Elke P. Frederiksen – författare

This bibliography of selected writings by 184 women authors from German-speaking countries will be a boon to teachers, students, reference librarians, and library selectors interested in women's literature. The bibliographic listings, many of them annotated, are preceded by a brief biography and critical assessment. The annotations offer concise summaries and commentary. . . . Coverage is broad, spanning 11 centuries, and including writers of diaries, polemics, essays, etc., . . . A necessary acquisition for all academic libraries. Choice Researchers in German literature and women's studies will be delighted with this new book by Else Frederiksen and thirty-five other contributors. Journal of English and Germanic PhilologyThe literature by women writers in German-speaking countries is abundant and varied, yet it is almost undocumented in English. This annotated bio-bibliographical guide presents both factual and interpretive information on 185 Austrian, German (German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany after 1945), and Swiss women writers from the tenth century to the present. It is the largest collective research project on German-speaking women writers in English to date and among the most comprehensive in any language, including German. The volume concentrates on those authors who wrote and published primarily prose works, including those poets and dramatists who wrote prose. An important aspect of the volume is its inclusion of the so-called non-traditional genres, such as autobiographies, diaries, letters, travelogues, polemics, and essays--forms of writing that play such an important role in the literature by women and that provide particularly valuable insights into their social context. The selections are necessarily subjective, based on the contributors' critical perspectives and areas of interest, taking into account the development and the results of feminist literary criticism and scholarship in the last fifteen years.All entries are listed in alphabetical order in the main bibliography. The appendixes provide alternative means of access. A chronological list of authors by birthdate allows for a chronological reading of the author entries and should be helpful to readers interested in questions about a female literary continuum. The Classified List of Authors by Country will be useful to those interested primarily in any one of the German-speaking countries. Two title indexes list all titles mentioned in the volume in either German or in English translation. The list of selected secondary literature mentions all bibliographies and reference works used for the compilation of authors. It also includes theoretical and critical studies, works on women in the cultural context, and works on specific literary topics. Each author entry begins with the name of the author by which she is best known. A paragraph follows the author entry providing brief information on the author's life and her cultural and literary context. The paragraphs following the general description contain detailed bibliographical information for all listings. Annotations are provided for selected individual works. The volume will be of interest to anyone interested in the writings of women authors from Germany (the two Germanies after 1945), Austria, and Switzerland and it is a necessity for courses in Women's Studies and in German Literature.

Women have contributed to the literature of German-speaking countries since the Middle Ages, and they continue to write important works at the close of the 20th century. While research on texts by women writers in German-speaking countries has increased substantially, most of these authors remain virtually unknown to English-speaking scholars and students. The first work of its kind in English, this reference book contains alphabetically arranged entries for 54 Austrian, German, and Swiss women writers—such as Hrotsvit von Gandersheim, Louise Aston, Elfriede Jelinek, and Erica Pedretti—from the tenth century to the present day. Each entry includes a biography, a discussion of major themes, a survey of criticism, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. An introductory essay overviews the history of literature by women in German-speaking countries, and an extensive bibliography concludes the volume.Women have actively shaped literature in German-speaking countries from the Middle Ages to the present day. These authors continue to enrich the world of letters, and an increasing amount of scholarly attention is given to their writings. In spite of their contributions, however, most of these writers are virtually unknown to English-speaking scholars and students. And though one of the explicit goals of feminist literary and cultural studies has been to provide a voice to a multitude of diverse authors, feminist research still seems to focus heavily on texts by authors such as Christa Wolf, Ingeborg Bachmann, and Bettina von Arnim, or on certain periods in 19th- and 20th-century German literature and culture. As a result, many other women authors have faded into obscurity.Through entries written by expert contributors, this reference book provides insights into the life and writings of 54 women authors from German-speaking countries. Entries are arranged alphabetically to facilitate use, while an appendix lists the writers chronologically. Included are profiles of authors from the tenth century to the present day, such as Hrotsvit von Gandersheim, Louise Aston, Elfriede Jelinek, and Erica Pedretti. Each entry includes a biography, a discussion of major themes and stylistic features, a survey of criticism, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. An introductory essay overviews the history of literature by women in German-speaking countries and provides a theroretical context for the work, and an extensive bibliography of secondary sources concludes the volume.

Examines German women's literary and cultural representations of the Nazi era.Spanning almost the entire twentieth century, from the 1920s to the 1990s, this book gives voice to both Jewish and non-Jewish women writers from German-speaking countries who were silenced during the Nazi years. Discussions on gender, patriarchy, and fascism are brought to bear on the works of Nelly Sachs, Anna Seghers, Elisabeth Langgässer, Ingeborg Drewitz, Luise Rinser, Grete Weil, Christa Wolf, and others. The book also includes an autobiographical account of a Holocaust survivor's experience. In light of recent political events in Europe, this book is particularly relevant.Contributors include Gisela Brinker-Gabler, Ruth Dinesen, Elke P. Frederiksen, Gertraud Gutzmann, Robert Holub, Ritta Jo Horsley, Ruth Kluger, Helga Kraft, Sara Lennox, Elke Liebs, Dagmar Lorenz, Elaine Martin, Richard McCormick, Renate Möhrmann, Monika Shafi, Guy Stern, and Margaret Ward.