Harsdörffers Frauenzimmer Gesprächspiele als geschlechtsspezifische Verhaltensfibel: Ein Vergleich mit heutigen Kommunikationsstrukturen

This article analyzes the construction and legitimization of a gender-specific hierarchy of communication in Georg Philipp Harsdörffer's Frauenzimmer Gesprächspiele (1641-1649) that shows striking similarities to patterns observable today. Both the historical dimension and the durability of this construction are highlighted by correlating Harsdörffer's responses to the Baroque "querelle des femmes" with recent findings in the field of sociolinguistics. The comparison of specific examples taken from Baroque and contemporary discourse identifies some communication patterns "discovered" by linguists as diverse as Fishman, Tannen, and Trömel-Plötz as belonging to a centuries-old social organization of sexual difference. (CG-W)