„Wo bleibt unsere Revolution?“ – Expressionist prose of women writers
Women writers of Expressionist prose such as Henriette Hardenberg, Claire Goll, Marie Holzer or El Hor/El Ha are hardly represented in the established epochal image of Expressionism and have long been ignored by literary scholars. However, this does not do justice to their actual presence in the contemporary literary field. Female authors participated in Expressionist artistic circles and publication organs and significantly placed female subject crises at the center of their prose, even though the artistic movement was dominated by men in terms of persons and the programmatic direction. Based on the observation of this tense relationship, the dissertation project asks how female authors positioned themselves in the literary field of the avant-garde movement and what innovative potential is inherent in their prose.
By pursuing a gender-theoretical approach the dissertation aims to expand the established image of Expressionism by integrating female authors and their prose. With the help of a cultural-poetic approach, on the one hand, the literary field will be examined for gender relations within the avant-garde movement. In particular, forms of practical and theoretical female authorship, networks, publication possibilities, and review criteria of and for female authors will be elaborated. On the other hand, an analysis of selected texts that deal with female-coded themes such as prostitution, motherhood, or the role of women in war will show how the texts of female authors expand Expressionist prose with motifs and poetic procedures.
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Moritz Baßler
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