June 1976 Newsletter

WOMEN IN GERMAN

Number 7                                                    
June 2, 1976

Subscriber fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 in unemployed)

Women in German is a collective endeavor. We therefore encourage you, our readers, not to look upon us merely as a distribution agent, but also as a communication center. What you send us will be printed as is, given our space limitations. We would be glad to have some of you contribute regularly and join our staff from wherever you are. If any of you are involved in German-related women's study groups, send us your reading lists, bibliog­raphies, protocols or summaries of meetings, including questions raised, solutions proposed, and issues as yet unresolved. We also encourage you to submit book reviews which could well be done collectively. Those who have had the opportunity to see new films from East or West Germany pertaining to women (pro and contra) are invited to send us brief reviews. Material from both Germanies is increasingly becoming available. We would like to alert people to those items that are really worthwhile. Send all materials to Women in German, 814 Van Hise, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. 53706.

MEETINGS

At the annual meeting of the AATG, August 18-23, 1976 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, there will be a section devoted to the study of "Sexism in Textbooks" (scheduled for Friday, August 20, 11:00 a.m.—noon). Naomi Stephan, who is coordinating this section, is still interested in hearing from those who would be interested in participating, either as discussants or as paper- givers. Since the format is flexible, less formal presentations would also be in order. Write to Naomi, Department of Modern Languages, [redacted] Val­paraiso University, Valparaiso, IN 46383.

ANNOUNEMENT

Women in German has received a shorter and less technical version of Study III, Commision on the Status of Women in The Profession. This is a report on Women faculty in English and Foreign Language Departments, which should be of interest to those concerned with the careers of women in colleges and universities. Anyone who had not had a chance to read the Comission's full- length report in the January 1976 issue of PMLA may send for a copy of a shortened version thru Women in German for 50 cents covering xeroxing and postage.

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Elke Frederiksen, University of Maryland, has arranged a coalition meeting of Women in German at the South Atlantic MLA meeting, November 4-6, 1976 in Atlanta, Georgia. In case the announcement does not appear in the program, check for room assignment and time when you arrive. If you are interested in participating in or planning the meeting, contact Elke, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. 20742.

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Anyone who is interested in the GDR women's magazine Für Dich can order it from:
Ebsco Industries, Inc.
[redacted]
Birmingham, Alabama 35201

or directly from the GDR:
[redacted]

Für Dich is a weekly, "Illustrierte Zeitung ftlr die Frau", the only GDR maga­zine specifically for women. It discusses the situation of women in the GDR today, in such series as "Die SED und die Frauen" (on the relationship between women and the SED) and "Wenn die Kollegin Kinder hat" (on the problems of working mothers) and brings news and information of specific interest to GDR women. Anyone who knows of other GDR magazines, journals, publications which would be of interest, please share this information with us in the newsletter.

A useful source for cultural information concerning the GDR is, of course, the cultural attaché of the GDR in Washington:

Sonja Elm, Kulturattaché
Embassy of the German Democratic Republic
[redacted]

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Madison's alternative radio WORT (Backporch Radio) had a 30 minute interview May 17 with Christa Stutius and Viktoria Harwig on the situation of women in the FRG and GDR. Anyone interested in receiving a recorded copy of this interview may send a blank cassette tape to Women in German.

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This newsletter was prepared by Angelika Bammer, Evelyn Torton Beck, Viktoria Harwig, Sara Pietsch, Christa Stutius.

RETREAT AND SYMPOSIUM

Before everyone leaves for the summer we want to remind you of the Women in German weekend retreat, combined with a one-day symposium, to be held at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio on September 24-26, 1976. We announced this meeting, which grew out of our discussions at the last MLA in San Francisco, in our last newsletter.

We are again enclosing the registration form. We will need to know how many people are planning to come, so that we can make adequate arrangements, so please send the form as soon as you know your plans. The $10 registration fee will cover food, shelter and supplies. Register no later than September 10.

"Shelter" is a camp operated by Miami University outside of Oxford. You will need sleeping bags for the camp; there are possible hotel accomodations near-by.

The best way to get there is by car. Anyone willing to offer a ride or anyone needing a ride should send this information to the Women in German Newsletter so that we can get riders and rides together.

The program will be co-organized by Charlotte Gebhardt (German, Dartmouth Col­lege, Hanover, JH 03755) and Sarah Lennox (Comparative Lit., Univ. Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 02134). They need suggestions for workshops and/or seminars and for volunteer leaders. Please write them directly.

If you have any other questions concerning the symposium and/or retreat you can also contact Gisela.

Symposium

A symposium on "Feminism and German Studies: An Interdisciplinary Perspective," co-chaired by Evelyn Beck and Gisela Bahr, is planned for Saturday, September 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Ideas for topics (comparative, i.e., German and other literature; or inter­disciplinary) were to be submitted by March 15. However, if anyone has further questions, ideas, suggestions, please write to either Evelyn or Gisela.

-4-

Female Studies, prepared by the MLA Commission on the Status of Women has readied a new volume Female Studies IX: Teaching About Women in the Foreign Languages, ed. Sidonie Cassirer (The Feminist Press, 1975), contains essays and curricula for Women in Literature courses in the original foreign language and in translation. While the bulk of the courses outlined pertain to French, there are a substantial number of entires for German. These are extremely useful, partucularly Ritta Jo Horsley’s bibliography of Women and German Lit­erature.

Female Studies IX may be ordered from
The Feminist Press
[redacted]

SYLLABI

Since so many of you are interested in course outlines and since there are so many new ones prepared, Women in German is willing to publish brief course outlines and any comments you may wish to send along with them.

STUDY GROUPS

A study group at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, is presently focusing on the history of the German Women’s Movement, including the historical develop­ment of both the proletarian and bourgeois womens* movements. The participants have been reading selected essays by Gertrud BHumer, Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, Berta Las, Ricarda Hugh and Adelheid Popp, and have found that two interest groups within their study group are emerging; one interested primarily in the political potential of a feminist movement, and the other interested in discussing feminism as a means of personal liberation. We encourage this study group and any others to submit a protocoil of their reading lists and perhaps a summary of their conclusions drawn from their study.

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***** REGISTRATION FORM**********

I want to register for the retreat on September 24-26, 1976

Please reserve.......... place(s) in the camp,

( ) send information on near-by motes.

I/we expect to arrive on..................... ( )by car; ( ) by plane (give airport, time of arrival, flight number)

Name(s) ..........................................................

Mailing address ................ ..............................

Telephone (      ).........................

Please enclose $10 per person (checks payable to Gisela Bahr) and a stamped, self-addressed envelope; mail to Gisela Bahr, Dept. of GREAL, Miami University; Oxford, OH 4505