German Women's Writing in the Twenty-First Century

Essays in this volume rethink conventional ways of conceptualizing female authorship and re-examine the formal, aesthetic, and thematic terms in which German women's literature has been conceived.What is the status of women's writing in German today, in an era when feminism has thoroughly problematized binary conceptions of sex and gender? Drawing on gender and queer theory, including the work of Lauren Berlant, Judith Butler, and Michel Foucault, the essays in this volume rethink conventional ways of conceptualizing female authorship and re-examine the formal, aesthetic, and thematic terms in which "women's literature" has been conceived. With aneye to the literary and feminist legacy of authors such as Christa Wolf and Ingeborg Bachmann, contributors treat the works of many of contemporary Germany's most significant literary voices, including Hatice Akyun, Sibylle Berg,Thea Dorn, Tanja Duckers, Karen Duve, Jenny Erpenbeck, Julia Franck, Katharina Hacker, Charlotte Roche, Julia Schoch, and Antje Ravic Strubel -- authors who, through their writing or their roles in the media, engage with questionsof what it means to be a woman writer in twenty-first-century Germany.Contributors: Hester Baer, Necia Chronister, Helga Druxes, Valerie Heffernan, Alexandra Merley Hill, Lindsay Lawton, Sheridan Marshall, Mihaela Petrescu, Jill Suzanne Smith, Carrie Smith-Prei, Maria Stehle, Katherine Stone.Hester Baer is Associate Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Maryland. Alexandra Merley Hill is Associate Professor of German at the University of Portland.

“The volume succeeds in making the case for the relevance of reading and researching women's writing in the twenty-first century. . . . It . . . is a fine example of careful, profound, and progressive scholarship. Editors and contributors are to be commended for this excellent work.”

[S]ucceeds in demonstrating the continued relevance of 'German women's writing,' not least its ability to critique, destabilize, and confound. . . . A welcome resource for undergraduate and graduate seminars, the volume is also of value for scholarly research on the diverse approaches and authors that constitute the field of the field of German women's writing today. -- Brigitte Rossbacher STUDIES IN 20TH- AND 21ST-CENTURY LITERATURE
[A] very useful volume which takes stock of women's writing today while also exploring how women have been affected by socio-cultural, political, and economic changes. -- Linda Shortt MONATSHEFTE
[A] volume which shows the variety of topics covered by women's German-language writing today. It succeeds in fulfilling its aim of making the case for women's writing in the age of neoliberalism and for feminist analysis that avoids what is facile or categorical. -- Stuart Parkes JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN STUDIES
[E]ngaging, provocative . . . . [D]emonstrates . . . the ways in which feminist analyses open up texts to critical questions of gender within larger configurations of identity and the lasting need to consider women's literature. -- Barbara Kosta GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW
-- Katharina Gerstenberger GEGENWARTSLITERATUR
Baer and Hill have put together an attractive collection that seeks to analyze contemporary fiction in conjunction with feminism. Using new perspectives in feminist theory, the contributors offer original interpretations and challenging insights. . . . Approaching contemporary literature in fresh, productive ways, all these essays are interesting and well researched. . . . Recommended. CHOICE
In sum, this volume presents a valuable and highly recommended reference for anyone interested not only in contemporary women's writing, but also intersectional feminist research and the debates surrounding feminist literary criticism. -- Sonja Klocke WOMEN IN GERMAN NEWSLETTER

HESTER BAER is Professor of German Studies and an affiliate in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Maryland. ALEXANDRA MERLEY STEWART (formerly Alexandra Merley Hill) is Professor of German and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Portland. ALEXANDRA MERLEY STEWART (formerly Alexandra Merley Hill) is Professor of German and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Portland. HESTER BAER is Professor of German Studies and an affiliate in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Maryland. JILL SUZANNE SMITH is Associate Professor of German at Bowdoin College. KATHERINE BRUCE is an Associate Professor in German Studies at the University of Warwick. MARIA STEHLE is Professor of German and Cinema Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. NECIA CHRONISTER is Professor of German at Kansas State University.

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