Deprecated: Return type of CsvImport_RowIterator::seek($index) should either be compatible with SeekableIterator::seek(int $offset): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/wigherst/public_html/plugins/CsvImport/models/CsvImport/RowIterator.php on line 123

Deprecated: Return type of CsvImport_RowIterator::current() should either be compatible with Iterator::current(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/wigherst/public_html/plugins/CsvImport/models/CsvImport/RowIterator.php on line 82

Deprecated: Return type of CsvImport_RowIterator::next() should either be compatible with Iterator::next(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/wigherst/public_html/plugins/CsvImport/models/CsvImport/RowIterator.php on line 104

Deprecated: Return type of CsvImport_RowIterator::key() should either be compatible with Iterator::key(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/wigherst/public_html/plugins/CsvImport/models/CsvImport/RowIterator.php on line 93

Deprecated: Return type of CsvImport_RowIterator::valid() should either be compatible with Iterator::valid(): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/wigherst/public_html/plugins/CsvImport/models/CsvImport/RowIterator.php on line 166

Deprecated: Return type of CsvImport_RowIterator::rewind() should either be compatible with Iterator::rewind(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/wigherst/public_html/plugins/CsvImport/models/CsvImport/RowIterator.php on line 55
3 10 72 https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/e363ccb62e2115909a2d0e77147af79a.pdf 377d9c508c03aced21c9863b966e33bd Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Call for Papers 1984 Conference Boston Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Newman, Gail Rosenberg, Dorothy Heineman, Marlene Moessner, Joan Frieden, Sandy Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Congresses; Germanists Description An account of the resource <div style="text-align:center;">CALLS FOR PAPERS</div> <div style="text-align:center;"> NINTH ANNUAL</div> <div style="text-align:center;">WOMEN IN GERMAN CONFERENCE-RETREAT October 18-21 1984 Thompson Island, Boston</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> WHAT DO FEMINIST GERMANISTS WANT (OR NEED)? Thursday evening, Oct. 18 What directions should WiG be going in? We would like to receive papers from specifically lesbian gay, Jewish and other perspectives reflecting the diversity of WiG's constituency. After a panel presentation, panelists (and others) will act as coordinators for small group discussion of all the issues raised. They will continue to be available at mealtimes on Friday and Saturday to welcome new arrivals and all others who wish to continue the discussion. We hope to use this structure to help bring out the issues which divide us and which unite us. Send proposals or inquiries to both Gail Newman and Dorothy Rosenberg Dept. of German Modern Foreign Languages Williams College Colby College Williamstown, MA 01267 Waterville, ME 04901</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> PRACTICAL FEMINIST STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING INTERMEDIATE GERMAN Friday afternoon, Oct. 19</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> This session will focus on the teaching of German language and/or literature (second and third year), and the teaching of German film as a culture course.</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> Suggested topics: feminist citiques of well-known teaching methods (e.g., the Dartmouth method, grammar-integrated approach, communicative approach, etc.); how to select course topics, materials, questions or organization; how to teach about women's roles in German literature, life, film, and/or culture production; the relationship between text and context--how to deal with "inapropriate" materials or students, how strategies can be adjusted to fit conditions. </div> <div style="text-align:left;"> Deadline for receipt of 2-page abstract: May 1, 1984. Send on copy to each Marlene Heinemann Joan Moessner Sandy Frieden Modern and Classical Dept. of Linguistics Dept. of German Languages and Foreign Langs. University of Univ. of Alaska Houston Univ. of Wyoming Fairbanks, AK Houston, TX Laramie, WY 82070 99701 77004</div> <div style="text-align:left;"> Final papers, representing a 10-minute presentation, will be due September 1, 1984 Please Post </div> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Unpublished Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1984_01 https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/ddbda47fb7a4ac837f94f827998913f8.pdf df98644dd113954201f47b47d6646514 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource December 1976 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Germanists; Feminists; Congresses Description An account of the resource <div class="WordSection1"> <div class="WordSection1"> WOMEN IN GERMAN Number 9 December 1, 1976 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) Since it is our purpose to break cliches and stereotypes, Women in German can best summarize the Ohio conference and retreat by turning around the old cliché 'die Vorfreude ist größer als die Freude.' Without a doubt the conference itself far surpassed our anticipations; not only were the papers and discussants’ presentations in and of themselves exciting and stimulating, but the atmosphere was one of free exchange among equals. This open atmosphere was made possible in part by the format of short formal presentations and panel presentations with emphasis on discussion of the larger questions raised by the material and on participation by the substantial portion of the audience. Because there was so much enthusiasm over the exchange of ideas and the contact with other coalition members from all sections of the country, it was decided on the spot to hold another conference next year at the same place and at about the same time. Kay Goodman and Ruth Sanders will be co-ordinating the conference; Viktoria Harwig and Christa Stutius are planning the retreat; any ideas and suggestions as to format and topics should be addressed to: Kay Goodman or Ruth Sanders Coordinators: Women in German Conference 1977 Dept. of German, Russian, East Asian Languages Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 Suggestions for the retreat should be sent directly to Viktoria and Christa: c/o Women in German Dept. of German 814 Van Hise Hall Madison, Wisconsin 53703 On behalf of ourselves and all conference participants we would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the women at Ohio University who organized the entire conference so carefully, down to the nitty gritty of donuts, coldcuts! SYMPOSIUM All participants in the symposium on "Feminism and German Studies" and in the retreat in Ohio were asked to submit abstracts of their presentations and their critiques. Those abstracts which we received are printed below with few editorial changes; in some cases we have had to summarize the main points of the papers or the critiques because the abstracts were not yet available. The abstracts or summaries are printed in the order in which they appeared on the program with those contributions to the retreat given last. Please note that we have sent this Newsletter first class due to the deterioration of the Postal Service. This has seriously depleted our funds, but we thought it worthwhile. For this reason, we must urge all those who have not yet sent their $2 for this year to do so immediately. If anyone feels able to send more, please do. We need it. -2- "What Did You Do In The War, Mommy?": Susan M. Levin (summarized by Women in German staff) Levin described the experiences of the Baroness Fredericke Riedesel (the wife of a Hessian general) who spent several years travelling with her husband while he was on active duty with Burgoyne's army in the American Revolutionary War. The Baroness kept an account of her daily life and this is now available in English as Letter and Journals relating to the War of the American Revolution and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga by Mrs. General Riedesel, trans. W. L. Stone. Originally published in 1867, it has been reprinted by Arno Press in its recent series Eyewitness Accounts of the American Revolution. This presentation provoked discussion concerning autobiography in relationship to women who, in the 19th and 20th centuries, have made extensive use of this mode. Discussant: Kay Goodman, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio In dealing with a genre such as the journal- traditionally referred to as a woman's form--the discussion of a particularly female contribution to the form as well as the choice of this form to convey one's experience becomes especially significant. Although beginning this discussion, Levin could have pursued it further. The role model which journals establish is, because of their sense of actuality, doubly important. Levin emphasized the positive image of a strong, capable woman learning to use her resources. However, by ignoring the historical and political implications of the Baroness Riedesel's position both as Baroness and wife to a German General commanding troops against the American Revolutionaries, Levin overlooked the far stronger doctrine of submission which the Baroness both explicitly preached and actually represented. The effect of the Baroness' journal is to subvert the potentially empowering awareness of one's own strength to the cause of husband, family and fatherland--the patriarchal status quo of Germany in 1800. "German and English Contributions to the Emancipation of Women": Timothy Sellner In my paper I sought to compare the first two major contributions to the idea of the emancipation of women, Mary Wollstone craft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel's Über die bürgerliche Verbesserung der Weiber, both of 1792. I contrasted the works in terms of the background of the authors, the style and approach of the works, and their history since the time of publication. The main purpose of my paper was to make known the ideas contained in Hippel's heretofore unknown work, to show the way in which the work of Hippel complements that of Wollstonecraft, and to provide grounds for the idea that the two works together, representing both female and male viewpoints on the subject of the emancipation of women, more nearly comprise the first complete manifesto on feminism than does either of the works taken alone. Discussant: Susan L. Cocalis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Hippel's On Improving the Status of Women remained without any noticeable effect on German audiences and, despite its author's reputation as a satirist, is written in a tediously pedantic style which serves to obscure the main arguments. The latter could be summarized as follows: "Solange die Weiber bloß -3- </div> <div class="WordSection2"> Privilegia und nicht Rechte haben . . . wird nicht das Weib den großen Beruf der Natur: das Weib ihres Mannes, die Mutter ihrer Kinder, und, kraft dieser edlen Bestimmungen, ein Mitglied, eine Bürgerin, und nicht bloß eine Schutzver- wandtin des Staates zu seyn--nur immer sehr unvollkommen . . . erfüllen." (Status, Pt. II). Woman is to attain these "rights" gradually through a new education, which she would pursue in addition to her "special schooling as mother and housewife" (Part V). Hippel's work is not revolutionary, much less seditious, and would serve to enhance the established social order through minimal reforms in education. Women should be granted the right to call themselves citizens, (but not to vote), by making themselves more "useful" members of society. If one does accept the premise of contrasting Hippel to Wollstonecraft, their similarities should be stressed rather than their differences. Mr. Sellner's portrait of Wollstonecraft as revolutionary notwithstanding, she also appeals for gradual reforms of a woman's status through equal opportunities in education. The "revolutionary" aspect of her work is largely metaphorical: e.g., "It is time to effect a revolution in female manners--time to restore them to their lost dignity--and make them, as a part of the human species, labour by reforming themselves to reform the world. " Her diatribes against property would also fall under the heading of "utility," i.e., she criticizes the "idleness" which comes from having too much property, not the idea of property itself. Therefore there are allowances made for "usefully employed" aristocrats as well as for idle members of the lower classes. In no way is she advocating wo-manning the barricades as Sellner suggests. Finally, educational reforms would ultimately improve woman's utility to her husband, her children, the state, and herself. Both works propose educational reforms, bot both works remain firmly situated within the restrictions of the existing social order. The two treatises differ, of course, in their male/female viewpoints, in the question of sexual license, and in the matter of style. In conclusion I would tend to look at the novel or at the moral weeklies for the antecedents of a German women's movement, since it was those genres which were most influential in shaping public opinion. Isolated works, like Hippel's, with "feminist-sounding" titles can often be misleading and can seduce us into construing false causal relationships which obscure the problems at hand. "Revolutionary Women in Imperial Germany": Bill Pelz Legend has it that German women have almost always been a passive, apolitical if not outright reactionary group. Yet, the mass of German working class women made a significant contribution to the Socialist movement from the 1870's to 1919 despite the sexism of the Male-dominated movement. Women were involved in all forms of struggle from trade union work to the Berlin street fighting during the German Revolution of 1918-19. Moreover, this was not accidental. Marxist theory clearly showed a way forward which would offer female emancipation as well as human freedom. "A Comparative Analysis of Sex Role Stereotyping in Children's Readers: USA vs. GDR": Donna Slepack To assess the current status of women in a socialist society, a field study in the German Democratic Republic was conducted in conjunction with an analysis of women's image in GDR children's textbooks. The impact of the socialist educational system and other social organizations on women's career roles and sexist attitudes in society are described from a theoretical, historical and per- -4- sonal perspective. Observations made during the field$ study provided the context of sociopolitical reality from which the analysis of the textbooks was interpreted. GDR children's readers for grades 1-6 were analyzed for sex-role stereotyping, utilizing the criteria employed by Britton in her study of USA textbooks (1974). A percentage analysis was used to compare the GDR books with Britton's analogous data. Analysis of the GDR readers revealed a statistically significant increase in career role options and frequency for women in the GDR textbooks ( p < . 005). Male major characters dominated both USA and GDR readers; however, the dominance was less marked in the GDR readers. A Sex Bias Index, combining the various parameters analyzed, yielded results consistent with the author's hypothesis that a more positive image of women would be found in the textbooks of a socialist state. In the USA readers, the only positive role for women was that of "mother." In contrast, women's career role in GDR readers presented women as capable, active and resourceful figures. However, in reality and in the readers, women are still double-burdened with the responsibilities of home and career. Consequently, helpfulness and co-operation is the most desirable behavior model ed for children in the GDR readers. The GDR's struggle against sex bias appears to be directed more toward improving objective conditions which facilitate women's employment and equality, rather than dealing with attitudes per se that maintain women's inferiority. It may be assumed that these changing realities will alter stereotyped attitudes sooner than changing attitudes will alter reality. "Feminist Theater in West Germany and USA": Evelyn Beck, Betsy Edelson, Nancy Vedder-Shults Feminist theater is political theater: its strategy is to use drama as a catalyst to bring women's oppression to public attention in order to work against it. Feminist theater was first developed in the United States in the late 1960s in the context of the growing women's movement and the social ferment of those years. It began to be used in West Germany in 1972 and continues to be a tool of the developing women's movement in that country. The earliest forms of feminist theater in both countries was the "political happening" (e.g., disruption of bridal fairs and beauty contests), but other modes have since become popular and perhaps even more effective. These include: agit-prop plays which rely on satire to deliver a clear message (such as pro-abortion reform, especially in West Germany); myth plays which retell traditional myths and legends from a feminist viewpoint; "Bildungsroman" which depict the gradual development of a feminist political consciousness, making concrete the feminist belief that "the personal is political"; and historical documentary which often retrieves and celebrates the history of women in the context of the lost history of all oppressed groups. Most recently, "politicized role playing" has provided the opportunity for women in subordinate positions to act out situations from their own lives and in this way prepare the way for their taking greater control of their own lives. Discussants: Viktoria Harwig, Christa Stutius In the collective paper presented by Evelyn a view of Alternative Theater as an organ for the transformation of present-day social conditions is given. Alternative Theater makes use of various techniques for effect, such as a direct confrontation with stereotypes and the reversal of sex roles, which are intended to make us conscious of the degrading sexist and reifying structures of our society. But unless this confrontation, which we agree is an important and necessary first step, is viewed within a social-political framework, there is a danger, as we see </div> -5- <div class="WordSection3"> it, on the one hand of relying exclusively on Skandal der Tatsachen or on the other hand, of ascribing exploitation and oppression of women to men alone. Thereby the decisive accent of feminism, namely, women's oppression seen within a context of social class struggle, is lost. Only the feminist critique which is able to base its ideological position in an understanding of the social contradictions of classes and material conditions, and not in a vague need for "social change" nor in a more radically formulated "disgust with men as exploiters, " can sustain a lasting movement. The collective made an important contribution to feminist criticism; nevertheless we felt that certain fundamental ideological questions should be raised in addition not only to the paper but also to a discussion of feminism in general. "The Politics of Popularity in Elle": Mary Ann Burke This paper discusses Elle as a space of exchange in which rhetorical structuring informs as well as translates the readers' concept of woman. The analysis focuses on the operational polarization of terms used to express woman (normal/ abnormal = subservient/dominant) which explicitly is directed against the separatist politics of radical feminism.” This polarization, however, is a rhetorical posture in the sense that it superficially centers on a highly biased and dialectical examination of the two terms and thus gives the impression that one term will eventually appropriate the other, whereas its true function is first to render both terms equally unacceptable, and then to create a space of desire for a mediating third term. The latter is found by moving from an authoritarian concept of female/ male relationships in which one sex must transcend the other to a politics of immanence in which woman's "otherness" is no longer defined in terms of hierarchy: in her difference woman coexists with man in a sororal-fraternal context which allows her to form a separate image of herself without having recourse to separatism itself. Elle never confronts the problem of how to define "otherness, " although one feels that it ultimately would be on the basis of traditional sex roles, an implicit return to authoritarianism. The conclusion is that the rhetorical structuring of Elle creates a framework of duplicity as it postulates two terms which conceal and lead to a third which in turn leads back to the initial bias. "A Critical Look at Brigitte": Dorothy Wartenberg Brigitte, for almost twenty years one of the most popular women's magazines in Germany, has gradually opened its editorial pages to items on women's rights in the past five years. Brigitte's progress is deceptive, however, since most of the editorial material, including interviews and short stories, reinforces the traditional view of woman as wife, mother or virginal ingenue. Beauty, fashion and cooking features still predominate and are designed to occupy the greater part of the reader's day. Advertising, which accounts for an average of 55% of the magazine's space, presents woman in a less inhibited but also traditional role-- that of primitive temptress, vamp, or mistress. Brigitte's editorial features on behalf of the "new woman" are thus successfully "de-fused" by a sophisticated and insistent appeal to women as consumers, in the old, familiar roles. -6- Retreat Discussions: The workshop on feminist pedagogy and feminist literary criticism had originally been planned for Friday night. But, though we began with the discussion of feminist pedagogy because it seemed easier to deal with, we found that we had so much to say on the subject that the discussion of criticism had to be postponed to Saturday. We began by speaking about teaching techniques which some of us had been able to use in classes about women in literature, with a majority of women students. But we also recognized that most of us are not able to teach women's courses every semester (or even at all). So we also tried to determine whether some of the teaching techniques we seemed to be identifying as "feminist" could be applied to standard German department course offerings. Many of us, it seems, use techniques to break down "male" authority patterns and humanize our classrooms, both in literature and language classes, and we were able to share many of the techniques with which we have experimented. We do not have the concrete examples discussed at the workshop ready at this time, but we would like to print them in the next newsletter. Those of you who were not at the Ohio retreat may wish to send us descriptions of your reading experiences. Our experiments seem to have met with varying degrees of success: though students generally respond positively, some of us have met resistance to our techniques both from students and from our male colleagues. What was most exciting about the workshop was the feeling of support and solidarity which derived from discovering that a great many women were struggling to create an alternative classroom situation which would reflect our feminist principles. It was exciting as well to discover many of us felt that feminists should not only examine a different subject matter, but that they should do it in a different way (i.e. , feminism changes form as well as content). One discussion participant indicated that she had attended many Women's Studies conferences, but had never participated in a workshop which devoted so much attention to "process" (i.e., the way in which a group activity takes place in contrast to the subject with which it is dealing), and she hoped that this indicated a new direction for Women's Studies as a whole. Sara Lennox Saturday evening's discussion of Neglected Women Writers was tied into the continuing discussion of feminist criticism and centered on two major foci: the quantitative or bibliographical problem of locating material about and by women writers and the much more complex qualitative issue of which writers are worth dealing with from the point of view of feminist values and/or literary merit. After a lively exchange of bibliographic leads and resources, discussion centered on the second question. All participants agreed this topic was far too profound to resolve without a great deal of ground work, which would probably have to be undertaken by groups rather than individuals. It was finally decided that we will use the forthcoming year until our next workshop to explore the terrain and come to the 1977 session prepared to suggest periods in which we wish to concentrate our energies and form work groups for collective research and the pooling of resources. Persons with suggestions in this respect or interest in organizing such work groups should contact Pat Herminghouse or the workshop planners. Pat Herminghouse -7- "Women in German Literature: Ideas on how to teach the course" The main points covered in the discussion included: (1) practical administrative questions (e.g., course approval, class size); (2) goals of the course; (3) student reaction; (4) suggestions for changes. The course I taught in the Fall of 1975 tried to investigate the changing literary and social roles and images of women from the beginning of the 19th Century to the present day: Woman as seen by man, by another woman and in introspection. Following an introduction to feminist criticism the investigation focused more specifically on major questions such as: Which roles did women play (stereotype or not) ? Which themes were prevalent for different authors and to what extent did they change? Why do we find certain images or roles at a particular time and what social, historical, or psychological factors influenced certain interpretations of female characters? The literary images of women were discussed in works by Goethe, Schiller, Bettina von Arnim, F. Schlegel, Droste-Hiilshoff, Grillparzer, Ibsen, Schnitzler, Aichinger, Bachmann, Wohmann, Bruning and Wolf. Excerpts from works by Bebel, Baumer, Zetkin, Nietzsche, Freud, Helwig, Friedan, Beauvoir and Schwarzer provided an insight into the social role of woman in the past and today. Elke Frederickson Women in Literature Work shop--Women's Role--Myth and Reality An interdisciplinary course taught by women faculty members from the Departments of Biology, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, History, English and Foreign Languages. Topics examined included: Biology of Sex and Motherhood - basic text Males and Females Experiments on Nurturing: Mothering and Freud's Theories on Women's Sexuality - On the Psychology of Women Motherhood in American History - The Oven Birds Mother Figures in Shakespeare Coriolanus and Shakespeare's androgynous heroines Non-motherhood Of particular interest to Teachers of Women in German The Mother Figures in The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Yerma Doris Auerbach MEETINGS Several sessions of the M.L.A. this December inN.Y.C. are of particular interest to Women in German. These are listed below. However, we also urge our coalition members to attend the many interesting sessions sponsored by such caucuses as the Women's Caucus for the Modern Languages, the Radical Caucus, the Gay Caucus, and the Marxist Literary Group--all of whom take special care to integrate a focus on women in their program. These groups are interested in enlarging their horizons to include the relatively neglected area of German studies. If we wish German to be more fully represented, all we need to do is provide the material. </div> -8- <div class="WordSection4"> Special German sessions at the M.L.A.: 1. "Women Figures in the Works of Berfolt Brecht. " Tuesday, 12/28/76, 2:30 p.m., Rendezvous Room, Hilton 2. The Twentieth Century German Literature section is featuring a focus on women under its title "Prose Fiction, New Forms, Neglected Writers. " Hilde Domin will speak about her own work; Richard Johnson will speak on Gabriele Reuter; Sigrid Bauschinger on Annette Kolb; Pat Russian on women as neglected and excluded writers. 