Myth, matriarchy and modernity Johann Jakob Bachofen in German culture ; 1860 - 1945

"This study explores the prevalence in German culture of myths about ancient matriarchal societies, tracing their presence in left and right wing politics, feminist and antifeminist writing, sociology, psychoanalysis and literary production. The work of the Swiss theorist of matriarchy, Johann Jakob Bachofen (18151887), has been highly influential, and this book shows how the interpretation of his legacy became a battleground for conflicts about modernity, myth, race and nation, sex and gender, and ultimately the struggle between National Socialism and its opponents."--Publisher's website

The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that showcase significant scholarly work at the various intersections that currently motivate interdisciplinary inquiry in German cultural studies. Topics span German-speaking lands and cultures from the 18th to the 21st century, with a special focus on demonstrating how various disciplines and new theoretical and methodological paradigms work across disciplinary boundaries to create knowledge and add to critical understanding in German studies. The series editor is a renowned professor of German studies in the United States who penned one of the foundational texts for understanding what interdisciplinary German cultural studies can be. All works are peer-reviewed and in English. Three new titles will be published annually.

About the series editor:

Irene Kacandes is the Dartmouth Professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. She received three degrees from Harvard University and also studied at the Free University of Berlin and Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. She publishes on a wide range of interdisciplinary topics including secondary orality, rhetoric, aesthetics, trauma, witnessing, family and generational memory, experimental life writing, Holocaust testimony, and narrative theory. She has lectured widely in the United States and Europe and currently serves as President of the International Society for the Study of Narrative and Vice President of the German Studies Association.

This study explores the prevalence in German culture of myths about ancient matriarchal societies, discussing their presence in left and right wing politics, feminist and antifeminist writing, sociology, psychoanalysis and literary production. By tracing the influence of the works of the Swiss jurist and theorist of matriarchy, Johann Jakob Bachofen (1815–1887), and the controversies about the reception and interpretation of his work, this study shows how debate about the matriarchal origins of culture was inextricably linked with anxieties about modernity and gender identities at the turn of the twentieth century. By moving beyond the discussion of canonical authors and taking seriously the scope of the discussion, it becomes clear that it is not possible to reduce matriarchal theories to any particular political ideology; instead, they function as a mythic counterdiscourse to a modernity conceived as oppressive, rational and masculine. Writers considered include Ludwig Klages, Hofmannsthal, Kafka, Hauptmann, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Sir Galahad, Clara Viebig, Mathilde Vaerting, Thomas Mann, Elisabeth Langgässer, Ilse Langner, Otto Gross, Franz Werfel, and many others. Review text: "Die [die Arbeit von Peter J. Davies], das muss an dieser Stelle ganz ausdrücklich hervorgehoben werden, ein Meisterwerk ist. Wissenschaftliche Akribie und Sorgfalt, stupende Sachkenntnis über die Grenzen einzelner Wissenschaftsdisziplinen hinweg gehen hier einher mit gedanklicher Schärfe und sprachlicher Luzidität."Elke Pahud de Mortanges in: Schweizer Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte,105 (2011) Frontmatter ......Page 1 Contents ......Page 9 Preface ......Page 13 Chapter 1......Page 19 Chapter 2 ......Page 61 Chapter 3 ......Page 119 Chapter 4 ......Page 175 Chapter 5 ......Page 229 Chapter 6 ......Page 255 Chapter 7......Page 297 Chapter 8......Page 323 Chapter 9......Page 363 Chapter 10 ......Page 401 Backmatter ......Page 433