Abstract

Originating from a panel discussion at the Germanistentag 1991 in Augsburg, my position paper highlights recent developments in feminist studies and German literature with an eye towards historicizing gender, using the example of early modern German literature. I then present a six-point proposal for feminist studies (in regard to German literature), pleading for a continued feminist revision of literary interpretations, especially of "canonical" texts, and for a reconstruction of women's role in literature in order to newly conceive and write its history. Pointing to the obfuscation inherent in the ontological pursuit of Weiblichkeit (femininity), I argue for an open, relational concept of gender in a socio-historical frame, for further critical exploration of the complex power and bonding structures of patriarchy, and for an assessment of the increasing feminization of literary studies and the entire educational-cultural sector. (B.B.-C.)

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