3. There will also be a Coalition meeting of Women in German Tuesday, 10/26/76, 10:30 a.m., Room 520, Hilton. Be sure to attend. Especially for those who could not attend the Ohio retreat and symposium it will be an excellent opportunity to meet face to face, to exchange ideas and information. In April 1977, there will be the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Columbus, Ohio. Textbook authors will be present to answer questions. We think this will be a great opportunity to talk once again about sexism in textbooks. If you need more information on this conference, please write to Ursula Haas, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202 (Department of Romance and Germanic Languages and Literature). SYLLABI Printed below are two syllabi--one for a course in progress at Indiana University which has focused on twentieth-century autobiographies by women and one for a course on 'Women Writers since 1945' to be offered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in spring semester. We encourage readers to submit their own course proposals or the syllabi they have developed for courses of interest to "Women in German." The following is a reading list from a Women in German reading group at Indiana University, compiled and discussed in part as a preparation for the course on Autobiography. The course list is then given below. Klara Mülller Jahnke: Wir Frauen Emma Doltz: Hoffnung; Die Heimarbeiterin Margarete Beutler: Die Büros; Die Brücke; Moderne Familie; Die Puppe; An einen moralischen Freund; Nach der Weinlese; Der Garten; Herbstrausch Ricarda Huch: Mondaufgang; Frühlingstriumph; Frauen 1; Tropft die Stunde nieder. . . Ricarda Huch: Mein erstes Jahrzehnt (essay) Hertha Kraftner: Betrunkene Nacht; Dorfabend; Wer glaubt noch Gertrud Kolmar: Troglodytin; Die Dichterin; Die gelbe Schlange; Wahn Elsa Lasker-Schüler: Weltschmerz; Weltende; Mein blaues Klavier Elsa Lasker-Schüler: Der letzte Schultag (essay) Hilde Domin: Geburtstage Renate Rasp: Die Beiden; Russisch Leder; Bildnis * Lyrical poetry Unless otherwise indicated -9- Rosa Luxemburg: Frauenwahlrecht und Klassenkampf (political article) Klara Zetkin: Die Anfänge der bürgerlichen Frauenbewegung in Deutschland (historical essay) Gertrud Bäumer: Die Frau in der Krise der Kultur (essay) Gabriele Reuter: Das Tränenhaus * * * * * Gertrud Bäumer: Lebensweg durch eine Zeitenwende Helene Lange: Lebenserinnerungen Adelheid Popp: Jugendgeschichte einer Arbeiterin Alma Mahler-Werfel: Mein Leben Christa Wolf: Nachdenken über Christa T. Karin Struck: Klassenliebe Syllabus for German Women Writers since 1945: Evelyn Beck, Instructor This course is viewed as an exploration rather than a definitive conclusion about the terrain, which as yet remains largely unknown. The list of texts was chosen to represent a spectrum of women's writing in those genres in which women have been productive: short fiction, the novel, and reportage. Availability of texts in paperback was an important determining factor in this reading list. Luise Rinser: Mitte des Lebens. Fischer Bd. 256 Ingeborg Bachmann: Simultan. DTV 1031 Barbara König: Die Personen person. DTV 438 Ursula Erler: Die neue Sophie. Raith Verlag Karin Struck. Klassenliebe. Suhrkamp Christa Wolf: Nachdenken über Christa T. Luchterhand Ingeborg Drewitz: Wer verteidigt Katrin Lambert? Fischer 1734 Verena Stefan: Häutungen. Verlag Frauenoffensive Erika Runge: Frauen. Suhrkamp 359 Sarah Kirsch: Die Pantherfrau. Langewiesch Brandt Alice Schwarzer: Der Kleine Unterschied und seine grossen Folgen. Fischer In addition, short stories by Anna Seghers, Marie Luise Fleisser, Helga Novak, Sigrid Brunk, Gabrielle Wohmann, Angelika Mechtel and Gisela Eisner will be handed out. If it were less expensive and easier to obtain we would include Irmtraud Morgner's very important feminist novel, Leben und Abenteuer der Trobadora Beatriz nach Zeugnissen ihrer Spielfrau Laura, on the regular reading list. As an interim procedure we will place this on reserve and bring it into the class by means of oral reports. -10- The following chronology was prepared by Jan Brown-Lowe (Bloomington, Indiana). We would like to extend it beyond 1930 and expand on the period from 1848-1930 if possible. Please send your contributions for use in the next newsletter. ZEITTAFEL DER DEUTSCHEN FRAUENBEWEGUNGEN 1848 - Revolution; Anspruch des bürgerlichen Standes auf politische Rechte; Einfluss auf Louise Otto-Peters, Redakteurin der Zeitschrift "Die Frauenzeitung" bis 1850. Kommunitisches Manifest von Marx; standige Industrializierung Deutschlands Zahl Männer zu Frauen in Fabriken 5:1 1850-1860 - politische Reaktion; Vereine von Dienstboten, Näherinnen und Krankenpflegerinnen gingen ein. 1851 - Gesetz gegen Zugehörigkeit von "Frauenpersonen, Geisteskranken, Schülern und Lehrlinge" zu politischen Vereinen. 1865 - Lette-Verein, Berlin. Unterstutzung von Kaiserin. Ziel: Ausbildung von Frauen im Proletariat und Mittelstand. Der Allgemeine deutsche Frauenverein, Leipzig. Leitung von Louise Otto-Peters und Auguste Schmidt. Ziel: Wohltatigkeitsprogramm, Ausbildung, Forderung pol. Rechte. Besprechung der Frauenfrage in den, sozialdemokratischen Parteien mit keinen bestimmten Ergebnissen; beeinflusst von bürgerlicher Auffassung der Frau. 1868 - Frauen als vollberechtige Genossen in der Internationale. 1869 - Debate in der Partei über Definition von Frauenarbeit - Verbot oder Forderung? Stellung zum Wahlrecht - für alle oder nur Männer? 1875 - Parteitag in Gotha; Wahlrecht fur "alle Staatsangehorige" 1877 - Lette-Verein und AdF erreichen Zahl von 25,000 Mitglieder. Weitere Erkenntnis der Probleme erwerbstatiger Frauen. 1878 - Ausnahmegesetz gegen die Sozialdemokratie bis 1890. Bebels Frau und Sozialismus; Frauenfrage fest im Zentrum der Arbeiterfrage. 1884 - Engels Ursprung der Familie, des Privateigentums und des Staates; Kritik an persönlicherVersklavung der Frau. 1885-1890 - Möglichkeit einer Zusammenarbeit von beiden Bewegungen abgelehnt. 1887 - Lange; Petition für höhere Mädchenschule und ihre Bestimmung vor dem preussischen Landtag. 1890 - Klara Zetkin als anerkannte Vertreterin der Bewegung in der Partei. Redakteurin "Die Gleichkeit" - theoretisch. -11- 1890 - Lange; Allgemeine deutsche Lehrerinnenverein. 1892 - Begriff "Vertrauenpersonen" erlaubte Frauentatigkeit in der SPD. 1893 - Lange; erstes Gymnasium. für Mädchen Internationaler Frauenkongress, Chicago. 1894 - Sozialdemokraten verlangten Wahlrecht fur Frauen im Reichstag; erfolglos. Lange; Bund deutscher Frauenvereine "Die Frau" unter Mitarbeit Lange und Bäumer. 1895 - 19% aller Frauen in Deutschland berufstätig. 1900-1914 intensiver Kampf für Wahlrecht 1907 - 30% aller Frauen in Deutschland berufstätig. 1908 - Zulassung Frauen auf Universitäten. Ende des Verbots gegen Frauen in politischen Vereinen. 1914 - Kriegsausbruch; nationale Farbung beider Bewegungen. Prozent der Frauen in Industrien stieg auf 152% in den Kriegsjahren. 1918 - Frauen durch allgemeine Arbeitslosigkeit sehr betroffen. 1919 - Erwerbung des Wahlrechts in der Weimar Verfassung. 1920-1930 - Zerspaltung beider Bewegungen, begrenter Einfluss. Auflösung unter kommenden Faschismus. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This newsletter was prepared by Sara Pietsch, Evelyn Torton Beck, Biddy Martin, Viktoria Harwig, Christa Stutius, and Angelika Bammer. -12- FRAUEN KOMMT HER frauen kommt her, wir tun uns zusammen frauen kommt her, wir tun uns zusammen frauen kommt her, wir tun uns zusammen gemeinsam sind wir stark. solang du allein, wirst du getreten solang du allein, kannst du dich nicht wehren solang du allein, musst du dich fügen tag und nacht. du sollst für ihn eine gute frau sein: und seinen kindern eine gute mutter sein du sollst vor allem die drecksarbeit zu hause tun das alles nur aus liebe. -13- Textbook: German Women Writers in Translation--progress report and important questionnaire I have received a positive response on publishing an anthology of German women writers in translation. According to the prospective publisher, I need "informal assurances of course adoption from 25 to 35 teachers." The publisher wants to know names, college affiliations, title of the course, and approximate number of students in each class. Therefore, I am asking coalition members to indicate their interest in the proposed anthology at the bottom of this sheet on the form provided. I would also appreciate your contacting women's studies institutes on your campus or colleagues in your department. I propose three possible approaches to such a text and am open to further suggestions or alterations. Please note that the anthology will contain biographical and bibliographical material plus notes, and will largely include literary selections not previously available, from all German speaking countries. The possibilities I envision are: 1) Post World War II German women writers from East and West (primarily prose fiction and some poetry) 2) Women's Voices of the 20th century: (to include non-fiction as well): topical sections might include: Woman as hero; woman alone; the battle of the sexes*; women about women. *the publisher especially liked this sub-topic 3) German women speak of their experiences: selections from women's diaries, letters, memoirs, journals (mainly 20th century?) Please indicate which of the three possibilities you like best; or, if you have other suggestions, write them in the space provided. This informal adoption notice is not legally binding, but is meant to provide the publisher with some assurance of a market for this text. Projected size of book, 250 pages, estimated cost for paperback, between 5 and 6 dollars. Suggestions and Comments: Yes, I would use an anthology of work by German women writers in translation in my class. I prefer (1)__ (2)__ (3)__. Name________________ College affiliation_________ Title of Course _________ Estimated enrollment_______________ Return to Naomi Stephan, Department of Modern Languages, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana 46383. </div> </div> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pietsch, Sara Torton Beck, Evelyn Martin, Biddy Harwig, Viktoria Stutius, Christa Bammer, Angelika Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976/12/01 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1976_Dec Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/5750d913fdfe716c7ea77a285cc6fc23.jpg a73aaf848ee5adaaad7413ea550c78e2 https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/345171c33c873549cc6620db10b65f82.JPG 2b3c01888d9a12bb7acbeaaaf9e7dd39 Document Miscellaneous text documents, including newsletters, calls for papers, printed promotional materials, etc. Text Any textual data included in the document Oct. 20 Dear Pat, Enclosed a $5 check to help finance Rinser's visit. I wish I could contribute more, but I am on a leave of absence without path this year, so... See at the MLA. Alles Gute Marc Silberman Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Undated Note from Marc Silberman Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Silberman, Marc Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Unknown Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Still Image Description An account of the resource Oct. 20 Dear Pat, Enclosed a $5 check to help finance Rinser's visit. I wish I could contribute more, but I am on a leave of absence without pay this year, so... See [sic] at the MLA Alles Gute Marc Silberman Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Unpublished Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Beth Ann Muellner, digitized Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG Language A language of the resource eng Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Mar 20 Year Unknown from Marc Silberman https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/6ac97d0b2389a3705e81aa7f2a179676.pdf 8334911e83aad8c9f29ad4cd612f29f3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource March 1977 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Description An account of the resource <div class="WordSection1"> WOMEN IN GERMAN Number 10 March 1, 1977 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) As this issue of our newsletter makes clear, we have been extremely successful in establishing sections at professional meetings on the topic relating to feminist research. Nonetheless we must continue our effort to assure that these sections become permanent. The best way to make these sections productive is to submit papers and abstracts. For this reason, we encourage you to respond to the announcements. If you do not have a paper ready, a one-page abstract will often suffice. In spite of the outburst of activities at professional meetings, there are still many women who are isolated in their jobs and who would like to contact other coalition members in their vicinity. For this reason we would like to publish a list of the names and addresses of all coalition members in our next newsletter. Before we do this we want to make sure that there is no one who objects to having her or his name made public. If you would prefer that we omit your name, please contact us immediately. You can look forward to finding out who your neighbors are very soon. Also of special interest for our coalition members is the formation of the NWSTA National Women * s Studies Association which is interdisciplinary and dedicated to promoting feminist research on all levels and in all educational settings. The interdisciplinary nature of this association makes it particularly important that people doing research in German participate in this effort. The promoters of this organization will be regional organizations. A mailing will soon go out to all feminist studies programs and centers. As soon as forms are available we will make them public in our newsletter. If you are near a Women’s Studies Program contact it for further information. For more specific information now, write NWSTA, Sylvia Gonzales, San Jose State, San Jose, California. CALL FOR PAPERS New German Critique is planning to devote one issue to the subject of Women trom a socialist feminist perspective. Contributions are being actively solicited and should be sent to Renny Harrigan, German Department, University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee (UWM). The deadline is May 1. ***************** The Midwest Modern Language Association Section on Women and Literature is requesting papers to be the basis of discussion at the MMLA annual meeting in Chicago, October 27-29, 1977, under the title: "The Imaging I: Self-Exploration in Poetry by Women of Many Cultures." Papers on non-English-speaking poets are encouraged. Among ______________________________ Please note that we have once again sent this Newsletter first class due to the continuing deterioration of the Postal Service and the enthusiastic response of our subscribers This has further depleted our funds, but we still think it worthwhile. For this reason, we must urge all those who have not yet sent their $2 for this year to do so immediately. If anyone feels able to send more, please do. We need it. </div> -2- <div class="WordSection2"> relevant issues that might be explored are the relationship between the selfimage and the poetic image; the place of self-examination in the poet’s oeuvre; the self-images and poetic forms women use; the effect of feminism on women’s work. Translations of foreign texts should be provided. Maximum length is 8 single-spaced pages. Send one copy to each of the following persons by May 1: Nadean Bishop, Women's Studies Program, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197; and Sue Lanser, Women’s Studies Program, University of Wisconsin, 209 North Brooks Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. ********************** "Women and Literary Circles in the 19th Century" "Women in German" will be sponsoring two special sessions at the next annual meeting of the MLA on the topic of women and literary circles in the nineteenth century. The term "literary circle" may be taken in its broadest sense to include groups consisting of a handful of friends as well as more formally organized literary societies or salons. Besides papers on the historical role of women in the literary circle, preference will be given to those women associated with literary circles who actually wrote critical, literary, or autobiographical works. The nineteenth century would encompass the periods of German Romanticism, 1848, and the turn of the century. The first session will be primarily informational and will consist of 3-4 short papers (10-15 mins.). We would therefore request that the participants prepare both a detailed abstract and a general bibliography for general distribution at the session. The second session will be devoted to a discussion of that material. Those interested in submitting proposals for papers, in contributing bibliographical material independent of a paper, or in participating as a discussion leader for the second session should contact both: Helen Cafferty, German Dept., Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 04011 and Susan L. Cocalis, German Dept./Herter Hall, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. 01003. Proposal deadline (in duplicate) is between Apr. 15 and May 1, 1977 and tentative paper deadline is between Aug. 1 and Sept. 1, 1977. ********************** Women in German Caucus NEMLA Conference in Pittsburth April 23, 1977, 8:30 AM Co-Chairpersons: Sara Lennox, Univ. of Massachusetts Irmgard Taylor, SUNY Cortland ********************** I would like to ask you to report in the next Newsletter that the first Women in German meeting at the SAMLA convention (Nov. 4-6, 1976) was very successful. It was well attended and the discussion lasted more than 11/2 hours. As a result we were able to establish a new 2-hour workshop for the SAMLA convention in Washington D.C. from Nov. 3-5, 1977. The topics of the workshop will be: 1. First hour: Refocusing the Image of Women in German Courses. Eight minute presentations on one of the following aspects will be followed by discussion: Language, Literature, Culture and Civilization. Send papers before April 1 to: Marilyn Scott-Jones, [redacted] -3- 2. Second hour: Present Research on Women in German Literature. Brief presentations or project summaries will be followed by discussion. Send proposals by April 1 to: Elke Frederiksen, Dept. of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Maryland, College Park, Md. 20742. *********************** The Marxist Literary Group (MLG) of the Midwest Modern Language Association is soliciting papers for the Marxist Forum at the MMLA in Chicago from Oct. 27-29, 1977 in Chicago. The topic is an Application of Marxist Feminist Criticism. The subject aims at a synthesis of Marxism and Feminism and is of central interest to those who believe that traditional Marxism has not dealt with Feminism as well as to those who believe that Marxism is capable of dealing with Feminism. Papers should be no more than 8 pages single-spaced and should be submitted by the beginning of May to the coordinator of this forum. Abstracts should be submitted by the beginning of April. As usual, collective papers and projects are encouraged. Any questions should be directed to the coordinators: Renny Harrigan, German Dept., [redacted] UWM, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201: Renate Holub, Univ. of Wise./Madison, Dept. of French & Italian, 1220 Linden Drive, Van Hise Hall, Madison, Wis. 53706. German topics are often neglected in larger symposia. It is up to us to make sure it is represented. ************************ Midwest Modem Language Association (Oct. 1977, Chicago) Marxist Literary Group Forum: "The Progressive Teacher" Themes for 1977: Imperialism, racism and sexism in the classroom A critique of literary works and textbooks. As teachers we must realize that we are powerful change agents and as progressive teachers we must utilize our knowledge and skills to expose and identify the real causes of the injustices which exist in our society. Education has been used to perpetuate and promote the status quo and no one but teachers will be able to offer a progressive alternative. This year our theme will focus on ruling class idology; namely imperialism, racism and sexism in literary works and textbooks. We want to share your observations and your efforts to make education promote human rights. Send your papers to Guy Levilain, Brown Hall, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minn. 56301. Length of papers: 8 pages single-spaced Deadline for title and short description: April 15, 1977 Deadline for submitting papers: August 15, 1977 Possible topics could include other discriminations based on age and sexual preference. ************************ -4- LETTERS Dear Women in German: Since I have been working, for some years, in the field of Austrian literature, I have become quite well acquainted with the Austrian women's movement and its history. Being an Austrian and having studied there, I have of course been involved in the modern developments. Having a mother who was herself extremely active in the women's movement when young, adds a special background. I have felt that the Austrian women's movement was as a rule, a little overshadowed by the German movement, though it had produced very able and interesting leaders. I now wonder whether you know of any other women interested in the Austrian movement, and whether an "Arbeitsgruppe Osterreich" might not be called for. I have myself taken a step in that direction and committed myself to writing an article on Rosa Mayreder for a special issue of MAL, which I had suggested. If you have any suggestions or ideas concerning a group interested in Austria's women's movement, I would very much appreciate your contacting me. Sincerely yours, Hertha Krotkoff [redacted] Dear Women in German: A new organization welcoming members interested in German history, literature, philosophy, politics, geopolitics, and related studies. We publish a NEWSLETTER, carrying information about grants, library collections, recent publications, travel by visiting scholars, and diplomats, and news of current research. We also hold an annual conference and sponsor meetings in conjunction with other professional organizations, offering opportunities for the presentation of research papers. We expect shortly to begin the publication of a journal. For membership information please contact me. The annual membership fee is $10 ($2, non-voting membership available to students). Sincerely, Prof. Gerald R. Kleinfeld Secretary/Treasurer Westerna Assoc, for German Studies Dept. of History Arizona State University Tempe, Ariz. 85281 Dear Women in German: Perhaps you recall from our meeting of Women in German at the last Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association of America in Dec. 1976 in New York, that I tried to draw the attention of the members present to our first inter- discinplinary Western Association for German Studies, founded in 1976. As a member of the Executive Committee of that organization I write to you, in order to ask you to kindly announce the existence of our organization in your next Women in German Newsletter. In order to simplify matters I enclose a membership form containing the pertinent details. </div> -5- Would you also announce that our first annual convention will take place on this campus, Oct. 21-22, and that a call for papers is sent to all individuals interested in the conference theme "The Federal Republic of Germany since 1945," but that topics of general interest are also considered. Abstracts in English to be submitted to Prof. Douglas F. Tobler, Dept. of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, tentative deadline April 30. