science of Rights. Goethe and other men of letters developed aesthetic norms for women's writing that were based on a male perspective of appropriate gender roles for women. Women authors' self-representation and literary activity were shaped by gender censorship that they were able to subvert only superficially by such means as public disclaimers, accommodation to male-defined standards, and anonymous or pseudonymous publication. (JC)