September 1978 Newsletter
Title
Subject
Description
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
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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.”
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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
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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!
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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 activities2. 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
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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.
- 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?
- 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.?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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 _______________________
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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.
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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!
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