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Ingeborg L. Carlson Arizona State Univ. Temple, Ariz. 85281 Dear Women in German I would like to see the present discussion of sexism in textbooks expanded to cover a broader range of materials, perhaps in a series entitles "Sexism in the Presentation of Women in Cultural Materials." Here I am thinking especially of films and cultural materials we receive from West and East Germany, Austria and Switzerland for use in American classrooms. The regional consulates of the FRG distribute several films, on women which I am using in culture courses, and which need badly some feminist critique, also as a feedback to Internationes. Almost all of these films are recent, are commissioned at quite some expense, and show not only ignorance, but also bias, even if not intentional bias. You may have seen such a "harmless" film as "Salzburg, Jedermann-Stadt" (the German and the English version is sent by the Austrian Institute all over the country). In this new film, apparently commissioned for audiences abroad, the city of Salzburg is presented through the eyes and the life style of a middle-aged man with all his hang-ups and blurred vision concerning women. Such films as well as pertinent passages in Facts about Germany, in the leaflet German Women, or in Austria: Facts and Figures need some close scrutiny. PS: It occurs to me that at the next larger meeting (MLA, AATG) Women in German should request a time in the afternoon or evening of two hours, one for a program and immediately following a social hour for individual contacts—there is little opportunity for meeting and talking to other women for those of us not in the modern period. Sincerely yours, Baerbel Becker-Cantarino Dept of Germanic Lang. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712 This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Sara Markham Peitsch, Angelika Shalter and Christa Stutius. Typing was donated by Marsha Meyer. Enclosed, please find my $2 ($1) for a years subscription to Women in German. Send your check to: Women in German, German Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. Name:____________________________________ Address:___________________________________ -6- The second Retreat/Symposium will take place in Oxford, Ohio on September 23 to 25, 1977 (Friday thru Sunday). We again reserved the camp we used last year, which is free of charge. It is big enough for a meeting of 40-50 people but has only 14 beds. Therefore, those coming by car are requested to bring folding beds along. Alternate sleeping arrangements would be with the Miami women or in near-by motels (at extra expense). Registration fee to cover food and expenses, is $10.- again. However, it was the consensus of last year's participants that those living close enough to come by car and thus having less travel expenses them those having to come by plane, should be requested to make an extra donation to a travel fund. This travel fund would be used to contribute to the expenses of those who come from far away. Please be considerate of the organizers and register early. Let us know of any change in plans as soon as possible. We will do our best to make things work out smoothly. Looking forward to another successful retreat with you, Gisela Bahr ----------- REGISTRATION FORM------------------ I want to register for the retreat on September 23-25, 1977. Registration Fee of $10.00 ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later Donation to Travel Fund in the amount of $____________ ( ) enclosed (___) will be mailed later (Make checks payable to Gisela Bahr) I want to stay ( ) at the camp. ( ) will bring a folding bed (I understand that I need to bring a sleeping bag). ( ) with friends ( ) at a motel (please send information) I shall need day care for ___{no.) children, age ________ I expect to arrive on ______ ( ) by car ( ) by plane; will inform you of airport (Dayton or Cincinnati), time of arrival and departure, flight number as soon as possible. NAME ______________ TELEPHONE ____________ MAILING ADDRESS __________________________________________ Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (4x9) so that we can send you further instructions, and mail to Gisela Bahr, Dept. of GREAL, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Harwig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Markham Peitsch, Sara Shalter, Angelika Stutius, Christa Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977/03/01 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Marsha Meyer - typed Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1977_Mar Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/6a4ad19fb8469fd173ac218070eabaf4.pdf 548aeba9e55a8647b45cbdf894167c4c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource May 1977 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Congresses; Germanists Description An account of the resource <div class="WordSection1"> WOMEN IN GERMAN Number 11 May 20, 1977 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) Since our last newsletter something new has appeared in feminism in the FRG, EMMA IS OUT! Despite the negative predictions of the established press and media the reception of EMMA was phenomenal. The first printing of 200,000 was sold out within one day and the second printing of 100,000 within two days. EMMA, initiated by Alice Schwarzer, is a broad spectrum magazine modelled on MS in its best days and is intended to reach a wide variety of women. Fortunately EMMA this far is without ads. Because it was so quickly sold out we were unable to see the first issue. Issues 2 and 3 have arrived and they include monthly columns like t PASCHA OF THE MONTH AWARD (see p.8 of ♀ in German), DO IT YOURSELF (how to change tires:) and UNSERE SCHWESTERN VON GESTERN- MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, LUISE OTTO-PETERS. Furthermore EMMA has film, TV and book reviews, each month an article on different aspects of women’s work, on women’s sexuality. Very interesting are the articles on MANNER- JUSTIZ, WOMEN AND ALCOHOLISM, WOMEN IN THE GDR, BATTERED WIVES AND FRAUENHAUSER, and CLITORECTOMY. As you can see the range of topics is very broad. The necessity of reaching and maintaining a mass audience raises the question of whether EMMA must as of now avoid certain political topics such as the change for socialism or controversial ones like lesbianism and homosexuality. It is obvious from our lengthy description of EMMA that we consider it an important publication of West German feminism. SUBSCRIBE and get your library to subscribe. The address: EMMA [redacted] $1.75 per issue (3.00DM) 36.00DM/40.80DM (Ausland) per year Should you go to West Germany this summer, you can pick up EMMA at the newsstands and women’s bookstores. Also bring back any new information from the GDR or from the FRG and share it with Women in German. CALL FOR PAPERS The WOMEN IN GERMAN Pedagogical Session of the AATG, to be held 24 November 1977» San Francisco, from 4:OO-6:OOpm, is calling for papers dealing with the topic ’’Affirmative Action in the Teaching of German: Erasing Stereotypes." Successful approaches to combating stereotypes and methods of dealing with sexism in the teaching of -2- German at various levels are welcome: high school, introductory and intermediate college courses, culture courses, literature at all levels, and advanced language skills courses. Send copies of papers or ideas for the workshop to each of the co-chairpersons by 30 May 1977s Jeanette Clausen, Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages, Indiana University, Fort Wayne, IN 46805 and Marjorie Tussing, Foreign Language Dept., California State University, Fullerton,CA 92634. ****** Papers on feminist topics are being solicited for the Northeast MLA conference session of "William Godwin and the Prose of his Time: European Literature of the 18th Century,” which will take place in Albany N.Y. in April 1978. Proposals of 1-1 1/2 pages are presently requested for papers emphasizing social aspects of European 18th century prose (novels, satires, tracts). Proposals should be submitted by December 15, 1977 to the chair: Ruth H. Sanders, Dept. of German, Russian and East Asian, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. ****** In 1978 the MLA section on 19th and early 20th century literature will have as its topic ’’Feminist Approaches to the Literature of this Period.” The topic has been loosely defined so that prospective participants would not feel restricted. However, the selection of papers (3 or 4 15 min. papers) will be made according to subject matter so that together they will make for a coherent program. Deadline for abstracts: March 15, 1978. Please send them to Gisela Bahr, Dept. of German, Russian and East Asian, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. ****** RETREAT To judge from last year’s Zeitaufteilung at the Blockhaus retreat, we would have three time sections for matters immediately dealing with Women in German. At this year’s retreat we would like to organize a program that will enhance an open and free atmosphere and an enthusiastic exchange of ideas, and at the same time avoid the "chaos" of exchanging important ideas and information inbetween talks to individual members of the conference and the retreat. We think that it would be ideal if all participants could not only leave the conference with the feeling of growing strength and solidarity but also with a very concrete package of dittos with new adresses, additional names, bibliographies, theses etc. to be utilized during the coming year. -3- After your arrival at the Blockhaus in the afternoon we will show a film in the evening. We have not received definite word that we can show Mädchen in Uniform as many of you expressed interest in seeing and discussing. We are also considering two new short films made by contemporary feminists in West Germany. For your specific preferences and suggestions please contact us as soon as possible. In any event, we plan on previewing the film and writing down a few theses and questions that come out of the collective discussion of the Women in German Redaktionsteam. For the evening after the symposium our plans are to select a poem by Gabriele Wohmarua, ditto it, develop a few theses and mail these in addition to the information about the film to all members of Women in German by the beginning of September before the retreat. Of course, we will have a party after the discussion. Bring your favorite feminist records along, and T-shirts and buttons etc. After a day’s conference and a heavy evening discussion we will all have deserved a relaxing and fun-filled social. The third session is open to your suggestions. There is no real consensus left among Women in German as to what exactly we decided to do last year. As far as we remember we wanted to have reports of Arbeitsgruppen on neglected women writers, information on new publications on feminism here and in the two Germanies, an exchange of important ’’old" bibliographies and reference works that are not easily found etc. etc. We urge all of you to write to Christa and Viktoria if you have something prepared for a meeting of that kind, how much time you think you need for your presentation etc. These organizational points are again meant in the spirit of us being able to take as much handfeste Information home as possible. As far as the retreat in general is concerned, we want to bring up one problem which has caused some of our members grief and dissatisfaction, namely, how do Women in German people and other politically sympathetic groups interact during the sessions at professional conferences. We hate to squeeze this discussion into any given part of the program. We believe that many of you have specific experiences concerning these matters. Bring your ideas and opinions and if nowhere else, we could incorporate these matters into the discussion on Wohmann and the women’s question as an essential aspect of the larger "social question". A last words there is a surprise coming for all of you, which of course will not be mailed out to any of you before the conference. REVIEWS German Women Writers since 1945 Because women writers are now getting more attention both in the classroom and at conferences, such as the recent Amherst Colloquium on Women, we are able to resume our Dialog column. -4- We received the following two comments on the work of Bachmann; the first grew out of classroom discussion at Wisconsin; the second is a summary of a paper presented at Amherst. In the story "Probleme, Probleme" in the Simultan collection Ingeborg Bachmann portrays the dilemma of Beatrix, but fails to bring the character beyond her crisis towards a resolution. This young Viennese woman has consciously tried to divorce herself from society in order to escape its inequities. She circumvents social pressures through a perverse obsession with sleep, Beatrix refuses to seek employment since work would only further alienate her. This character’s empty life is filled with visits to the beauty parlor. These excursions nurture her ego and help her escape reality. A contradiction in consciousness emerges as Beatrix demands such services from the beauty shop attendants, as she herself would never perform. Beatrix loathes and fears becoming dependent upon a man. She realizes that sexual politics are involved in her relationship with Erich but does nothing to breakout of the mold he has cast for her. Despite this fact, Beatrix makes no attempt to destroy Erich’s illusions of her. Although she questions all other social standards, Beatrix never challenges the heterosexual convention. Her individuality lies in her withdrawal from productive action and in her power to refuse. These traits distinguish Beatrix from those around her and establish her as a negative example. The furthest possible development for such a character is the realization of inadequacy. Beatrix is therefore unable to change her life. Ingeborg Bachmann appears confused as to how to vent the contradictions within this character. Rather than satisfactorily resolve Beatrix’ problems, the author abandons her to a nervous breakdown. -Nadia Donchenko University of Wisconsin-Madison My paper was entitled "Verzicht auf den Mann. Zu Ingeborg Bachmanns Erzählungen Simultan”; In ihrem 1972 erschienenem Erzahlband Simultan entwirft Ingeborg Bachmann ein Bild vom modernen Frauenbewußtsein. Suche und Hoffnung der Frau, das Lebensglück in der Liebe zu finden, sind- so ergibt sich aus diesem Bild- überholt. Die Selbstdarstellung der Frau, die in Simultan zum Ausdruck kommt, hat sich bei Bachmann erst allmählich entwickelt, denn in ihrem früheren Werk gab es noch die Große Liebende. Die Hauptgestalt Jennifer im Guten Gott von Manhattan ist der grenzenlosen, verzehrenden Leidenschaft ausgeliefert. In Simultan dagegen herrscht von Seiten der Frau Langeweile, Mißtrauen, Angst, Zweifel, Enttäuschung, Gleichgültigkeit. Die ablehnende oder gleichgültige Haltung der Frau wird von Bachmann nicht als Losung angesehen, sondern als etwas Notwendiges und Unvermeidliches. Es gibt keine Rückkehr mehr in die traditionelle Beziehung. Ob es eines Tages anders wird, ob Mann und Frau sich einmal neu zusammenfinden werden, bleibt eine offene Frage. Bachmann schließt die Möglichkeit nicht aus, aber sie wird lediglich in einer traumhaften, mythischen Sprache beschrieben. -Ellen Summerfield Middlebury College, Vt. -5- We also received the following summary of a paper from Amherst focusing on an East German collection: The paper, entitled "Blitz aus heiterm Himmel: Ein Versuch zur Emanzipation in der DDR," dealt with the 4 contributions of the female authors of this anthology (published by Hinstorf, Rostock, in 1975)s Christa Wolf, "Selbstversuch", Edith Anderson, "Dein fur immer oder nie", Sarah Kirsch, "Blitz aus heiterm Himmel", and Annemarie Auer, "Mythen und Moglichkeiten", from the perspective of their usefulness to raise the reader's consciousness about man/woman relationships. Wolf's story was found reaffirming old stereotypes while the utopian content of the story raised expectations as to a more progressive depiction. Likewise, Anderson's story was judged not at all helpful in that it depicts a woman’s failure to make progress toward emancipation, in an action lull of unconvincing events and motivations. Kirsch’s story was seen as providing a positive alternative in man/woman relations- not yet realized but as an attainable model, raising the question that, if two friends of the same sex can have a friendship based on equality, why can’t man and woman have the same. Auer’s essay provided a useful historical perspective and warns not to underestimate the weight of tradition, and not to be smug about that has already been achieved in matters of emancipation. -Gisela Bahr Miami University Oxford, Ohio Ellen Summerfield also supplied these general remarks: As to general impressions, I felt that this 1977 Amherst Colloquium was of inestimable value to women Germanists and to the profession as a whole. For the first time in my experience, women played a vital and natural role throughout a professional convention. Not only did women deliver a majority of the papers, but they participated actively from the floor during the discussion periods. I would go so far as to say that this was a breakthrough for women Germanists in this country. We invite you to send us your opinions, particularly comments on recent literature by women writers. Next time we expect some dialogue concerning Morgner's important new book, Trobadora Beatriz. BOOKSTORES For those wishing to make direct contact with women’s bookstores, presses, and the like we publish these addresses. Some of you may be able to get to these in person: Frauenbuchläden Berlin: Frauenbuchladen, Yorckstr. 22, 1 Berlin 61 Lilith-Frauenbuchladen, Kantstr. 125, 1 Berlin 12 Hannover: Frauenbuchladen c/o Ingrid Merker, Kollenrodtstr. 55 Frankfurt: Frauenbuchladen, Kiesstr. 27, 6 Frankfurt/M. 90 München: Lillemor’s Frauenbuchladen, Arcisstr. 57, 8 München 40 Wiesbaden: Frauenbuchladen c/o Anke Schäfer, Honiggasse 16, 62 Wiesbaden-Bierstadt -6- Frauenverlage München: Verlag Frauenoffensive, Josephsburgstr. 16, 8 München Münster: Verlag Frauenpolitik, c/o Monika Walther, Christine Steininger, Grevener Str. 165-167, 44 Münster Berlin: Amazonen-Frauenverlag, Gabriele Meixner, Kantstr. 125, 1 Berlin 12 Frauenvertrieb für Berliner Selbstverlag und Amazonen Verlag: Regina Krause, Frauenvertrieb, Glasgower Str. 23, 1 Berlin 65 Frauenkneipen Berlin: Blocksberg, Yorckstr, 48, I Berlin Frankfurt: Frauenkneipe im Frauenhaus, Oppenheimer Landstr. 40, 6 Frankfurt/M. München: Teestube im Frauenzentrum, Gabelsberger Str. 66, 8 München MATERIAL FROM WEST GERMANY Miriam Frank is one of our members currently living in Germany. Feminist Conference About five hundred women were expected to attend a national conference for West German feminists in Munich on March 5-6, and over 1,500 showed up. The conference, organized through the Munich Women's Center, was originally intended to focus on issues brought Up at the Brussels International Tribunal on Violence Against Women (see oob, may, 1976) but the necessity for a broader, national conference shifted the emphasis to work being done in women's centers throughout West Germany. On Saturday morning, a five-hour plenary session heard brief reports from various projects, interspersed with music by a Munich folk singer, Molly. The meeting hall in Haus International was jam- packed, and the several hundred women who couldn’t fit in were able to listen to the proceedings through a sound system connection in the cafeteria. Lunch was arranged in shifts and child care by men had,, been set up. Thus, a potentially chaotic situation flowed with relative ease and order. The official press was not admitted. The major topics, covered in the plenary session were: repression and the problem of communication within the women’s movement, the continued development of women’s centers, lesbian sexuality, establishment of homes for battered women, rape projects, status of abortion activities after a "reform", wages for housework, feminism and women in professions, unemployment and women, feminism in everyday life, self-help centers and health projects, feminist therapy, “selbsterfahrung" (c-r) groups, feminism and ecology. The rapid- fire delivery of each report allowed for very few questions; in the late afternoon, however, topical workshops analyzed more thoroughly the issues brought out in the individual reports. -7- A party at the Olympic Center later on that evening brought out local women as well as conference participants. About 1,000 women enjoyed a spontaneous women’s jam session, and danced to recorded music. ’’The Flying Lesbians", a Berlin rock band who had been playing at many conferences and dances in West Germany for the last two years (their LP is available in the US) has decided to stop performing and taka a pause so that they can work out some new music; they hope that women musicians throughout West Germany will develop women’s music further. On Sunday morning there was another plenary session, with reports from the workshops as well as reports that had not been included on Saturday. A report on women and the left brought considerable negative reaction from the floor. There were also reports on a proposal to build a rural women’s commune, and on lesbian politics within the women’s movement. A proposal for local actions on a nationwide basis for the night of April 30 (Walpurgisnacht- an old holiday lor witches) "Women, take back the night!" - will be considered in local women’s centers over the next month. An action built on the theme of Violence Against Women was described and enthusiastically received. The group ’’Fan-Shen”, part of a women’s center in Neu-Isenburg, a small town near Frankfurt, have developed an offensive strategy against wife-beaters, and have been successful five times. The woman calls the center and a group of women come out to ohoupy the house. The husband comes home, sees the group, and, until he moves out, must continually deal with the presence of one or two women on guard as guests of his wife. The goal is to throw the wife-beater out, leaving the house to the woman, rather than provide a shelter for battered wives. The women who reported on this action said that this strategy would probably work best in small towns. The conference ended on Sun ay afternoon with an evaluative plenary session. -Miriam Frank (Reprinted from Off Our Backs) Germany: Anti-Rape March Over one thousand Berlin women rallied at twilight on March 1 at Sophie-Charlotte Platz for a torchlight procession to mourn the death of a woman who had died a week before of a rape-related beating. The woman had been raped near her own home. The mourners marched through the neighborhood streets burning torches* chanting "Ent- waffnet Vergewaltiger" ("Disarm Rapsits") and calling to the neighborhood women to join in self-defense against all violent crimes against women. After the procession, speeches emphasized that rape is a violent, not a sexual,crime against women, that all women fear for their safety in the streets of the city and that rape is a weapon of domination over women in a sexist society. -Miriam Frank (reprinted from Off Our Backs, May May, 1977) -8- PASCHA DES MONATS Er ist der Schonste. Hana Habe, 66 Jahre alt, sechsmal vexteiratet, Feind von Portschritt und sozialer Gerechtigkeit, Freund von Axel Springer. Regelmäßiger Kolumnist von "Welt am Sonntag", "Bayernkurier" und "Oberbergische: Volkszeitung"- ebenda schreibt er samstags innner uber drei Tabus und läßt sich dann allerhand einfallen. Neulich war es EMMA: "Mit dem dritten Tabu wende ich mich einem leichteren Thema zu: der Frauenrechtsbewegung, die durch die Gründung der kindischen Zeitschrift EMMA besonders aktuell geworden ist. Hier lautet das Tabu: Man darf sich die Damen, die den Mann dressieren wollen, nicht näher ansehen. Unritterlich, wie ich bin und nun einmal auf Enttabuisierung aus - tue ich es abers ritterlich wie ich bin, nenne ich keine Namen. Ich gebe nur ganz leise zu bedenken, warum 95 Prozent der Damen - jeder steht es frei, sich zu den übrigen fünf Prozent zu zählen- mit Kästner zu sprechen, so ’pfui teuflisch anzusehen sind'/ Warum darf ich nicht die Frage stellen, ob sich diese Damen auf den Kriegspfad begeben hatten, wenn sie in den Wohnzimmern, von den Schlafzimmem ganz zu schweigen, etwas erfolgreicher wären?" Oh ja, Hänschen. Hätten wir doch nur in Deinem Schlafzimmer Erfolg, dann brauchten wir nicht EMMA zu machen... Du bist zwar eine sehr häßliche Qualle, aber Du bist ein Mann, und das genügt. Oder? (reprinted from EMMA.) RETREAT AND SYMPOSIUM The second Retreat/Symposium will take place in Oxford, Ohio on September 23-25, 1977 (Friday thru Sunday). We again reserved the camp we used last year, which is free of charge. It is big enough for a meeting of 40-50 people but has only 14 beds. Therefore, those coming by cat are requested to bring folding beds along. Alter nate sleeping arrangements would be with the Miamai women or in near-by motels (at extra expense). Registration fee to cover food and expenses is $10.