Autobiographien von Frauen. Ein Lexikon (review)

This massive, single-volume encyclopedia provides an extensive catalog of published autobiographical writing by German-speaking European women born between 1800 and 1900. Although author Gudrun Wedel makes no claim for the completeness of this ambitious (and ongoing) project, her stated goal is to describe the breadth and depth of the corpus of German-language autobiographical works by women with a focus on unearthing previously published but long-forgotten texts.

On one level, Wedel’s definition of what qualifies as an autobiographical text appears to be very broad. “Mixed” genres, such as fictionalized autobiography and autobiographical fiction, find a place in the encyclopedia alongside traditional autobiographies and memoirs, as do short features first published in magazines or newspapers (which Wedel terms autobiographical “Kleinformen”). Even excerpts from autobiographical works republished elsewhere (“wandernde Texte”) are cataloged in Autobiographien von Frauen. However, published diaries, letters, and travel writings fall outside of Wedel’s definition of autobiography because authors of such texts did not take a retrospective stance toward their own lives. Anne Frank and the anonymous author of the diary Eine Frau in Berlin are not included because they were born after 1900, but by this classification scheme, even if the encyclopedia were expanded to include individuals born in the 20^th century, those two diarists would not appear in the volume. Given the enormous body of material cataloged in Autobiographien von Frauen, it is perhaps not surprising that Wedel chose to place limits on what qualifies as an autobiography, but this stance certainly runs counter to an otherwise remarkable effort to include any and all women autobiographers, however minor.

Each entry begins with the name of the autobiographer, including pseudonyms. This is followed by a biographical summary which, according to Wedel, is intended to establish the author’s social standing and reasons for writing; it is generally very brief, consisting primarily of names (parents, spouses, children), dates, and professional accomplishments. If the author had connections to other women autobiographers of her time, Wedel provides a list of those cross-references. At the core of each entry is a bibliography of the author’s autobiographical publications, which includes any editions, reviews, or translations. In most cases, Wedel identifies the sub-genre of each autobiographical text (using terms such as “autobiographischer Lexikonartikel,” “Familiengeschichte,” “Kindheits- und Jugenderinnerungen,” “Berufserinnerungen”), along with a summary of its main contents (for example, “Kindheit,” “Erziehung,” “Ausbildung bei . . .,” “Umzug nach . . .,” “Bekanntschaft mit . . .,” “1. Weltkrieg,” and so on). The people, places, and events of these summaries can be accessed through the indexes at the end of the volume, a potentially invaluable resource for any scholar researching a particular time period, person, or profession. If the author published texts other than autobiographies (as defined by Wedel), they are included under “weitere Selbstzeugnisse” and “Werke.” Where appropriate, a list of secondary literature completes the entry.

In cataloging the autobiographical output of a wide range of women writers, Wedel offers a remarkable glimpse into the many and varied reasons why women wrote their lives. Not surprisingly, many of the autobiographers were famous writers, actresses, artists, and dancers, while others were the wives, sisters, and daughters of famous men. Among the lesser-known writers are activists, survivors of the World Wars and Holocaust, and working women of all classes and professions. Among the texts authored by the last group are numerous anonymous autobiographies that would otherwise be difficult to locate.

Along with the extensive indexes of people, places, and autobiographical themes, the encyclopedia’s back matter contains a list of anthologies, magazines and newspapers that published autobiographical texts, along with the names of the women featured there. Wedel also includes a lengthy bibliography of reference works and secondary literature on autobiography. Even given that she labels it “incomplete,” the number of English-language citations is noticeably lacking, making up only 20 of the 380 works listed. Some major English-language secondary texts on autobiographical theory appear, as do some studies of German women’s autobiographies, but the selection appears arbitrary.

At over 1200 pages, the size...