Katherine Stone 
Women and National Socialism in Postwar German Literature 
Gender, Memory, and Subjectivity

Investigates why the question of women’s complicity in National Socialism has struggled to capture the collective imagination, examining how a variety of female authors have conceptualized the role of women in the Third Reich


In recent years, historians have revealed the many ways in which German women supported National Socialism-as teachers, frontline auxiliaries, and nurses, as well as in political organizations. In mainstream culture, however, thewomen of the period are still predominantly depicted as the victims of a violent twentieth century whose atrocities were committed by men. They are frequently imagined as post hoc redeemers of the nation, as the ‘rubble women’ whospiritually and literally rebuilt Germany.

This book investigates why the question of women’s complicity in the Third Reich has struggled to capture the historical imagination in the same way. It explores how female authorsfrom across the political and generational spectrum (Ingeborg Bachmann, Christa Wolf, Elisabeth Plessen, Gisela Elsner, Tanja Dückers, Jenny Erpenbeck) conceptualize the role of women in the Third Reich. As well as offering innovative re-readings of celebrated works, this book provides instructive interpretations of lesser-known texts that nonetheless enrich our understanding of German memory culture.


Katherine Stone is Assistant Professor in German Studies at the University of Warwick.

Table of Content

Introduction

The Gender of Good and Evil: Guilt and Repression in Ingeborg Bachmann’s
Malina (1971)

Matriarchal Morality: Women and Hope in Christa Wolf’s
Kindheitsmuster (1976)

Patriarchal Authority and Fascism Past and Present: Elisabeth Plessen’s
Mitteilung an den Adel (1976)

The Blessing of a Late, Female Birth: Gisela Elsner’s
Fliegeralarm (1989)

Uncanny Legacies: Gender and Guilt in Tanja Dückers’
Himmelskörper (2003)

The Dialectic of Vulnerability and Responsibility: Jenny Erpenbeck’s
Heimsuchung (2007)

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Katherine Stone is an Associate Professor in German Studies at the University of Warwick