- again. However, it was the consensus of last year's participants that those living close enough to come by car and thus having less travel expenses than those having to come by plane, should be requested to make an extra donation to a travel fund. This travel fund would be used to contribute to the expenses of those who come from far away. Please be considerate of the organizers and register early. Let us know of any change in plans as soon as possible. We will do our best to make things work out smoothly. Looking forward to another successful retreat with you, </div> Gisela Bahr -9- _____REGISTRATION FORM____ I want to register for the retreat on September 23-25, 1977. Registration fee of $10.00 ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later Donation to travel fund ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later (Make checks payable to Gisela Bahr) I want to stay ( ) at the camp ( ) will bring a folding bed (I understand that I need to bring a sleeping bag). ( ) with friends ( ) at a motel (please send information) I shall need day care for ______ (no.) children, age __________ I expect to arrive on _______ ( ) by car ( ) by planes will inform you of airport (Dayton or Cincinnati), time of arrival, flight number as soon as possible. NAME _______ TELEPHONE _________ MAILING ADDRESS ____________________ Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (4xp) so that we can send you further instructions, and mail to Gisela Bahr, Dept. of GREAL, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 ----------------------------------------------------- This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Sara Markham Pietsch, Angelika Haag Shatter and Christa Stutius. ----------------------------------------------------- SUBCRIPTIONS Enclosed, please find my $2 ($1) for a year’s subscription to Women in German. Send your check to: Women in German, German Dept., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 NAME ADRESS SEXISM [cartoon] NO COMMENT Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Harwig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Markham Pietsch, Sara Haag Shatter, Angelika Stutius, Christa Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977/05/20 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1977_May Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/35f9198e7a8296c3baed89e5209a8da2.pdf 5bd5ad14f81055fcf3f1bae617f8c462 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 1977 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Congresses; Germanists Description An account of the resource <div class="WordSection1"> WOMEN IN GERMAN Number 12 September 12, 1977 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 If unemployed) If it's September, it must be tine for our Women in German Conference Retreat (this year once again in Oxford, Ohio). This has become a tradition with Women in German, and certainly one worth keeping alive, for our conference provides more than an opportunity to share information and ideas; while these of course are important, they are not enough. Our conference retreat allows us to put feminist theory into practice—which means that we combine the personal with the political. That we not only talk and discuss (not argue, discuss), but we dance and sing and laugh together. What we are trying to do is make the words Virginia Woolf wrote in 1938 truly obsolete: "If people are highly successful in their professions they lose their senses. Sight goes. They have no time to look at pictures. Sound goes. They have no time to listen to music. Speech goes. They have no time for conversation. They lose their sense of proportion—the relations between one thing and another. Humanity goes. . . . And so competitive do they become that they will not share their work with others though they have more than they can do themselves, [emphasis ours] What then remains of a human being who has lost sight, sound and sense of proportion? Only a cripple in a cave. . . . How can we enter the professions and yet remain civilized human beings?" (Three Guineas: New York, 1938, pp. 131-32) We have found that our conference so nourishes us in this respect, that we take from it enough energy, and confidence, and joy in our work to sustain us the rest of the year. Our published list of Women in German subscribers was a first step in helping people find each other. The conference cements these connections. Read on for further details. RETREAT Basically we adhere to the program as outlined in the last newsletter. We want, however, to give you some more specific information. Christa and Viktoria have ordered Volker Schlöndorf's film "Strohfeuer" (Free Woman), which we will show and discuss on Friday evening, September 23. For the evening after the symposium, September 24, we have planned a discussion of three pieces by Gabriele Wohmann, "Der Bruder", "Der Fall Rufus", "Die Witwen oder eine vollkommene Lösung". Please read them if you have time. Sunday morning, September 25, is open to your suggestions. Thus far, we have been contacted by several women who want to share information: - Elke Fredericksen will talk about her summer research in the two Germanies - Pat Herminghouse and Evelyn Beck will discuss their experiences with teaching'German Women Writers". - Maria Ledachowski (University of Chicago), who has just returned from Austria, will talk about the women's situation there. In addition, she </div> -2- <div class="WordSection2"> has discovered a "neglected feminist", the Frenchman Poulain de la Barre from the Enlightenment. — Sara Lennox from the University of Maseachusets at Am her ft wants to raise the following issue. She read a book review of Working it Out, which reads as follows: From a review of Working It Out: 23 Women Writers, Artists, Scientists and Scholars Talk About Their Lives and Work in The New York Times Book Review, September 4, 1977, p. 9: ' Working It Out is a celebration of women, each of whom discovered, at a critical point in her coming of age, that not being "one of the boys" is, after all, hardly cause for complaint. The book speaks directly to an emerging consciousness (not just among feminists) that the traditional professional provinces of men, in which women are now mixing in greater numbers than ever before, must accomodate the special rhythms and patterns of women—and not the other way around. Indeed, if these personal essays are at all representative of current thinking, it would seem that androgyny is no longer quite the fashion it was just a few years ago. The evidence is that women no longer seek to measure their own worth by traditional yardsticks. The single chapter by a professor who cheerfully admits having consciously choses to forgo marriage and family life in order to pursue her intellectual and professional interests seems strangely dated in this respect. Do you, as well, feel that Germanistik should change to meet the demands and needs of women in the profession? Orshould we adapt ourselves to the style and customs of the "old boys"? If Germanistik is in need of change, what kinds of changes should take place? How could "Women in German" encourage this accomodation? Again, bring your “bid" and "new" bibliographies on women for distribution and exchange. If you would like to contribute something to the Sunday morning gathering, please let Christa or Viktoria know. And be sure to bring records for the party on Saturday night. In the last newsletter, we promised a surprise for the conference in Oxford. To he quite frank, the nature of that surprise was a mystery to us then! Now we have quite a surprise for you! THIRD WOMEN IN GERMAN CONFERENCE Gisela Bahr won't be at Miami next year and there is some uncertainty about whether the conference could be held at Miami again. Would YOU like to have it at your university? Proceedings of the papers of the WOMEN IN GERMAN STUDIES CONFERENCE can be obtained for $ 2.00 (individuals) and $4.00 (institutions) from Kay Goodman, Dept. of German, Russian and East Asian Languages, Miami Unversity, Oxford, Ohio 45056 -3- SYMPOSIUM WOMEN AND GERMAN STUDIES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY AND COMPARATIVE APPROACH Co-chairs: Kay Goodman, Miami University Ruth H. Sanders, Miami University 8:30 – 9:00 Coffee and Doughnuts 9:00 -10:00 Lucy Morros, the Lindenwood Colleges, The Impact of German Thought and Culture on Madame de Stael’s Thinking about Women Deborah Hertz, University of Minnesota, Madame de Stael’s Counterparts: Literary Salons in Berlin, 1800. Panel: Susan Cocalis, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; Deborah Hertz; Lucy Morros; Marie-Claire Vallois, Miami University 10:00 -10:30 Break 10:30 -11:30 Heidi Tewarson, State University of New York at Stony Brook, The Woman Question in the Early Work of Alfred Döblin Renny Harrigan, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The Stereotype of the Emancipated Woman in the Weimar Republic Panel: Renny Harrigan; Heidi Tewarson 11:30 -12:00 Evelyn Beck, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Songs of the Women’s Movement 12:00 - 1:30 LUNCH 1:30 – 2:30 Patricia K. Fessenden, Ohio State University, More Than a Question of Numbers: Women Deputies in the German National Constituent Assembly and the Reichstag, 1919-1933 Jacques R. Pauwels, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, German Women University Students, National Socialism and the War, 1939-1945 Panel: Patricia K. Fessenden; Jacques R. Pauwels; Leila Rupp, Ohio State University 2:30 – 3:00 BREAK 3:00 -4:00 Christine Cosentino, Rutgers University/RUCCAS, Frau und Staatsbürger in Volker Braun’s Schauspiel ‘Tinka’ Helen Fehervary, Ohio State University, Women and the Aesthetic of the Positive Hero in the GDR Panel: Gisela E. Bahr, Miami University, Christine Cosentino Helen Fehervary; Sara Lennox, University of Massachusetts Amherst DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN, RUSSIAN AND EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES in cooperation with WOMEN IN GERMAN -4- MEETINGS 1. NEMLA: The women’s movement in Germany was the topic of the Women in German Caucus at the North East Modern Languages Association annual convention, held April 21-23 at the University of Pittsburgh. Co-chairpersons Sara Lennox and Irmgard Taylor reported on the current state of the women’s movement in Germany and made available sample copies of the new women’s magazine Emma and other recent publications. The group also discussed women’s literature courses and research possibilities, and exchanged information about the other activities of Women in German. Those present decided to announce no theme for next year’s Women in German caucus at NEMLA, but rather to have an open general discussion. Hannelore Lenning, Russell Sage College, and Ruth Sanders, Miami University, will co-chair. The meeting is to be held March 23-25, 1968 at SUNY Albany, specific time not yet announced by NEMLA. Watch this space for details! 2. MLA: Section 489 will present Women and Literary Circles in the Nineteenth Century I. Program is arranged by Women in German. Presiding: Susan L. Cocalis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Helen Cafferty, Bowdoin Coll. 1. "Dem Reich der Freiheit werb‘ ich Bürgerinnen!" The Heady Rise and Fall of Louise Otto’s Frauenzeitung, Ruth-Ellen Boetcher Joeres, University of Minnesota. 2. Frau Annekes Libertiner Kreis; Maria Wagner, Rutgers University Discussants: Elke Frederiksen, University of Maryland; Luverne Walton, University of Missouri; Katherine Goodman, Miami University, Ohio. Section 528 will present Women and Literary Circles in the Nineteenth Century II, also arranged by Women in German. Presiding: Helen Cafferty, Bowdoin Coll, and Susan L. Cocalis, University of Massachusetts. 1. Women: The Other. Laura Marholm's Veiw and the Friedrichshagen Writers* Colony; David R. Hume, University of Louisville. 2. Lou Andreas-Salome: An Ambivalent Feminist and her Association with the "Freie Bühne"; Linda S. Pickle, Westminister Coll. Discussants: Marilyn Scott-Jones, University of North Carolina; Cynthia Walk, University of California, San Diego; Katherine Goodman, Miami University, Ohio. Section 489 is scheduled at 1:00 to 2:15 at Room 414 in the Conrad Hilton. Secion 528 will follow at 2:45 to 4:00 in the same room. 3. MMLA: The Marxist Forum at the MMLA will deal with the topic, Application of Marxist Feminist Criticism. Three papers will be presented: "Marxism and the Women'8 Question, An analysis of the anthology Liebe Kollegin from the Werkkreis Literatur der Arbeitswelt", presented by Christa Stutius and Viktoria Harwig. The second paper is a criticism of Doris Lessing's Golden Notebook in an attempt to develop a feminist/Marxist literary criticism. -5- The third paper presents a discussion of the class consciousness of black American women as a part of their religious background, illustrated by Bernice Regan, by Sweet Charity (rock group) and by Sara Wright’s This Child’s Gonna Live. Sorry, but we don't know the names of the women giving the second and third papers Chairpersons are Renny Harrington, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and Renate Holub, University of Wisconsin, Madison. The exact time and locations are not yet known, but the MMLA starts on October 27, 1977 and will be in Chicago. . LETTERS We apppreciate receiving letters like this and thought we would share it with you. To whom it may concern: I’ve been in Germany, specifically Hamburg, for almost the past two years and was really delighted to see your publication once I got back to the U.S. It’s really something quite different***-and admirable. I read with interest your listing of Frauenbuchläden, Frauenverlage and so forth. I’d like to contribute one more to the list of women's bookshops: there's one in Hamburg called "Die hälfte des Himmels" and it's located very close to the Uni on SchlüterstraSe 79, 2000 Hamburg 13. If anyone is interested in ordering the very good Frauenkalender '78, which is put out by Renate Bookhagen, Gudula Lorez, Ursula Scheu and Alice Schwarzer, it can be purchased at the following address: Frauehkalender Selbstverlag/ c/o Ursula Scheu, Breitenbachplatz 17, 1000 Berlin 33. I think it costs between DM 6 and DM 8. It's usually available in just about every bookstore near an Uni. Thanks again for a really interesting Women in German. Sincerely, Hazel Blumberg </div> -6- <div class="WordSection3"> REVIEWS: Women and the Fantastic in Recent GDR Literature: The Case of Irmtraud Morgner Leben and Abenteuer der Trobadora Beatriz with its 700 pages is the most complex and ambitious piece of writing by a woman about women to come out of the GDR thus far. It might be called a feminist's Dr. Faustus, not only because of its bold use ofmontage technique, but also because of the striking parallels between the relationship of Laura and Beatriz in this work (their secret identity) and that of Adrian Leverkühn and Serenus Zeitblom in Mann's novel. Beatriz' "Gute Botschaft der Valeska" has the same key significance at the end of the novel as does Leverkühn's final composition. The paper analyzes how Morgner has tried to respond to the historical fact of women's exclusion from history by creating a fantastic situation in which an historically verifiable woman troubador, who found life unbearable in male-dominated medieval society, returns to life during the Paris May revolution of 1968 and encounters the disappointing reality of a contemporary woman's life in the GDR, "das gelobte Land". Morgner*s use of the fantastic is shown as her attempt to reverse the historical expropriation of women by recreating at least a legendary "history", much of it in a humorous vein. The novel contains a vast amount of commentary on questions of literary theory and women's emancipation, which is not equated with her integration into the production process. But despite technical similarities, Mbxper's novel differs from Mann's Dr. Faustus in an important and conscious way; whereas Mann's polished style and tightly integrated work was the product of carefully regulated working habits, protected by a devoted wife and the life style of the privileged class, Moaner has deliberately transformed the problems faced by a woman writer who does not nave a wife into a literary principle which frees women from having to write according to forms which men have developed through the centuries; "Frauen können diese Formen entwickeln , , , das verlangt Arbeit von Generationen. . . . Der Anfang ist notwendigerweise experimentell. Die Form muß den Proceß der Wahrheitsfindung mit zeigen können." Patricia Herminghouse Washington University What distinguishes Irmtraud Morgner from GDR women writers like Kirsch, Wolf, and Reimann is the theoretical, polemical nature of her work and her attempt at such a global analysis as is her montage-Roman: Leben und Abenteuer der Trobadora Beatriz. Leben und Abenteuer is a wonderfully imaginative and challenging attempt to analyze literately the introduction of women as subjects of history. Both in its construction and its affect on the reader, Morgner’s work achieves precisely that dynamic relationship between concrete reality and subjective ideal so vital to the struggle of the human subject to become an agent of change. Morgner places her challenge to centuries of objectification and exploitation in an historical context and it is her historical perspective that provides the source of her humor and optimism. Her view of the relationship between the problems of women and larger developments in society is perhaps most accessible in her own words, taken from an interview with Karin Huffzky of the Federal Republic: -7- "Ich glaube, daß die Menschwerdung der Frau als gesellschaftlichfc- Veränderung erst nach der sozialistischen Revolution wirklich beginnen kann. Und zwar nicht automatisch. Mit der Abschaffung der Ausbeutung des Menschendurch den 'Menschen‘ ist nicht automatisch die Ausbeutung der Frau durch den 'Menschen' abgeschafft. ..." The underlying compositional element is the legend which takes shape around the life, the adventures and the death of Beatriz. Where the legendary, the mythological, the utopian meet the complex conditions of change as they exist in reality, the central dialectic of the novel begins to develop. Beatrix' idealism and fanatical zeal are relativized through her Spielfrau Laura who represents the more realistic, the more historically conscious side of what will become one single character with the death of Beatriz near the end of the novel. Through Laura's modifications of Beatriz' vision, as well as through those of numerous other episodes and characters from GDR life, the social process through which change occurs becomes visible, and the fantastic, the vision that Beatriz has introduced has informed GDR reality with a refusal to accept the present as unalterable. Therein lies the meaning of positive subjectivity for Morgner. Morgner approaches personality and emancipation through productivity and work in the broadest sense. It is in the juxtaposition of different time periods and different economic systems that she lends the concept of work and its impact on the role of women a sense of process. Always aware of the progress made toward full equality in the GDR, Morgner establishes a context for immediate reality, presenting it as a process out of a past that must be reconstructed for women's appropriation of their own history and sexuality, and in relation to a future that will have to bring new possibilities for human relationships and productivity through technology and through what she calls the 'emancipation of the erotic.' Leben und Abenteuer is an important work for women in the West as well as for the GDR. Biddy Martin University of Wisconsin The following is a summary submitted by Susan Cocalis of her talk at the Amherst conference: Recently the complaint has been voiced that women shouldn't criticize male authors for depicting the world "as it is/was," i.e., for representing a patriarchal society 'realistically.' By demanding such "positive models" from art, feminist critics would be in danger either of becoming "ahistorical" or of succumbing to the alleged aesthetic fallacies of "socialist realism" with its idealized "implausible" workers. One should not expect writers of past generations to be equipped with today's consciousness of a woman's rights. Thus the traditional postulates -8- Wahrheit und Wahrscheinlichkeit would seem to perpetuate the literary stero-types of “masculine” and "feminine” as something "natural.” Even socially critical authors, who usually expose such natural phenomena as ideological camouflage for changeable economic relationships, allow their utopian visions to be built upon the alledgedly solid foundations of "the eternally feminine." The possibility of a relativistic view of reality in this situation does not seem to enter the discussion as relevant. However the comparison of an author like Marie-Luise Fleifier to some of her male contemporaries like Brecht or the German Expressionist writers would seem to justify a feminist criticism of the latter. Fleißer was neither a feminist, nor did she ever question the basic premises of the patriarchal society of her native Ingolstadt. She only wanted to render that society realistically in her works, i.e., as she experienced it in terms of "relationships between men and women." Nevertheless, her version of reality differs markedly from that of her male counterparts, especially in her dramas Fegefeuer in Ingolstadt (1924) and Pionere in Ingolstadt (1927), insofar as she demonstrates how the "eternally feminine characteristics like "sensibility," "compassion," and "passivity" can be attenuated through the inhumane relationships of production. If men continue to treat women as (sex) objects, they shouldn't be surprised when women react to them in an "inhuman" or brutal manner. As such, they become incapable of comforting men and the entire premise of an Erlösung durch das Weib or a "feminine socialism" (d la Marcuse) is negated. Fleißer's reality is trostlos; men and women need relationships, but any attempt at communication between the sexes is futile. Both sexes seem to be condemned to a "purgatory" with no prospect of redemption. Because Fleißer adheres to a strict canon of realism or probability she disappears totally behind her figures and never criticizes the patriarchal world directly. However, her dramas offer us a measuring stick with which we can evaluate analogous relationships in plays be male authors. By comparing Fleifiers works to dramas of German Naturalism or Expressionism, we can identify hypothetical, idealistic, or utopian plot-resolutions, even in cases where the authors purport to be rendering a given social or ontological reality. In this respect FleiBer may not present us with a feminist alternative to a patriarchal society, but at least she spares ns the usual ph/fallacious utopian illusions. Susan Cocalis </div> -9- ____ REGISTRATION FORM______ I want to register for the retreat on September 23-25, 1977. Registration fee of $10.00 ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later Donation to travel fund ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later (Make checks payable to Gisela Bahr) I want to stay ( ) at the camp ( ) will bring a folding bed (I understand that I need to bring a sleeping bag). ( ) with friends ( ) at a motel (please send information) I shall need day care for________(no.) children, age ______________________ I expect to arrive on_____________________ ( ) by car ( ) by planet will inform you of airport (Dayton or Cincinnati), time of arrival, flight number as soon as possible. NAME ______________ TELEPHONE____________ MAILING ADDRESS ________________________ Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (4x9) so that we can send you further instructions, and mail to Gisela Bahr, Dept. of GREAL, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 ------------------------------------------------- This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Sara Markhan) Pietsch, Angelica Haag Shalter, Christa Stutius, and Marsha Meyer. ------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTIONS Enclosed, please find ray $2 ($1) for a year's subscription to Women in German« Send your check to: Women in German, German Dept., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 NAME ADRESS Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Harwig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Markhan-Pietsch, Sara Haag Shalter, Angelica Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977/09/12 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1977_Sep Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/c0069d2856e0dd41aee9dae725634e28.pdf c246f650d9559995ae41064d8c5d048a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource February 1978 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Congresses; Germanists Description An account of the resource WOMEN IN GERMAN Mailing address: 818 Van Hise Hall, Madison, WI. 63706 February 6, 1978 Number 14 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) With the arrival of 1978 WiG is celebrating its 3rd successful year. Not only do we feel that the Newsletter – thanks to all of you - has contributed to an important exchange of ideas, but it has also served as a center of unity in the struggle against women’s oppression in our professional sphere. We strongly hope that it will continue to be a valuable forum for sharing our experiences and inspiring us further in our challenge to the norms and values of a male-dominated field. As we are all aware, the literature of women has been systematically excluded from studies in literary history and criticism. Unfortunately this deficiency still becomes apparent when it comes to planning and teaching courses in most departments. Also, in our work, the socio-cultural implications of a sexist language are still being ignored in most pedagogical materials. By emphasizing such information and encouraging participation, we hope to raise additional relevant issues and stimulate more discussion. We are especially happy to begin this year’s issue with a preview of a very promising 3rd Conference/Retreat which will be held again in Oxford, Ohio, in September. We realize that this may seem like an early start, yet with the new conference format of Arbeitsgruppenn we