Women Writing War: From German Colonialism Through World War I (Interdisciplinary German Cultural Studies) (Interdisciplinary German Cultural Studies, 24)

Recent scholarship has broadened definitions of war and shifted from the narrow focus on battles and power struggles to include narratives of the homefront and private sphere. To expand scholarship on textual representations of war means to shed light on the multiple theaters of war, and on the many voices who contributed to, were affected by, and/or critiqued German war efforts. Engaged women writers and artists commented on their nations' imperial and colonial ambitions and the events of the tumultuous beginning of the twentieth century. In an interdisciplinary investigation, this volume explores select female-authored, German-language texts focusing on German colonial wars and World War I and the discourses that promoted or critiqued their premises. They examine how colonial conflicts contributed to a persistent atmosphere of __Kriegsbegeisterung__ (war enthusiasm) that eventually culminated in the outbreak of World War I, or a __Kriegskritik__ (criticism of war) that resisted it. The span from German colonialism to World War I brings these explosive periods into relief and challenges readers to think about the intersection of nationalism, violence and gender and about the historical continuities and disruptions that shape such events. Table of contents Introduction. women writing war: from german colonialism through world war i Representations of colonial conflicts “who owns hereroland?”. diverse women’s perspectives on violence in the german-herero colonial war Christian love and other weapons. the domestic heroine of the multiracial colonial mission “family” as an antiwar icon in hedwig irle’s mission memoirs Girls, imperialism and war in women’s writing from the german-herero war and wwi Views from the colonies on wwi Woman on the edge of time. frieda schmidt and the great war in east africa World war i in samoa as reported by frieda zieschank in the german colonial magazine kolonie und heimat Political perspectives on nationalism and wwi Bertha von suttner’s die waffen nieder! and the gender of german pacifism Ricarda huch’s first world war Hermynia zur mühlen. writing a socialist-feminist pacifism in the aftermath of wwi Constructing the labor of war: girls, mothers and nurses Girls reading the great war. german and anglo-american literature for young women, 1914–1920 Käte kestien’s als die männer im graben lagen. wwi criticism through the lens of motherhood Three nurses’ life-writing. scrapbook, portrait, and construction of a self Narratives of loss and grief in art and literature Writing and reading death. german women’s novels of world war i War widows’ dilemma. emotion, the myths of war and the search for selbständigkeit Intimations of mortality from recollections of atrocity. käthe kollwitz and the art of mourning Notes on authors Names index 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. "How have women experienced and written about war? The centennial of World War I and renewed interest in the devastating German colonial conflicts inspire us to revisit both well-known and rare texts written by German-speaking women about these violent struggles. This volume examines narratives of war beyond the arenas of combat and deepens our understanding of the gendered experience of war as it intersects with issues of race, class and nation." -- Provided by publisher