feel the project deserves careful planning and ample time to mature. In choosing the Arbeitsgruppen, we want a productive alternative to the typical elitist academic conference, which so blatantly reflects patriarchal values. Last but not least, we extend a welcome to our numerous new subscribers. Your support is most important, for only in unity can we become stronger and hope to achieve change. -2- WiG Newsletter THIRD WOMEN IN GERMAN CONFERENCE The third annual Women in German Workshop/Retreat will take place on Sept. 22-24, 1978, at Miami University, Oxford Ohio. Participation and contributions are invited for the following sessions: Sexism in the German Language (Pat Russian and Detti Ledochowski), The Women’s Qeustion and Aesthetics (Sara Lennox and Pat Herminghouse), Contemporary Women’s Culture (Evelyn Beck and Gisela Strand). Work in progress and collective projects are especially encouraged, rather than formal papers. For further information and to submit suggestions/contributions write to WiG workshop, GREAL, Miami University, Oxford, Oh 45056. TENTATIVE PROGRAM FOR THE WOMEN IN GERMAN WORKSHOP September 22-24, 1978 Miami University, Oxford, Oh. Friday, Sept. 22 5:00 – 8:00 pm Arrival; supper 8:30 – 10:00 pm Evening activity: please make suggestions Possibility: assertiveness training sessions Saturday, Sept. 23 5:00 – 8:00 pm Arrival; supper 8:00 – 10:00 pm Sexism in the German Language Co-ordinated by Pat Russian and Detti Ledochowski 10:00 – 10:30 Break 10:30 – 12:00 The Women’s Question and Aesthetics Co-ordinated by Sara Lennox and Pat Herminghouse 12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch 1:30 – 3:00 Women Authors in the 19th Century Co-ordinated by Elke Frederiksen and Kay Goodman 3:00 – 3:30 Break 3:30 – 5:00 Contemporary Women’s Culture Co-ordinated by Evelyn Beck and Gisela Strand 6:00 – 7:30 Supper 8:00 – 10:00 Evening Activities: Please make suggestions Movie? A sing-along? A performer? Slide show? Sunday, Sept. 24 8:00 – 8:30 am Breakfast 8:30 – 10:00 Business and planning meeting 10:00 – 12:00 Open: Please Make suggestions -3- WiG Newsletter We suggest June 1, 1978 as the deadline for submission of projects to the workshop coordinators, and will list this deadline in the announcements. We request that the coordinators send us a description of their workshop, including names of contributors, by July 1, 1978 so that we can prepare copy for the September issues of WiG. We would appreciate it if you could send a copy of your response to each of us to speed up communication. Jeanette will attend MLA and will be glad to talk with whoever is present to proceed with the planning. Thank you. Audrone B. Willeke GREAL Miami University Ocford, OH. 45056 [redacted] Jeanette Clausen Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages Indiana University - Purdue University at Fort Wayne 2101 Coliseum Blvd. East Fort Wayne, IN 46805 [redacted] INTERVIEW WITH MARGARETHE VON TROTTA During a recent visit to Germany I had an opportunity to talk with Maragarethe von Trotta about her ideas on film-making and the women’s movement. The discussion of Strohfeuer at the WiG Second Annual Conference had raised a number of questions, and I was interested in what von Trotta herself had to say about cinema. She perceives the main difference between men and women’s films as one of subject matter. Genres such as Westerns, Krimis and adventure are distinctly male. Handlung and Eroberung are the main components. Women, she noted, concentrate more on the relationship between people and on the less spectacular events that make up their daily lives (the focus of women’s collective experience heretofore having in fact been the private sphere). Handlung in and of itself is less important to women than an arrangement of scenes through which personal development and interaction unfold. The emphasis on presenting the situation of women and their feelings – Lebensausschnitte. Despite differences between men and women’s films, von Trotta sees the criteria for evaluating both as the same. The difficulty with most criticism, she continued, is that it’s written by me who simply reject what they don’t understand. She feels that the problem with criticism will only improve when there are more women critics and when a tradition is established upon which a women’s aesthetic can be based. Such a tradition is just beginning, and she stressed the necessity for greater numbers of women to participate in all fields of art and culture. -4- WiG Newsletter Strohfeuer, she added, had been caught in a cross-fire between those who didn’t understand it (they saw the conclusion as a happy ending) and those who criticized her for not having gone far enough. She believes Germans were not yet ready for the film when it came out, although it was received much more favorably in the U.S. Von Trotta’s view of feminism and of the political nature of such media as film was disappointing. She rejects a political perception of feminism and was irritated at the suggestion that cinema could be used as a medium for political change. She seems, in fact, to lack any political consciousness at all. Although she considers herself a feminist, she definiens feminism as self-recognition and self-development that is outwardly reflected. She does not view this as a process with political goals. Film is strictly considered an art form through which self-expression finds fulfillment. It does not contribute to social change, or if so, only very slowly. The attempt to use film as a medium for political expression, according to Trotta, can only compromise its value as art. Von Trotta stresses that she has nothing against men but sees the necessity for women to focus on themselves as effectively excluding men for a time. She does not believe that film-directing is made any more difficult by the fact that she is a woman, and pointed out that a large number of films produced for West German television are made by women. Von Trotta finds women’s film companies un-necessary, but were they to form, she would welcome them as a further expression of women’s growing involvement in leadership roles in the cultural sphere. Although Strohfeuer was co-authored by von Trotta and husband-producer Volker Schlöndorff, they no longer work together. She explained that they both have completely different ideas about film, and in an earlier interview in Frauen und Film von Trotta complained that although Schlöndorff recognized her partnership privately, he was loathe to do so in public. Together with the München author Luisa Francia, she has just completed a new film about women, Das zweite Erwachen. Marsha Meyer -5- WiG Newsletter SOMMERUNI FÜR FRAUEN Between October 3 and October 8, West Berlin’s Free University was the site of the second national Women’s Studies Symposium, the Sommeruni für Frauen. Over 5,000 women attended the six-day conference, with an estimated 2,000 in attendance at any given time – an almost overwhelming response to the interests of a very young discipline in the Federal Republic. In contrast to last year’s Sommeruni, which attracted only 600 participants due to poor publicity, this fall’s turn-out is a clear indication of the demand for courses in Women’s Studies, In fact, many of the informal discussions as well as several scheduled workshops focused on the best strategies for hiring feminist faculty members and setting up courses within the curriculum as it exists today. The major theme for this year’s Sommeruni was particularly conducive to such pragmatic considerations: women as paid and unpaid workers (Frauen als bezahlte und unbezahlte Arbeitskräfte). The vast majority of the lectures and workshops dealt with this topic, as well as the two pane discussions on Tuesday and Thursday night. Each of these evening symposia dealt with political strategy and women’s work: Tuesday – debate about wages for housework; Thursday – discussion of demanding 50% of all skilled jobs for women. Other important areas covered were the situation of women under fascism, the use of oral history as a tool in the study of women’s history, feminist aesthetics (although there were very few literary studies), discussion of how women are peculiarly affected by Berufeuerbote, and preparation for the Russel Tribunal on that topic. As expected, the best-attended session was the debate on Wages for Housework. What surprised me, however, after more than a year at the Free University – where the wages for housework campaign has been quite successful – was how resoundingly most participants rejected this strategy, a fact which is even more surprising considering the number of housewives in attendance. At least 10% of all participants were non-students, despite the difficulties of getting time off from work or engaging a baby-sitter. This was particularly satisfying for the organizers, who struggled for recognition of the Sommeruni as suitable for Bildungeurlaub (paid time off for further education). In contrast to last year, when the Sommeruni was organized by the Dozentinnengruppe (women’s faculty group) at the F.U., this year’s conference was planned by a group of both faculty and students – including myself. For perhaps the -6- WiG Newsletter first and last time at such a Women’s Studies’ meeting, all proposed workshops and lectures were well prepared in advance. As a result, over 70 sessions took place. Considering the rapid growth in interest, this procedure probably will need to be replaced by a type of selection process next year. Nevertheless, it often produced a lively level of debate, despite an all-to-prevalent expectation on the part of participants to be spoon-fed information. This difficulty, one of the major points of discussion at the wrap-up session, was exacerbated by attendance so high at certain workshops as to exclude meaningful discussion. Next year’s Sommeruni will have to develop new structures to avoid these patriarchal pitfalls in the academic process, as well as providing more cultural stimulation. It seems we all had such a good time dancing to “Lysistrata” (a new women’s band in West Berlin) that we’ve started to crave even more women’s culture. (My informants tell me that a similar predilection was noted at the Women in German Conference!) Nancy Vedder-Shults CALL FOR PAPERS I. WOMEN IN GERMAN ANTHOLOGY/YEARBOOK We are seeking manuscripts for a Women in German Anthology/Yearbook. We would like to select fro among articles based on papers delivered at various Women in German sessions in the past as well as from new material. We are also interested in translations of shorter works by women. Please send one copy of your manuscript to each of: Susan Cocalis German Dept. [redacted] University of Massachussetts Amherst, Mass. 01002 and Kay Goodman GREAL [redacted] Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056 Deadling: September, 1978 II. MLA Women in German will sponsor two special sessions at the 1978 MLA convention on the topic “Postwar West German Women Writers.” The papers may deal with work of one or more contemporary West German women authors. They may also concern themselves with questions of aesthetics, tradition, language, and/or criticism as they pertain to these writers. The first session will be primarily informational with 3-4 presentations (10 minutes each); the second session will be devoted to a discussion of the topics -7- WiG Newsletter raised in the first one. Panelists as well as respondent will be requested to prepare an abstract or outline and a bibliography for distribution at the sessions. Those interested in submitting proposals for papers or in participating as respondants should contact both Linda S. Pickle, Foreign Language Dept., Westminster College, Fulton, Mo. 65251, and Heidi T. Tewarson, Dept. of Germanic and Slavic Studies, SUNY at Stony Brook, N.Y. 11790. Abstracts from graduate students are also welcome. Proposals of 2-3 pages sent to each of the above-named co-chairpersons, are due April 6, 1978. Tentative deadline for the final papers is September 1, 1978. III. MMLA MARXIST LITERARY FORUM – PEDAGOGY SESSION The aim of the Marxist Literary Forum is to explore pedagogical approaches which not only legitimize the Marxist method but also further develop it. Papers submitted should discuss the teaching of poems, short-stories, films, or music focusing on the Women’s question. Within the framework of the Forum, papers are encouraged which stress the specific male supremacist and racial aspects of oppression by linking them to class society, social contradictions, and their historical development. Proposals are welcome until April 15, 1978; deadline for completed papers is July 31, 1978. Send one copy each to Beth Flynn Department of Literature Antioch College Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387 Viktoria Harwig German Department University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisc. 53706. NEW PUBLICATIONS We continue to seek information from our readers on films and publications of interest to women in the field of German studies, as well as course syllabi of any courses you may be offering on images of women in literature, German feminist writings and so on. As an example of the kinds of leads we’d like to carry regularly: Rowohlt Verlag is launching a new series call “neue frau” set to include -8- WiG Newsletter “erzählende Texte aus den Literaturen aller Länder, deren Thema die konkrete sinnliche und emotionale Erfahrung von Frauen und ihre Suche nach einem selbstbestimmten Leben ist. ” Already in print are : Elisabeth Albertsen, Das Dritte: Geschichte einer Entscheidung (rororo neue frau 4134, DM 3.80); Evelyne and Claude Gutman, In der Mitte des Betts (4134, DM 4.80); Isabel Miller, Patience und Sarah (4152, DM 4.80); and Emma Santos, Ich habe Emma S. getötet (4161, DM 3.80). Planned for the next two months are: Doris Lessing, Der Sommer vor der Dunkelheit (4170, DM 5.80) and Violette Leduc, Die Bastardin (4179, DM 8.80). Amazonen Verlag has published three texts and is planning several more for the next year, Sind es Frauen? by Almee leDuc is a paperback reprint of a turn-of-the century text that describes a Lesbian community of intellectuals. It has long been out of print and unavailable. The Verlag has also translated Jull Johnston’s Nationa Lesbisch from the American and most recently, Monique Wittig’s Aus deinen zehntausend Augen Sappho from the French. Books can be ordered from Gabriele Meixner, [redacted] We would also like to draw your attention to some historical publications which recently caught our eye: Leila J. Rupp, “Mother of the Volk: The Image of Women in Nazi Ideology,” in Signs: A Journal of Women and Culture 11/2 (Winter 1977), 362-79. This essay is the most recent in a series of articles and books on the subject of women in Nazi Germany. The essay is comprehensive and includes extensive bibliographic references. There are also two other articles which provide some interesting background: Ann Taylor Allen, “Sex and Satire in Wilhelmine Germany: ‘Simplicissmus’ Looks at Family Life,” Journal of European Studies, vol. 7 (1977) pp. 19-40 (Illustrated!); ad R. P. Neuman, “The Sexual Question and Social Democracy in Imperial Germany, Journal of Social History, vol. 7 (1974), pp. 271-86. If you have any leads like these, be sure to send them along. Of special interest to all those who have been trying to teach German Women Writers in Translation is a new book: Christa Wolf’s Reader and Writer (a translation of Lesen und Schreiben) available Arpil 1978 from International Publishers, 381 Park Ave. South, New York N.Y. 10016. It is currently available at pre-publication price of $1.66 (add sales tax in N.Y. State only). Order directly from the publisher. List price will be $1.95. -9- WiG Newsletter ANNOUNCEMENT Beth Weckmeuler and Joana More are in the process of translating Verena Stefan’s Häutungen for Daughter’s Inc. The book will come out in early 1978. *********************************** At the Ohio Conference we promised to send Ms. Dibner from Detroit this Newsletter. When we returned to Madison, we discovered that we do not have her address. Can someone help us by sending us her address? *********************************** This newsletter was prepared by: Evelyn Torton Beck, Yvette Brazell, Nadia Donchenko, Angelika Haag, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Marsha Meyer, Jim Steakley, Ganriele Strauch, Nancy Vedder-Shults and Christa Stutius. ************************************ We have been asked by many groups for our address list. We have made it a policy to give the address list only to coalition groups of the MLA. Please write us, if you object and we will take your name off the list. SUBSCRIPTIONS Enclosed, please find my $2 ($1) for a year's subscription to Women in German Send your check to: Women in German, German Dept., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Name_________________ Address________________ Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Brazell, Yvette Donchenko, Nadia Haag, Angelika Harwig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Meyer, Marsha Steakley, Jim Strauch, Ganriele Vedder-Shults, Nancy Stutius, Christa Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978/02/06 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1978_Feb Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/9b037b922efce1bfea26454e92aa49fd.pdf 61985c01b1ed40b6b4d0e6857010ebc7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource May 1978 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Congresses; Feminism; Germanists Description An account of the resource WOMEN IN GERMAN Number 15 May 20, 1978 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) As Women in German we can not isolate ourselves from the struggles that go on around us. We, as professional women and men, live on all fronts, be it abortion rights, gay rights, the ERA, or labor union rights. We feel that unless we take an active stance on progressive issues, the forces of reaction forming around us will undo the gains we have made in the past. Recently Wisconsin women suffered a real defeat when the State Legislature ruled to stop funding for abortions. Again poor and minority women are hardest hit. Madison gays have reason to fear an attack launched against them from the hardcore reactionaries rallied around a bigoted preacher, who himself is now facing trial for child beating. We must understand that such assaults on our rights are not accidental and that an attack on one is an attack on all. Roll-backs of hard-won gains and new repressive laws are on the horizon everywhere. For example, under Section 1641 of S. 143 (formerly S.1) and H.R.6869, the criminal code presently being considered in a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, spouses, or any man who is living with the victim would be completely immune from prosecution for rape, Thus women would be left without protection from either rape or sexual assault. Furthermore, Title 39 Section 6035 of the same code would make any mailing of information about abortions a felony. (For more information on the repression of women’s rights under H.R.6869, write to: NCARL, [redacted] One tactic to help advance our rights is the boycott of states that have not yet ratified the ERA as convention sites. As a consequence of the pressure exerted by the Women’s Caucus of the MLA, that organization has shifted its November meeting from St. Louis to Minneapolis. The AATG, however, has taken no initiative to join the 200 organizations which are participating in the boycott. Let the AATG know what you think about that! The infringement of our rights has to be stopped by timely action. Indeed, our efforts for equal rights have to be increased. The opposition to the ERA has been using the ratification deadline of March 1979 to pressure state legislators into blocking its passage or voting against it. The drive for EXTENSION has to be nationwide and strong. At the same time the drive continues for the ratification by three more states before March 1979. But most importantly, we think that all Women in German should rally at least ten other people (friends, students, colleagues) to write to their Congresspeople, Senators, and to the President, urging them to EXTEND THE TIME LIMIT ON THE ERA. THe addresses are; respectively: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; The White House, Washington D.C.. -2- W.I.G., Number 15 May 20, 1978 As Irmtraud Morgner put it, “a woman who wants to enter history – who wants to become a human being – should enter politics and learn who her allies are.” * * * * The complete text of the ERA: <ol> <li>Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.</li> <li>The congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.</li> <li>This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.</li> </ol> * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT The novelist Gabriele Wohmann has been invited for an American lecture tour for October-November 1978. For details contact Dr. Amanda Martin, Goethe House, [redacted] * * * * At the Women in Germans session at the North East Modern Language Association, a general discussion was held. Co-chairs for the session were Hannelore Lennig (Russel Sage College) and Ruth Sanders (Miami University). Those present chose the topic “Women in the Nazi Period” for next year’s NEMLA session and elected Victoria M. Stiles and Else S. Diduk as co-chairs. NEMLA Women in German Program: The North-East Mordern Language Association (NEMLA) will hold its 1979 meeting on March 29-31 in Hartford, Connecticut. The topic for the section Women in German will be “Women in the Third Reich”. Papers of 8 pages in length (on any aspect) should be submitted by September 7, 1978 to both: -3- W.I.G., Number 15 May 20, 1978 Prof. Victoria M. Stiles Dept. of International Communications and culture SUNY College at Cortland Courtland, New York 13045 and Prof. Elsa S. Diduk Dept. of Modern Languages College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 * * * * PLEASE ask your library to order Women and German Studies: An Interdisciplinary and Comparative Approach. Proceedings of the Second Annual Women in German Symposium. They may be obtained from Kay Goodman, Dept. of GREAL Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Price: $2 to individuals, $4 to libraries or bookstores. * * * * A.A.T.G. SESSIONS OF INTEREST TO W.I.G. The Women in German session at the AATG in Chicago this year will be held on Thursday, November 23 from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. The program will be entitled: “Integrating Women’s Culture into the German Curriculum” and will be led by Nancy Vedder-Shults and Miriam Frank, both of whom have recently returned from West Berlin. Our Women in German Business meeting will immediately follow this slide/tape program and discussion. The session entitled “Modern German Literature in the Classroom: Two Approaches” led by Klaus Berhahn is also of interest for WIG. The two papers which will be discussed are “Peter Schneider’s Lenz, a Marxist Approach” by Jay Rossellini and “Kafka’s Die Verwandlung, a Feminist Approach” by Evi Beck. This program will take place on Friday, November 24 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. BOOKS Our readers will surely be as pleased as we were to hear that Christa Wolf’s Legen und Schreiben is now available in English. The title is The Reader and the Writer: Essays, Sketches, Memories, trans. Joan Becker (New York; International; Berlin/GDR; Seven Seas, 1977), and the paperback edition costs $1.95. -4- W.I.G., Number 15 MAy 20, 1978 We’d like to draw your attention to two articles we came upon recently, both concerned with Lesbianism. The first is by Ursula Linhoff, “Das zweifache Stigma: Zu einer Kulturgeschichte lesbischen Sexualverhaltens,” in Der unterdrückte Sexus, ed. Joachim S. Hohmann (Lollar/Lahn: Andreas Achenback, 1977). Pp. 113-27. Since the book costs a staggering DM 52, you may want your library to order it. The second article is by Ina Kuckuc (pseud.), “Gesellschaft und Homosexualität, ed. Rüdiger Lautmann, Shurkamp tachenbuck Wissenschaft 200 (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1977), pp.465-73. Kuckuc may be familiar to you as the auther of Der Kampf gegen Unterdrückung, Materialien aus der deutschen Lesbierinnenbewegung (München: Frauenoffensive, 1975). MADISON FIRE In April Evi Beck of Women in German lost her entire belongings and personal library in a fire. The rest of us who work on the newsletter would like to make this known and to solicit any help which other Women in German might be able to provide – especially in building up Evi’s library again. Probably everyone has at least two copies of some book; the extra copy could help Evi put her academic life back on its feet. Also since all correspondence, addresses etc. have been destroyed, anyone who was or is expecting to hear from Evi might better re-initiate the communication. The address of the German Department is Von Hise Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. Special note to Gisela Strand: Your letter was also lost in the fire, but several people do have papers on feminist-Marxist criticism. Please contact us and we will send you what we have. REVIEW The GDR author Irmtraud Morgner is interviewed in the January 1978 issue of Kürbiskern. In the article, entitled “Weltspitze sein und sich wundern, was noch nicht ist,“ she addresses the problem of female emancipation. Morgner asserts that GDR women rank among the world’s most liberated. Despite thirty years of socialist, however, there still remain inequities which must be eradicated. Tremendous changes have occurred with the entrance of GDR women into the work force. Women have acquired respectability at home as well as on the job. The typical male, unfortunately, does not yet take equal responsibility for child care or household chores. Morgner considers socialist revolution the first step towards human emancipation, for only then can life styles and attitudes be transformed. She then establishes that a basic male-female conflict still prevails. The patriarchal stereotypes of the woman as wife and mother are vestiges of capitalism, which have been carries over into GDR socialism. Although Morgner is aware of these carry-overs, she softens her critique. Men are unable to reduce their work-load and actively con- -5- W.I.G., Number 15 May 20, 1978 tribute to child care and household work, since the economy of the GDR could not support this. The capitalist world forces the GDR to produce ever more goods at an increasingly more rapid pace. The arms race and imperialism both contribute to work wide antagonisms which are then reflected in male-female relations. For this reason, Morgner assumes that her country can not yet devote full attention to the personal sphere. Although her arguments may hold some truth, they can not be overestimated, to divert attention from the problems of women at large. Nadia Donchenko University of WI-Madison RETREAT The Third Annual Women in German Workshop/Retreat will take place on September 22-24, 1978 at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. June 1, 1978 is the deadline for submission of proposals to the workshop coordinators (see below). We are requesting coordinators to send descriptions of their workshop, including names of participants, to this Newsletter by July 1, 1978 so that we can prepare copy for the early September issue of WiG. A tentative program appears below: REVISED TENTATIVE PROGRAM FOR WOMEN IN GERMAN WORKSHOP/RETREAT Friday, Sept.22 5:00 – 8:00 Arrival: supper 8:00 – 10:00 Open discussion of personal and professional survival as woman Germanist. Discussion leader: Pat Russian Saturday, Sept. 23 8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast 9:00 – 10:30 Feminism Approaches to Teaching German Language and Literature Coordinated by Pat Russian and Detti Ledchowski 10:30 – 11:00 Break 11:00 – 12:30 The Women’s Question and Aesthetics Coordinated by Sara Lennox and Pat Herminghouse 1:00 – 2:30 Lunch 2:30 – 4:00 Women Authors in the 19th Century Coordinated by Elke Frederiksen and Kay Goodman -6- W.I.G., Number 15 May 20, 1978 4:00 – 6:00 Break 6:00 – 7:30 Supper 7:30 – 10:00 Contemporary Women’s Culture Coordinated by Evelyn Beck and Gisela Strand Sunday, Sept. 24 8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast 9:00 – 10:30 Business and Planning Meeting: Women in German – Where do we go from here? 10:30 – 12:00 Feedback, self-criticism, evaluation A registration blank for the meeting is provided on the last page of this issue. Overall conference coordinators are: Audrone. Willeke GREAL Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056 [redacted] and Jeanette Clausen Dept. of Modern foreign Languages Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Ft. Wayne 2101 Coliseum Blvd. East Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805 [redacted] All general questions regarding the conference should be addressed to them. THINKING AHEAD URGENTLY NEEDED: CONFERENCE SITE FOR FOURTH WOMEN IN GERMAN CONFERENCE Now that preparations for the Third Annual WIG Conference are well underway, it is time to begin thinking seriously about our fourth conference – particularly the question of where it will be held. In the past, such planning has taken place at the conference itself, but this has not proved adequate. In order for us to be able to leave the conference with firm plans for the following year, each of us needs to do some serious thinking an researching in advance of the 1979 conference, and the question of location is particularly pressing: The women in Ohio have been generous to host the conference three years in a row, (and our best thanks go to them for this effort). It was our original intention to rotate the conference site. However, cheap and relatively accessible sites, available when we need them, do not spring full blown out of nowhere. Therefore, we are asking each of you to check your own area and find out whether a suitable location for the Fourth Annual WIG Conference might be available on your campus or in your vicinity. (The conference is usually held on a weekend in late September, one that does not conflict with the Jewish high holy days). If you think your location might have adequate facilities, here are some questions that could serve as guidelines for your exploration: -7- W.I.G Number 15 May 20, 1978 Are there overnight facilities for 40-50 people? Are the facilities close to the meeting rooms? If not, is transportation available? Is there a convenient food source – cafeteria, reasonable caterer, a kitchen for our use? What would the estimated cost per participant be? This year we are able to provide room and board for the entire weekend for $16.00per person. Is the entire conference site easily accessible? Can transportation to and from airports be arranged? Are there people in the area or on your campus who would be willing to help with the arrangements in advance and during the conference? Please bring as much concrete information as you can to Ohio. If you yourself are not able to attend the conference but would like to host it in 1979, please send the information either to the WIG newsletter or to the 1978 conference planners, by September 16, 1978. Be imaginative; we do not need fancy facilities. Most of us have been bringing sleeping bags and air mattresses to Ohio, and have found it a refreshing change of pace. NO COMMENT Oberbürgermeister Erich Kiesl, CSU, zum „Tag der Münchnerin“ (März 1978) ICH SEH KEINE „Meine Damen, da muss ich Ihnen etwas ehrlich gestehen: Ich bin also keiner, der die Emanzipen (!!) so besonders gerne mag. Sie wissen aber ganz genau, dasz hier keine einzige sitzt – iche sehe keine. Also ich meine damit jene, die etwa die Gleichberechtigung so verstehen, dasz die Frau mit dem Mann und der Mann mit der Frau in einen Wettbewerb treten sollte. Ich bin eigentlich grundsätzlich der Meinung: Jeder sollte doch das, was er hat, vertreten. Und ich finde, es gehört zumindest dazu, dass Frauen auch gerade in der Politik etwas entwickeln können. Da ist einmal der Charme, da ist einmal ein gewisses Einfühlungsvermögen, das nur Frauen haben können. Ich muss Ihnen ehrlich sagen, mir tut’s manchmal gut, dass ich in meinen politischen Aktionen von einer relativ unpolitischen Frau, meiner eigenen, zu Hause gelegentlich mal einen Rüffel kriege...Ich glaube also, wir wollen Politik für die Frau so verstehen, dass wir allen gerecht werden, und wir wollen gerade das, was die Frauen in der Politik beitragen können – meine Damen -, das wollen wir mit einbeziehen für eine Stadtpolitik, für alle Schichten, für alle unsere Bürger etwas Positives bringt. So verstehen wir den Tag der Frau.“ -8- W.I.G., Number 15 May 20, 1978 RE-WIG NOW: WIG desperately needs your financial support. Please keep your subscription updated! Beginning with our next issue, we are introducing a new subscription-checking system. The number on your address label will correspond to the last issue that you’ll be receiving and let you know when your subscription will run out. For example, if you renew your subscription with issue no. 15 then the number 18 will appear on your label. WIG 15----18 read your label and renew immediately when numbers match SUBSCRIPTIONS Enclosed, please fine my $2 ($1) for a year’s subscription to Women in German. Send your check to Women in German, German Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Name ___________________________ Address _____________________________ This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Yvette Brazell, Nadia Donchenko, Angelika Haag, Viktoria Hawrig, Biddy Martin, James Steakley, Christa Stutius and Nancy Vedder-Shults. -9- W.I.G., Number 15 May 20, 1978 REGESTRATION FORM I want to register for the retreat on September 22-24, 1978 Registration fee of $16.00 ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later Donation to travel fund ( ) enclosed ( ) will be mailed later (Make checks payable to Gisela Bahr) I want to stay ( ) at the camp ( ) will bring a folding bed ( I understand that I need to bring a sleeping bag). ( ) with friends ( ) at a motel (please send information) I shall need day care for ___ child(ren), age(s) ___________ (no.) I expect to arrive on _______________ ( ) by car ( ) by plane: will inform you of airport (Dayton or Cincinnati), time of arrival, flight number, as soon as possible. NAME _______TELEPHONE ______ MAILING ADDRESS _______________________________________ Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (4x9”) so that we can send you further instructions; mail to Audrone B. Willeke, GREAL, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 ------------------------------------------------ LAST NOTE! Luise Rinser will be speaking at the MLA conference in December, 1978. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Brazell, Yvette Donchenko, Nadia Haag, Angelika Hawrig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Steakley, James Stutius, Christa Vedder-Shults, Nancy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978/05/20 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1978_May Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/f59c6781b999d86f55738f422faacdd0.pdf 489e28b843ed2d14a6dbcedcc9d39e0c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 1978 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Congresses; Feminism; Germanists Description An account of the resource WOMEN IN GERMAN Mailing address: 818 Van Hise Hall, Madison, WI. 53706 Number 16 September 10, 1978 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) All of us are well aware that the Women’s movement is going strong. We still would like to report on some striking events illustrating the ongoing struggle. Those of us who spent the summer in West Germany witnessed over 10 million women, including traditional housewives and radical feminists, expressing their support of a lawsuit against Stern magazine’s blatant sexism. The West German feminist journal Emma launched an attack in response to Stern’s cover-photos which depict women in a variety of degrading poses. Emma’s ten plaintiffs appealed to the German Presserat, charging Stern with violating statute 9 of the code which prohibits the press from publishing in either word of picture that which offends moral or religious propriety. A suit was filed with the Hamburg country court charging the publication with abusing the individual’s right to freedom. Stern’s editor-in-chief, Henri Nannen, attempted to discredit the plaintiff’s accusations. Stern argued that women could not be violated as a monority since they constitute the majority of the FRG population. The other representatives of the established press condemned the Emma supporters by arguing that only those women who reach “abnormally” toward men could possibly object to the Stern cover-page. Although the outcome of the trial was not favorable to the plaintiffs, the case was not a defeat to the Women’s movement since it grought the issue of sexism to court and the public was forced to witness that a large number of women will no longer passively accept overt sexism. The other striking even just happened some weeks ago in the United States. On August 16, a bill to extend the time limit for ratification of the ERA to June 30, 1982, was approved by the House of Representatives. The House vote was a significant victory for ERA supporters, who saw only a slim chance of winning the necessary ratification votes of 3 or more states before next March. National NOW Time magazine in its issue of July 1978 lists all organizations that support the ERA extensions. It is most important to take a public stand on AATG which will hold its next conference in an unratified state (Illinois). Express your concern by writing to: AATG Administrative Office 523 Building Suite 201 Route 38 Cherry Hill, N.J. 08034 -2- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 We urge you to consider boycotting the next AATG conference. If you really have to attend, we suggest you hit ‘em where it hurts by keeping your expenditures to a minimum! Bring food; stay with friends. The passage of the ERA extension was certainly an important victory, but let’s not fall into an unrealistic optimism! Be alert that conservative forces undermine progressive movements and challenge many rights we have struggled for. A serious attack is now underway through the “Briggs-amendment,” which would require that California schoolboards fire or refuse to hire any openly gay teacher or anyone who supports the civil rights of gay people. Another serious attack is the restriction on federally funded abortions which is already in effect in may states. Pro-choice and anti-abortion forces are gearing up for another confrontation as Congress prepares further restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortions. As you see, it is most crucial to rally your efforts on every issue affecting the advances of our struggles. WIG CONFERENCE Program details for WIG Workshop session, Saturday, September 23 REMINDER: Panelists who will need special equipment, such as tape players or slide projectors, for their presentations, are asked to so inform Audrone Willeke (GREAL, Miami University, [redacted] as soon as possible 9:00-10:30 am FEMINIST APPROACHES TO TEACHING GERMAN LANGAGE AND LITEATURE (coord. Pat Russian, Detti Ledochowski) Brief presentations (20 min) to provide conference participants with concrete ideas and techniques for feminist pedagogy, with emphasis on overcoming difficulties of implementing a feminist approach at traditional (male!) institutions. The sessions will be structured to encourage active involvement by the audience and to enable participants to integrate their own experiences and techniques with the contributions of the three panelists. Panelists: Marjorie Tussing, California State University at Fullerton. “Overcoming Sexism in the Language Classroom.” Judith Scheid, University of Minnesota. “Self or Ideology? Approaches to Self-Realization in the Teaching of Christa Wolf.” Charlotte Amster, Dartmouth College. “Prostitution as False Liberation: Teaching Turn-of-the Century German Drama.” -3- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 11:00 am- 12:00pm WOMEN AND AESTHETICS (coord. Sara Lennox, Pat Herminghouse) Part I: Theoretical Trends Brief presentations of recent developments in aesthetics theory based on annotate bibliographies and text excerpts which will be available to conference registrants. Panelists will report on recent developments in American and European criticism. Subsequent group discussion will be directed towards questions such as : Can critical theory accommodate women’s writing as viable “alternative”? To what extent can one speak of “Politics of form”? Can one even speak of a female aesthetic in literature without tackling the problem of language itself? Panelists: Leslie Adelson (U.S.A.), Helen Fehervary (FRG), Pat Herminghouse (GDR) Sara Lennox (France) Recording Secretary: Ingrid Weigand (12:00 – 1:30 pm: Lunch) 1:30 – 2:30 WOMEN AND AESTHETICS (coord. Sara Lennox, Pat Herminghouse) Part II: Text Analysis How doe female theories of language and literature translate into practice? What distinguishes male and female writing style? Three analyses of recent texts will provide a concrete basis for exploring the possibilities and limitations of feminist criticism. Panelists: Johanna Moore and Beth Weckmeuller (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee): The Problem of Language in Verena Stefan’s Häutungen Judith McAlister Hermann (Ronnenberg, West Germany): Christa Reining’s (entmannte?) Bildersprache Sandy Frieden (University of Houston): Male and Female Perspectives: Peter Hadnke’s Die linkshändige Frau and Brigitte Scwaiger’s Wie kommt das Salz ins Meer Recording secretary: Ingrid Weigand -4- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 3:00-4:30 pm WOMEN AUTHORS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (coord. Kay Goodman, Elke Frederiksen Brief presentations (10 min.) to be followed by discussion. Questions prepared by the panelists and other handouts (text excerpts, bibliographies) will be distributed in advance with the purpose of stimulating discussion. Panelists: Gertrud B. Pickar, University of Houston. “The Image of Woman in the Works of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.” Chrisiane Zehl Romero, Tufts University. “Das Eigene Zimmer—Im Schloss.” A discussion of noble women among female writers of the nineteenth century (Ebner-Eschenbach, Francois, Hahn-Hahn, Hillern). Dolores Whelan, Torrington High School, Conn. “Die Schriftstellerin im deutschen Lustspiel vom Ende des 19. Bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts.“ 7:30-9:30 pm CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S CULTURE (coord. Evelyn Beck, Gisela Strand) A round table presentation of West German Women’s Culture in contrast and comparison to that of the United States. Panelists will explore the large question “What is Women’s Culture, whom does it serve?” by focusing on a number of specific manifestations of Women’s Culture, including such topics as women’s literature, journals, art, theater, bookstores, restaurants and Kneipen, as well as living arrangements. We will be making connections between the women’s movement and women’s culture and will also explore the questions “How can Women’s Culture be a force for social change?” and “How successful has it bee in this respect in West Germany and the United States?” Panelists: Miriam Frank, Wayne Country Community College, Detroit, MI Naomi Stephan, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN Nany Vedder-Shults, University of Wisconsin, Madison Evelyn Torton Beck, University of Wisconsin, Madison Gisela Strand, Hope College, Hope, MI To be followed by live entertainment from Miriam, Naomi, and Nancy, with participatory obligation for all WIGS. To be followed by a dance, also a form of women’s culture! -5- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 Agenda items for Business and Planning meeting, Sunday September 24 9:00-10:30 am WOMEN IN GERMAN: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? (Moderators: Audrone Willeke, Jeanette Clausen) Members of the Ad Hoc Steering Committee will present ideas and proposals to stimulate discussion and encourage resolution of many crucial issues facing WIG. Those of us involved in planning this year’s conference feel strongly that WIG needs a more representative reading to assess accurately membership needs and desires. Please structure your travel plans to include participation in this important business meeting. It is essential that decisions be made at the conference, since no other meeting during the year affords us the time for such thorough deliberations. 1. Increase in WIG membership dues to finance activities 2. Creation of a five-number WIG Steering Committee, to be elected at the September conference each year 3. Selection of 1979 conference site 4. Establishment of a procedure for selecting topic for annual MLA session (and also AATG session?) prior to MLA convention 5. Planning for Luise Rinser’s trip a) financing Rinser’s trip b) WIG responsibilities during Rinser’s four-day visit c) liaison between WIG and MLA German section during convention d) planning opportunities for WIG members to interview Rinser, discuss research projects, etc. during her visit 6. Proposals for small WIG outreach projects for 1978-79, to be undertaken by WIG members in a specific regional area (by an “Arbeitsgruppe” of WIG faculty and/or graduate students at a particular university, or by members sharing research interests) a) Bibliography of German women writers in English translation retyped, updated, offset printed—available free to all WIG members but sold to German departments and other interested individuals b) Short guide to selection of non-sexist (i.e. least sexist) German textbooks; general questions German departments and faculty should consider before selecting any textbook for classroom use—available free to all WIG members but sold to German departments and other interested individuals c) Textbook Alert—list of German textbooks WIG finds particularly objectionable and urges departments and individuals to avoid using, sent free to everybody who requests list and without request to all major German departments 7. Additional agenda items as time permits: what are your concerns for the future of WIG??? 10:30-12:00 Evaluation of 1978 Workshop-Retreat, plans for next year -6- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 PPERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SURVIVAL AS A WOMAN GERMANIST Discussion session: Friday, September 22, 9:00-10:00 P.M. All of us have encountered problems in our attempts to survive personally and professionally as women Germanists. As discussion leader for this session I urge all people planning to attend the September WIG Conference to review for themselves the most significant pressures they have confronted and how they have tried to cope with these pressures. What has been successful for you, and what has failed? By sharing our individual experiences with one another, perhaps we will be able to expand our personal strategies for survival and success. This session will emphasize not the exchanging of personal “horror stories,” but the sharing of short-term solutions to our long-term problems. The following questions might be useful in preparing for this session. <ol> <li>What problems have you encountered being the only woman in your department, being the only feminist in a department with other tenured or untenured women who are indifferent to or hostile to feminism?</li> <li>How have you coped with being at a university where there is little or no professional, personal, or political interaction among women faculty? Have you found alternatives among women students, in the community, etc.?</li> <li>Do you experience overt discrimination and harassment in your department and/or at your university because of your sex? How is this demonstrated? Have you tried to take steps to minimize this discrimination?</li> <li>What problems have you encountered being a working wife and mother, lesbian, single parent, unmarried heterosexual woman in an overwhelmingly married male university community? How has tis adversely affected your professional life, your personal life (not implying that the two are separate)? What ways have you devised to handle these problems?</li> <li>Do you feel increasingly alienating from the academic profession as a woman and a feminist? What steps have you taken personally and professionally to reduce this alienation?</li> <li>How has the job crisis in Germanistics and the specific budgetary restrictions and tenure policy of your department influenced your career prospects and plans? Have you taken concrete steps to expand your professional options, in order to improve your chances for survival? Have you seriously considered leaving Germanistics? What career alternatives are you investigating?</li> </ol> Pat Russian -7- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 BOOKS GUTEN MORGEN. DU SCHÖNE. FRAUEN IN DER DDR. PROTOKOLLE By Maxie Wander (Berlin, GDR: Buchverlag Der Morgen, 1978). The FRG, Austrian, and W. Berlin edition (Darmstadt and Neuwied: Luchterhand), 214 pages, 24,--DM, was authorized by Maxie Wander, approved by the original publisher and contains introductory remarks by Christa Wolf. Nineteen GDR women, ranging in age from 16-74, forthrightly relate their past and present experiences as well as their aspirations to Maxie Wander, who recorded and edited these conversations before she died in November, 1977. The women interviewed reveal their position, role and development within the GDR: in the family, at school, at work and in politics, as well as in relationships of love and sex. Several women affirm the importance of guaranteed work in the process of self-realization in their country. Others question certain attitudes, modes of living and behavior and forms of relationships. The women, while affirming the society in which they live and work, seek and demand greater realization of their individual needs as women and developing personalities in the GDR. We as readers are often confronted with depictions of reality and corresponding visions of what would be desirable in a further creative individual and societal development in socialism. The resulting book would encourage consideration not only of questions raised by these women but also of possible answer. Coming out in Spring 1978! GERMAN WOMEN WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by Elizabeth Rütschi Herrmann Edna Huttenmaier Spitz (Pergamon Press, Inc.: Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, New York 10523) This is a college-level anthology of short stories in English translation by outstanding women who wrote in German during the course of this century, covering among other topics radical persecution, political guilt and women’s experience and position in society. Each of the sixteen selections is prefaced by a biographical sketch and notes on the works of the author. The book also contains an extensive introduction to the general history and the development of literature by German women. A selected bibliography will guide the reader to further study in the field. Aimed at courses in German Studies, Comparative Literature and Women’s Studies, this volume can serve either as a text or as a supplementary reader and it provides new material for feminist literary studies and criticism. -8- W. I. G. Number 16 September 10, 1978 Don’t miss the special Feminist Issue of New German Critique, (Nr. 13, Winter 1978)! The issue includes articles on the West German Women’s Movement, Women in GDR, Feminist Publications in the FRG, Summer Universities for Women, and Women and Film. In addition there’s an excerpt from Ulrike Prokop’s Production and the Context of Women’s Daily Life and an excerpt from Moore and Weckmueller’s translation of Verena Stefan’s Häutungen. Among the most useful parts of the issue are the translation of Christa Wolf’s “Self-Experiment” (“Selbstversuch”) and the first part of a two-part annotated bibliography of relevant publications in German. ANNOUNCEMENT REMINDER: Don’t forget that Luise Rinser will be at the MLA in New York for the second of three Women in German sections on December 29. Rinser will not only speak but participate in a discussion for the length of the second session, a discussion which will be moderated by Pat Russian. Rocky Moutain Mordern Language Association annual conference, 26-28 Oct. 1978, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Phoenix. Address: Maureen Ahern, Dept. of Foreign Languages or Don L. F. Nilsen, Dept. of English; executive director of RMMLA Ingeborg L. Carlson, Dept. of Foreign Languages, editor of the Rocky Mountain Review Don L. F. Nilsen, Dept. of English, all located at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281. MMLA Program, German II: Literature after 1700 (Taft Room) Saturday, 4 November 1978 9:45-11:15 am Topic: Neglected Genres Chair: Renny Harrigan, Univ. of Wisc./Milwaukee Secretary: Elizabeth Walter-Echols, Berea College 1) “Goethe and Autobiography,” by Kay Goodman, Miami Univ./Ohio 2) “Women and Fascism: The Lost Generation of Women Writers in Post-War Germany,” by Pat Russian, Providence, Rh. I. 3) “Documentary as Dialogue: Women’s Documentary Literature in the FRG,” by Nancy Vedder-Schults, Univ. of Wisc./Madison 4) “Historisches Erzählen der Gegenwart: Alexander Kluges Neue Geschichten (1977) zwischen Dokument, literarischer Prosa and Filmskript,“ by Friedrich Achberger, Univ. of Minn. 11:30 am – 1:00 pm Coalition of Women in German (Taft Room) Business Meeting Chair: Renny Harrigan, Univ. of Wisc./Milwaukee -9- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 TREFFEN SCHREIBENDER FRAUEN a conference report by Tobe Levin We’re having winter this July in Munich, and while suffering from a sore throat and February feet, I look back on those two hot days in Bremen, June 3 and 4, 1978, with an intense longing. Not only for the warmth of the sun, but also for that more metaphoric heat, the high that comes from exchanging views with other women on a subject of the utmost importance to me – the meaning that one’s feminist commitment has for the way one reads and writes. We came – more than two hundred of s – from all over West Germany and West Berlin, many out of a sense of isolation and a desire to draw strength from our numbers, to gain encouragement in our hope of “coming out” as writers, to empty the drawers of dusty manuscripts, and to ask such questions: why has autobiography taken such a predominant place in women’s fiction? What is the relationship of the material and psychological reality of women’s lives to the forms and contents of their work? What is the therapeutic or healing function of writing for the individual writer and how can the demands of readers be taken into account by texts intended primarily to bring the author to self-discovery? In Bremen we were also part of a tradition that has already made its mark on the West German feminist movement. This was the third gathering of its type, the first having taken place in Munich in May, 1976, and the second in Cologne in October, 1977. The earliest conference for “writing women” was organized by Verlag Frauenoffensive and was motivated by the need for a frank appraisal of the quality of incoming fictional manuscripts, the majority of which could not be published because of their low literary standard. Women seemed to be telling the same tales of woe, in the same clichés, over and over again. There was a distinct lack – not of talent, but of direction. It was therefore felt that a broadly-based discussion of the craft and techniques of poetry and fiction should be initiated, and that Frauenoffensive was in the best position to do this. At the same time, the editorial staff hoped to increase their own understanding of criteria to be applied in judging manuscripts. As they explain in their Journal Nr. 5 – Aufständische Kultur, Frauenoffensive wanted to reject the inhumane, form-letter approach to contributors practiced in the male world of publishing (‘… passt aber leider nicht in unser Verlagsprogramm…’). Instead, they wanted to be able to show contributors how their work might be improved. As a feminist press, therefore, their interest in their authors extended well beyond the boundaries of business. From the very beginning, they recognized the complex function of writing in the women’s movement: as communication, entertainment and instruction for the reader, but also as a process of self-healing and self-discovery for the individual author. A frequent problem, however, was a lack of coordination between these two aspects: a work whose importance for the writer might be obvious, often failed in its responsibility to the reader. -10- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 In the December, 1977 issue of Emma, the poet Frederike Frei, reporting on the second “Treffen” in Cologne, seems to have perceived a similar tension there between the differing needs of writers and readers. On listening to original poems, she realizes that this is less a forum for passing critical judgment on the quality of readings as it is an occasion for providing the poet with emotional support and encouragement. And she doesn’t disapprove of this. One the contrary, she believes: Es muss gar nicht jedes Gedicht an die Öffentlichkeit. Wichtiger ist, dass man sich selbst öffnet. Das Innerste zu Äusserst zu kehren ist ebenso revolutionär wie das Unterste zu Oberst. And should imperfect pieces nevertheless appear in print, she feels that they too, by virtue of their imperfection, can play an important role in stimulating consciousness. Comparing a poem to a letter, she remarks: “’Schlechte’ Stellen, Worte, in denen ich mich um Bewusstsein bemühte, durchgestrichene Sachen (be)rühren mich mehr als perfektoide, lassen mich länger nachdenken. Es geht nicht ums Ergebnis, es geht um den Prozess.“ A similar view has been expressed by the editors of schreiben, a young feminist literary magazine born last November, 1977, with a present circulation of over one thousand. The co-workers on the schreiben staff organized the gathering in Bremen, and published the third issue of their magazine in preparation for it. In schreiben 3, the majority of contributions deal specifically with the subject of writing. As editor Maureen Lister comments: “Wir wollten über das Schreibprozess reden, welche Rollen spielt Schreiben in unserem Leben? Wie, wo und wann schreiben Frauen? Welche Funktion hat das Schreiben für die Frauen die uns Texte schickten?‘ Schreiben als Selbst-Barstellung und Lebenshilfe, oder Schreiben als Arbeit?“ (personal commmunication) These questions gain in importance when we realize that, although the majority of contributors to schreiben are women whose work has already appeared in other feminist as well as non-feminist publications, the magazine is meant to provide a forum for women who do not (yet) write professionally, especially housewives, mothers, teachers, women in the “feminine” professions, whose reflections on their past, their relationships, their environment, in short, on their biographies, appear to bring them to a new kind of awareness. If therefore “the tool of revolution is consciousness” (Jill Johnston), the writing has an important revolutionary role t play in women’s lives. As Inge Buck notes in her radio to play in women’s lives. As Inge Buck notes in her radio talk on the Bremen “Treffen” for RIAS I (manuscript copy): Schreiben war für viele die erste heimliche Widerstandshandlung gegen Unterdrückung und Selbstverlust. Die eigenen Aufzeichnungen öffentlich vorzulesen und mit anderen Frauen darüber zu sprechen war für viele der zweite Schritt aus der Isolation ihres Ehealltags oder eines reduzierten Daseins. -11- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 But by placing our autobiographies at the center of a feminist aesthetic, we do incur certain dangers, in particular the tendency for this one mode to monopolize women’s literary production. And, indeed, the question of autobiography and its role in movement literature was either implicit or explicit in nearly all the suggested discussion-group topics. These included (I am quoting from the flyer): (1) Bestandsaufnahme weiblicher Themen und Schreibmuster: das Autobiographische; (2) Frauenlieder/Frauentexte; (3) Schreibende Frauen sind nicht die Sonntagsmalerinnen der Literatur; (4) Französische Theorien weiblichen Schreibens. Irigaray, Cixous, etc.; (5) Christa Reinigs Sprache: Spezifisch weibliche Sprachmuster? [Vorbereitungspapier by Juditch McAlister Hermann]; Dänische Frauenliterature; and (7) Was gefällt uns an Virginia Woolf? Everyone agreed, the menu looked really appetizing. But because all groups met at the same time, one’s portion of the picnic was usually limited to one, or at most, two dishes. I began with Irigaray and Cixous, but soon moved to the shade of another tree where the discussion focused directly on autobiography. I was sorry to have had to give up my original choice because, as a camparatist in French and German, I am happy to welcome the texts from Paris into the discussion of theory in Germany. But in Bremen I was disappointed at the generally low level of acquaintance with and understanding of the French theories among those nevertheless eager to talk about feminine creativity in its relation to the female body, to sexuality and the unconscious. However, as Karin Petersen reports in Courage (July, 1978), a vague awareness of the French-women’s positions on these points did stimulate a discussion on censorship. Most participants felt that it is not enough to confront the reader with a text whose primary purpose is the revelation of the writer’s own unconscious. This is merely a preparatory step to writing for a more general audience. “Auch das automatische … begriffen wir als Vorstufe. Sich hinsetzen und ‘unzensiert’ den Gedanken Überlassen, Alles, Klischees, Wunsche, Augenblickseinfalle erlauben, ohne Anspruch, ohne Mitteilungsbedürfnis, den Kopf entschlacken sozusagen, den inneren Dreck zulassen. Und dann beginnt die Arbeit des Schreibens erst…“ The group into which I migrated was of a similar opinion. Most of us were students and teachers of literature, those who tend to read and write about, rather than to write, literature. Our self-assigned task consisted of examining selected articles from schreiben 3 (the writings on writing), in the light of criteria we attempted to establish in our discussion of Verena Stefan’s Häutungen Agnes Smedley’s Tochter der Erde, and Jutta Heinrich’s Dan Geschlecht der Gedanken. In contrast to these models, we found in certain schreiben texts an overemphasis on technical problems together with a lack of concern for specific content. Or, as Christine Garbe writes in Courage, “das W i e wird wichtiger als das W a s.” And she continues: “Wir waren uns darin einig, -12- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 dass Texte, die die krude Alltäglichkeit b l o ss reproduzieren, quasi abfotografieren … uns langweilt, nichtssagend erscheint, unsere begrenzte Zeit und Energie unnötig in Anspruch nimmt.“ In sum, writing may well serve an important function for the writer; but she should recognize her responsibilities toward the reader as well. For the reader is making clear demands: we want a greater degree of variety and experimentation. In a recent letter Christine Garbe gives a representative opinion of the conference when she writes: “… am besten und wichtigsten für mich auf dem Treffen war die Erfahrung, dass es viele andere Frauen gibt, die – ebenso wie ich – etwas haben gegen einen sehr eingeengten Begriff von ‘Frauenliteratur’ (Autobiographie, Nabelschau), dass wir kein neues Dogma (Selbsterfahrung oder so) haben wollen, sonder Lust am Ausprobieren der verschiedensten Gegenstände und Stile (Ironie, Distanz, Sarkasmus, etc.) Das fand ich sehr erfrischend und ermutigend.“ Luisa Francia-Thomele, Frauenoffensive reader and co-author of the screenplay “Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages,” agrees. In Bremen, she had hoped to come across possible manuscripts for Frauenoffensive’s program. But she found the general tenor of readings there to be not significantly different from the preceding conferences. She sensed a continuing failure to begin with firm concepts drawn from feminist theory, followed by two additional problems: first, a lack of clarity in the designation “Frauentexte”; and second, a stagnation of the old debate as to whether writing is an “effusion of feeling” or a craft which must be learned. In sum, the feminist aesthetic as practiced in Bremen was still an aesthetics of pain, and in this it failed to present us with anything new. At the same time, however, voices could be heard calling for more sophisticated modes of expressing both our pain and our hope. There was general approval of the use of language in “Die Schwarze Botin” for example, the Berlin feminist quarterly whose name is intended to suggest black humor. In their pages an important place is reserved for satire, regarded “als Ausbruch aus der Trauer,… [als] Möglichkeit, sich Über Trauer hinwegzusetzen.” (Nr. 3, p. 2) Indeed, there are alternatives to tears. Look at Irmtraud Morgner, Chirsta Reinig, Margot Schröder, or Elfriede Jelinek. Comedy exists in movement literature, but it remains relatively rare. Bremen was perhaps the most zealous call hus far for an increased allegiance to the laughing muse. For additional information concerning all three “Treffen schreibender Frauen” see: Frauenoffensive Journal Nr. 5 – Aufständische Kultur (1976): may be ordered from Frauenoffensive, Kellerstrasse 39, 8 München 80. Price: 4 DM 50 Frederike Frei. “Betrifft: Schreibender Frauen“ Emma (Dez. 1977) Nr. 12, p. 61. Karin Petersen, Christine Garbe. „Die gelben Socken und ihre Grenzen: Treffen schreibender Frauen am 3./4. Juni in Bremen“ Courage 7 (Juli 1978) pp. 28-9. The fourth issue of schreiben will be devoted to pieces read at the Treffen and can be ordered from Redaktion schreiben, frauenliteraturzeitung, Weserstrasse, 83, 282 Bremen 70. Tobe Levin Steinickeweg, 4 8 München 40 -13- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 RESEARCH QUERIES 1. During my upcoming sabbatical leave I will be working on a long-term project entitled “The Image of the Widow in German Literature.” The first task will be a search for major and minor widows in German literary works of all ages. I would appreciate it very much if anyone coming across such figures would share the information with me. Irmgard C. Taylor [redacted] 2. I am working at the University of Tübingen on women in 18th-century Germany and the presentation of women in Lessing’s comedies. If you have any material on this topic could you please send it to me? Susanne Kippenberger [redacted] LETERS “Every time the Women in German comes I feel a real life because I gather so much important information from it. Keep it up! I wish I could go to the annual retreat sometime but it’s just too far from California. I shall wait patiently till MLA comes to the West Coast again.” Edna Spitz Stanford, California It’s letters like this that help us generate the time and energy in takes to get the WIG out. Feedback is vital. So keep your responses coming. Any suggestions you have for improvement will be gladly considered. And remember, you too can write for WIG. All you need do is put pen to paper, and don’t forget to mail it. And if you’d like to have the next conference in California, look for a site. See our site requirements reprinted below. CONFERENCE SITE It is imperative that we find a site for the fourth annual Women in German conference on the weekend of our conference which is just days away. It was our original intention to rotate the conference site. However, cheap and relatively -14- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 accessible sites, available when we need them, do not spring into full blown out of nowhere. Therefore, we are asking each of you to check your own area and find out whether a suitable location for the Fourth WIG Conference might be available on your campus or in your vicinity. (The Conference is usually held on a weekend in late September, one that does not conflict with the Jewish high holy days.) If you think your location might have adequate facilities, here are some questions that could serve as guidelines for your exploration: Are there overnight facilities for 40-50 people? Are there facilities close to the meeting rooms? If not, is transportation available Is there a convenient food source – cafeteria, a reasonable caterer, a kitchen for our use? What would the estimated cost per participant be? This year we are able to provide room and board for the entire weekend for 16.00 per person. Is the entire conference site easily accessible? Can transportation to and from airports be arranged? Are there people in the area or on your campus who would be willing to help with the arrangements in advance and during the conference? Please bring as much concrete information as you can to Ohio. If you yourself are not able to attend the conference but would like to host it in 1979, please send the information either to the WIG newsletter or to the 1978 conference planners immediately. Be imaginative, we do not need fancy facilities. Most of us have been bringing sleeping bags and airmatteresses to Ohio, and have found it a refreshing change of pace. WIG Read your label and renew immediately when numbers match SUBSCRIPTIONS Enclosed, please find my $2 ($1) for a year’s subscription to Women in German. Send your check to: Women in German, German Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Name _______________________ Address ________________________ ------------------------------------------------------- This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Yvette Braell, Nadia Donchenko, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Marsha Meyer, Sara Markham Pietsch, James Steakley, Gabriele Strauch and Christa Stutius. -15- W. I. G. September 10, 1978 Women in German Workshop/Retreat Please register immediately. Registration Form Name _________Telephone ____________ Mailing Address _____________________________________ I wish to register for the Women in German Workshop/Retreat on September 22-24, 1978. ( ) $16. registration fee is enclosed ( ) $10. if graduate student or unemployed. Make check payable to Women in German. Accommodations desired: ( ) at the camp lodge—women only. ( ) I will bring a folding bed I understand that I need to bring a sleeping bag or air mattress. ( ) at a motel—-please send information. Transportation plans: ( ) I will arrive by car ___________(day and approximate time) ( ) I will arrive by plane at the Cincinnati between 3-5 pm on Friday. ( ) I would like to be taken to the airport on Sunday for a 2 pm or later departure ( ) I would like assistance to organize a group for car rental from the Cincinnati airport ( ) I would like assistance to find other people driving from my area to Oxford, Ohio. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (4 x 9) so that we can send you further instructions, and mail to Women in German Workshop/Retreat, Dept. of German, Russian, and East Asian Languages, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056. Note: We would like to remind you that at the last WIG Conference we had only limited bed space. So, this time to be sure to bring your folding bed, air mattress or sleeping bag a long to make it comfortable for yourself. Or if you have a tent, bring it along! Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Braell, Yvette Donchenko, Nadia Harwig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Meyer, Marsha Markham Pietsch, Sara Steakley, James Strauch, Gabriele Stutius, Christa Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978/ 09/10 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1978_Sep Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Miami University, Oxford, OH N 25° 52' 43'' W 80° 11' 46'' Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a> https://wig-herstory.com/files/original/4f8c35949fc3a7ac4b60e290e59a737c.pdf 89586c1765cdf7c6183a6f919a0001a4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WiG Newsletters Subject The topic of the resource Feminism; Germanists; Congresses Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Lennox Files, Wisconsin Historical Society Women in German Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 - 2016 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Newsletters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource November 1978 Newsletter Subject The topic of the resource Congresses; Germanists; Feminism Description An account of the resource WOMEN IN GERMAN Number 17 November 30, 1978 Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed) The responses to our special call for boycott of the AATG made clear once again that the readership of Women in German is anything but passive. Our call evoked responses which range from enthusiastic support of the principle and our strategy, to support in principle only, to criticism of our strategy and timing. In a letter meant to reach so broad an audience, it was obviously not possible tom detail the process of our decision. We find it essential to fill in this gap for those who could not attend the annual WIG conference in Ohio. The issue was initially raised by the two women who were supposed to lead our workshop at AATG. Because they had recently returned from West Germany, they were not fully aware of the nation-wide boycott or its relevance to Chicago, but felt quite uncomfortable about participating in a meeting held in an unratified state. The discussion of this issue in Ohio with sixty members present was long, and represented the same spectrum of opinions that out readers have registered. While everyone agreed to the principle of upholding the nation-wide boycott, there was hesitation because the protest would come so late. In spite of these reservations, an overwhelming majority voted for the boycott. Everyone, even those who felt they had to attend AATG because of previous commitment agreed to acknowledge and support the boycott in their sections. To make their support concrete, those present donated $80.00 for the mailing of our letter. Thus, this action did not in any way deplete Women in German revenue. In addition to the excitement generated by our decision to take this political action, there was tremendous energy, enthusiasm, and exchange of ideas generated by all the workshops. Our new format proved to be both feminist in spirit, setting a tone of cooperation and sharing, and academically much more rewarding than the traditional speaker/adversary set-up. Of course, we are planning on a fourth annual conference, to be held in Milwaukee in 1979. See further pages in the newsletter for details. It has become clear that the WIG annual conference and the many panels we sponsor at national and local meetings, as well as our general high visibility in the profession have begun to make a real impact on the study and teaching of German. The Fall 1978 issue of Monatschefte published the results of a special survey of “Women in German Literature and Culture” which “investigates the extent to which Departments of German have introduced courses dealing with German women, either as writers of as a literary topic, the participation of German Departments in Women’s Studies Programs, and the available personnel.” The number of schools that offer courses related to women is quite impressive—-almost one hundred answered, many in some detail. A number of the schools that have no courses listed provide the names of interested faculty. (Separate issues of Monatshefte are available at $3.00 each.) This year we plan to increase outreach even further—in greater numbers there is greater strength! -2- LETTERS Dear women editors of WIG: I have just read Number 16 of your publication and feel very deeply touched. I was to say thank you for the consideration of every sister which comes through so very clearly. I am one of those Germanists who didn’t survive, and I am quite sure that people like me might have made it, had there been a WIG organization at that time. I was teaching German at the University of _____ . . .and then was booted out of the department with incredible intrigues of male collegues. If I didn’t survive as a Germanist, I made it as a person. Sometimes I can’t help feeling that I have gained much insight into women’s situations and life in general, perhaps more so since I had to experience the insecurity of the outsider. I am fortunate enough to have a former (woman) collegue who still works (now as the only woman in that department and that I am kept with a good supply of the most recent publications in German literature, etc., which I find quite essential for keeping in touch with my Germanistin past. Through her I shall also be able to keep up with your publication and I wish to congratulate you. With greetings and best wishes-- Erdmute Jöttkandt Christ-Church, New Zealand LETTERS LIKE THIS NOURISH US, and make us realize that our work has not only a national, but an international impact. It also gives us the energy to push ourselves just a little harder, especially on those days when it all seems too much. WIG CONFERENCE SITE MARK YOUR CALENDARS EARLY! We have found a beautiful place in Milwaukee for our next Women in German Workshop. Rather than the last week in September we will meet over the weekend of 12-14 October 1979. Detailed information in our next issue. Material for the next WIG Newsletter must be in by February 1, 1979. and should be sent to the address on the last page of this newsletter. -3- WIG CONFERENCE FEMINIST APPROACHES TO TEACHING GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE The overriding theme for all three presentations in this workshop was how to translate feminist theory and philosophy into practice in the classroom. Charlotte Amster’s goal in teaching turn-of-the-century drama (Hauptmann, Vor Sonnenaufgang, Wedekind, Marquis von Keith and Isben, The Dollhouse) was to lead students to look at societal structure, to look beyond even economic dependency in their analysis of the female figures. Although students realized that the only solutions to the problems women confronted in the plays were suicide or marriage, their conflicts and choices were seen as personal, and the female figures were judged to be restricted and incapable of reflecting upon their fate. The feminine “types” portrayed by the dramatists were not questioned as to their reality. Students did not reach a societal analysis. One theme emerged in the student discussions on Marquis von Keith: Anna, the female counterpart of the confidence man Keith, is, unlike Keith, successful because she follows the rules of business by selling her body to secure money by marrying money. Given Wedekind’s conception of the female mystique – he saw the truth and function of female existence as sexual, Lulu as “das wilde wahre schöne Tier” – this was interpreted by some students as positive, as emancipated: prostitution as false liberation. Interesting about Charlotte’s experience is the success she had in helping students define the issues. Challenging, of course, is achievement of a more historical and far reaching analysis of women’s oppression in the classroom. Judith Scheid discussed the influence of ideology and role playing in the class discussion of Christa Wolf’s Divided Heaven and Quest for Christa T. Her approach to the interpretation of the works was essentially “-ism”-free in the hope that ideology would not impede the possibility of exploration for the students. The students began with an over-acceptance of society’s influence on Manfred in Divided Heaven and society’s role in Christa T.’s death. Role playing distanced the students from their own identification with the characters and made them aware of the contradiction between inner values and the role society forces on the characters. As a third step after discussion and role playing, students analysed the results of their interpretation in a paper. Part of the analysis concerned itself with the question of female identity: Rita’s dependence on Manfred and Christa’s restriction to the mother role, and with the individual’s role within society. The discussion following the two papers addresses itself to the importance of “coming out” with a feminist ideology at the beginning of the course as opposed to the value-neutral approach suggested by the papers. Some felt that an explicitly feminist analysis gave students a handle on perspective and interpretation at the start of the course. Certainly discussing the oppression of women is vital when images of women in literature are the result of years of societal oppression and consequent stereotypes in literature. Many felt that it was very difficult to develop certain insights organically, and that the “objective approach could neither a get at the problems in the texts nor lead beyond the course into students’ lives. -4- The problems and results of the courses discussed might be summarized by emphasizing that increasing numbers of women isolated in the profession are trying to undo what society had done to students and to their perceptions of themselves and their relationships to others. The fact that there was some change in the perspective of students and in their ability to question the manifestations of oppressive behaviors and oppression in their own lives was very encouraging. And the attempts to introduce feminist process into the classroom was very exciting. Marjorie Tussing presented an overview in answer to the question: “Are we overcoming sexism in the classroom?” According to her there is some hope that the presentation of feminine sex roles and stereotypes is changing I some of the new editions of German textbooks. They do show new role models, positive portrayals of independent girls and women in leadership positions. Due to greater involvement in textbook selection for the high schhols, books for that level are now better than those for the college classroom. Suggestions for overcoming still existing sexism in the texts ranged from pedagogical techniques (greater number of role models, role reversal, relating material to bi-cultural setting) to political and professional measures (contacting publishers, inviting them to meet with WIG, reviewing new texts). ANNOUNCEMENT Luise Rinser Fundraising Effort: A Progress Report The fundraising effort to finance Luise Rinser’s participation in the Women in German program at the MLA has once again proven what we too often forget in our physical and professional isolation: “Frauen gemeinsam sind stark!” To date 62 members have contributed $468.00 to make this ambitious project a reality. Your generous response bears out what the women in leadership of WIG have long suspected? namely that in that amorphous group called Coalition of Women in German there exists more commitment and personal involvement than we could thus far register. At this time we would like to thank each of you not only for your support of this special project, but also for your concrete support of one another. Unfortunately, because Rinser will be staying less than a week in New York and traveling during the Christmas holiday season, she may not be able to take advantage of special discount airfares. If this is the case, a roundtrip flight between Rome and New York will cost $720. We have requested $500.00 from the West German embassy, since we have learned that they have cultural funds available for projects such as our own. We encourage any of you who intended to contribute to the Rinser fund and never got around to singing the check to act upon your impulses of solidarity. We are still very anxious to accept any belated contributions! (If all else fails and a deficit still exists, one of our members has agreed to make up the difference to insure Rinser’s participation.) But we would prefer that our collective goal was reached collectively. We urge you once again to make plans to join us in New York. You have made this program possible! -5- ANNOUNCEMENT The Coalition of Women in German will sponsor an afternoon series of special sessions on POST-WAR WEST GERMAN WOMEN WRITERS at the annual MLA in New York on Friday, December 29, from 1:00 to 5:45 p.m. Women in German has financed the participation of Luise RInser in this program in order to give members of the profession an opportunity to make the acquaintance of a woman writer who can speak from the perspective of a career which has spanned a period extending from the pre-war era, through National Socialism, and into the contemporary Federal Republic. All interested persons are welcome to attend each of these sessions in the Biarritz Room in the Americana Hotel. (Numbers in parentheses refer to listings in the official MLA program guide.) Friday, December 29 I (413) “POSTWAR WEST GERMAN WOMEN WRITERS” (1:00 – 2:15 p.m.) 1. “Ambiguity in Ilse Aichinger’s ‘Der Gefesselte’” (Ruth Sanders, Miamia University-Ohio) 2. “Ursula Erler’s Die neue Sophie: Literary Tradition and the Problem of Femininity” (Marilynn U. Helt, Washington University-St. Louis) 3. “Gerlind Reinshagen’s Sonntagskinder in the Context of Twentieth Century Adolescent Literature” (Janice Mouton, Loyola University-Chicago) 4. “perspectives between East and West: A Comparison between Women Writers of the Two Germanies” (Biddy Martin, University of Wisconsin-Madison) II (469) “POSTWAR WEST GERMAN WRITERS” (2:45 – 4:00 p.m.) Presentation by Luise Rinser, author and critic Moderated by Patricia Russian III (506) Informal business meeting of the Coalition of Women in German, as well as an opportunity for continued discussion of session II (4:15 – 5:45 p.m.) - - - open to all interested persons Thursday, December 28 I “The Culture of the New Women’s Movement in German” (slide-tape presentation (1:00 – 2:00 p.m. in the Women’s Caucus Suite in the Americana Hotel)(Miriam Frank, Wayne County Community College Nancy Vedder-Shultz, University of Wisconsin-Madison) -6- The Division on Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century German Literature will sponsor a series of sessions on FEMINIST APPROACHES TO GERMAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES in the Regency Ballroom in the Americana Hotel. Thursday, December 28 I (86) “FEMINIST APPROACHES TO GERMAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES” (:30 – 9:45 A.M.) 1. “Frank Wedekind and Women’s Rights” ( Audrone B. Willeke, Miami University-Ohio) 2. Where Have All the Women Gone? The Critical Standard and the Question of Quality” (Patricia A. Herminghouse, Washington University-St. Louis) 3. “Ricarda Huch: Myth and Reality” (Miriam Frank, Wayne County Community College) II (123) “FEMINIST APPROACHES TO GERMAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES” (10:15 – 11:30) A discussion of the papers presented in meeting 86. Presiding: Susan Cocalis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Participants: Jeanette Clausen, Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne; Kay Goodman, Miami University, Ohio RESEARCH Contributions are being sought for a forthcoming volume of Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik concentrating on women’s studies in German literature (ca. 1750-present). A wide range of topics and approaches is encouraged. Please send one to two page abstracts by April 30, 1979, to: Marianne Burkhard German Department University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 The tentative deadlind for complete articles is January 1980. 1979 Women in German Meeting at MLA “Women’s Letters, Diaries, and Autobiographies” One of the Most interesting questions we addressed at the Oxford conference was that of a feminine for feminist aesthetic: are there specific ways in which women write differently than men, and if so, what do these differences mean. We felt that this question might be investigated by looking at works of women not intended for publication, so that their choice of language and structure was not influenced by the exigencies of pleasing a published or the reading public. We also felt it might be interesting to investigate diaries and letters as literary exercises for material later intended for publication. -7- We thus decided to choose as a topic for the 1979 Women in German meeting at the MLA “Women’s Letters, Diaries, and Autobiographies” and to ask that papers submitted concentrate particularly on the question of alternative Women’s literary forms. Because of MLA regulations which require that the proposal for our meeting must be submitted by April 1, 1979, completed presentations should be sent to the co-chairwomen, Miriam Frank and Sara Lennox, by March 15, 1979. But please also contact us before then with your inquiries, abstracts, proposals or other comments. To save us time, send a copy to both Miriam Frank, 4722 Third, Detroit, Michigan 48202 and Sara Lennox, German Department, [redacted] University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003. BOOKS Gisela Brinker-Gabler möchte uns auf zwei neue Buchreihen, die sie im Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt, herausgibt, aufmerksam machen: Die Frau in der Gesellschaft – Frühe Texte Ziel dieser Reihe ist es, die gegenwärtige Erneuerung der Auseinandersetzungen um Status und Selbstverständnis der Frau in unserer Gesellschaft auf eine Tradition zurückzuführen, in der Schriftstellerinnen, Wissenschaftlerinnen und Politkerinnen bereits erstaunliche Vorarbeiten geleistet haben. Diese frühen, kaum noch bekannten Texte, die im Zuge der erste Frauenbewegung seit den siebziger Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts entstanden, sind in ihrem Argumentationsstand und sachlichen Engagement geeignet, den heutigen Emanzipationsbewegungen neue Impulse zu geben… Die einzelnen Bände stellen die Hauptthemen der Frauenfrage zur Diskussion. Bd. 1: Zur Psycholoie der Frau Bd. 2: Frauenarbeit und Beruf Bd. 3: Frauen gegen den Krieg Bd. 4. Frau und Kind (Bd. 1-4 Hg. G. Brinker-Gabler) Bd. 5 Frau und Recht (Hg. Von Hannelore Schröder) Die Frau in der Gesellschaft – Lebensgeschichten Innerhalb der Reihenkonzeption “Die Frau in der Gesellschaft“ wird diese Reihe Lebensdarsellungen – Erinnerungen, Tagebücher, Briefe, autobiographische Romane -, veröffentlichen, in denen Frauen die gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen schildern, unter denen sie vor hundert oder vor fünfzig Jahren lebten, und in denen sie ihr kritisches Bewußtsein, ihren Willen und Vorschläge zur Veränderung äußern. Dieser private Einblick in das Leben von Frauen aus der Zeit sozialen Aktivitäten sind bewegende Selbstzeugnisse und gleichzeitig Beiträge zur Aufhebung der Geschichtslosigkeit der Frau. Bd. 1: Fanny Lewald, Meine Lebensgeschichte (Hg. V. G.Brinker-Gabler) Bd. 2: Maria Wagner, Mathilde Franziska Anneke, eine deutsche Dichterin des Vormärz und amerikanische Feministin in Selbsteugnissen und Dokumenten Vorschläge für beide Reihen sind an die Herausgeberin zu richten: Gisela Brinker-Gabler, [redacted] -8- No renewal notices will be sent. Read your label and renew immediately when numbers match. SUBSCRIPTIONS We held firm as long as we could (for 4 years!) BUT, rising costs make it impossible for us to continue to produce Women in German for $2.00 for 4 issues. Therefore, we are raising the fee to $5.00; $2.00 for students and unemployed. Enclosed please find my check for $5.00 ($2) for a year’s subscription to Women in German. Send your check to Women in German, German Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705. NAME___________________________ ADDRESS_________________________ This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Yvette Brazell, Nadia Donchenko, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Marsha Meyer, Sara Markham Pietsch, Mary Rhiel, James Steakley, Gabriele Strauch and Christa Stutius. -9- Summary of WiG Business and Planning Meeting. cont. 3) Women and Aesthetics (Biddy Martin, Leslie Adelson) 4) Lesbian Themes in Literature (Miriam Frank, Naomi Stephan) In addition, it was agreed to continue the “tradition” begun this year of beginning the conference on Friday evening with a discussion of Personal and Professional Survival as a Woman Germanist (moderator: Judy Scheid). and to have another Saturday evening presentation of Women’s Culture (Coord. Evelyn Beck and Nancy Vedder-Shults). The evening program will be closed men; this will be announced in the printed program. The general coordinators of the 1979 conference will be selected after the question of the 1979 conference site has been settled. We need to begin thinking ahead for 1980’s conference site, which must be in a state which has ratified the ERA. 8. The material gathered at the 1978 conference (tape-recorded and written notes by the recording secretaries) will be put together in summary form by the recording secretaries and session coordinators. Helen Fehervary suggested that NGC could include a more comprehensive summary of the conference proceedings in a future issue than can be printed in the WiG newsletter. Summary of WiG Business and Planning Meeting, Sunday 9-24-78 1. The need to increase WiG membership dues was announced and discussed. Dues are now $2. for graduate students and those unemployed, $5. for everyone else, to be paid when issue number matches the number on your mailing label. 2. It was agreed that the WiG steering committee should consist of at least 5 people to represent major geographical areas of the U.S.; new committee members are to be selected annually with the understanding that at least two will continue from the previous year. On the steering committee for 1978-79 are: Pat Russian (Madison, WI) and Naomi Stephan (Valparaiso, IN), continuing members; Karen Achberger (Eugene, OR), Susan Cocalis (Amherst, MA), Charlotte Smith (Enid, OK), Majorie Tussing (Fullerton, CA). 3. The 1979 WiG conference (Sept. 28,29,30) will be held either in Milwaukee or Madison. WiG members from both locations will communicate with each other and the steering committee by 11-1-78 to agree on the site. 4. Concerning the selection of topics for WiG sessions at the annual MLA convention, it was proposed that a topic and one chairperson be selected each year at the September conference (since not everyone can attend). There was agreement to have the WiG session at the 1979 MLA deal with aesthetics through investigation of women’s literary forms not generally recognized as literature (diaries, letters, autobiographies). Co-chairs: Sara Lennox, Miriam Frank. 5. Discussion of attendance at the Nov. 1978 AATG meeting in Chicago was resolved as follows: --Wig will protest the holding of the meeting in Illinois, which has not ratified the ERA, by withdrawing our session on Women’s Culture. --letters will be sent to all conference participants and session chairs asking them not to attend the Nov. 78 meeting; the letter is also to e made public in our German deparments, in the AATG newsletter, and sent to the Ilinois convention bureau and to NOW. --WiG members committed to giving papers in other sessions at the Nov. AATG meeting agreed to support the WiG boycott by prefacing their presentations with a statement of solidarity with the WiG decision. --contact person for protest strategy by those attending is Detti Ledochowski [redacted] 6. Pat Russian described the fund-raising activities which will be carried out to help finance Luise RInser’s visit at the Dec. 1978 MLA. She distributed a draft of the letter requesting contributions which will be mailed. It was pointed out that such fund-raising should not become the regular responsibility of WiG rather, the MLA, AATG and other organizations should be urged to give financial support to scholarly and professional activity by and about women, and should not be led to expect that WiG will do it along. 7. Plans for the September 1979 conference. Sessions agreed upon were (the following titles are broadly descriptive and will be modified by the coordinators): 1) Women in German Literature and Culture prior to 1800 (Judy McHermann, Jill McDonald, Gabriele Strauch) 2) Feminist Pedagogy, to focus on the intermediate level, including the teaching of composition and conversation (Gail Hankins, Charlotte Smith) -10- II. Strategies for success: suggestions general and specific In seeking solutions to such problems, we found that three interrelated general points emerged as necessary presuppositions to more practical steps. 1. We should recognize the reality and force of discriminatory practices in the academic establishment, and resist the impulse to trust naively in the fairness and good will of the system. Such pessimistic realism better prepares us to take steps to defend our interests, make us less vulnerable to being personally crushed by judgements of the established powers, and increases our sense of solidarity with other women facing similar biases. 2. We should learn to take responsibility for our own careers and not rely on someone else—chairman, dean, etc.—to look out for our interests. This means a conscious effort a) to think about and plan for the development of our career, and b) to assert ourselves on behalf of our professional goals and well-being. 3. Given the sexism of the system and the uncertainties facing our profession there is no sure route to success; no one course of professional or political action can be expected to pay off in all circumstances. It is therefore all the more important to be sure that we know ourselves, know what we really want to do and what we are not willing to sacrifice—-personally, professionally, politically—-in the pursuit of possibly illusory career goals. Specific strategies: looking for a job 1. Find ways to communicate in resume and interview the qualities which make you unique, the specific strengths which make you attractive to the type of institutions you are interested in. Be sure you effectively convey your enthusiasm and strengths as a teacher. 2. Be ready to play an active, assertive role in the interview; have serious, intelligent, informed questions concerning the institution and department. Study the catalogue in advance, demonstrate interest in and knowledge of the program and problems of the institution; be ready to tell how you would teach its courses you might like to propose. Familiarize yourself with the work of department members, as about it. Be ready to discuss what you are interested in doing for the department, and your own long-range professional goals. 3. Show you are a self-respecting professional who expects to be taken seriously by asking about salary, health and retirement plans and other benefits. Raise such questions near the end of the interview; don’t make them appear the most important thing on your mind. Again, bone up on the comparative salaries and benefit plans so that you will know what’s what and impress the interviewers as knowing. 4. Going through interviews builds confidence and skill at handling interview situations, even though all interviews don’t pay off in a job offer. Try role-playing interview situations with a friend before your first interview. Practical suggestions: keeping a job 1. Develop and maintain an active, visible presence in department, college, and profession. Giving papers and colloquia is a more rapid way of developing visibility than waiting for publications to appear. Don’t wait -11- passively to be shot down at tenure or earlier; find out what to do to make yourself indispensable to department or college and/or become marketable elsewhere in Germanistics or in another field. 2. Do not accept all the “shit-work” teaching and service assignments of your department in the naïve assumption that such a “cooperative attitude” will guarantee job security. Find out what will count in person decisions (cooperation may be among them) and concentrate on these: don’t be afraid to assert your own professional interests—it may help to establish your reputation as one who takes herself and her work seriously and cannot be “walked on.” 3. Instances of discriminatory or unfair treatment should be challenged from the beginning of your employment situation on. Dated records should be kept of such experiences, including memos of conversations with chairpersons, deans, etc. Such documentation may be essential in building a case if a subsequent personnel decision is to be appealed or challenged. Mention of engaging a lawyer (and doing it) can be effective at the appropriate time, though caution may be in order—this can also be counterproductive, depending on the stage and the chances of the case. If you are seeking federal help for legal actions, the Department of Labor is more supportive of sex discrimination cases than is HEW. 4. What about academic and political involvement in Women’s Studies and other feminist activities? While being an aggressive supporter of feminist causes may earn one a reputation of troublemaker or outsider, such involvement may also be a source of job strength as enrollments in traditional German programs decline. Women’s Studies programs are proliferating in colleges throughout the country, even though their status may sometimes be precarious. Where possible, feminist Germanists can try for joint appointments with Women’s Studies programs. For personal, professional and political reasons we should work at the double tasks of bringing feminist approaches to Germanistics and of bringing the study of German culture and society into the wider forms of Women’s Studies nationwide. III. Career and life: alienation or integreation? The sense of frustration and alienation that many of us experience as women and feminists in a male-dominated profession may lose some of its personal painfulness if we recognize that such contradictions between our needs for human fulfillment and the conditions of survival in the field are inevitable within the patriarchal system. Give this awareness, we must then decide how far we are willing to compromise what we believe is important with the demands of the profession. For a number of us a genuine integration of the personal, professional and political spheres has become possible as we have begun to bring both feminist content and process into our work in the classroom and in scholarship, as one of us put it, by “doing revolutionary work.” A further solution to the alienation inherent in our situation has been found by some of us in new life-styles emphasizing relationships among women; such communities can provide us a clearer critical perspective on our profession and necessary support for resistance to its often excessive and dehumanizing demands as well as the vision and energy to build a new, less alienating professional and social reality. Joey Horsley, Secretary of the session Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Torton Beck, Evelyn Brazell, Yvette Donchenko, Nadia Harwig, Viktoria Martin, Biddy Meyer, Marsha Markham Pietsch, Sara Rhiel, Mary Steakley, James Strauch, Gabriele Stutius, Christa Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women in German Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978/11/30 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Women in German Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng ger Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1978_Nov Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No copyright - United States</a>